What's up with Traveller IP

[ottarrus]

I mean, based on how it looks for an IP with them gaining all the legacy material, and maybe later start releasing older non traveller lines from GDW (Dark Conspiracy, and TW2000), the real clincher would be acquiring the DGP assets, but that would require dark sacrifices and straight up witchcraft or maybe the second coming itself

Not entirely true, VP.
1. Twilight 2000 has a new edition out, published by Free League. It's a pretty good version, but the mechanics are nothing like any GDW edition. I backed the KS on it and I actually like it.
2. Much of the DGP material has already been republished by Mongoose. The current owner of the rights was alright with large amounts of the content of DGP material being published, but withheld the reprinting rights and certain character names, etc. For example, the Rok Thokken Vargr subculture, virtually everything Mongoose has published about the Vilani, the Aslan Cultural Wars, much of Deneb Sector, etc. all that was originally done up by Fugate, Peters and Co. We'll probably not see AB-101, Laagir and party reprinted, but a significant amount of DGP's much missed contribution lives on.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Now there's a thought, Dark Conspiracy with MgT rules...
Merc2030 could replace the twilight itch.

 

[Limpin Legin]

Now there's a thought, Dark Conspiracy with MgT rules...
Merc2030 could replace the twilight itch.

Oh wow! That would be the way to go!

 

[ottarrus]

Then why not just go with the 2300AD setting?
It's already in print, it has all the 'nationalist' rules, it has all the gear broken down into manufacturers instead of the OTUs generic items....
And where there's folks that don't like the 2300AD setting, I never fell in love with Dark Conspiracy myself. It felt too much like a Call of Cthulhu clone to me. YMMV and all that, but that's where I came down on it.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Merc2000 (I would make it 2030) is not a sci fi game like T2300, it is modern spec op/covert op/espionage.

Mission Impossible, The Expendables, The Equalizer, John Wick...

As to Dark Conspiracy it is so much more than Call of Cthulhu (plus you could have optional rules for crossover with M2000, T2300, TTI.

 

[ottarrus]

Merc2000 (I would make it 2030) is not a sci fi game like T2300, it is modern spec op/covert op/espionage.

Mission Impossible, The Expendables, The Equalizer, John Wick...

As to Dark Conspiracy it is so much more than Call of Cthulhu (plus you could have optional rules for crossover with M2000, T2300, TTI.

So... a cosmic threat from beyond reality destroying humanity for its own eldritch purposes isn't a CoC clone? That is the premise of Dark Conspiracy isn't it?
And there is all kinds of crossover with Call of Cthulhu too. BRP, Runequest, etc. And I can do all the Gun Fu franchises with BRP as well. While Glorantha is certainly a difficult world to drop a John Wick into, that's because of the uniqueness of the milieu, not the mechanics of the rules.
Don't get me wrong... if Dark Conspiracy is your thing, mazel tov! I'm just not a fan that's all.

 

[MarkAlexander]

I'm not TBH. It surely was a purely business, a legacy, move. To secure the future of Traveller and keep it in the right caretaking hands for the decades to come. God forbid some gaming corporate conglomerate come snap it up later (hopefully much of course), perhaps from Miller's heirs for a one time check. Self-aggrandizement comes easy to some, or is necessary to their fragile psyches, others just quietly go about their business and let that speak for them. That seems to fit Mongoose pretty well I'd say. We know they got the IP... what else needs to be said or announced.

Has anything really changed since they took over. I haven't noticed any real kind of change due to now having the IP. Has there?? Well other than the obvious positive ones like overall quality which surely had nothing to do with that.

In short nothing has changed. So why announce anything. Why not announce though?? What I have noticed however is there seems to be some hate out there for Mongoose. I saw a reddit thread from some time back where this was discussed and man OH MAN are there some angry, bitter and spiteful people out there. Never knew Matt and Mongoose were in the business of shattering domestic bliss as you might think considering the vitriol thrown at him and the company by some in the Traveller community.

I can't understand that. Mongoose do a brilliant job and produce top quality books. It's not like Hasbro owning D&D or the conflict at the top in Chaosium. Or just the chaos at Chaosium.

 

[ottarrus]

I can't understand that. Mongoose do a brilliant job and produce top quality books. It's not like Hasbro owning D&D or the conflict at the top in Chaosium. Or just the chaos at Chaosium.

What chaos at Chaosium? I'm a huge RQ fan and keep up with the company news and the only real issue has been the shipping log jam. And that's largely cleared up.

 

[MarkAlexander]

What chaos at Chaosium? I'm a huge RQ fan and keep up with the company news and the only real issue has been the shipping log jam. And that's largely cleared up.

It's just the de-centralised structure of the company. I'm really talking about Call of Cthulhu here. I think decades of using free-lancers has led to a situation where some writers make decisions that should be more board-level with lawyers involved. It leads to different factions and a lack of an "official" company line. It makes life difficult for anyone who wants to write for them. I'm not going to name names, because I've been told things that really should've stayed on the inside. I'm pleased it's not my company. Sorry if this all sounds a bit cryptic.

 

[ottarrus]

It's just the de-centralised structure of the company. I'm really talking about Call of Cthulhu here. I think decades of using free-lancers has led to a situation where some writers make decisions that should be more board-level with lawyers involved. It leads to different factions and a lack of an "official" company line. It makes life difficult for anyone who wants to write for them. I'm not going to name names, because I've been told things that really should've stayed on the inside. I'm pleased it's not my company. Sorry if this all sounds a bit cryptic.

No worries. Chaosium is essentially two semi-independent IP groups, the RQ group and the CoC group. Both of them have their poo-bahs who run things for that IP and both of them have a certain territoriality aspect.
OTOH, the two halves work pretty well together and have successfully dug the company out of looming death.
And while the RQ side of things has a pretty active and ongoing community content program, I'm unaware of any similar effort on the CoC side. That would naturally make writing for them harder than it needs to be.

 

[MarkAlexander]

No worries. Chaosium is essentially two semi-independent IP groups, the RQ group and the CoC group. Both of them have their poo-bahs who run things for that IP and both of them have a certain territoriality aspect.
OTOH, the two halves work pretty well together and have successfully dug the company out of looming death.
And while the RQ side of things has a pretty active and ongoing community content program, I'm unaware of any similar effort on the CoC side. That would naturally make writing for them harder than it needs to be.

Interesting. I tried the latest version of RQ, but gave up, it was just too complicated for me. I will continue with D&D and Jackals from Osprey Games, when I fancy some sword and sandals, bronze age adventure.

 

[Limpin Legin]

Then why not just go with the 2300AD setting?
It's already in print, it has all the 'nationalist' rules,

Is it just me? I see 2300AD as a gritty early space exploration/humanity type game, rather that a futuristic merc/military/creature hunter type thing.

 

[Ewan]

Merc 2030 I would buy in a heartbeat and would make an excellent Kickstarter with different regions of the world released as stretchgoals.

 

[Terry Mixon]

In another thread, someone asked "Do these versions [the classic Traveller books now available on this site] differ in any way from the ones that are on the Classic Traveller CD?"

MongooseMatt replied: "By and large, yes, but we are starting to make some additions/changes/tweaks."

So, not only are they hosting these materials, but they are changing them. That's more than an agreement to sell something. It adds some weight to the theory that they either now have the IP themselves or are working on getting it.

 

[ottarrus]

Interesting. I tried the latest version of RQ, but gave up, it was just too complicated for me. I will continue with D&D and Jackals from Osprey Games, when I fancy some sword and sandals, bronze age adventure.

I'm a big fan of d100 /BRP /CoC /RQ. They just make more sense to me than a class based game.
YMMV of course.

 

[ottarrus]

Is it just me? I see 2300AD as a gritty early space exploration/humanity type game, rather that a futuristic merc/military/creature hunter type thing.

It very much is all that, but it's got the tools within the 2d6 system to be adapted to a 'gun fu' setting. You got biological implants, high-speed /low-drag guns, cybernetics, the whole litany. It would be simple to excise star travel out of it altogether and go 'Blade Runner' with it, for example.

 

[Bense]

There's that official announcement. Marc just announced to COTI members that yes indeed, he turned the Traveller IP over to Mongoose earlier this year

 

[Sigtrygg]

I have seen no such announcement.
is it hidden behind the moot paywall?

 

[Terry Mixon]

There's that official announcement. Marc just announced to COTI members that yes indeed, he turned the Traveller IP over to Mongoose earlier this year

This is great news. Could you share a link?

 

[Sigtrygg]

It just hit my email inbox...