Septimus RPG Cancelled

[Scurvy_Platypus]

Well, in case you don't happen to know, Bill Coffin's Septimus has been cancelled.

Apparently, the news was carried first on Gaming Report.
http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=24990

However, I wasn't actually contacted and notified (I'm one of those folks that pre-ordered) and still haven't actually had any kind of official notification. I found out about this by happenstance. As time's been going on, I've been thinking that something like this was going to happen but I've tried to give WEG the benefit of the doubt.

In theory, my (and all the other pre-orders) will have their money refunded. At this point I'm not holding my breath though.

I do have to say that I'm disappointed. Mr Coffin turned in the work quite some time ago, and Septimus has sat in limbo since then. I don't know what his plans are for Septimus, as he's apparently not certain if he'll do Septimus as an rpg or just novelize it.

On the other hand, I don't expect that WEG will ever get any business from me in the future. Between the delays, the lack of information, the failure to even officially notify people (like myself) that in theory were helping to move the project forward (by preordering), as well as some of his behavior in the past on rpgnet, I've decided it's just not a company I'm willing to support.

In theory WEG is still an alive game company, but it really doesn't seem to be any more lively than the current holders of the Blood of Heroes license. I know WEG still has it's fans and I don't wish the company (or Gibson) any ill, but I'm really not sure how well WEG is going to whether this particular disappointment.

In theory, the D6 system is/was going to become "free". It's "not going to be OGL per se" (whatever he means by that, but some sort of other license that you could fill out a form on the website for. And there would be an "SRD" released, although since he's specifically planning on not going OGL I thnk he should probably come up with a different name to avoid confusion. I guess time will see what (if anything) comes of that.

And apparently this isn't an April Fool's Joke. Bill Coffin at least says it isn't, and I'm willing to take him at his word. Plus the fact that the news was actually announced yesterday, it's just that it's taken a while for some of us to discover we'd been blindsided.

 

[dmccoy1693]

I really hoped Septimus would work out well for WEG. This kind of seemed like a last grasp at turning around the company. Its really sad to see the game end like this. I know a few companies wanted to use WEG's d6 system. *sigh*

 

[mhensley]

In theory WEG is still an alive game company, but it really doesn't seem to be any more lively than Mayfair games or the current holders of the Blood of Heroes license.

ummm.... Mayfair Games seems to be doing very well.

http://www.mayfairgames.com/

 

[jdrakeh]

I have zero sympathy for WEG here. They accepted money for pre-orders on this product, missed several release dates over the course of a year, provided only excuses to consumers, and eventually stopped answering questions about the product's release on the forums and by email at all. Now we get the announcement that the game is cancelled. On top of that, so far as several of the people who pre-ordered the book are aware, no effort has been made to return their money. So screw West End Games

Alternately, Mr. Coffin has answered (to the best of my knowledge) many emails and forum posts about Septimus and its delayed release to the best of his ability. I get the distinct impression that he was as much in the dark about the production phase as many of the people who pre-ordered the book were (on the plus side, he was a Palladium author at one time, so he was probably somewhat accustomed to this). I can't help but feel that Mr. Coffin was as much a victim of WEG's bad business as consumers were, having talked with him in the past about the game (before WEG picked it up). :\

 

[C.W.Richeson]

What's truly shocking about this is that Gaming Report got a scoop.

 

[dmccoy1693]

On top of that, so far as several of the people who pre-ordered the book are aware, no effort has been made to return their money.

In the official announcement made by hellsreach (WEG), they announced that they would be returning the money from the preorders. No comment as to when.

Bill officially pulled the plug and asked for the manuscript back more then a month ago. He is currently considering his options about seeking another publisher, self publishing or just letting the game collect dust.

 

[jdrakeh]

In the official announcement made by hellsreach (WEG), they announced that they would be returning the money from the preorders. No comment as to when.

I'm aware of the announcment but, as anybody who has ever gotten shafted on a preorder for anything can tell you, having somebody say that they will refund your money and having them actually doing so are two completely different things. Currently, I don't know of any folks who placed a preorder receiving a refund. Now, granted, they may very well receive a refund in the future but. . .

WEG was obviously less than a little forthright about using the Septimus preorder money to bankroll the game's print run (that is not just bad business but insane business). I may be wrong about the specifics, but that very much sounds liek what was going on. Regardless, Mr. Gibson had repeatedly stated that HDD failures and other unexpected editing/layout delays were the reason that the game wasn't in print yet (well, before he quit answering questions about the delay altogether).

Now we find out that it was delayed because of finances? Specifically, we find out that it was delayed because the preorders placed over the course of the past 11 months didn't generate enough revenue to warrant printing the book. So all of those other excuses were just that. Excuses. Bluntly put, WEG has horribly mishandled this entire debacle from the word go, regardless of the specifics. Their track record of honest representation isn't so great with regard to Septimus.

Please, forgive me if I'm skeptical about any promises that they're making now.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

ummm.... Mayfair Games seems to be doing very well.

http://www.mayfairgames.com/

True. I wasn't clear in my meaning of "rpg game company". I'll go back and edit my post though to avoid any other confusion.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

It's a bit confusing too, because at least for a while it seemed like we might get it as a pdf. I can understand there being problems as far as the whole physical printing thing is concerned, but the plan was for the game to be a pdf as well as a physical product. Preorders were going to be getting the pdf version along with the print version.

AND it was being primarily sold through the WEG site (instead of through LGS) because Gibson said he'd be able to make a better profit doing it that way. He'd have an option for game stores to be able to carry it, but was hoping that people would order direct.

I'm a bit puzzled about the whole thing really.

However, I've run a business myself before and I understand that there can be little things that blindside you that you wouldn't think make a big difference, but in fact are a huge deal. To be honest, I'm not sure how it is that WEG's managed to stay in business this long, so there's got to be other stuff going on.

It _really_ is a mark against WEG that they kept quiet for so long about the status of the project, and then I find out it's been canceled not because WEG tells me, "Sorry dude, it's dead. Here's the deal with that money you gave us..." but by pure chance.

I'll give WEG a week to actually contact me about it, and then I'll start trying to get my money back.

 

[jdrakeh]

. . . and then I'll start trying to get my money back.

If you read threads elsewhere, some people claim to have been trying (unesuccessfully) to get their money back since sometime last Fall. They may be full of it, though I can't see as how it would benefit them to lie about this particular situation.