Und HIER (http://www.earthdawn.com/index.php?categoryid=25&p2005_articleid=12) gibt´s noch ein Statement von Seiten RedBricks zum Thema.
RedBrick & Mongoose: Questions and Answers, Part 1
By James Flowers • Published: March 17, 2009
Since news broke about our partnership with Mongoose Publishing, we’ve had a lot of comments and feedback. This list is nowhere near comprehensive. And, like all good responses, won’t answer all of your concerns or questions. However, we hope it provides you with some additional thoughts and considerations as you continue (or not) to interact with RedBrick Limited.
We will post up more of these over the next few weeks. Some questions specific to particular game lines will be dealt with in the forums, but the areas of current focus are around fans of Earthdawn Classic, who are most affected by the recent announcement.
Why is RedBrick partnering with Flaming Cobra and Mongoose?
After Lulu, our print-on-demand partner, raised its print prices in October 2008 (and more so when their shipping prices increased unexpectedly), we started looking at options. The print price increase meant increasing the prices of our books again (you will note that we haven't done this—by example, the hardcover Player's and Gamemaster's Compendiums were slated to move to USD$59.95 each), which we really didn’t want to do. Even though we know how much is packed into these "tomes" the per unit price was getting untenable. The shipping increases were really the icing on the cake and the main catalyst for a move. The upshot of this was a major review of our business model and looking for alternatives.
After a lot of emails and phone calls, we put together a revised model which we felt would be both progressive and meet our long-term requirements. However, the additional overhead of migrating to this model meant it was something we couldn’t do quickly. Enter Mongoose. Mongoose Publishing had contacted us some time ago about their Flaming Cobra imprint. At the time, things were working well with Lulu, and we felt that it wasn't something that RedBrick wanted to pursue. Of course, since then, Mongoose made some forays into print-on-demand, without success. But they had moved on from this, learning valuable lessons (as businesses do). And we had to do the same from our Lulu experiences. So we entered discussions with Mongoose and things moved very quickly from there. Approvals were sought from our licensors, contracts reworked, numbers crunched, and terms of business negotiated and agreed. And here we are at the beginning again.
What does Mongoose and Flaming Cobra bring to this relationship? Many things. Our businesses are surprisingly similar. Mongoose started earlier than RedBrick, but their business model is based on taking gaming properties and supporting them well. Runequest and Traveller are prime examples. Experience. Mongoose have a lot of experience in the industry. Support. And they are happy to share that experience (one of the reasons for the Flaming Cobra imprint existing). Distribution. Mongoose have an extensive distribution network covering Europe and the USA—no reasons for gamers not being able to get our books! Marketing. Conventions, advertising, and their own “house” magazine are more good reasons for RedBrick to be working under the Flaming Cobra's hood. Quality. The quality of their books is excellent (we have performed due diligence). Independence. And, most importantly, we can continue to produce our own high-quality products autonomously. Though we now have to work to a production schedule.
Overall, for RedBrick, this is a huge step forward to becoming a larger business. And, while we are sure that it will take us some time to get used to working in a more regimented manner, it means that when we do step up to the task, we will be a better organisation for that.
You announced Earthdawn Third Edition as being the first release under Flaming Cobra. Why a new edition of Earthdawn?
Good timing is a rare thing in any industry. Timing isn’t on our side here either. We hadn’t planned to release a new edition of Earthdawn this soon, but the main reason for doing so is really very simple: to avoid retailer confusion. With Second Edition officially “dead”, it is important that Earthdawn Third Edition be clearly represented as the “current” edition. We had already experienced enough confusion about Earthdawn Classic—what it is or isn’t—and we wanted to avoid that with this release. Of course, it is no great secret that we have been working on a Third Edition of the game for some time now. The decision to bring that release forward ultimately comes down to timing and market presence.
Of course we recognize that this decision may be unpopular with fans of the game. The pace of moving to Flaming Cobra meant that we had to make some very difficult business calls. And this, unfortunately, was the most difficult to make. Therefore, we felt it was important that we let people know about our new business partnership with Mongoose Publishing as soon as possible, that a new edition of Earthdawn is coming, and that there is no ambiguity or rumor-mongering about what we are doing.
Ultimately, the success of any publisher is determined by its customers. We really don’t want to upset any Earthdawn fans with this announcement. But we recognize that we will. For that, we can only ask forgiveness. We want to ensure the longevity of all of our games. That can only happen with commercial support for those games. And the partnership with Mongoose opens up more opportunities for gamers to be exposed to our products and, ultimately, more opportunities to do other things in time. Where we go from here can only be judged by our fans (and history will tell if this was an overall good or bad decision).
But what about my Earthdawn Classic books? Are they redundant now?
From a supported game line perspective, yes. From a useful product perspective, no. There is more crammed into the two core Compendiums than many game lines see in their lifetime. As with ED1 and ED2, and like other games that have come and gone, this is just another step in evolution. Be aware that, in terms of printed books, our best-selling individual book (the Player’s Compendium) sold just over six hundred print copies—softcover and hardcover combined—over the last three years. From the perspective of a print-on-demand success story, it definitely was. Overall, this isn’t much more than a small print run would sell. Personally, I would consider these to be in the realms of “collector’s items” now. Useful books to own for their consolidated approach, imminently self-contained and playable as is, but once we pull the plug on Lulu, they become collectibles, a piece of Earthdawn history.
So, what happens now? Can I still get Earthdawn Classic books in print?
For the moment, yes. Apart from some select products (novels, for instance), we plan to disable the Lulu print lines before the end of June. This is to accommodate anyone who wants to take the opportunity to grab another copy for their gaming group, assuming they don’t plan to move to a different game line or adopt Third Edition Earthdawn when it becomes available. If sales completely dry up, we may terminate print titles sooner. Regardless, we will post a News item to our web sites notifying customers that these books are no longer available.
Note that some titles will remain available on Lulu. Notably, novels will be kept as print-on-demand at this time.
What about Earthdawn Classic eBooks?
We are working on this. Owners of Earthdawn Classic ebooks will most likely receive a discount coupon toward the Third Edition-equivalent ebooks. Downloads will still be available for current customers from your account at OneBookShelf. Novels will remain unchanged as eBooks. Everything else will be removed to make way for Earthdawn Third Edition.
The release process stemming from our partnership with Mongoose Publishing will follow their process. Generally, eBooks are released about a month after print books become available. This is the complete opposite of how RedBrick have worked in the past and again is a condition of the change to retail distribution. In many ways, however, eBooks become more valuable for us and for you as a means to ensure that you have access to a regularly errata’d master copy. Because of the nature of retail and distribution, we cannot update print books as easily.
Well, I’m really unhappy about all this. Now I have to weather yet another change and spend even more money on books that I already have much of the content for. It sucks.
Again, reiterating that this decision was not an easy one and we knew going in that it would draw the ire of many fans, thinking that we had betrayed them. And as a consequence, losing trust and respect that we have spent a lot of time trying to build. We’re not doing this to be money-grubbing capitalists (though we would understand if you think we are). We simply have to evolve to ensure the ongoing viability of both RedBrick and our game lines. Times are hard. We all know that. We do this as a labor of love, but that love wears thin sometimes. In these hard times, hard decisions have to be made and we have to stand behind them, for right or for wrong. Ultimately, we do what is best for our licensors and our fans. But we recognize that there will be a lot of anger at this time. Sorry.
On a personal note, as Managing Director of RedBrick Limited, I feel bad for my development team, who have to weather this as well. If there is any one person to direct your scorn and rage, please, that would be me. I made the final decision, and the responsibility for it lies with me alone. However, I do ask that you consider the other members of Team RedBrick who have to work extra hard now to achieve new targets. The workload for them got a whole lot bigger from this partnership and they are the ones who deserve your ongoing support.
Thank you for sharing your concerns and providing us with feedback. More responses will be posted over the next few weeks.
Gruß
Samael
Pff... von wegem eigentlichem Thema. ED 3E ist eine schamlose Abkupferung vom geilsten und erfolgreichsten Rollenspiel aller aktueller Zeiten - Dungeons & Dragons, 4th Edition.
Ihr glaubt mir nicht?
Dann seht Euch noch mal die Preview-PDFs aus den ED Büchern genau an und achtet auf das Layout rund um die Angabe der Seitenzahl. Und jetzt macht dasselbe hier (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/excerpts/FRPreview_PG_DarkPact.pdf). Ich würde sagen, der einzige Unterschied ist es, dass sich die ED-Leute mal wieder KEINEN FARBDRUCK leisten können.
Spoiler (Anzeigen) :P
... Aber ehrlich. Ich fand das mit dem Layout auffällig. Wahrscheinlich gibt es da ein Layoutstudio in den Staaten, die für 4E FR und 3E ED was beigesteuert haben.