Psion said:
I've heard of more Serenity games using alternate systems than Serenity games using the installed system.
Well, looking at
http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/FireflyGaming you can see that nonSerenity systems have no more than 1 dedicated link or group of links (like the Unknown Armies conversion), while the Serenity RPG has multiple links, including campaign reports and this:
http://wavesintheblack.aimoo.com/
an active web community for the game.
I think Farscape is an example of what I speak of in post #47.
But I don't see SG-1 as an implicit counter example you claim it is. As far as I could tell, it was pretty well implemented and received by all but the d20-hatah subset.
That interpretation of Farscape represents a kind of post-hoc confirmation bias, IMO. It bombed, so it must be the designer! As for SG-1, I can't see d20 helping AEG keep the license. " We want to make a game based on your IP that requires us to open other IP." I'm sure a licensing executive with an understanding of the industry no larger than a quick precis likes *that.*
As long as we are talking about installed fanbases, I think one needs to take into account the existing fanbase. Rokugan's d20 adaptation, unlike Farcape's, was very good. Despite this, it was a disaster, because it didn't sit well with the existing fan base. To an installed fan-base, system is not secondary.
To an *dedicated RPG fanbase*, system matters more. But Serenity is one of those rarities: a product that actually sold to its license's fans outside of gaming, rather than a product that subdivided its potential market by selling to a subset of gamers who are fans. What I find amusing is that this -- the holy grail of licensing outcomes -- is now actually being used as a basis for criticism.
It's my feeling that most of the conversions are really the product of Firefly fans who didn't have a game of their own. Now they do. From the links mentioned above:
* Dogs in the Vineyard's Firefly adaptation died in late 2005.
* The D20 Modern adaptation has been overtaken with resources for the official game.
* The GURPS Yahoo Group suffered a significant dropoff in posts over time.
* The last log entry for the HeroQuest adaptation is almost 10 months old.
* I can find no reports for games using the other linked systems, though text seems to indicate there was an active Savage Worlds Firefly game at some point.
Now apply this to the actual topic at hand. IK's pedigree lies in D20. It started out as a d20 adventure. I think Privateer would do well to take a look at what happened with L5R when they switched systems pursuing a different audience for their RPG.
What happened? The D20 bubble and 3.5 happened. Incidentally, vulnerability to revisions is another excellent reason to avoid it. As it stands now, Iron Kingdoms fans are more likely to want something that feels like Warmachine than D&D.
How's that? If you don't use the d20 logo, you only have to make Open Content what started as open content. Mongoose has used this publishing model for a while.
Well, if I had a budget that worked out to a penny a word starting for full time employees based on expected wordage and wanted to foist off equivalent freelance rates I'd go for it too. Editing and expanding existing SRD text is virtually the only way to deliver work if you're that cheap.
As it stands, though, while it's technically possible to close anything beyond existing OGC, the fact of the matter is that to be an honest participant, publishers should release coherent open content. In a tightly written game, this is impractical, and a game that clearly separates out OGC almost always looks terrible and reads badly, as multiple examples (like the first two years of the OGL) show.