WW licence end question

[Joël of the FoS]

Maybe it's my memory, but I do not recall any comments about the sales of RL products by WW, or comments on the price of the RL licence going up?

I'm asking that because on EnWord someone tells me otherwise ("WW said the sales were bad, and the RL licence price went up when renewal negociations started, so WW let it go")

Anybody read that in the past? The comment sounds like speculation to me?

The only comment AFAIK on sales was the developers saying the "Gaz sales were disapointing".

Joël

[Le Noir Faineant]

As to the comment on ENW, read that post this morning, and that guy obviously doesn't know what he's talking about.

In no thread here or at WW it was said explicitely that RL suffered from bad sales; in fact, as some pointed out, WW's bestseller list consisted more or less from d20 and RL releases.

[Jester of the FoS]

The bestseller out of a very, very limited pool. Compared to WoD it could have been abysmal for all we know. And we never knew if the sales chart was accurate or just a reflection of online sales or copies shipped to retailers (which counts orders not sales) or even just a bit of hype to draw people to new books.

WotC could have asked for more money or that could just be what WW is saying or maybe the wording of the license meant WotC had to offer to renew.

[Joël of the FoS]

Me neither, I never did put a lot of faith in that top 10 chart. It wasn't a top 10 of the whole WW company.

Joël

[direheroics]

I posted the complete text of the announcement at ENWorld in the thread.

You are absolutely correct.

[Le Noir Faineant]

Most likely, you're right with that. Maybe my answer was a bit too categorical, but if its the same poster we're talking about, I strongly dislike people like that who claim to know things they obviously cannot have insight in.

Now, the main reason for the RL cancellation might have been the general desinterest of the WW responsibles to keep competing on the d20 market. About half a year later, they basically ended their agreement with Necromancer Games and now don't even host Ptolus products any more, as far as I have learned.

Apparently, the last d20 products ever released by WW will be Monte Cook's WoD, and that's it for them. So, it doesn't need to be necessarily RL's *fault*, maybe just a first step in a race that apparently ended with WW's recent sale to another leisure-industry giant.

[Joël of the FoS]

I thought maybe he was refering to a post by a WW guy on another board, but even this would surprise me if it wasn't reported here, given the Frat has eyes everywhere

Joël

[Lost Heretic]

Someone on the White Wolf message board did post a question about why Arthaus did not renew the license, citing the possibility of poor sales or the price of the license increasing. This, however, was about a year and a half ago. I do specifically remember a staff member replying that the Ravenloft line sold well with their plan, but the developers did not feel that they could do much more with Ravenloft, as books subjects were becoming less and less generalized, so they decided to not renew the license.

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

... but the developers did not feel that they could do much more with Ravenloft, as books subjects were becoming less and less generalized, so they decided to not renew the license.

Because they where gifted with an abundence of creative potential... ¬_¬

[Le Noir Faineant]

Drin vs Dark Duo: 1 - 0

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I do specifically remember a staff member replying that the Ravenloft line sold well with their plan, but the developers did not feel that they could do much more with Ravenloft, as books subjects were becoming less and less generalized, so they decided to not renew the license.

That's the same answer I got when asking the WW rep at GenCon. Reeked of an officially mandated BS answer, but that's all I was able to get.