| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| The Arcanamach |
Posted - 17 Aug 2016 : 14:26:51
Okay maybe I should have done a search but I'm a bit alarmed by a rumor going around on the net: Does anyone know if Wizbro is cancelling their novel lines in the near future? |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Irennan |
Posted - 03 Dec 2016 : 19:59:29
quote:
Originally posted by Gyor
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
I think that if Ed's new stories that he's publishing through the DMGuild prove to be successful, then maybe WotC will start to grant other authors the possibility to release stories and/or novels too. I mean, they got excited when Ed published his story, to the point that they are letting him publish an expanded version of it, as official lore. Maybe digital books through the DMGuild wil be the future of Realms novels?
Where did you hear that they're going to allow him to do an official expanded verison?
He said that. http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?whichpage=2&TOPIC_ID=21373#489541 |
| Gyor |
Posted - 03 Dec 2016 : 19:34:15
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
I think that if Ed's new stories that he's publishing through the DMGuild prove to be successful, then maybe WotC will start to grant other authors the possibility to release stories and/or novels too. I mean, they got excited when Ed published his story, to the point that they are letting him publish an expanded version of it, as official lore. Maybe digital books through the DMGuild wil be the future of Realms novels?
Where did you hear that they're going to allow him to do an official expanded verison? |
| Irennan |
Posted - 03 Dec 2016 : 16:51:17
I think that if Ed's new stories that he's publishing through the DMGuild prove to be successful, then maybe WotC will start to grant other authors the possibility to release stories and/or novels too. I mean, they got excited when Ed published his story, to the point that they are letting him publish an expanded version of it, as official lore. Maybe digital books through the DMGuild wil be the future of Realms novels? |
| CorellonsDevout |
Posted - 03 Dec 2016 : 16:31:59
I would read the Sundering series if you haven't already, and the Sword Coast Adventure's Guide is the 5e equivalent of a campaign guide. It's not as detailed as they have been in the past, but it updates you.
I know what your mean though. I am 27 and the thought of the novel line ending is sad. |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 03 Dec 2016 : 08:51:16
Sounds like you work for ReyRey |
| Naeryndam |
Posted - 03 Dec 2016 : 06:41:13
I've been working on some things career-wise (freaking real life... sigh) and geez, you step away for a year and the whole world literally comes crashing down...
I'm 28 and if the novels really are ending, that's very sad to me. They've been a constant my entire life and even if they aren't masterpieces of literature, I always found them enjoyable and a fun read. They've always been "there".
I have a few thoughts on this based on what I've read/heard/seen recently:
First of all, I don't think WOTC ever officially announced the ending of any line of books that I can remember. I may be wrong about that, but I don't remember any official announcement to Ravenloft or Dark Sun. Was there one with Dragonlance?
Secondly, it's really felt like the end for some time now. I was thrilled to hear about The Sundering "correcting" things and I looked forward to new heroes. But over the past few years I've felt that they've slowed down in producing new material and in producing new novels. I read somewhere about Hasbro not feeling the line was profitable and the downsizing (er... "reorganization") of the DnD team could be Hasbro just feeling that it's a money pit. I haven't seen any statistics on this so I'm just speculating. There has never been a time in my life where I can remember so little happening with FR. Now that could just be my age, but since the mid-90's there's always been something and now there really isn't, that's telling to me.
Now it could be they are just rebooting, but this doesn't feel like a reboot. It feels like what happened when the corporation I work for decided to gradually wind down one of their less-profitable divisions, downsizing and gradually ending one process after another, all the while insisting nothing was changing, until one day 3-4 years later there was so little left that when they laid off the remaining people and stopped remaining services, barely anyone even noticed or cared. By doing what they're doing, they aren't generating any new interest in FR, so a reboot seems unlikely. Unless FR films come out and they restart everything or they have some major new reboot in the works, this really may be the end. At least for the foreseeable future.
I hope I'm overreacting, but I don't see much to be excited about right now.
Another thing that is possible is for the pricetag on the DnD brand to drop enough that another corporation tries to purchase them from Hasbro.
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 21 Nov 2016 : 10:48:38
quote:
Originally posted by CylverSaber
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
Ed is guaranteed involvment 1 FR product per year, not necessarily a novel. And the lore and short stories that he will publish through the DMGuild might count towards it.
It's a clause in his contract with TSR and WotC, the other one being that all that he says about the Realms is official (unless WotC says that it isn't).
That makes more sense. I don't know why people keep insisting it has to be a novel. It would make no sense for TSR to have agreed to such a contract, given that FR is primarily a game setting.
Except for the facts that at the time, they were heavily into novels, novels were more profitable, and Ed created the Realms as a place to tell stories -- the Realms predates D&D. |
| Caolin |
Posted - 21 Nov 2016 : 06:29:47
I think it's quite obvious what Stormtalons is. Ed has flirted with other IP now and then in the past. But this is a full blown push for another game setting. It's a real shame for Realms fans, but I'm excited for him. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 20 Nov 2016 : 20:40:43
However, they WERE heavily pushing the novel aspect of FR (and parts of the rest of their D&D line), at that time, so it may have made sense back then.
I believe the 'spirit' of the contract was for novels, but what the exact wordage of said legal document was, I could not say. Whatever that wording was, when he bagan his partnership with them, they were indeed giving him a 'novel per year'. That is no longer the case (so we are now down to the 'letter of the contract', rather than the 'spirit of').
And I actually had a conversation about exactly this subject with Ed about a year and a half ago, in a meeting. And YES, Stormtalons was meant to be - in part - a way of 'quietly slipping out the back door', should things go sour with WotC/Hasbro. I suppose I am still under NDA to discuss Stormtalons, but that was more along the lines of me asking him a personal question, so I suspect its okay.
And I still wish him and everyone else involved with that project the best of luck. 
EDIT: Mayhap I worded that badly - Stormtalons was just another way of "not putting all your eggs in one basket". Thats closer to the situation. Sorry. |
| CylverSaber |
Posted - 20 Nov 2016 : 19:56:18
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
Ed is guaranteed involvment 1 FR product per year, not necessarily a novel. And the lore and short stories that he will publish through the DMGuild might count towards it.
It's a clause in his contract with TSR and WotC, the other one being that all that he says about the Realms is official (unless WotC says that it isn't).
That makes more sense. I don't know why people keep insisting it has to be a novel. It would make no sense for TSR to have agreed to such a contract, given that FR is primarily a game setting. |
| Irennan |
Posted - 20 Nov 2016 : 19:33:33
Ed is guaranteed involvement in 1 FR product per year, not necessarily a novel. And the lore and short stories that he will publish through the DMGuild might count towards it.
It's a clause in his contract with TSR and WotC, the other one being that all that he says about the Realms is official (unless WotC says that it isn't). |
| CylverSaber |
Posted - 20 Nov 2016 : 19:29:02
What is the source of this claim that Ed is guaranteed one novel per year? I haven't seen any. |
| Mirtek |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 23:48:40
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
If novels are profitable, then there is no benefit to ending that profit stream. If you spend the money that would go to novels elsewhere, you're not making that profit.
On the other hand, the profit from novels could be spent elsewhere.
So again: there's no benefit to doing away with a profit.
Being profitable is not enough, it needs to be more profitable than the alternative. If any Dollar spend on Novels yields 15 cent profit while any Dollar spend on something else yields 17 cent profit, then no Dollars will go into novels. Unless all alternatives are already at max capacity and you can't put any more Dollars into them right now.
quote:
Originally posted by Mirtek
quote:
Originally posted by Mirtek
or from losing the IP to Ed per the original contract, either.
which can be avoided by fullfilling the bar minimum in their end. Would ed fight a years long lawsuit over whether one DM guild project per year is enough to meet their obligation?
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
The original deal wasn't for a DM's Guild project. There wasn't even a web presence then, or even the thought of one. The original deal was for Ed to do a novel.
Was it a novel or an FR supplement? And whether DM Guild would fullfill that would be a question lawyers could certainly argue in front of a court for years
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Do you really think any company answerable to shareholders and wanting to stay in business is going to choose lawsuits and lost profits instead of making a profit?
Especially a company answerable to shareholders needs to answer why money was spend on project X rather than the more profitable project Y |
| Caolin |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 23:45:57
I've said it before on this thread. The fact that Ed has been constantly pushing his new Stormtalons setting for the past year is VERY telling. Some might read into his differently. But to me, this speaks volumes about which direction the Realms is going.....which isn't in a good direction. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 19:57:37
#1, what constitutes a 'novel' is debatable - it could just boil down to 'any written work'.
They could contract him to write an article a year (and maybe not even use it), and that could be construed as 'fulfilling their obligations'.
Now, we (and Ed) could argue that that may be following the letter of the agreement, but NOT the spirit of it, which is a very hazy thing in a court of law... a court of law governed by ruthless lawyers hired by very rich corporations.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that the company Ed signed a deal with was 'two companies ago', and the new one could have little to no interest in following that agreement, and they could easily get away with that (because who is going to finance an expensive legal battle for a floundering IP against insurmountable odds (in another country!) that at the end of the day, in all probability, they would lose anyway.
Now, why would they cancel something that is 'profitable'? That word is another grey area, one that changes depending on the size of the examining body. To you or my, something that makes an extra 20-30K a year is a windfall. To a small company like TSR, its part of a 'steady stream of cash', to WotC, barely chicken scratch. To a company the size of Hasbro, its completely beneath their notice, or desire to pursue. They want to stamp-out 'toys' that they can put on a shelf at Christmas, with minimal thought or effort, with no worries about 'continuity' or any other headaches of that nature, that they can 'mark up' 2000-3000% over cost. In other words, 'the quick, easy buck'. Their WotC branch has been dipping into the 'boutique' market of boardgames, which are pricey to offset their much lower sales. We'll see how long even that lasts. I think they only keep their hand in that pie because they can't stand the idea there is a niche they are not in control of (over the years they've gotten hold of thousands of brands, IPs, and small companies, just to 'shelf' them), and that others could make money on (which means less money being spent on their mass-produced drivel, in their minds).
I've worked for large corporations (for a brief period), and I see the insane short-sightedness of it all. They aren't in it 'for the long haul', they just want to know the bottom line at the end of the next fiscal quarter. And they will cut their own foot off to lower that bottom line. Hence, 4e D&D. That wasn't made for the fans, that was made to please 'the brass'. Thats about all we can expect from Hasbro from now on - just look at the complete lack of detail in current 5e products. There is NO POINT in wrapping novels around that schlock. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 18:53:13
quote:
Originally posted by Mirtek
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
There is no benefit to not having the income from novels
There is. The income from whatever else they are spending the former novels effort for.
If novels are profitable, then there is no benefit to ending that profit stream. If you spend the money that would go to novels elsewhere, you're not making that profit.
On the other hand, the profit from novels could be spent elsewhere.
So again: there's no benefit to doing away with a profit.
quote:
Originally posted by Mirtek
quote:
Originally posted by Mirtek
or from losing the IP to Ed per the original contract, either.
which can be avoided by fullfilling the bar minimum in their end. Would ed fight a years long lawsuit over whether one DM guild project per year is enough to meet their obligation?
The original deal wasn't for a DM's Guild project. There wasn't even a web presence then, or even the thought of one. The original deal was for Ed to do a novel.
So if they keep that deal, then the novel line is not ended.
Here's their options: they keep publishing novels, and get a profit from that. Or they decide not to make a profit, and spend money on an easily avoidable legal battle.
Do you really think any company answerable to shareholders and wanting to stay in business is going to choose lawsuits and lost profits instead of making a profit? |
| CylverSaber |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 18:37:15
I think it's far more plausible, as several have stated, that Ed is contracted for one FR product per year, rather than specifically novels. I suppose that debate will be settled if we go all of 2017 without a novel from Ed, but I'd rather be wrong. |
| Mirtek |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 13:52:55
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
There is no benefit to not having the income from novels
There is. The income from whatever else they are spending the former novels effort for.
quote:
or from losing the IP to Ed per the original contract, either.
which can be avoided by fullfilling the bar minimum in their end. Would ed fight a years long lawsuit over whether one DM guild project per year is enough to meet their obligation?
I agree that There won't be an announcement. What for? They just won't publish novels and that's all. No need to state anything to anyone. It's not as if there's some novels factory they have to close down, it's just something they do vor don't.
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 13:34:35
quote:
Originally posted by CylverSaber
There isn't going to be an official announcement. There's no benefit to doing so.
There is no benefit to not having the income from novels or from losing the IP to Ed per the original contract, either. |
| CylverSaber |
Posted - 17 Nov 2016 : 05:58:36
There isn't going to be an official announcement. There's no benefit to doing so. |
| Gareth |
Posted - 16 Nov 2016 : 13:14:37
I've tried to stay positive over the future of the novel line, and I still am that there is a glimmer of hope going forwards.
Granted, as far as we are aware, no new contracts have been signed, with RAS, EME, and EG's come to an end. The thing is, I still hold to the hope that the reason we have heard nothing and "they have nothing to announce at this time", is that future contracts are still in negotiation.
I could be talking out my bum, but I still have a hope, especially with next year being 30 years since the OGB, that its not all over. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 16 Nov 2016 : 10:16:55
From another thread, emphasis mine...
quote:
Originally posted by Gyor
I talked to Matt Sernett who confirmed this Cat Lord is the same Cat Lord from the original MM II, the guy from the Beastlands.
I also just listened to the Gamehole panel. Races in the book were designed to be very distint racial stereotypes.
Novel line hasn't been officially ended, but they have nothing to announce at this time.
|
| shoracthegold |
Posted - 16 Nov 2016 : 04:30:49
No confirmation yet I think people are holding out hope that with the films in the pipe we will get a reboot. |
| Sothron |
Posted - 16 Nov 2016 : 04:00:11
So has Wotc finally confirmed no more novels yet? |
| Mirtek |
Posted - 30 Oct 2016 : 20:26:55
I have the impression he just dislikes the whole D&D afterlive and just ignores it as much as he can to do his own thin. |
| CorellonsDevout |
Posted - 30 Oct 2016 : 14:21:36
I like RAS' books, but there are a lot of lore inconsistencies (or he ignores them completely). He isn't the only author to have done so from time to time (such can happen in a shared world), but those issues do stand out when I read them. |
| Irennan |
Posted - 30 Oct 2016 : 13:18:13
quote:
Originally posted by Spoon
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
Besides, RAS kinda does his own thing, ignoring important parts of FR lore (to the point of glaring mistakes)
Can you elaborate on this further please?
That statement was prompted by a couple puzzling things that appear in his latest books. For exmple, Shade crashing in the region of the Anauroch (while Shade destroyed Myth Drannor with its fall, and it was the culminating event of another novel), or a rather weird use of the Faerzress to expalain why the demons didn't roam the surface (see: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20906&whichpage=6). But, in his defense, the lore about the Faerzress had already been warped in other novels towards the end of 3e (although I guess it could be dismissed as speculation by some characters), so it's not the first time that someone changes it. |
| Spoon |
Posted - 30 Oct 2016 : 07:31:24
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
Besides, RAS kinda does his own thing, ignoring important parts of FR lore (to the point of glaring mistakes)
Can you elaborate on this further please? |
| shoracthegold |
Posted - 27 Oct 2016 : 05:40:58
I'm hoping against hope that the upcoming movie (given the resurgence of the popularity of the genera ) that they will reboot and roll out books again. I think that if the movie does well that they realize that the books are an asset and prove profitable. |
| Petra_W |
Posted - 27 Oct 2016 : 02:02:24
I was just wondering: How about they move at least to the ebook segment. No more printed books for a while, but at least ebooks? Maybe in the DMG from hobby writers that have fun and get a little money this way. Like the adventures in DMG. Dont have to be a whole ebook, some virtual short stories are ok for me too. |
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