I'm just imagining the "RIFTS: Everything's the Same but the Typos that Have Been There Since 1980(or thereabouts) are Fixed" edition.

Quote from: jgants;469004Put me down for another vote of "Kev's exaggerating".

I don't think he's lying, mind you.  Or at least, he doesn't think he is.  Kevin's never been good at knowing when he's lying because he's not very self-aware and confuses how he thinks things should be with reality.

I'm guessing its more like someone wants the full rights to Rifts (really, the only property they actually own that's worth anything; I mean, I love some of the other lines, but they aren't very popular).

 It's not lying if it's not intentional.  If I was to buy Palladium/ Rifts, I would eliminate everything but Rifts/ Nightbane, eliminate all Rifts splats, make them non-canon, revamp the core book to be 2 books, one for setting, one for chargen, or eliminate the current system altogether. I would then take the titles I have eliminated, and slowly re-release them w/ a new system in place.

RIFTS is the only Intellectual Property worth a damn- and a lot of that has to do with the Coalition States.  I would expect any outside buyer to aim at using only those unique elements to build a film, television series, comic book or novel series, videogame franchise or similar media exploitation and junk the rest as being far too derivative to be marketable.  That includes damn near all of the not-Rifts stuff.  (Skryapers and Systems Failure might make the cut, but likely would not; Palladium Fantasy in D&D in drag, so no; Nightbane is nothing more than dark-theme supers, so no; Dead Reign is zombies, so no; Splicers is Guyver+Terminator+Dune, so not likely; Mechanoids, on their own, not likely but a better bet than the rest- but it's still "Berserkers+Daleks" and thus easily dismissed.)

I doubt it'd be Fantasy Flight Games. They already have a pretty full plate as partners with Games Workshop. Not to mention all the big IP's they have for board & card games.

Mongoose seems more reasonable, if anyone outside the video games industry.

Quote from: jgants;469004I'm guessing its more like someone wants the full rights to Rifts (really, the only property they actually own that's worth anything; I mean, I love some of the other lines, but they aren't very popular).

Well Palladium potentially has:
1) RIFTS. Let's face it, it's 99% certainty it's RIFTS.
2) Palladium Fantasy is just different, and more importantly established, fantasy setting. It would be a cheap version of D&D, with werewolves (Wolfen)!
3) Bill Coffin's work in both HU & PF. Both are settings, rather than the more generic fare generally produced.
4) Nightbane. Fits well for a dark, horroresque superhero flick, which is popular right now.
5) Splicers or Systems Failure. Not the most popular products, but both do have an interesting theme.
6) Mechanoids. If someone wants to lose more money on a sci-fi film (and I say that as a sci-fi fan; sci-fi's been tanking badly for the last decade).

Palladium can not sell Robotech or TMNT, as they don't own the IP.
(They currently license Robotech, and previously did with TMNT)

Ninja's and Superspies/Mystic China, After the Bomb, Beyond the Supernatural, and the more generic aspects of HU or PF? Not worth it.
(well, except maybe for the name: Heroes Unlimited.)

Well, since we're talking speculation...

I made a few comments over on RPGnet undera similar topic and those comments got me thinking. KS says "Gosh, the stories I could tell you. We have a big company eyeballing us right now. I suspect their offer will be very tempting. We’ll probably talk sometime after Gen Con. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to big business or making money. I would love to license our I.P.s to any number of companies and expand into new markets like videogames, comic books, toys, and, well everything. Time will tell."

It's just a 'big company'. I'm wondering if Exxodus Pictures is looking at picking up Palladium since they had already approached Palladium to do the Jinn RPG but KS turned it down. If they can grab Palladium up completely, then they'd have their own in-house, established RPG company to build on and they'd still be working withing their Michigan-based ideals. Not only would they be able to build their RPG, but they'd be able to help push Palladium's production since they seem to have a shitload of cash. They are focused on revitalizing Michigan's economy so... maybe? Maybe they'd start by licensing Rifts, Nightbane or any other IP from Palladium. Maybe they'd want to just take the company under its wing to ensure that it grows.

I really can't say. I'm not all that interested in Rifts or Palladium IPs these days so I am pretty underwhelmed in the idea of licensing a Palladium IP to do anything other than video games or comic book, but maybe I'm wrong and this 'big company' has big plans for PB.

According to Matt Sprange:

Quote from: Matt SprangeProject R**
A long running project for Mongoose, this is finally reaching a critical mass where it will go into full development. Already have the core rules and first miniatures done. Predicted release date is a few months after CTA: Star Fleet.

R**= Rifts, Robotech?  Sounds like they already had a license since they were working on core rules and miniatures are completed.  Maybe Matt got sick of Kevin and wants to buy the damn place.  Need for cash would explain jettisoning Runequest and possibly not rebidding on Conan.  Hard to believe KS wouldn't have let a rumor slip if there was a license already in place though.

Quote from: CRKrueger;469100. . . jettisoning Runequest

That's not quite accurate. They're getting rid of anything involved with the trade dress, yes. But all the mechanical stuff is getting updated(mostly just errata), repackaged, renamed, and re-released later this year. It's because of the release of Open Quest. They can keep releasing pretty much the same product and keep more of the profits for themselves instead of having to pay license fees.

Trouble is that even if Rifts is popular in the RPG world it's unheard of outside it.
If you wanted to make a Rifts like game becuase by its nature Rifts is loads of bits and peices mixed together you could just do that and there is no way KS could sue you because well its all just too cross culture pop reference stuff.

You want Nazis versus Aliens versus demon stuff then just make a film with em all in.

There are far more compelling IPs out there with this flavour from The Dark Tower to the Fantastic Journey to Amtrak Wars or just doing it yourself like Cowboys versus Aliens.

So I vote for exaggeration and keeping his name in print.

If someone could take the After the Bomb (Second Edition) game and marry it to a decent system I would love them forever. More importantly I would buy a copy of the game. Best mutant animal creation rules ever, tied to a craptastic rules set.

It seems that in any case, the "crisis of treachery" is momentarily past, and from what I've gathered the company has received a (temporary) influx of cash from a combination of another payment from bruckheimer for the rifts movie option, and some money from the settlement against the "Rift:plains of telara" MMO game.

RPGPundit

Can somebody link to Kevin saying he'd sell Palladium?

All I saw is him saying that potential non-RPG licensees have come calling.  That would have nothing to do with the RPGs, just using the IP for other stuff.

Quote from: RPGPundit;469322Rift:plains

classic

Quote from: Spinachcat;469340Can somebody link to Kevin saying he'd sell Palladium?

Kevin didn't say he'd sell (quite the opposite, actually), but that others had inquired about purchasing Palladium in total or in part, not just licensing.

Quote from: July 14th Weekly UpdateOver the last year I have turned down offers from people looking to either buy Palladium Books or to buy a piece of the company.

The owner of Palladium is being a Drama King again?

In other news, the sky is still blue and water is still wet.