Jul

25

West End Games

July 25, 2008 | Comments Off

I suppose that most everyone into role playing now knows that Eric Gibson, owner/operator of West End Games has declared that he is getting out of the business and that WEG and its string of IPs is going on the auction block.  This statement was made after a lengthy argument between himself and long-time heckler Dana Jorgensen over at the RPGnet forums.  Mr. Gibson posted his intentions at RPGnet and asked to be permanently banned as a result of all the negative remarks hurled at him by Jorgensen and others in a thread where several upset, former customers of WEG made justifiable complaints about not receiving a refund or alternate product after the failed launch of Bill Coffin’s Septimus RPG under WEG’s D6 system.  Mr. Gibson followed up with similar posts at his own forums and declared that he would be accepting bids on the various properties in a piecemeal type auction.  Shortly after making the statements, he issued another post declaring that he would be out of town for at least a week and that any offers made would have to wait for a response until he returned.

Now the question is whether Mr. Gibson is really going to give up his company or sell off a couple of his least favorite IPs in order to gain some money with which to pay off those consumers that invested in the pre-order of the Septimus RPG and then try to revive WEG on his own.  From statements made in the heat of the moment, it appears he is determined to drop WEG like a hand grenade and run for his life.  Perhaps a week off to cool down a bit will change his mind.  If not, there are several interested parties already lined up to make their offers to Mr. Gibson for various chunks of the properties he controls.

May

4

OpenD6 in the works!

May 4, 2008 | Comments Off

Since the cancellation of Bill Coffin’s Septimus project some weeks ago, Eric Gibson has declared that he now will have more time to focus on OpenD6, formerly designated FreeD6 by myself and other hangers on over at West End Games forums.  This is happy news to many independent publishers such as myself and others.

Gibson has reported various aspects of what he would like to see happen with the D6 system and the System Reference Document (SRD), the most interesting being a Web 2.0 style download site that will allow you to assemble the various rules as you wish, picking and choosing those you want to utilize and skipping those you do not, and download them in a single file which you can drop directly into your setting material without fuss or bother.

One of the only downsides thus far is the absence of a set release date for the SRD and open licensing documentation.  Times are tough at WEG, but patience will bring us much happiness.

Apr

1

D6 Septimus has been canceled…

April 1, 2008 | Comments Off

Eric Gibson, owner/operator of West End Games, has finally posted the cancellation of the upcoming D6 sci-fi game Septimus by author Bill Coffin.  This comes after the game’s release date had been pushed back for several months and without much of a word at all to those who have been anxiously awaiting its release, especially those that had shelled out the $50 bucks for the pre-order.  Mr. Gibson has stated that he will reimburse the pre-orders.

Bill Coffin has stated that he hasn’t made up his mind yet on what he will do with the material, but says he will not abandon it entirely.  He has assured those interested that it was a joint decision between himself and Eric to abandon the project and both have admitted that it was due to a lack of funds to produce the 400+ page, full color hard back book.  It is a disappointment to fans of both Mr. Coffin’s and WEG D6 alike.

Mar

18

Sir Arthur C Clarke, author of the great sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey which spurred a phenomenal film adaptation and a sequel based on his second novel in the Odyssey series, died today at his home in Sri Lanka at the age of 90 from complications with post-polio syndrome, a condition he had been suffering with since the 60s. His deep and intriguing method of story telling has fascinated millions around the world and will continue to do so for generations to come.  His death marks the second in recent days to strike the entertainment industry,with the passing of Gary Gygax just over two weeks ago.

God Speed Sir Clarke, God Speed…

Mar

17

West End Games – When will Free D6 Arrive?

March 17, 2008 | Comments Off

So, a few months ago Eric Gibson, the owner of the current iteration of West End Games, posted on the company’s forums that he intends to release the D6 system under an open license that would allow anyone desiring to publish their own setting material for free. So far, it has been almost four months with little or no further word on this project. Many publishers, both independent and mainstream, are waiting eagerly for the release of the SRD so that they may get a time line in which they can work around for marketing and release dates for their own products.

So, the question is, when will Free D6 be released? We’ll keep an eye out for the official word and let you know as soon as possible!

Mar

2

You might be asking yourself, ‘What happened to Role Players Direct?’ As you can see, we’ve taken it from a standard web page to the blog style that everyone seems to enjoy using these days. But wait, there’s more! Role Players Direct is transforming in other ways as well. We are about to offer the gaming community the chance to get inside information on the independent publishing companies and the games they produce via a new PDF-only magazine. Best of all, for you the reader, it’s FREE!

Inside each issue of RPD, you’ll find interesting items to use in your adventures with the Indie games presented, interviews with the publishers of those games and with some of the bigger names in the industry and snippets of intriguing fiction to help you get in the mood for your next gaming session.

Come back soon for more updates on this project!

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