Whoa! Chaosium News.

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Gladius
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Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by Gladius » Wed Jun 03, 2015 3:16 am

Just got my 7th Edition backer update email:

We have pressed the reset button... In 1975 Chaosium started out as a quirky boutique game company. We were all about creativity, artistry and craftsmanship. With every game we provided you with new realms of imagination and entertainment. Over the last few years we forgot that, and lost our way.
The Great Old Ones have Returned…
Greg Stafford, founder of Chaosium and creative force during its heyday, is now President. Sandy Petersen, world renowned game designer who brought Cthulhu into the light three decades ago, has rejoined the team as well.
Greg says: "Chaosium is part of my legacy. My intent is to restore it to its rightful place in the world of gaming. Something we can all take pride in, and something that fans will look forward to.Where 'what’s next?' is answered with 'I can’t wait'."
The Stars are Right…
Sandy says: "I am excited to return to active participation in the Call of Cthulhu line, and I’m eagerly looking forward to working directly with Greg again. We are Chaosium's original team from the 1980s. My first focus is going to be the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition Kickstarter campaign."
Our main plan is simple (but will be a lot of work):
Quickly sift and sort through the current company problems
Immediately ship the remaining Horror on the Orient Express backer rewards
Focus on the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition Kickstarter backer rewards
Return to regularly making awesome new games.
We offer new hope, and ask only for your patience."
Please visit Chaosium.com for regular news and updates. Contact us with questions, kudos, curses, or kindness. We are listening, and we will respond.
Greg Stafford, President and CEO of Chaosium Inc.
I’m puttin' the band back together.

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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by viscounteric » Wed Jun 03, 2015 5:30 am

Holy crapola
The log of the CoC games http://gamingwiththegnomies.blogspot.com/p/call-of.html... and some gnomes.

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Shannon Mac
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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by Shannon Mac » Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:54 am

Promising news IMO.
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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by Dr. Gerard » Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:22 am

The Campus Crier newsroom is buzzing!
Keeper of the Cthulhu Dark "Secret Everest Expedition" PbP scenario
Rip Wheeler in the Call of Cthulhu "No Man's Land" scenario
Plays for Keepers

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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by trevlix » Wed Jun 03, 2015 12:37 pm

Glad they are jumping on the KS stuff, but I honestly wasnt that worried about that. I'm more curious as to the business aspects of this. Are the current people still on board? Did a purchase of Chaosium happen to cause this?

Anyone know if Chaosium has a seminar at GenCon this year? I would think that would be where a lot of these questions would be answered.
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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by toddwo » Wed Jun 03, 2015 1:35 pm

Given the latest development, is it now socially acceptable to discuss the elephant in the room? Which is to say, there is clearly, clearly an issue with fulfillment of the Chaosium Kickstarters, with no end in sight. I know that it's a small industry and that folks are especially reluctant to "talk trash" about colleagues and competitors, but is the cat finally out of the bag?
That’s what you young chaps have got to remember – when you run, run, full speed, with never a thought for anything else; don’t look or listen or dither even for an instant; let terror have his way, for he’s the best friend you’ve got- Harry Flashman

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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by viscounteric » Wed Jun 03, 2015 3:24 pm

toddwo wrote:Given the latest development, is it now socially acceptable to discuss the elephant in the room? Which is to say, there is clearly, clearly an issue with fulfillment of the Chaosium Kickstarters, with no end in sight. I know that it's a small industry and that folks are especially reluctant to "talk trash" about colleagues and competitors, but is the cat finally out of the bag?
It''s an entire roomful of elephants. Classic Kickstarter faults, way too many options and variables involved.

I say give the new (old) guys some time to make some immediate progress, and if they even have a single thought to do another Kickstarter, immediately hire Oscar Rios full-time to run it from step one. I think every sane person would prefer a toned down campaign, with some finite bells and whistles that's two month's late (which is six months to a year early in the non-Kickstarter side of gaming industry) than wandering the desert for forty years waiting for your custom rewards for pledge level 2.139Q.31 + pi.

Then again, it better not interupt De Horrore Cosmico, Tales of the Carribean, or Horror on the Lincoln Highway.
The log of the CoC games http://gamingwiththegnomies.blogspot.com/p/call-of.html... and some gnomes.

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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by trevlix » Wed Jun 03, 2015 3:37 pm

I think this might be relevant: https://rpggeek.com/article/19408624#19408624
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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by PirateLawyer » Wed Jun 03, 2015 5:07 pm

Chaosium has repeated mistakes of the past, namely its massive CCG blunder that nearly caused its bankruptcy, with this Kickstarter fiasco. I mean, do the math. I think I paid $5 or $10 shipping costs for the HOTE and 7E Kickstarter projects back in 2012 and 2013.

By May 2015 Chaosium finally shipped me HOTE. It cost them $58, and some items were missing. Which means they will have to send me a second package. Not only that, but Chaosium claimed to have already shipped me a copy of HOTE and it got lost in the mail. (I find that hard to believe, but if so, they were out even more shipping costs and one box of HOTE.)

Now multiply these added distribution costs to Chaosium by the number of HOTE and 7E backers.

I bought my first Chaosium book in 1984. I'm an old loyalist. But I think a lot of people are kidding themselves with their rose-colored glasses when it comes to evaluating how the company has been doing. It's the one thing I take issue with regards to the news section that leads off the MU podcast:; when the news items are presented, what is said can typically be boiled down to one of two things: "that's cool" or "I need to get that".

I know the MU podcast isn't supposed to be hard-hitting journalism or anything, but to be fair I usually just skip past the front of the show and listen to the featured topic because of this. So consider this some good-natured listener feedback.

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Re: Whoa! Chaosium News.

Post by WinstonP » Wed Jun 03, 2015 6:08 pm

I suspect that since they aren't primarily journalists, the hosts here talk about news items as they are reported, but do not do digging beyond that, which seems to be the standard operating procedure in much of fandom, regardless of the genre. They did cover, a bit, some of the troubles with Chronicle City, though I don't know if there was any followup when that company's real problems became clear. I suspect some of the hesitancy in covering the warty side of the hobby comes from a fear of reporting rumors as facts, and I've heard a lot of rumors today regarding the situation at Chaosium but sadly not a lot of facts.

From what I have seen online, I believe - but cannot say with certainty - that this change was likely inspired by serious problems at the company: the KStart announcement says Chaosium "lost its way" and he wants to "restore it to its rightful place in the world of gaming. Something we can all take pride in." That doesn't speak to the health of the company and, considering the staffing changes already announced (i.e. Charlie Krank out) I suspect we will have a better understanding of things once Greg and Sandy have had some time to "Quickly sift and sort through the current company problems" Ouch.

I would hope as well that MUP covers this major news (to our corner of the world) as best they can.

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