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Old 12-25-2017, 11:00 PM   #1
RoboAdmin
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Default December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

Read this article on the Illuminator.
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Old 12-26-2017, 12:10 AM   #2
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

How does one acquire the rights to a basically-abandoned product like this? If a company like Metagaming winds up defunct, and their assets aren't auctioned off to cover debts or whatnot, where do the rights to those end up?
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Old 12-26-2017, 12:24 AM   #3
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celti View Post
How does one acquire the rights to a basically-abandoned product like this? If a company like Metagaming winds up defunct, and their assets aren't auctioned off to cover debts or whatnot, where do the rights to those end up?
In this case, it appears to have been 17 U.S. Code § 203, which is only usable by the author (or heirs if dead).
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Old 12-26-2017, 05:10 AM   #4
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

Congratulations to SJ!
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Old 12-26-2017, 05:19 AM   #5
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

It's a Christmas miracle!
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Old 12-26-2017, 05:22 AM   #6
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

I played so much Melee back in the day. Looking forward to seeing it again!
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Old 12-26-2017, 01:28 PM   #7
ColinK
 
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

This is fun news.

Melee and Wizard were favorites of my brothers and gaming friends in the 1980s. I still have the original booklet games and the advanced game books where I can actually find them, also all sorts of fun notes on "home brewed" rules to share when the time is ripe for that.

Sure hope we can look forward to a new generation of players to experience the many opportunities for enjoying all the great modern day accessories like computer mapping tools, campaign manager tools, flat printable NPCs and 3D printable everything.

The Fantasy Trip was a really open game that invited all sorts of player generated objects and imaginative interpretations or combinations of spells, items, skills, etc. I look forward with glee to blasting holes between labyrinth caves again.

Evil cackles galore!

Last edited by ColinK; 12-26-2017 at 01:35 PM.
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Old 12-26-2017, 01:33 PM   #8
dar
 
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

Fantastic news! Even better if left nice and simpler the way it was! Thanks!
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Old 12-26-2017, 05:30 PM   #9
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

Steve, that is certainly wonderful news! TFT started my professional career as a game designer in earnest, and I was very lucky to have your work to build on when I took over as Line Editor upon your departure from Metagaming. I’ll be very happy to see that wonderful, pioneering work back in the hands of its creator.

Do you think you will again be doing solitaire quests? Your acquisition does not, as I understand it, include the original Microquests. If you are at all interested, is there anything that I could do to get Grailquest back to the new TFT?

Guy McLimore
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Old 12-26-2017, 06:24 PM   #10
trag
 
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

That's fantastic!

I just bought a set of A. Wizard, A. Melee and TFT on Ebay with the thought of asking SJ to sign them at his 12/16 appearance here in Austin (BC Mall, IIRC), but logistics got in the way and they arrived too late.

Our gaming group played TFT from 1988 to 1991 in a very long intricate campaign. Then we switched GMs and changed to GURPS.

But when I grow weary of the skills and rules proliferation in GURPS I find TFT to be a pleasant relief.

While TFT is less intricate than GURPS, you can do a lot with it and spend a lot less time looking up rules.

I have another related group of friends who had, until last year, a 28 year tradition of a holiday season "geekathon". It started with all night sessions of Spaceward Ho! on networked Macs back in 1988, later switching to Bungie's "Marathon" but the last several years has been one day-long TFT adventure. So until last year, we were still using TFT.

Suggestions:

1) Keep it the way it is. The simplicity is a virtue that is still attractive.
2) If you want provide card stock maps or similar, perhaps just provide printable files. That will keep printing costs down for the books, and card stock can be bought by players and fed through laser printers or color laser printers. Or does no-one have a printer with a fairly straight paper path any more from the front "envelop feeder" to the rear output?
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