The company behind the most recent versions of Star Wars card, miniature and role playing games, Wizards of the Coast, announced late last week that it was dropping the license. What the company called a "tough decision" was attributed to "the economic downturn."I never purchased any Star Wars products from Wizards of the Coast, but that doesn't mean I don't feel for the fans. I remember when a similar rug was pulled out from under me in 2001, the year that Lucasfilm left Decipher to start a new card game with Wizards of the Coast. As someone who had played Decipher's Star Wars Customizable Card Game for six years, I felt no shortage of anger and betrayal. I was angry that my game — my game! — was coming to an end. And I felt betrayed because it seemed like Lucasfilm was snubbing the investment I'd made. I dare say a great many Wizards of the Coast customers feel the same way this week.
Yes, I eventually sold all my cards, but that had more to do with my moving away from my gaming group than any exasperation in the license debacle. Nine years later, I look back fondly upon the game and the many good times I had playing it with friends. There are even times when I wish I still had a couple decks, just to give the game another go.
I understand what fans of these newly discontinued Star Wars games are feeling, but I encourage them to make no hasty decisions. Dumping your collection on eBay might not be the best option. The game you've played and enjoyed need not be any less fun today than it was a week ago. If you need any proof of that, sit down and teach me to play. I'm happy to learn.
These games will not die so long as you care to share them with friends old and new.
1 comments:
As someone who plays the Saga Edition of the d20 Star Wars rules, and who used to collect and play their mini's game, I wasn't all that surprised.
While the mini game had fairly solid rules, the sculpt quality has been on and off for several years, and with WotC changing how they're doing mini's at all with the advent of 4th ed, I've seen the writing on the wall for the Star Wars mini's for awhile. A economy in the toilet and the costs of oil and oil derived products increasing all the time, fewer are buying the more expensive figures.
For the table top game I was a bit more surprised. Star Wars (and d20 Modern when WotC was bothering to print that game too), had always been a test bed for new D&D ideas, and as such, always felt half done. Saga Ed (the latest iteration of Wizard's rules) has been a big improvement, and was the most playable yet. I'm kinda surprised the time and resources put into it is being thrown out the window like this. It's a shame, but WotC has never really known what to do with the RPG. They don't have the sort of freedom that West End Games had with the franchise, and as previously stated, the rules were never really made just for them, they were always play tests for modifications to D&D.
What confuses me the most is that Hasbro still has the rights to making toys for the franchise, so why give up this part of the property. Saga ed sold, when they put out decent books at least. The other question is who could possibly pick up this license next? There are not that many deep pockets in the RPG market. White Wolf is a big name, but I don't seem them snagging Star Wars (although, since they'd inevitably use a variation on their new World of Darkness rules, it would open the doors to rule official Jedi in Vampires games... muwhahahaha). Paizo, while I love their work, doesn't strike me as having the ability to pick up this pricey license either. After that, there are only a few companies of any real weight left (Palladium Games, Catalyst, Mongoose, and Chaosium are the only ones I can think of), and I don't think I can see any of them having the ability to pick it up. So, really, that's the end of an active Star Wars RPG for who knows how long (or until WotC decided to pick up the license again when the economy gets moving again.
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