MOB Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 (edited) Chaosium announces end of Magic World product line Chaosium has no plans to do anything further with the "Magic World" product line, it was announced today. Magic World, published in 2012, was a reworking of earlier Chaosium RPG rules based on the Basic Roleplaying engine including Elric!, The Bronze Grimoire, RuneQuest Third Edition, and Sailing on the Seas of Fate. Statement by Jeff Richard, Chaosium Creative Director: "Chaosium is a small company with two main product lines: Call of Cthulhu and the Glorantha setting (HeroQuest, RuneQuest, 13G, etc). Anything else needs to be carefully chosen - it either needs to be something we think can financially support itself or be something we internally have a great artistic desire to produce. Unfortunately, Magic World does not fit into either category. We are far more interested in projects that push the artistic and creative envelopes than generic fantasy projects. That being said, we know that Magic World has a small but devoted following, and we have no issue with Magic World continuing on as licensed/fan-produced product. And we will continue to sell existing Magic World releases at chaosium.com and DriveThruRPG. We have written to authors working on speculative Magic World projects advising them of this decision." Edited August 15, 2016 by MOB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skenderax Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 I don't like this news :-(. I played dozen quests with Magic World rules. They are nice :-(... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrippyHippy Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Not that much of a surprise, to be honest. Shame about the redundant old Elric/Stormbringer material though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nclarke Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Glad I picked up a copy of Stormbringer at Continuum's Bring and Buy/Flea market this weekend must have ahsd an inkling of that announcement. Quote Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smiorgan Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 4 hours ago, MOB said: Chaosium announces end of Magic World product line That being said, we know that Magic World has a small but devoted following, and we have no issue with Magic World continuing on as licensed/fan-produced product. And we will continue to sell existing Magic World releases at chaosium.com and DriveThruRPG. We have written to authors working on speculative Magic World projects advising them of this decision." Totally understandable decision. And not surprising. It is very interesting that Chaosium is open to "licensed" Magic World products. That's the real news in my view. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickMiddleton Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 4 minutes ago, smiorgan said: Totally understandable decision. And not surprising. It is very interesting that Chaosium is open to "licensed" Magic World products. That's the real news in my view. Indeed: I'd be intrigued to read some more meat on that particular bone, as it were... Cheers, Nick 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darmath Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 I have always been a big fan of those rules myself. Now that RuneQuest is being woven tightly with Glorantha (as indeed it should be) I need to find a system that my own Bronze Age homebrew can use. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinabrett Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 24 minutes ago, smiorgan said: Totally understandable decision. And not surprising. It is very interesting that Chaosium is open to "licensed" Magic World products. That's the real news in my view. Agreed. The follow-up question, of course, would be: can we on this board collaborate to produce "licensed" Magic World products? This is not a idle question. I'd be keen on getting involved on such projects but have no idea where to start. Colin 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick J. Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 Well I am glad that Chaosium is still going to keep selling the line via pdf even if they aren't going to support it officially. There's no such thing as a "dead game" so long as there are people still willing to play it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MormonYoYoMan Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 2 hours ago, ColinBrett said: Agreed. The follow-up question, of course, would be: can we on this board collaborate to produce "licensed" Magic World products? This is not a idle question. I'd be keen on getting involved on such projects but have no idea where to start. Colin My guess would be to start with a polite note to the good folks who own the copyrights. The folks in charge at Chaosium are the ones who were always open to and happy to work with fans and freelancers 30+ years ago. 1 Quote Rurik is NOT dead in MY Glorantha! *jeep! and God Bless! --Grandpa Chet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auyl Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 I'm not totally surprised by this. It's disappointing, but is what it is. Maybe someone can pick up the rights and continue on with it. Thankfully I work with a system I feel is better and more diverse, but many (I mean a lot) of people on this forum prefer MW so hopefully it won't totally die off. Quote Get all our products at our website: www.devotedpublishing.com Check Solace Games out on Facebook here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mysterioso Posted August 15, 2016 Report Share Posted August 15, 2016 34 minutes ago, auyl said: Maybe someone can pick up the rights and continue on with it? This seems like it would be the ideal situation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Bone Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 While news like this is always disappointing, it is good to hear that Chaosium are open to licensing etc. I agree with their philosophy - to focus on their 'knitting' and produce top notch works (both in the writing and design) for both Call of Cthulhu (which I for one love) and Runequest etc. (which isn't so appealing to me). Marcus Quote Stormbringer! - Supporting Stormbringer 5th edition over at http://www.stormbringerrpg.com Unbound Publishing - Bringing back the fear - http://www.unboundbook.org DCtRPG.info - Supporting Dark Conspiracy across the decades - http://www.darkconspiracytherpg.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auyl Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 5 hours ago, Mysterioso said: This seems like it would be the ideal situation. Pretty much. However, someone would need to invest a lot into marketing since Chaosium honestly didn't seem to market it as much as other lines when it first came out. I never knew it existed until I went on their website and was like "what is this?" And I've been perusing RPG forums (not this one sadly) and the like for a long time. Quote Get all our products at our website: www.devotedpublishing.com Check Solace Games out on Facebook here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auyl Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 3 hours ago, Marcus Bone said: While news like this is always disappointing, it is good to hear that Chaosium are open to licensing etc. I agree with their philosophy - to focus on their 'knitting' and produce top notch works (both in the writing and design) for both Call of Cthulhu (which I for one love) and Runequest etc. (which isn't so appealing to me). Marcus I'm more about Runequest personally. There are things about it I don't care for but if I had to choose, Runequest will get my vote every time. Which bodes well to me investing in a third party version of MW if it ever comes out. 1 Quote Get all our products at our website: www.devotedpublishing.com Check Solace Games out on Facebook here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankcam Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I am more RQ and CoC, so I'm happy that these two lines are the priority. However MW does have its merits, and there are those who greatly prefer it. I wonder if Ben Monroe is in a position to be involved with a licencee.. ? Quote " Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vile Traveller Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) I would have to wonder about the value of the MW trademark, and whether it would be a worthwhile investment for a licensee. It seems like fan publications might be more viable. Edited August 17, 2016 by Vile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daddystabz Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 This is very disappointing to me. The first thing this new Chaosium team has done that I disagree with. I really, really enjoy Magic World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOB Posted August 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 8 hours ago, daddystabz said: This is very disappointing to me. The first thing this new Chaosium team has done that I disagree with. I really, really enjoy Magic World. Unfortunately, a MW-led recovery was not going to save Chaosium, and we had to divert our attention and resources to our core lines (Call of Cthulhu, Glorantha) to get the company back on its feet. But, as noted in the announcement, we'll keeping selling the existing MW stuff on chaosium.com and are happy to see licensed or fan MW material coming out. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean_RDP Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 As (many) have said, this is not surprising. However, there is room for those working on fan works and those with more aspirations than that too. The key is to get people to play, find a new audience and get interest up. I would definitely be interested in finding out how the licensing works. 3 Quote Its 2300hrs, do you know where your super dreadnoughts are? http://reigndragonpressblog.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisTooley Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 *SIGH* "No issue with Magic World continuing on as licensed/fan-produced product. " Does this mean Licensed AND fan-produced product or Licensed OR fan-produced product? I have a couple other works I could share if the license were opened up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vile Traveller Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 What is the Chaosium fan policy these days? There doesn't seem to be one on the website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darmath Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 5 hours ago, ChrisTooley said: Licensed OR fan-produced product? I have a couple other works I could share if the license were opened up. Not sure what you meant by this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaot Posted August 17, 2016 Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 1 hour ago, Darmath said: Not sure what you meant by this? It means that CT will publish. It think it's a great idea. Quote 70/420 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOB Posted August 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2016 6 hours ago, Vile said: What is the Chaosium fan policy these days? There doesn't seem to be one on the website. We are still working on a new fan policy for Chaosium, along with submissions and licensing guidelines. They will be similar to the policies Moon Design had on glorantha.com, which seemed to work well for everyone. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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