Quote from: Scooter on August 05, 2023, 12:17:08 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on August 05, 2023, 12:09:08 PM

When media companies are scrambling to acquire IPs, I don't get why Hasbro is sitting on a goldmine in favor of mobile shovelware.

I think the answer to that lies within the same reasons they shot themselves in the head ~8 months ago.  YOU think logically.  Those in charge of WotC don't.  Or at least lack the Wis to correctly predict consequences.

You mean the whole OGL fiasco?
Nah, they weren't being stupid, just short-sighted. Knowing what we know now, with the direction they want to take OneDnD, it seems obvious they were only trying to secure the rights to their digital marketplace. It's why they finally relented and released the SRD5 to the public, but are otherwise going forward with the NuOGL. Their failure will be thinking they can successful monetize DnD in the way that they hope.

Quote from: Effete on August 05, 2023, 01:04:02 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on August 05, 2023, 11:36:34 AM
Transformers has an entire multiverse that is just being ignored. Hasbro has an IP perfect for a cinematic multiverse and they're not doing anything with it.

Same for Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

I'm skeptical if that's a good approach at this particular time. I think the general public are kinda jaded on the whole multiverse thing. Marvel's been milking that shit since End Game, and people are tuning out. It's always a bigger threat and then a BIGGER threat... people are craving a simple street-level conflict again, where the stakes are relateable. Like what Netflix Daredevil brought. I mean, when "the fate of the multiverse is at stake" for the umpteenth time, people check out. It just too big to properly get invested.

Maybe, down the road, they could introduce dimension hopping or something, but I honestly think a grassroots story grounded in something people can relate to is the better starting point.

Yeah, that's an issue. Which is why I wouldn't introduce multiverse-level threats or up the stakes at any point. These would be crossovers intended purely to advertise these IPs. I'm not gonna have Optimus Prime and Drizzt team up to fight the Dimensional Armageddon from d20 Future. I'd have Optimus and Drizzt team up to fight Megatron and Strahd. Or any other alliance of good versus an alliance of evil. Like that time when the power rangers fought an alliance of all their previous villains.

And Sliders was originally about 'verses of the week before the multiverse war storyline took over and killed it. You can totally use the multiverse without a multiverse war. That's the entire premise of Planescape. It's simply an opportunity to throw characters into any imaginable scenario for an episode without worrying about prior continuity.

Bumblebee visiting portals across Sigil a la Sliders won't turn into a multiverse war unless you force it to. And you have the Lady of Pain around to keep things from getting out of hand. Not only can she maze or eviscerate anything that enters Sigil, she can arbitrarily control the portals. If a horde of Klicks, Spanthi, or Terrorcons come through a portal, then she immediately closes it and mazes the invaders. You can use her as a deus ex machina to dispose of the villain of the week this way.

Yeah, Sigil acting as Bumblebee's homebase removes the constant uncertainty that Sliders has, but he's also a heroic autobot. If he encounters problems on these worlds, then he's compelled to do something about it.

If WOTC replaced Modrons with Transformers and converted The Great Modron March with that in mind i would break my boycott and buy it.  That sounds utterly bonkers and amazing. 

Money is safe though as we all know it will never happen.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on August 05, 2023, 01:27:19 PM
Bumblebee visiting portals across Sigil a la Sliders won't turn into a multiverse war unless you force it to. And you have the Lady of Pain around to keep things from getting out of hand. Not only can she maze or eviscerate anything that enters Sigil, she can arbitrarily control the portals. If a horde of Klicks, Spanthi, or Terrorcons come through a portal, then she immediately closes it and mazes the invaders. You can use her as a deus ex machina to dispose of the villain of the week this way.

Yeah, Sigil acting as Bumblebee's homebase removes the constant uncertainty that Sliders has, but he's also a heroic autobot. If he encounters problems on these worlds, then he's compelled to do something about it.

The geek in me is amused by this idea, especially if the show didn't really take itself too seriously. If it poked fun at multiverse stories, it might just be schlocky enough to work. However, the cynic (or realist) in me doubts it will have any mass appeal. The truth is, very few people outside of a handful of grognards even know what these franchises are. The OG Transformer fans just want freshened up G1; they'd scoff at this show. Even some old school gamers might get turned off, wondering why they didn't just make a show set in X world.

I mean, if the goal to is ignite interest in these old IPs in anticipation of a relaunched game, having Bumblebee be the hero-the-week is probably the worst way to do it. No offense, it's just that the takeaway from the show would seem to be that the heroes of these worlds are so ineffective, they need a giant yellow robot to save them.

Before Disney bought them, the MCU had an effective game plan: they introduced characters one at a time, got audiences invested, and THEN brought them all together. I would posit that a similar approach would be needed if Hasbro (or whoever) wanted to reboot these old IPs.

Quote from: Effete on August 05, 2023, 01:58:04 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on August 05, 2023, 01:27:19 PM
Bumblebee visiting portals across Sigil a la Sliders won't turn into a multiverse war unless you force it to. And you have the Lady of Pain around to keep things from getting out of hand. Not only can she maze or eviscerate anything that enters Sigil, she can arbitrarily control the portals. If a horde of Klicks, Spanthi, or Terrorcons come through a portal, then she immediately closes it and mazes the invaders. You can use her as a deus ex machina to dispose of the villain of the week this way.

Yeah, Sigil acting as Bumblebee's homebase removes the constant uncertainty that Sliders has, but he's also a heroic autobot. If he encounters problems on these worlds, then he's compelled to do something about it.

The geek in me is amused by this idea, especially if the show didn't really take itself too seriously. If it poked fun at multiverse stories, it might just be schlocky enough to work. However, the cynic (or realist) in me doubts it will have any mass appeal. The truth is, very few people outside of a handful of grognards even know what these franchises are. The OG Transformer fans just want freshened up G1; they'd scoff at this show. Even some old school gamers might get turned off, wondering why they didn't just make a show set in X world.

I mean, if the goal to is ignite interest in these old IPs in anticipation of a relaunched game, having Bumblebee be the hero-the-week is probably the worst way to do it. No offense, it's just that the takeaway from the show would seem to be that the heroes of these worlds are so ineffective, they need a giant yellow robot to save them.

Before Disney bought them, the MCU had an effective game plan: they introduced characters one at a time, got audiences invested, and THEN brought them all together. I would posit that a similar approach would be needed if Hasbro (or whoever) wanted to reboot these old IPs.

The problem is that most of these IPs don't have characters. They're rpg settings that you're supposed to play in. That's why my pitch is to make 20 minute adverts with Bumblebee thrown in justify it to the executives.

Honestly I think Hasbro should get fucked and lose the rights, because they're never doing anything with it. I was just spitballing.

In the absence of any reforms to copyright law that release abandoned IPs into the public domain so that fans can keep them alive, the only option is to make your own IPs recapturing the magic of those dead ones.

The trademarks are probably expired anyway.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on August 05, 2023, 02:38:54 PM
The problem is that most of these IPs don't have characters. They're rpg settings that you're supposed to play in. That's why my pitch is to make 20 minute adverts with Bumblebee thrown in justify it to the executives.

But if you're going to reboot the IP to be compatible with 5e, then you can always just create a few iconic characters. This is where an animated show can tie-in. Make a film or 4-5 episode series introducing some charismatic and likeable protagonists, then release it to coincide with the game's release. The show might detail the events leading up to the start of the game's timeline, so players who watched the show can then feel like they are continuing the saga.

Quote from: Effete on August 05, 2023, 01:04:02 PM

Maybe, down the road, they could introduce dimension hopping or something, but I honestly think a grassroots story grounded in something people can relate to is the better starting point.

An updated game like Top Secret could be good

Quote from: Scooter on August 04, 2023, 05:30:50 PM

Quote from: honeydipperdavid on August 02, 2023, 10:21:37 PM
One thing I suggest to guys here, most of us will tend towards older and tend to DM.  Make it a point to DM at your local hobby shop with a homebrewed 5E. 

FAR better yet.  Don't run ANY WotC crap.  Run PF or C&C or other modern D&D like games.

Pathfinder?  That's like saying, "I hate socialism, so I'm going to try out communism instead!"  Pathfinder is ground zero of stupid, woke, and derivative, lousy mechanics...

Quote from: Eirikrautha on August 05, 2023, 11:05:19 PM
Pathfinder?  That's like saying, "I hate socialism, so I'm going to try out communism instead!"  Pathfinder is ground zero of stupid, woke, and derivative, lousy mechanics...

I don't think you followed my reasoning. I am ONLY talking about the topic of this thread.  Which IS: making WotC impoverished.  Comprende?

Quote from: Scooter on August 05, 2023, 11:49:58 PM

Quote from: Eirikrautha on August 05, 2023, 11:05:19 PM
Pathfinder?  That's like saying, "I hate socialism, so I'm going to try out communism instead!"  Pathfinder is ground zero of stupid, woke, and derivative, lousy mechanics...

I don't think you followed my reasoning. I am ONLY talking about the topic of this thread.  Which IS: making WotC impoverished.  Comprende?

I don't think he cares. Nuance is become unacceptable these days.

Quote from: Effete on August 05, 2023, 01:22:14 PM
It's why they finally relented and released the SRD5 to the public, but are otherwise going forward with the NuOGL.

The SRD5 wasn't even the one that mattered, it was the 3.0/3.5 SRD that was the important one and they totally succeeded in deflecting attention from that. Everyone seemed content with the outcome.

Quote from: Thor's Nads on August 06, 2023, 04:47:28 AM

Quote from: Effete on August 05, 2023, 01:22:14 PM
It's why they finally relented and released the SRD5 to the public, but are otherwise going forward with the NuOGL.

The SRD5 wasn't even the one that mattered, it was the 3.0/3.5 SRD that was the important one and they totally succeeded in deflecting attention from that. Everyone seemed content with the outcome.

Yes, but fortunately the 3.x SRD cannot be f'ed with and Hasbro knew it originally.  They just tried to buffalo people. 

Quote from: Scooter on August 05, 2023, 11:49:58 PM

Quote from: Eirikrautha on August 05, 2023, 11:05:19 PM
Pathfinder?  That's like saying, "I hate socialism, so I'm going to try out communism instead!"  Pathfinder is ground zero of stupid, woke, and derivative, lousy mechanics...

I don't think you followed my reasoning. I am ONLY talking about the topic of this thread.  Which IS: making WotC impoverished.  Comprende?

Why are we "impoverishing WotC" in the first place?  And might Paizo deserve it just as much?  Most folks can hold more than one idea in their head at a time.  Comprende?

Quote from: Eirikrautha on August 06, 2023, 09:59:28 AM
Why are we "impoverishing WotC" in the first place?  And might Paizo deserve it just as much?  Most folks can hold more than one idea in their head at a time.  Comprende?

Pay attention to what they [WotC] did over the last 9 months or so.  What did Paizo do to deserve what WotC is getting?
One more intentionally obtuse question and to the ignore list you go.  Trolling indicates a mental illness.

Quote from: Scooter on August 06, 2023, 10:24:49 AM

Quote from: Eirikrautha on August 06, 2023, 09:59:28 AM
Why are we "impoverishing WotC" in the first place?  And might Paizo deserve it just as much?  Most folks can hold more than one idea in their head at a time.  Comprende?

Pay attention to what they [WotC] did over the last 9 months or so.  What did Paizo do to deserve what WotC is getting?
One more intentionally obtuse question and to the ignore list you go.  Trolling indicates a mental illness.

WotC did it over 9 months.  Paizo's been doing it for decades.  It adds up.

P.S.  Don't do me no favors...