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> Why Is WoTC Not Doing WoT Anymore?
Kinvadren
  Posted: Jan 20 2004, 05:55 PM
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I went to the WoT forum on the WoTC web site and found that the forum is about to go down. I saw something about WoTC deciding not to work any anymore WoT stuff. I was wondering why this is? This is a big disappointment for me because I love WoT. Only two official products were ever published.

So again, my question... Does anyone know what's behind WoTC scrapping Wheel of Time RPG?
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Mantyluoto
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 06:05 PM
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WOTC only agreed a two book deal with Robert Jordan, thats why they only released two books and i believe that the contract will run out on the 9th feb so they are no longer entitled to host the message board.

hope that helps

Manty


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LuciusT
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 06:40 PM
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To expand a little on what Mantyluoto said...

WotC's market surveys indicated that, generally speaking, lisenced products (that is to say, products based on a book, movie or some other source whose copyright is held by another company) only sell well for their first 2 products. After that the cost of lisence is likely to overwhelm the profit. So, when they did the deal with Robert Jordan, they hedged their bets and only bought the rights to the two products that were likely to turn a profit.

They also totally underestimated the popularity of WoT. Anthory Valtara, a bigwig at WotC at the time, told me with a straight face that they expected the WoT RPG to sell about as well as the D&D Diablo expansion. blink.gif By the time WotC realised they might have made a tiny mistake, the ink was already dry on the deal.

Some people think that's unforunate. I am not one of them. Personally, I think that the fan community, once represented on the WotC messagebaords and now (hopefully) migrating here, has done and will continue to do a better job supporting the Wot RPG then WotC ever could have.

If there is one thing the Open Game License proved, it's that you don't have to be a genius to make an RPG... all you have to do is have some common sense, a grasp of the game mechanics and a grasp of your setting.
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Kinvadren
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 06:47 PM
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Thanks for filling in the blanks LuciusT and Mantyluoto smile.gif. I agree that the WoT fans have done a great job adding things to the game. I've been skimming through the Netbook "Under The Dragon Banner" and a lot of it looks really good. Some of the ideas and additional rules I'm even going to suggest to my D&D group.

Did the WoT RPG sell well for WoTC or were they right in thinking more than 2 products would be stretching their luck?

This post has been edited by Kinvadren on Jan 20 2004, 06:48 PM
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Mantyluoto
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 06:56 PM
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no problem.


i liked Diablo biggrin.gif


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LuciusT
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 07:28 PM
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QUOTE (Kinvadren @ Jan 20 2004, 06:47 PM)
Did the WoT RPG sell well for WoTC or were they right in thinking more than 2 products would be stretching their luck?

WotC never said, or at least I never heard anything.
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Eosin the Red
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 07:53 PM
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I think they were probably correct in their assumptions. PotD probably did not do real well and after it came out everyone would have been bitten by the "wow, that was terrible" bug.

Personally, I think the nice maps and stuff are worth the price but the adventure dang sure is not. The 3rd supplement would have had to live with the ghosts of what came before.

Additionally, you now have the issue of upgrade and how many groups would buy into 3.5 when WOT is really seperate from D&D. Overall, I think it was smart all around. On the bright side, someone else can now step in and pick up the license and run with the ball. WOTC needs huge sales to turn a profit but someone like Green Ronin with 3-4 employees needs far less volume to get the same type of profit. Right now it is license heaven in d20, that IMPLIES to me that both WOT, CoC, and SW did well enough to make licenses look like an attractive prospect.



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LuciusT
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 09:02 PM
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QUOTE (Eosin the Red @ Jan 20 2004, 07:53 PM)
On the bright side, someone else can now step in and pick up the license and run with the ball. WOTC needs huge sales to turn a profit but someone like Green Ronin with 3-4 employees needs far less volume to get the same type of profit. Right now it is license heaven in d20, that IMPLIES to me that both WOT, CoC, and SW did well enough to make licenses look like an attractive prospect.

Yeah, but could a smaller company like Green Ronin afford to buy the lisence?

... and if they can, why haven't they called me? biggrin.gif
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Eosin the Red
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 09:24 PM
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A small company bought the rights to A song of Fire and Ice which is as popular as Wheel of Time. It would all depend on Jordan though. I know Martin plays GURPS as you do, and wanted to see a game made of his world so he may have lowered the obsticales to someone he thought would do it well.

It is kinda cool that a popular author is also a gamer. I think Harlan is also a gamer. I know he wrote a module for Dungeon and writes regularly for Dragon.






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The Great Gray Skwid
Posted: Jan 20 2004, 09:39 PM
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Well...RJ does claim to have DMed for his sons...

There are lots of gamer authors. Feist, McKiernan, Brust...and that's just off the top of my head...


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Aleshandre
Posted: Jan 21 2004, 12:12 AM
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I think that if anyone is going to pick up the WoT RPG license, it should bu us. I feel safe to say that this is the most dedicated part of the WoT gaming comunity, and with our combined resources, we should be able to pull off a coup. I don't expect that idea to float, but I will be more than willing to be part of it, if everyone decides to do it....

Besides, then we can do a War of Power netbook or hardcover.


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LuciusT
Posted: Jan 21 2004, 12:37 AM
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QUOTE (Aleshandre @ Jan 21 2004, 12:12 AM)
I think that if anyone is going to pick up the WoT RPG license, it should bu us. I feel safe to say that this is the most dedicated part of the WoT gaming comunity, and with our combined resources, we should be able to pull off a coup. I don't expect that idea to float, but I will be more than willing to be part of it, if everyone decides to do it....

Besides, then we can do a War of Power netbook or hardcover.

smile.gif It's a wonderful dream. Unfortunately, in reality, I doubt we have the resources.
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Sa_sara
Posted: Jan 21 2004, 02:53 AM
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*cries*
I hate WoTC with a passion for oh so many reasons...but I'm going to miss the old boards...especially since so much stuff will be forever lost...well...except what I've saved to disk *grins*...with permission from authors if I can find them I'll put up stuff from the old message boards on some sort of site if need be...but keep in mind it'll be no fancy deal.

If you want to save something and put it up elsewhere but are too lazy to do so yourself, save an html only copy of the page it appears on in the WotC forums...and ask someone else to tinker out the necessary portions and host it for you...this is your final chance


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Mantyluoto
Posted: Jan 21 2004, 05:47 PM
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or you Eosin could host it here..........Come on you know you wanna biggrin.gif


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Two Rivers Wolfbrother
Posted: Jan 21 2004, 05:54 PM
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I'm with Aleshandre. I'd gladly give what I could to help with that kind of thing. I don't see why it's impossible.

This post has been edited by Two Rivers Wolfbrother on Jan 21 2004, 06:01 PM


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Eosin the Red
Posted: Jan 21 2004, 07:32 PM
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Feel free to copy and paste ANY topics from WotC just make sure that you have permission from the author or that the author is part of this community.

I am cool with hosting the old threads.


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Axel
Posted: Jan 23 2004, 08:49 PM
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The way I see it most of the real changes to every Role Playing Game ever, came from the fan base (creation of 3e from 2e being the biggest exception) so that the biggest difference between releasing fan material and having the lisence would be the ability to print and sell the release. Already its circulated around the web, people who want can print it for themselves.


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Timetwister
Posted: Jan 24 2004, 01:37 AM
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Problem is not lack of creativity or quality that might be put out, but simply the price one has to pay for such a license. I think you can count on it that u will AT LEAST have to cough up fifty to a hundred thousand dollars (probably even more), which for a fan based undertaking is way above our heads.


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FinnMckool
Posted: Jan 30 2004, 11:16 PM
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i DO wish they stuck around the liscense long enough to pick up all of our ideas and do a much larger and richer Core Rule book, as well as some in depth explanations, like JD Wiker does with his Jedi Counseling. We deserve that much at least. We do a GREAT job, and them continuing it would screw it up some, but some richer and broader official direction could only help the community and the game.
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Ghaerdon_Fain
Posted: Feb 1 2004, 08:30 PM
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Vive le Resistance!

I for one am overjoyed that Eosin has taken this on board here at Call of the Horn! We are now free to say and think what we will. Autumn; if you're out there, you did a really great job.

WotC just cares about $. TSR went the same way. And so do all of these publishers. What aids we have going are free. No one is trying to make a buck and that creates a strong community. RJ started a great world with wonderful characters, but a world, once published, is now in the imaginations of all who have read his work. We now continue to build our small understanding of his world, free from limits impossed by corporate execs and jealous authors.

We are better off now than ever before... but watch and see if this fan club of ours isn't infested with lurkers and lawyers interested in "protection" of rights. In the scheme of things they are just as fanatical as Children of Light and as sneeky as Padan Fain!!!


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