| From: | Ereskanti@***.com Ereskanti@***.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Decipher + FASA |
| Date: | Sat, 24 Jul 1999 08:07:24 EDT |
bull@*******.net writes:
> It's been about 6 hours since I read this, and I talked about it with some
> of the guys on IRC, and I'm still not sure hoe to react.
Been more than that for me ...
> On one hand, FASA is being sold. And man, did this come out of the blue.
> I don't know what this will mean. Sure, at the moment it seems that the
> folks at FASA will retain control of their stuff, just being part of the
> larger whole, but... Will this last? What happens when later on Decipher
> decides that they want to do something different with Shadowrun than the SR
> crew does?
I'm focusing in more on Decipher. I wasn't even aware of the stuff that they
did in any complete form originally, now I'm getting a bit better picture
here. Interesting to say the least.
> On the other, if it's more of a merger, rather than a takeoever/buyout...
> It could be for the greater good. We have a company capable of putting out
> a card game that still sells. Of course, this means that the new SR CCG
> will have 4 versions of Argent and Stryper, and will feature cards like
> "Never trust a dragon"< Conserve Ammo", and a card for every other
cliched
> quote ever done in SR. :] But, by the same token, we have a company that
> has Miniatures, Card Games, Role Playing games, Board Games, and Novels all
> under their belt, and doing all of them successfully at the same time
> (hopefully). And we've potentially got a company that can take on WOTC and
> hold there own.
I agree here for the most part, but please understand, it is a Buyout of FASA
by Decipher. I can't find anything more solid than this on either website
(doesn't surprise me actually). I am hopeful it means FASA is going to be
something cool and generative, with a staying power unlike any of the others.
> That is, if they don;t become another WOTC.
I don't believe that will happen. For lack of better terms, they have WOTC
to look at as a template for screw-ups....
> One of the things that has turned me into the FASA Fanboy you see before
> you is that everyone at FASA is really cool. They're a bunch of gamers who
> don;t mind having lunch with some schmuck fanboys who stumbled across them
> at the food court during Gen Con. Hell, Mike even made us playtesters
> during that fateful exchange :]
IMO, that is because the people at FASA (at least to me) are vastly more
MATURE a group of people than those that once-upon-a-time would run TSR, and
seem to have a far better organizational structure than WotC itself.
Don't get me wrong, I still see FASA as a business, and one that is looking
for its' survivability. However, this also doesn't really surprise me. I
recall telling someone via email or AIM conversation, that Mort seemed like
he was someone wanting to get out of the gaming business, when I met him last
year. I don't know, it was just one of those gut instinct-calls I get when I
meet people (as I did last year).
> What happens if the corporate attitude takes them? In the early days,
> Magic was a lot of fun because everyone involved was having fun with it.
> Now it's a business. And while the business is still to let people have
> fun, it's also highly money driven. And anyone who's been doing it since
> the beginning can tell that the "magic" has gone ouit of it. It's a job
> for these guys now, not a hobby that's making money. That lots of poeple
> enjoy.
Actually Bull, the dynamics are more than that. Its' a business, sure. But
it's one where the "Magic" has to be kept in the eyes of the buying consumers
(which has a HUGE range of ages as far as many hobbies are concerned now).
It has always been a job for making money. It's the fact that many
companies, like TSR and even FASA, started out as a "Hobby Expanding Their
Ideals", and weren't able to understand or comprehend the overall dynamics of
the buying consumer base enough to really make some money at it.
> So here's hoping that the new FASA-Decipher merger becomes something good,
> and that they use their powers to benifit gamer-kind, rather than turning
> to evil :]
And one last thing, on a judgement of scale....it's a Decipher-FASA thing,
not the other way around...
-K (who has found his critical side at WAY too early a time of the day)
