TSR TSR5! A modest proposal. Paizo (or Modiphius or Free League) buys TSR, for a true rebirth

[Dungeonosophy]

I think Paizo (or some other mid-sized, vibrant TRPG company, like Modiphius or Free League) ought to buy the trademark from Ernie...and make TSR5!
Now, hear me out...
Paizo is a major spiritual successor of TSR, since it began as a sort of out-sourced re-embodiment of WotC's magazine publishing division (DRAGON, DUNGEON, POLYHEDRON).
Besides Paizo, there are other vibrant mid-sized companies such as Free League and Modiphius who are lovingly devoted to TRPGS, and who are really making some cash flow, while producing awesome TRPGs.

One of these would have the PR finesse to turn this around.

And what would become of the present-day owners of TSR4?
Well, they would be bought out and move on.

And what would be the purpose of this TSR5?
Let's see...
It would be an imprint of Paizo (or Modiphius or Free League).
And it would serve as a focal point for growing this company into the true successor of TSR of old, also on par with that golden age of WotC during early 3.0 era (prior to its sale to Hasbro).

I mean, the TSR brand (minus the copyrighted logo design, of course) is a huge legacy. It is a brand which even non-gamers recognize.

Okay...so Paizo or Modiphius or Free League would strive to buy up all the TSR-related IP (game systems and worlds) which isn't owned by Hasbro, by any TSR-era creator, living or dead. For example:
-Gygax Estate's remaining IP, e.g. Castle Zagyg via Troll Lord Games
-Arneson Estate's remaining IP.
-Rob Kuntz's IP
-John Eric Holmes' Maze of Peril and Boinger & Zereth stories (this stuff is great!). His son and estate own the rights.
-Judge's Guild. Just buy the whole company.
-Rasmussen's new Top Secret game. Currently published by TSR2 > Solarion.
-Richard Baker's new Alternity game
-James Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha game (he owns it now)
-Margaret Weiss's various non-TSR worlds
-Timothy Brown's Dragon Kings (the spiritual successor of Dark Sun)
-Bruce Heard's Calidar (the spiritual successor of Mystara)
-David Megarry reportedly owns some rights to DUNGEON! (though probably not the name)
-Chris Pramas' Dragon Fist
-Larry Elmore's Sovereign Stone
-Douglas Niles' non-TSR novel settings
-R.A. Salvatore's DemonWars
-Ed Greenwood's various non-TSR settings (e.g. Band of Four novels)
-Frank Mentzer's Aquaria (after an extensive process of amends and PR healing)
...and, yes, even Ernie Gygax's Giantlands

Reach out to every TSR-era author, artist, and novelist, and offer to buy their home campaigns, their design notes and archival papers, and their total IP estate.

Ruleswise:
And...for all these products, TSR5 immediately (=as soon as feasible) shifts to dual-statted books, using that company's house-system (PF2, Modiphius' 2d20, or Free League's Year Zero)

Settingwise:
All these worlds would be officially added to the Pathfinder/TSR5 Golarion Multiverse (or Modiphius Multiverse or Free League Multiverse). Make a big Multiversal map showing how all these alternate worlds are reachable from Golarion (or Modiphius' or Free League's house settings). And begin tying their lore and timelines together.

And open all these setting IPs up to DMs Guild-style community-created content on DriveThruRPG. Paizo holds Golarion tight because its their only baby. But if their baby could get bigger, then their revenue model could change, and they'd have the confidence to open Golarion (and all these worlds) up to fan-created commercial content.

And, then, a decade from now, when the next edition of their house-system comes out (e.g. PF3, 2d20 2e, Year Zero 2e), all of the legacy systems are folded into a new multi-genre RPG system.

Voila! That would be a legit rebirth of TSR of yore. TSR5 would be something worthwhile.

 

[Stormonu]

Nope. Let die, man - let it die.

TSR burned all their goodwill back in the nineties, this latest fiasco just dredges all that back up for me.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Nope. Let die, man - let it die.

TSR burned all their goodwill back in the nineties

You may very well be right. Ya gotta admit though, if TSR were to truly arise from the grave in the form sketched out in the OP, it would be pretty awesome.

Let's say, for your sake, it wasn't called "TSR." And Paizo, Modiphius, or Free League did all this while keeping their own name.

 

[Stormonu]

Still a big “No” from me.

I don’t want this content all under one umbrella, as it wouldn’t all be treated fairly. Some things would rise to the fore, others would fall behind. Mashing them together would be absolutely awful.

I am not against these things coming back into style - I myself just recently bought Alternity v2 less than a month ago, for example. But not under one umbrella, nor all at once. It’s okay if they’re in the hands of a small company - the material might not be as well spread, but it’s often done with more love than if a big company swallows it and inevitably forces it to evolve to for profit, instead of the benefit of its fans or the actual system.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I doubt that we’re going to get a Truly Serious Relaunch anytime in the near future. The current fiasco has a radioactive half-life of a decade, easy.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Not sure why I feel so protective toward Free League, but even a whimsical thought experiment that includes them dipping a toe into this quagmire is disturbing. Whatever nostalgia some might feel when they hear "TSR," there was also a huge amount brand tax there, even before the recent disaster. Anecdotal, I know, but I would probably never buy anything TSR, whereas I'm rapidly becoming a Free League superfan, in part because their brand has none of those crusty old bits clinging to it.

 

[ninjayeti]

Its just a trademark. I could probably register RKO Pictures - it doesn't mean I am suddenly going to make another Citizen Kane.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I was with you until you went and said: use their own system.

Nope. Those things would be awesome in some kind of wannabe retro-d20 system, but not 2d20 or Year Zero. They are great systems, but wayyyyy too complex if the idea was to create a nice throwback to TSR.

Both of Modiphius or Free League publish material of incredible quality, so I would be super stoked to see one of them publish retro-TTRPG stuff.

 

[Yora]

Why would any of these companies be interested in using this old label that has been defunct for 25 years instead of their own good name?

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Why would any of these companies be interested in using this old label that has been defunct for 25 years instead of their own good name?

Well, they would have to weigh that themselves.
Old labels do have value. It's incredibly difficult to bring a meme/brand into public consciousness. For better or worse, "TSR" is pretty well known.
"Oldsmobile" is recently retired car brand. "Packard" and "Studebaker" even older. "Oldsmobile" (due to its "old" connotation) was an albatross for General Motors. But, it would not be a ludicrous idea, for say, a mid-level company (say, Hyundai or Kia) to register "Oldsmobile" or "Packard" or "Studebaker" and thus buy into a meme/brand which still has a deep afterglow in a large market (i.e. North America). (GM probably keeps the trademark registered just to ward off such things.)