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Post by gaptooth on Dec 3, 2021 21:26:00 GMT -5
Just wanted to mention this, since I haven't seen it here. It appears as though Webbed Sphere will have exclusive rights to Flying Buffalo's interest in T&T—but not Monsters! Monsters! Ken has said, "A new era has begun for me. My main game from now on will be Monsters! Monsters!"
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Post by stevemitchell on Dec 3, 2021 21:29:50 GMT -5
The implication being that Ken won't be involved (much) with Tunnels & Trolls going forward? That's too bad, if true. But, I really liked the new edition of Monsters! Monsters! and will be delighted to see anything Ken comes up with for that game.
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Post by gaptooth on Dec 3, 2021 23:10:01 GMT -5
Yes, that's the implication I got. There was some more detailed and dramatic conversation on the Facebook page recently indicating as much, but that got deleted.
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jeffb
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 66 
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Post by jeffb on Dec 4, 2021 14:14:19 GMT -5
How disappointing. I have zero use for MM (just not my taste), and was hoping to see Ken more involved with T&T proper and some new energy driven into the T&T & MSPE properties with new ownership.
So far, we have the opposite from the new owners- Zero energy, Zero contact with the fanbase, Zero mention of a business plan, and now this with Ken.
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quoghmyre
7th Level Troll
The Summer Troll
Posts: 1,048
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Post by quoghmyre on Dec 4, 2021 20:16:16 GMT -5
I'm sure there is more than 2 sides to this story. Maybe the reason we haven't heard anything is because there where additional negotiations going on and now it sounds like things Ken wanted didn't work out.
The sole reason T&T has lasted all these years is the Fans, Us! FBI and Ken gave T&T - Zero energy, Zero contact with the fanbase, Zero mention of a business plan for years.
It was the Fans @ Trollhalla who
got Ken re-engaged,
got the reprint of 5e, it had been out of stock for many years,
wrote v6 due to disinterest in publishing 5e,
v7 was going to be a boardgame until we wrote most of v7 and asked if it could be included,
dT&T was Fan funded.
We are the T&T community and I'm sure we will work to continue to promote and play T&T. Good luck with MM.
Let's keep the faith.
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jeffb
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 66
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Post by jeffb on Dec 5, 2021 9:58:58 GMT -5
I'm sure there is more than 2 sides to this story. Maybe the reason we haven't heard anything is because there where additional negotiations going on and now it sounds like things Ken wanted didn't work out. The sole reason T&T has lasted all these years is the Fans, Us! FBI and Ken gave T&T - Zero energy, Zero contact with the fanbase, Zero mention of a business plan for years. It was the Fans @ Trollhalla who got Ken re-engaged, got the reprint of 5e, it had been out of stock for many years, wrote v6 due to disinterest in publishing 5e, v7 was going to be a boardgame until we wrote most of v7 and asked if it could be included, dT&T was Fan funded. We are the T&T community and I'm sure we will work to continue to promote and play T&T. Good luck with MM. Let's keep the faith. I'm not concerned with what came before or who did what*. I'm specifically talking about the future of T&T/MSPE. *using the past as an excuse/roadmap for what is (not) going on at the present time with the new company is not something I can get onboard with either as a fan. |
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Post by ProfGremlin on Dec 5, 2021 16:07:55 GMT -5
In many ways, I see some parallels with what happened to Battletech back around the mid-aughts. IIRC - and I'll happily admit that I didn't follow the details all that closely as I wasn't playing the game at that point - WizKids bought the property from FASA(?), jumped the lore 70 years into the future and introduced a post-apocalyptic style of tech regression. Mechs were now similar to farming equipment given a Mad Max treatment. Add into that the boardgame now used completely different mechanics via WizKids Heroclix. The fanbase was - less than enthused. The fans ended up creating their own site for all the material and lore for the game they loved, now dubbed Classic Battletech. Sure, there were those who loved the new direction. All of which ended up with a clear polarization in the fanbase. Looking about now, it appears Catalyst Games currently owns the property and Classic Battletech is no longer a site. Can't speak to the game beyond a little clicking through of the site. Whether there is still a schism in the fanbase I truly couldn't even speculate. When you look at it from a zoomed out perspective, isn't that along the lines of what's happened here? We have a polarization in the fanbase: Classic T&T, ie. 5th ed, and Modern T&T, Deluxe. The dividing line for us is a bit more blurred, however. The various editions are largely compatible, with many snagging options from one edition to layer into their preferred edition, eg. Spite, Wiz, Spite Activated abilities, Speed, etc. The change of who owns the IP is concerning to many, primarily because we don't know this new company and we don't want a pastime we love to be changed by a newcomer with supposed authority to dictate how we're supposed to have fun. We all want new T&T products and lore but only if it doesn't change the status quo. There's the rub: we want new & more and simultaneously don't want things to change. That's a tough dichotomy to deliver on. I'm not going to make excuses for Webbed Sphere or whoever is now helming FBI (If there actually is anyone. I'm beginning to wonder if they're planning on holding off on any announcements until first-quarter of fiscal '22). They haven't been all that communicative which is rightfully concerning to the fans. As a personal note, I find it a really odd choice to provide absolutely no promotion of a newly acquired company during the holiday season. I'm not on social media, at all, but a quick glance at the links available on the FBI site lead to barren accounts created back in October. Can't see anything on Facebook without logging in so, perhaps someone who has such access could provide enlightenment there. If it hadn't been for us there wouldn't be any promotion. Without stefanj running the dT&T Twitter feed and zanshin & quoghmyre - backed by a host of writers and copy-editors - pulling TrollsZine! together there would be even less awareness of our beloved game. And that's the whole point of this, folks. Without the fans game companies cease to exist. Can't sell to the populace if they won't buy. But! And here's the interesting part, fans exist long after the company which created the product have faded away. We all know of properties that have been secured in some vault of a company that may or may not exist any longer. The fans are still there, hoping for a continuation or reboot. Melanie Rawn's Exiles series is one such. The fans have been waiting for more than 30 years for the third book of the trilogy but, due to personal circumstances surrounding the creation of book 2, it'll probably never happen. Which is sad but completely understandable. If you're a Browncoat, you probably know of various local events showcasing outdoor viewings of Firefly, the most cancelled show of 2002. We periodically hear of potential projects picking the series backup or possibly rebooting it only to hear shortly thereafter that it was a statement taken out of context from an old interview. If Ken turns his attention to Monsters! Monsters!, great. devadasi , aka Thessaly, has injected some great life into that property over the last couple of years. I still miss her posts here. Even if M!M! is not your cuppa, there's nothing saying we can't hold to our tradition of taking material from other games and using it for T&T. The fans and the communities we create are what make these properties so popular. So, whether Webbed Sphere/FBI step up and start communicating or not is ultimately irrelevant. We'll still be here and the Trollbridge will still keep the torches lit. |
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Post by gaptooth on Dec 5, 2021 17:10:25 GMT -5
I have no inside information. But I did witness an exchange on the DT&T Facebook page a few weeks ago. And that exchange seemed to indicate that the deal with Webbed Sphere was still in the oven at that time.
If that's the case, it doesn't surprise me at all that they would not talk about marketing or creative direction yet. I would be surprised if a company in in the middle of or wrapping up negotiations to buy an intellectual property started acting like they already own it.
Supposing they signed everything right after the exchange I witnessed, it still doesn't surprise me that they have been mostly quiet about it (as far as I know!).
It seems like their focus is retail, and that's demanding work, especially at this time of year in the middle of a supply chain crunch and labor shortage. In that context, who in their right mind would divert high-demand attention or energy to dream big about T&T and develop new T&T products?
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Post by stefanj on Dec 6, 2021 10:41:29 GMT -5
It seems like their focus is retail, and that's demanding work, especially at this time of year in the middle of a supply chain crunch and labor shortage. In that context, who in their right mind would divert high-demand attention or energy to dream big about T&T and develop new T&T products? I heard something along these lines. It is a very busy time for a retail-oriented company like Webbed Sphere. They want to get their toy and accessory holiday-season deals nailed down, and will concentrate on FBI stuff in the coming year.
The deal for FBI is done, and inventory picked up from the warehouse. I can speculate that Ken's Trollhalla is another business, and another deal to be worked out.
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5atbu
2nd Level Troll
Posts: 54
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Post by 5atbu on Dec 9, 2021 6:26:34 GMT -5
It might seem discouraging but this hardly counts as slow. Just enjoy your games.
That M!M! is a separate IP is quite fun news, Ken has a creative outlet and if WS do nothing, M!M! is close enough.
I doubt they will do nothing, but give them some time to mull over what they have and how to move forward.
One thing I can guarantee? Fans will moan and Fans will cheer, & Fans will keep the brand alive. (One way or another)
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sscrompton
4th Level Troll
One of the members of the Fellowship of the Troll. Worked on dT&T with Ken, Liz, Bear & Rick.
Posts: 411
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Post by sscrompton on Dec 30, 2021 0:34:59 GMT -5
We definitely have plans for new M!M! Material and are currently working on several projects, including something you have been begging us for for years. So stay tuned and stand by!
regards
Steve Crompton
Trollhalla Press Untd.
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