 February 24, 2013 - 11:55am | TSR 1997 video |
 February 24, 2013 - 12:38pm | It appears, while Lorraine may have banned playing the game inhouse when she first started, that policy did not remain. The video seems to show employees playing the game in the office under Lorraine's ownership. However, despite the video's claim to high sales (which there were,) the company was in dire straights and was sold to WOTC later that same year. She also doesn't come off as ignorant of the business as some claim. While she may have been ignorant of it when she came in, she clearly came to have a larger understanding of the role of the game designers, the game itself and the company's focus. However, a savvy business woman, she wasn't. Though the video does make it clear that Dave Arneson, and not Gygax, was responsible for the creation of role-playing. Gygax introduced the fantasy and magic, but Arneson the role-playing. I remember, too, that Arneson and Gygax each wrote their own set of rules, and it was reported that Arneson's rules were clearer and more complete, and as the video brings out, Gygax's was more general. What happened was that Gygax ended up with funding and Arneson's funding fell through, as I understand it. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
 February 24, 2013 - 3:11pm | When she took over the company it was being run into the ground by the Blumes. Rank nepotism of hiring family and giving them a limo and crap like that as well as the famous hook rug product debacle. Gary brought her in to help him straighten out the company because she had expertese with money. What happened next and I'm quite sure only those involved know the full details was that the Blumes sold their shares of the company to her. In disgust, Gary sold out to her and went over to GDW to develop Gary Gygax's "Dangerous Dimensions" which would have obviously been refered to as Gygax's D&D. One magazine ad was published (I've seen it) just prior to release and TSR and its new CEO hit the roof and went to court to sue. Not obstensibly because of the name they claimed he had been working on the new Game while still part of TSR but you can bet the name Gygax's D&D probably ignited a firestorm that lead to the lawsuit. GDW immediately said, "Wait, did we say Dangerous Dimensions? NO, no, no what we meant was Dangerous Journeys, yeah that it. That other name must have been a misprint." The Law suite nearly bankrupted GDW and in the end there was an undisclosed settlement with TSR where TSR bought the rites to DJ for what Gary has gone on record as saying they settled for far more then he would have sold the game for outright. I got the impression that GDW did not make out as well as Gary did. The canned setting for that game is absolutely fabulous. If you ever come across Dangerous Journey's "Epic of Aerth" buy it. The rules are a bit complex like AD&D and follow some lines of thought that I've come to recognize as Gary's general philosophy of rpgs that he articulates better in his book on GM mastery. (I said that to say this: dont bother with the DJ rules if you can find them but scoop up the setting book.) I rather doubt I'll ever let go of my negative impression of LW because digging into the history of TSR post Gygax has made me aware of some decisions I consider suspect and disturbing as a gamer and fan of the game but I wont dispute that she was capable as a CEO and probably saved the game from the Blumes. I rather doubted that Gary would have ever managed to wrest control away from them. What is unfortunate is that the finance person he brought in for help was not trust worthy and it seems that she cut a back room deal with the Blumes and froze him out. What she did manage or at least what did happen under her watch as CEO is that TSR fractured their market (for a variety of reason) and smaller companies managed to gain market share. The company stayed afloat on the power of the novel and book division not the RPG side. That was until they tried to realease 1 hard cover per month and Random House returned a huge number of books unsold after the first month and TSR could not even pay their printer so they could print more to sell to pay their bills. This ultimately has been good for rpgs and fans because with a democratization of the market fans had greater choices. Smaller companies had a better shot at making a buck. The history makes me a little sad. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 24, 2013 - 3:13pm | One wonders what the game looks like in a parallel dimension where Arnson got the funding instead of Gygax and the game had been Dave Arnson's D&D? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 24, 2013 - 5:24pm | This ultimately has been good for rpgs and fans because with a democratization of the market fans had greater choices. Smaller companies had a better shot at making a buck. The history makes me a little sad. My friend, sarcasm, demands that I ask you if you mean the bloated market of crunch-heavy games and rules lawyers that is only just now experiencing the backlash to a revival to earlier, simpler games that has WOTC hemorrhaging cash flow and back-peddling towards a retro feel?View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
February 24, 2013 - 6:23pm | This ultimately has been good for rpgs and fans because with a democratization of the market fans had greater choices. Smaller companies had a better shot at making a buck. The history makes me a little sad. My friend, sarcasm, demands that I ask you if you mean the bloated market of crunch-heavy games and rules lawyers that is only just now experiencing the backlash to a revival to earlier, simpler games that has WOTC hemorrhaging cash flow and back-peddling towards a retro feel?You are of course referring to the pendulum swing at its most extreme. I for one would not want my only choice to be D&D and a handful of games I never heard of. Pendulums hit extremes before they eventually bottom out. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
