2320AD

[Roger Calver]

I agree with you there Marc is very prompt at replying to emails but maybe we should hold off in contacting him until Colin replies as its hes work were talking about, that being said I can see your point as to getting some info and asking from us fans POV.

 

[Malenfant]

I think it'd be up to Colin to give Marc a poke, not the fans - he can explain the whole situation a lot more fully to him if it comes to that. He can also tell him that there are people waiting for the product to be released too with no information at all.

If nothing else, maybe some pressure from Marc might actually get through to Hunter, assuming he's even still in communication with him.

 

[Colin]

I sent an email off to Marc today. At this point, I need to wait for his response.

 

[Malenfant]

...and he's way ahead of me

 

[Roger Calver]

Lets just wait and see what this will bring not much more anyone can do that hasnt been done before, at least Colin should get a reply from Marc faster than one from Hunter.

 

[Roger Calver]

Well we can see that were pulling in the same direction on this one and thats got to be a good thing

 

[TWILIGHT]

'bout time. I think the best news recently was the idea of trying to acquire the rights from Marc.
Was gonna send an e-mail but I don't think we should flood Marc. (waits on attempt by Colin)

 

[Malenfant]

Just out of curiosity I did a WHOIS on the travellerrpg.com server (I leave it a an exercise for the reader to figure out how to do that) to see what publicly available info was there. Hunter is listed as the administrative contact for the site and there is a phone number associated with him there. Maybe Colin could try that if all else fails (and if he doesn't know how to use whois, he can drop me a PM and I'll send him the info).

I also note that the domain expires on 18th Jun 2007.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Originally posted by TWILIGHT:
'bout time. I think the best news recently was the idea of trying to acquire the rights from Marc.
Was gonna send an e-mail but I don't think we should flood Marc. (waits on attempt by Colin)

Ditto and ditto.

Here's hoping.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

I also note that the domain expires on 18th Jun 2007. [/QB]

What, on the very day of the release of T5?

 

[Roger Calver]

Yes very interesting indeed.

 

[Malenfant]

Gotta be a coincidence, surely (not that it's likely that T5 will be released on time anyway...).

 

[ExileInParadise]

Hello, everyone!

Colin, bravo for tackling 2320A.D.!

I was extremely excited to hear this news, spread the word, etc. It's been a year now, and I am sorry to see such a great potential product neglected-to-death... after already being written?!?

I would love to see this released, even if you rewrote it on napkins, posted napkin scans in a zipfile with the Modern SRDs.

I would love to see the 2320A.D. near star map... based on the actual "Epoch 2320" data extrapolated from the Epoch 2000 data, with stellar motion applied up to 2320.

So, how do we get there from here?
Or is this the wrong place to ask?

 

[TWILIGHT]

Hi EIP. Right place...possibly wrong time! Best off reading the previous posts to get up to speed. The more the merrier though!

 

[Roger Calver]

Yeah welcome to the forum and join the waiting list along with the rest of us

 

[ExileInParadise]

I read it all before posting.

Summary: 2320 is basically ready to roll. But won't, ever, the way things have been going. And there's no reason to expect a change anytime soon.

Fine. That's reality. When reality isn't doing what you want, its time to do something else.

Personally, I don't care about why it hasn't happened yet. I am personally interested in an updated (preferably open-game-compatible) sequel to T2300/2300AD.

So, my point was: so how can we (the fans, and would-have-been customers) fix it? Like anything else, it takes 2 basic fuels: money and time.

Why not open a new site and forum, collect the $$$ to afford the lawyers and stuff, execute a new license with FFE for 2300 and move on?

If the Blender software can buy itself out and become open source based on community interest, then maybe that can work here too. If Firefly fans can get their movie made for a canceled TV show, then why can't we get a sequel to 2300 made?

What is the cost of the legal fees, the license with FFE, and the product dev? Colin knows how much it would cost him to write another 2300 sequel. Others know what industry art might cost.

Offer a pre-sell site, that explicitly says: "pre-order a copy of this non-existent product. If we pre-sell enough of them (with an initial goal stated up front) to actually make the product, you get the copy you paid for. If we spend any of the cash, you get to see the accounting. If we can't make it work, then you your money may go into a black hole... if you are okay with that, PayPal us."

I would invest the upfront cost of an eventual copy on those terms, provided it was spelled out like that *as an investment risk* and there was some sort of demonstrated financial management involved.

How much are we talking here? US$20-40 per person? Fine. Put me down for one copy right now. Where do I send the cash, and how many more people do I need to get involved to help pull this off?

Lawyers and banks can setup funds to administer things like this, provided you can get the setup fees and charter together.

Option 0: QLI develops and releases 2320 has failed. Not 100% sure? Fine. Pick a "drop dead date". If you don't have your book in-hand by then, forget option 0. I think Colin picked his.
I picked mine. I am ready to buy a copy. Who's selling?

Option 1: raise funds to pay for a lawyer, setup a fund to buy 2320 out of QLI and execute a separate 2300 license with FFE (if possible), and cover whatever other expenses are needed to finish the existing book off.

Option 2: raise funds to pay for a lawyer, setup the fund, license 2300 from FFE, and build a separate sequel from scratch.

Option 3: Do like Colin mentioned before: forget it. Take your T2300 or 2300AD, and the MSRDs, and just roll your own for your own use.

Personally, I hate the starting over nature of this whole post, but if that is what has to happen because QLI "can't be bothered", then so be it.

And yes, I fully expect my account here to get deleted for even suggesting this stuff. So be that, too, if it comes to it. Personally, option 0 would get me a game in-hand faster than any other option... if I had any reason to believe it would ever happen. This forum has been plenty of reason to disbelieve.

Oh well. Ball's in play...

 

[Malenfant]

Psh, I strongly doubt you'd get banned for making reasonable, coherent suggestions

.

I'd say let's just wait and see what response Colin gets from Marc. But if 2320AD as it stands is tied into QLI (what happens when QLI officially goes out of business though, I wonder?) then either someone has to come up with a new 2320AD or everyone just gives up on the idea in the first place.

Personally I doubt that a new version would be anywhere near as well written, well thought out, or as rich a setting as the one that Colin's already written though.

 

[Colin]

Gee, thanks Doc.

Even if QLI were to go out of business, Hunter would still own 2320AD. He would own the manuscript that I wrote. Look at Roger Sanger and all the old DGP material for Traveller.

As far as 2300/2320AD goes, I would have a hard time rewriting it, quite frankly, and not use the ideas and concepts that went into 2320AD. And until it's actually released under the OGL, none of it is Open Content.

I have sent Marc an email, and I am now waiting to hear back from him. I have yet to attempt to contact Hunter again, though I thank the fine gentlemen who provided me with his phone number.

I think the best thing that could happen here, aside from Hunter actually bringing it out himself, would be for Hunter to allow me to bring it out, and, if need be, I get a license from Marc to do so, and pay Hunter (and several fine artists) back from the proceeds. Ted and I could have 2320AD Lite done in a week, and the full 2320AD in a month, if we got the go-ahead. If I had to rewrite portions to conform to D20 Future rather than Traveller D20, that would only add a couple of weeks. I wouldn't have to change the ships or vehicles at all, as the products of the ship design system in T20 are Open Content, though the design sequence itself is not. If I had to switch to a new system, well, that would add an unknown quantity of time to the project, but it could certainly be out well before summer.

But it is out of my hands. Hunter controls 2320AD, and Marc controls 2300. I just have to wait and see what sort of response I get.

 

[ExileInParadise]

Originally posted by Colin:
I think the best thing that could happen here, aside from Hunter actually bringing it out himself, would be for Hunter to allow me to bring it out, and, if need be, I get a license from Marc to do so, and pay Hunter (and several fine artists) back from the proceeds.

I agree... If you end up able to get your own license and self-publish it, let me know. I will happily pre-order a copy just to get the cashflow going, and and help drum up some others to pre-order as well.

It's a sad state of affairs, and I hope it resolves amicably for everyone soon.

 

[Roger Calver]

Colin, you can add me to that list as well if it come to it to as EiP said get the cashflow going.