Why did TSR dump Alternity?

[slingbld]

Looks like I stirred up a hornet's nest!

I do need to clarify. I was not entirely accurate. When I went to my friend, he informed me I had remembered it incorrectly.

Yes, TSR DID intend to use Alternity as a testing ground for new game mechanics to see what worked & what didn't for an upcomming change to the D&D game system. They originaly had no intention of dropping the line though. The original thought was that Alternity would handle the modern day & sci-fi eras while D&D would handle high fantasy. This changed during the buyout & the new D&D system became the primary system they would use.

Again, I am sorry that I originaly said they had every intention of dropping Alternity. This was not the case. But Alternity WAS used as a testbed for mechanics they were thinking on introducing into the new D&D system.

Slingbld~

 

[Cowpie Zombie]

Looks like I stirred up a hornet's nest!

Yes, TSR DID intend to use Alternity as a testing ground for new game mechanics to see what worked & what didn't for an upcomming change to the D&D game system. They originaly had no intention of dropping the line though. The original thought was that Alternity would handle the modern day & sci-fi eras while D&D would handle high fantasy. This changed during the buyout & the new D&D system became the primary system they would use.

Again, I am sorry that I originaly said they had every intention of dropping Alternity. This was not the case. But Alternity WAS used as a testbed for mechanics they were thinking on introducing into the new D&D system.

Slingbld~

Hmpf. We forgive you...this time. Be more careful next time, son.

 

[Ranger REG]

Feh. What's done is done, as did the rest of TSR's past products that I truly like (which lasted 2-3 years before they dropped): Birthright, Al-Qadim, Kara-Tur, etc.

Sorry. Didn't embrace Alternity then. It sounded interesting but it is not appealing enough for me to grab it off the shelves.

 

[buzz]

Again, I am sorry that I originaly said they had every intention of dropping Alternity. This was not the case. But Alternity WAS used as a testbed for mechanics they were thinking on introducing into the new D&D system.

No sweat, slingbld. Something just sounded fishy about the original statement, and I have a bizarre fascination with Alternity. Thanks for double-checking.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Sorry. Didn't embrace Alternity then. It sounded interesting but it is not appealing enough for me to grab it off the shelves.

And many, many people agreed with you, so don't feel sorry.

That said, I would love to see full conversions of Dark Matter and Star Drive to d20 Modern and d20 Future, respectively.

Wouldn't it be great if WotC put out Dungeons*Dragons? No more of this "and" crap, now it's TIMES.

 

[Von Ether]

But yeah, now the real question is what do I do with my special edition PH copy. The one one with only the logo and black cover? I'll have to get home to check to see if it was signed or not, though.

 

[Henry]

Perhaps an additional clue can be gleaned for the reason WotC dropped Alternity in 2000, from a letter Ryan Dancey wrote in March of that year on "Customer Service"...

...Why, when {TSR} was so desperate for cash, had it invested in a million dollar license for content used by less than 10% of the marketplace? Why had a successful game line like Dragonlance been forcibly uprooted from its natural home in the D&D game and transplanted to a foreign and untested new game system? Why had the company funded the development of a science fiction game modeled on D&D - then not used the D&D game rules?

I suggest that when the d20 model came along, and Alternity's lack of success was further reinforced by the theories behind things like "The Skaff Effect" and "Network Externalities", it really didn't make sense to them to be propping up a game that prevailing theory said was doomed to fail.

 

[Dismas]

But yeah, now the real question is what do I do with my special edition PH copy. The one one with only the logo and black cover? I'll have to get home to check to see if it was signed or not, though.

IIRC all black cover (LEPH) were signed (Bill S and Rich Baker) and numbered. Mine is also signed by Jim Butler