There's Got To Be A Morning After

[Wheel Shield]

This post is tangentially about John Wick's departure and for importantly the future of 7th Sea. A real quick anecdote first. I had the opening lyric of this song by Maureen McGovern in my head, because you know? A RPG product line has to have "a morning after" it's developer is "laid off," as Mr. Wick describes himself (note Chaosium didn't discuss it other than to state he was no longer with the company). But to think to myself, "Where does that song even come from? I don't want to reference a romantic break-up song.. nobody else will get the joke."

And then I Google it and it's featured in the 1972 movie The Poseidon Adventure. You know? That movie about a bunch of people trying to escape a sinking ship, a deluxe luxury liner... Eventually it got an Academy Award for Best Song? it's supposed to be a hopeful song, presumably when some of the cast manages to survive. Game about pirates and adventure, sinking ships, people escaping, hope for a new dawn? Get it? Well, I thought it was amusing.

I'm not going to discuss Mr. Wick or his circumstances, nor am I going to ask any questions. Mr. Wick says he was laid off. Chaosium says he is no longer with the company and they wish him well. I don't need to speculate any further. I don't encourage others to do so either, but it bears referencing because of what it means for the game and the license.

This game never lived up to its potential or promise. I know some folks did enjoy it as is. I don't refute their good, personal experiences, and I'm happy for them.

That said, I do wonder what the future is for this game? 

An awful lot of lore has been published for it. Maybe an alternative set of rules could be crafted which could use the lore and setting material from Second Edition. Good use of the BRP? Then, maybe years down the line, new source books could phase out the existing ones? For the time being a rulebook to make for a traditional RPG experience with the setting material now available.

Just thinking out loud.

That Crazy Wheel Shield

Edited November 7, 2023 by Wheel Shield

[Grumpy Gnome]

It is sad to see a creator move on, whatever the reason. And it is likely too personal to share publicly otherwise it would have been announced months ago?

However, as a customer that has spent hundreds of dollars on 7th Sea 2nd Edition books I have been increasingly frustrated with the lack of communication regarding the continuation of this intellectual property. 

I am respectfully pleading with the folks at Chaosium to have more transparency regarding their plans for the future of 7th Sea. The management of the Kickstarter (which I am not a part of) has been painful to watch from the outside, I can only imagine how it must feel for backers.

There is so much that is brilliant with the 7th Sea 2nd Edition. The artwork. The consideration for contemporary diversity in the world building. So much potential. 

And yet still several physical books and maps still unavailable. 

Chaosium… please help a Gnome out and let us all know what is going on.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Grumpy Gnome

[Wheel Shield]

On the serious side, I was a Kickstarter backer. I was "all in" for digital products, and for that reason I don't feel seriously burned. I got quite a number of PDFs for what I paid.

My first post was a little tongue-in-cheek, that's just who I am, but I do sincerely hope this situation and this game can be rehabilitated. As Grumpy Gnome says, there is a lot that is commendable about it.

[Grey]

I can’t help hoping for a Quest worlds sourcebook for the setting for those of us like me who love the setting but bounced hard off the system (or a streamlined BRP like Lords of the Middle Sea appears to be could also work). Just an option for alternative rules for those who want it, with a setting focused on the original Theah continent (plus pirates 🏴‍☠️) plus can mine the other sourcebooks if wanted to expand the world, and keeping the 2e as the main base for those who like the current rules.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Grey

[CoopThePanda]

I feel like this game is dead now. I can't get a response from anyone at Chaosium about its future, and there are no signs of any future sourcebooks in hardcopy. A shame, given how much work & love the various authors poured into it.

[g33k]

On 1/2/2024 at 5:03 PM, CoopThePanda said:

I feel like this game is dead now. I can't get a response from anyone at Chaosium about its future, and there are no signs of any future sourcebooks in hardcopy. A shame, given how much work & love the various authors poured into it.

Honestly, it feels like it's too soon to call it "dead."
These things take time.

Should the line be continued in an evolutionary way... expanding the 2e offerings, or tweaking the rules to a V2.1 or V2.5 or V3 revision?
Should it be ported to BRP (likely borrowing from LotMS and/or Blood Tide)?
Should it become a setting for QuestWorlds?
Do these even have to be mutually-exclusive??!?

I would expect all this to take rather more more than a month or two!

In the end, Chaosium is going to be looking long and hard at the sales numbers, at lessons learned and at what they can reasonably project into the future.

On the optimistic side, here:  I presume they took a good hard look at JWP's numbers before stepping in to rescue that KS, and similarly presume they thought they could make a reasonable stab at it, then.  No idea what their experience has been, since then.

(n.b. I am not Chaosium; I do not have any inside info.  I speculate, as fans do)