The End of the Stars Wars Saga (Edition)

[devlin1]

[quote]There have been several questions lately regarding the future of the Star Wars Miniatures and Roleplaying Game and until now I haven’t had definitive answers to give you. After a lengthy evaluation, Wizards of the Coast has decided not to renew the Star Wars license with Lucasfilm. We’ve had a long and fantastic run, but with the economic downturn, we have made the tough decision to discontinue our Star Wars lines.



The license officially ends in May this year, with WotC product available through August. In the meantime, we have awesome new products still coming your way. This week, we released The Dark Times minis and Galaxy of Intrigue RPG. We’ll have more coming with Masters of the Force minis in April, which will have some of your most favorite characters along with rare creatures from the Dejarik Holochess game that have never appeared in our game. We’ll also release The Unknown Regions RPG in April, which includes entirely new planets and mini-adventures for each world.



We are finishing the line with a bang so look for special programs at your local game store to stock up on favorite sets before they go into the vault. We will continue to support our Star Wars forums on the Wizards Community site so you can reach out and chat with us and other fans.



While I know the news is disappointing, we wanted to make this announcement as soon as possible and thank you for being such great fans. It’s been a fantastic ride with the Star Wars community and working with Lucasfilm. We hope you enjoy the next several months of great products. You never know when we may circle back again!



Greg Yahn



Director of Marketing, Wizards of the Coast[/quote]
Well, that sucks.

[Barrier Peaks]

That it does. It was a good run while it lasted, though.

G

[devlin1]

[quote="Barrier Peaks"]That it does. It was a good run while it lasted, though.



G[/quote]

Y'know, I was just flipping through [i]Galaxy of Intrigue[/i] the other day, and I was like "Hey, Gary's still writing Saga books! Look at that." Oh, the irony!

[cczernia]

Dang, now it will be a dead game and I'll have to sell all my books just after getting copies of Rebellions Era and Clone War

[Barrier Peaks]

[quote="devlin1"]Y'know, I was just flipping through [i]Galaxy of Intrigue[/i] the other day, and I was like "Hey, Gary's still writing Saga books! Look at that." Oh, the irony![/quote]

[i]Intrigue[/i] was the last book I worked on. After that, the work dried up quite suddenly. Given that it's the second-to-last book they'll release before letting the license die, it all makes a sad sort of sense in retrospect.



I made my final turn-over for [i]Intrigue[/i] in May of 2009. That should give some idea of the lead time they have for these kinds of projects. When it didn't look like anything was going to be written after [i]Unknown Regions[/i], it was somewhat worrisome to anyone with a stake in the freelance ring.



I really doubt that the license will be picked up by anyone anytime soon. It's got to be an expensive property to acquire. How many non-Hasbro/WotC companies can afford it and still make a profit?

[devlin1]

[quote="Barrier Peaks"]I really doubt that the license will be picked up by anyone anytime soon. It's got to be an expensive property to acquire. How many non-Hasbro/WotC companies can afford it and still make a profit?[/quote]
From what little I understand, Lucas owns a sizable chunk of Hasbro, and Hasbro has some sort of licensing rights through 2020. That is, even though they aren't renewing the license, something or other in their licensing agreement says that no one [i]else[/i] can license it until 2020. If that's the case, even someone with the money wouldn't be able to pick it up.



[url=http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=11602770&postcount=54]So says RPG.net[/url], anyway, so... grain of salt.

[mordraine]

Hmph.

Well, I own all the books through Galaxy at War and intend to pick up Galaxy of Intrigue and The Unknown Regions. And now I can say (once those two books are purchased at any rate) that I own the full run of another RPG besides Changeling! w00t!

Gary, thanks for your contribution for the best d20 derivative game produced!

[SpaceMonkey]

[quote="cczernia"]Dang, now it will be a dead game and I'll have to sell all my books just after getting copies of Rebellions Era and Clone War :razz:[/quote]


I might be buying ;)

[Skyman]

Great game...I'll have to buy it after people bail on it

[devlin1]

[url=http://starwars.com/games/othergames/news20100128wotc/index.html]There's this, too:[/url]


[quote="StarWars.com"]Lucas Licensing continues to see miniatures, roleplaying games and card games as viable and important elements in its Star Wars licensing program, both in digital form (like the recently launched trading card game within Star Wars Galaxies), and in physical products like figures, books and cards. [b]Keep checking StarWars.com for announcements regarding future products in this area in the coming months.[/b] [/quote]

Personally, I think the key areas for development here will be "figures" and "cards." I doubt RPGs are enough of a revenue stream for them to give a shit about producing another one.

[jimmy corrigan]

that is some sad news indeed, but it's something that star wars rpg/star wars anything-outside-lucasfilms fans have grown accustomed to.

[cczernia]

[quote="jimmy corrigan"]that is some sad news indeed, but it's something that star wars rpg/star wars anything-outside-lucasfilms fans have grown accustomed to.[/quote]

Agreed, didn't they cancel d20 Star Wars line well before the release of Saga. The could do it again letting the game sit for a year or two and then release a new edition.

[Sadohara]

I do not cheer this news, but now feel that I am wholly representative of the majority of the gaming community that just won't play in "BIG IP-License" sandboxes.

The rest of you must be the outliers here, in this particular situation.

[SpaceMonkey]

[quote="Sadohara"]I do not cheer this news, but now feel that I am wholly representative of the majority of the gaming community that just won't play in "BIG IP-License" sandboxes.



The rest of you must be the outliers here, in this particular situation.[/quote]

So.. Star Wars on Saturday then? ;)

[devlin1]

[quote="Sadohara"]I do not cheer this news, but now feel that I am wholly representative of the majority of the gaming community that just won't play in "BIG IP-License" sandboxes.



The rest of you must be the outliers here, in this particular situation.[/quote]

I've tried to parse this several times but still can't figure out what you're saying here.

[Sadohara]

1. Fact: Star Wars RPG is ended.
2. Assumption: That many of you know I hate Star Wars roleplaying.
3. Bold Assertion: That the vast majority of gamers also hate Star Wars and have therefore chosen to not support the product, resulting in its cancellation.
4. Obvious Conclusion: That those of you who love and support the Star Wars RPG are obviously in the minority and should be further shunned due to your aberrant beliefs.
5. Assumption: That this is mostly, but not entirely, a joke.

[devlin1]

[quote="Sadohara"]
3. Bold Assertion: That the vast majority of gamers also hate Star Wars and have therefore chosen to not support the product, resulting in its cancellation.[/quote]
Ah. This is the bit I was missing. Thank you.



Carry on.

[SpaceMonkey]

In protest of Aaron's hatred of Star Wars (as an rpg) and WOTC's cancellation of the line*, I have bought several** books. Take that, someone!



[*read - 'I like to buy rpg books and I got a good deal']

[** ... more than three.]

[cczernia]

[quote="Sadohara"]
3. Bold Assertion: That the vast majority of gamers also hate Star Wars and have therefore chosen to not support the product, resulting in its cancellation.[/quote]

What about Jawas. Remember Jawas.

[Dragonmaster Zoc]

I never played Star Wars, but I did play D&D 3.5, and I cheered when they cancelled it. I was tired of buying new books, and I'm happy that I can just sit down and play without having to worry about new supplements coming out and introducing new rules all the time. I'm sure that there are other people who feel that way about this Star Wars game.

[BlanchPrez]

You know, I never played Saga Star Wars. I'd love to some day, though, I hear from you all that it's great. So, drag me along next time you get a game going. :)

-Chris

[Barrier Peaks]

[quote="mordraine"]Gary, thanks for your contribution for the best d20 derivative game produced![/quote]
Out of all the games I've written for, [i]Star Wars[/i] is the line I've contributed to the most (seven books total, which is about half of those released, plus an installment of the [i]Dawn of Defiance[/i] campaign, and an article in [i]Dungeon Magazine[/i]). I had a lot invested in it, and I still do.



Seeing the people, places, and things I wrote about (such as Point Nadir, Ord Vaxal, even Nyriaan [which, for the record, wasn't originally named "Nyriaan"]) become a part of the EU has been a great thrill.



Finding out that people have enjoyed the stuff makes those contributions even more rewarding. To those of you who have played and enjoyed Saga: Thank you for supporting the game. You're the people who have, ultimately, allowed me to do the work I've done. If not for fans and gamers, publishers wouldn't need people like me to write for them.



That said, it wasn't entirely altruistic on my part. Ever since I decided I wanted to write RPG material, I'd always wanted to contribute to [i]Star Wars[/i]. I grew up on the OT; Hell, [i]Star Wars[/i] was the first movie I ever saw in the theater (when I was four years old, or thereabouts). Plus, it's not like I didn't get paid for my efforts.



Right now, given the recent twists and turns in my career (notice: I'm living in Massachusetts now), as well as the cancellation of Saga, I don't know what I'll be working on next in a freelance capacity. Hitching your wagon to a star always carries the risk of that star burning out.

[cczernia]

[quote="Barrier Peaks"]
Seeing the people, places, and things I wrote about (such as Point Nadir, Ord Vaxal, even Nyriaan [which, for the record, wasn't originally named "Nyriaan"]) become a part of the EU has been a great thrill.
[/quote]

Cool, we are running through Point Nadir in our current game. We just rescued Barin and our currently heading into the mines to find the McGuffin item (can never remember what it called). :mrgreen:

[jimmy corrigan]

hey, gary. sorry for the news. cczernia speaks true. i'm running a point nadir campaign and it's been an absolute blast. thanks for having written it! hey, you should move back to sunny san diego!

(side note: should i spare a few, or kill /all/ of the pc's in the end as the module suggests? ;D thanks again.)

[Barrier Peaks]

[quote="jimmy corrigan"](side note: should i spare a few, or kill /all/ of the pc's in the end as the module suggests? ;D thanks again.)[/quote]
Turn them all to the Dark Side, instead.

[cczernia]

[quote="jimmy corrigan"]
(side note: should i spare a few, or kill /all/ of the pc's in the end as the module suggests? ;D thanks again.)[/quote]

only spare the droids.

[devlin1]

[quote="Barrier Peaks"]Turn them all to the Dark Side, instead.[/quote]

Ben Kenobi Translation: "Murder" them.

[Barrier Peaks]

If you guys can post an actual play/recap of the scenario, I'd be interested to read it.

[cczernia]

Here you go:

http://terrorlake.com/pointnadir/index. ... =Main_Page

[Barrier Peaks]

Cool, guys. Keep me posted!

[jimmy corrigan]

hey barrier peaks, i finished the point nadir module for my guys last week. check out the updated wiki: http://terrorlake.com/pointnadir/

it was a hoot! i'm reading some other adventures you and your colleagues wrote (titles omitted for the benefit of my pc's) as possible campaign seeds. thanks for having written them!

[JustinStrife]

Bummer. Though I never got into the D20 system of Star Wars, I have many of the books my friends used when they started gaming 20 years ago with the D6 rule system. I played for 10 of those years and enjoyed it greatly. Guess I'll just have to dig them out if/when I have a family and my kids show interest in RPG's.

[devlin1]

[quote="JustinStrife"]Bummer. Though I never got into the D20 system of Star Wars, I have many of the books my friends used when they started gaming 20 years ago with the D6 rule system. I played for 10 of those years and enjoyed it greatly. Guess I'll just have to dig them out if/when I have a family and my kids show interest in RPG's. :cry:[/quote]

It may be a dead game, and therefore not worthy of being played, but in all seriousness it's also a really [i]great[/i] game. It could stand to have a revised corebook and, like, a "player's book" with all the races, feat, talents, prestige classes, and etc. from all of the other books, but still, it's pretty great and worth picking up.

[jimmy corrigan]

i would definitely second devlin1's recommendation.

and welcome to the boards, justinstrife!

[JustinStrife]

[quote="jimmy corrigan"]i would definitely second devlin1's recommendation.



and welcome to the boards, justinstrife![/quote]

Thank you for having me. The RPG itch has been getting at me the past 3 years so I finally decided to do some online searching to see what groups get together in San Diego. I can see there are a very large variety of games I've never even heard of so it could be fun times for me. :cheers:



And I'm never selling these Star Wars books. I had far too much fun with that game to give up those memories.

[cczernia]

[quote="JustinStrife"]Thank you for having me. The RPG itch has been getting at me the past 3 years so I finally decided to do some online searching to see what groups get together in San Diego. I can see there are a very large variety of games I've never even heard of so it could be fun times for me. :cheers:
[/quote]

Welcome to the boards. Keep you eye on the [url=http://rpg-sandiego.org/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=30]Hyphen-con threads[/url]. Our annual game day to help scratch the rpg itch. Also, check out these sites for more rpg goodness:



D&D meetup

[url]http://www.meetup.com/sd-dnd/[/url]



RPG meetup

[url]http://www.meetup.com/Role-Players-San-Diego/[/url]

[mordraine]

Welcome JustinStrife!

Admittedly, these boards have become fairly insular, so checking out the three things that cczernia suggested would be a good idea. But I hope you stick around and contribute!

[JustinStrife]

That's actually how I found out about this forum. Joined it about a week ago. Just need my schedule to clear up to hopefully start attending some events. Already been in contact with a young individual about playing some D&D 4th edition. Wish I had started looking sooner.

I wasn't quite sure what the hyper-con event was, but after doing some more reading on the forum I figured out it's definitely something I'm interested in.

[devlin1]

[quote="JustinStrife"]I wasn't quite sure what the hyper-con event was, but after doing some more reading on the forum I figured out it's definitely something I'm interested in.[/quote]

Technically, the full name is RPG-SanDiego.org All-Day One-Shot Game-...Day, but there were so many hyphens in that that we started calling it Hyphen-Con. And you should totally come check it out! It's a good place to meet some other local gamers (or local-ish gamers, in some cases) and play some kick-ass games.

[Barrier Peaks]

D6 Star Wars is still a great game, regardless of the years that have passed since it went out of print. The great thing is that a lot of the books are still available and, aside from a few, relatively inexpensive. I actually picked up the bulk of my D6 SW books at Game Empire many years ago; someone had liquidated their entire collection (including all of the Star Wars Adventure Journals), and I got all the books I needed for $3 to $6 apiece.

And even if you don't like D6, the books are a wonderful resource for a SW GM using any system.

Gary