d6, RPG Site: Should We Go For It?

Nicephorus · July 22, 2008, 08:52:21 AM

Quote from: The_Shadow;227065In my experience of amateur and collective efforts of this nature, they only succeed when driven by a motivated and talented leader.

You're right, we need to have a battle royale at Gencon, winner gets final say in D6 decisions.

I've heard that zachary has wickedly pointed elbows.

I can probably go in for a $100 or so if things coalesce into a real deal. A possibility is to vote a chair with votes based on shares. Ideally, a couple thousand more than the purchase price would be raised. Non-shareholders could contribute and kibbitz but the final say in things would have to come down the chair or a vote to keep things from bogging down and going off in disparate directions.

Mcrow · July 22, 2008, 08:58:06 AM

You can count me in Zachary.

The important thing to find out is wether or not all of the d6 IPs come in the deal. I'd imagine they would be, but it should be clarified. Junta, D6, and Torg are not the biggest IPs but they do have some value and we could keep them alive via PDF and Lulu and maybe make some profit on them.

Blackleaf · July 22, 2008, 09:07:53 AM

Heh. Interestingly enough we had the same idea over at Spooky Outhouse:
http://www.spookyouthouse.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=168

(That's the forum setup for the podcast by the Fear the Boot alumni members)

Quote from: StuartWe should take up a collection.

Or form some sort of unwieldy company where everyone who puts in $20 gets to be a member / officer.

Warthur · July 22, 2008, 09:09:11 AM

Zachary, how are you planning on collecting up everyone's money for this? Fundable.org seems to be a sensible way to do this sort of thing, since they only take people's money if the pre-arranged target is met, but they take a 10% cut; on the other hand, if you cut out the middleman and just collect money yourself via PayPal you'll have to spend a while making sure everyone gets a refund if the deal falls through.

FWIW, I'm willing to throw in $50 (maybe more if the deal looks especially likely to succeed) and I'm also willing to do some writing for it in my spare time. But the money hinges on us having a reliable method of a) getting the money to where it needs to be and b) getting our money back if it all comes to nothing.

Nicephorus · July 22, 2008, 09:19:29 AM

Quote from: Mcrow;227067Junta, D6, and Torg are not the biggest IPs but they do have some value and we could keep them alive via PDF and Lulu and maybe make some profit on them.

Are we talking about buying D6 or buying WEG? The latter might be more of a headache despite the other licences as it might mean assuming various debts.

Even without the former licenses, could you get away with doing a D6 space opera and a D6 paranormal investigators? That way you could recycle the best mechanics and older players would get the connection wthout those license fees and royalties.

Mcrow · July 22, 2008, 09:21:35 AM

I think if we are going to take a serious shot at this we need to decide on atleast a basic structure.

$50/share. Owning one share gives you a vote when voting for the board of directors, but does not give you general voting rights.

Contributors who own at least 2 shares gain the additional right to vote on all voting situations that come to the board.

The board is elected from all shareholders with two or more shares owned. Each share owner gets one vote.

All matters involving creating products, licenses, and expendatures of company money will be voted on.

It is the job of the board to manage the day to day operations though they can enlist others to assist them.

Just my suggestion.

Mcrow · July 22, 2008, 09:23:14 AM

Quote from: Nicephorus;227073Are we talking about buying D6 or buying WEG? The latter might be more of a headache despite the other licences as it might mean assuming various debts.

Even without the former licenses, could you get away with doing a D6 space opera and a D6 paranormal investigators? That way you could recycle the best mechanics and older players would get the connection wthout those license fees and royalties.

That's what I'm asking. Gibson many not be willing to sell each unit seperately. You might have to buy WEG just to get d6, which would probably be out of our league.

Warthur · July 22, 2008, 09:24:40 AM

Quote from: Mcrow;227076That's what I'm asking. Gibson many not be willing to sell each unit seperately. You might have to buy WEG just to get d6, which would probably be out of our league.

Gibson has specifically said on the WEG forums that he anticipates that the properties will get sold off piece by piece to a bunch of different companies. So he seems entirely open to the idea.

Mcrow · July 22, 2008, 09:36:49 AM

Quote from: Warthur;227078Gibson has specifically said on the WEG forums that he anticipates that the properties will get sold off piece by piece to a bunch of different companies. So he seems entirely open to the idea.

Good, that makes things easier.

Blackleaf · July 22, 2008, 09:43:13 AM

So if people put in their $, we buy d6, and d6 gets turned into Open d6 -- what would the company, board, el presidente, etc be responsibe for doing?

If it's a honest to goodness open system, rather than a d20/GSL type license, what ongoing duties and work would the "company" be performing?

Honestly curious.

Mcrow · July 22, 2008, 09:48:58 AM

Quote from: Stuart;227084So if people put in their $, we buy d6, and d6 gets turned into Open d6 -- what would the company, board, el presidente, etc be responsibe for doing?

If it's a honest to goodness open system, rather than a d20/GSL type license, what ongoing duties and work would the "company" be performing?

Honestly curious.

Yeah, that is the question. If you plan to just make it open, then people would be throwing their money down the tube. Might as well setup a donation fund.

Nicephorus · July 22, 2008, 09:50:33 AM

Quote from: Stuart;227084So if people put in their $, we buy d6, and d6 gets turned into Open d6 -- what would the company, board, el presidente, etc be responsibe for doing?

If it's a honest to goodness open system, rather than a d20/GSL type license, what ongoing duties and work would the "company" be performing?

Honestly curious.

That's a good question. Would you even want to go through the trouble of an open system? Maybe just publish D6 books - it would be easier without competition and the company could always work with anyone who has a good idea. Would the rights for any D6 books (without lapsed IP) come with the purchase? Those could be sold in pdf and pod to get money back.

Mcrow · July 22, 2008, 09:55:25 AM

Quote from: Nicephorus;227091That's a good question. Would you even want to go through the trouble of an open system? Maybe just publish D6 books - it would be easier without competition and the company could always work with anyone who has a good idea. Would the rights for any D6 books (without lapsed IP) come with the purchase? Those could be sold in pdf and pod to get money back.

I would say we would have to not make it totally open but instead maybe have a small license fee. I would think that if you buy the rights to d6 you would get the files for all of the d6 brand books (space,fantasy, adventure..ect). Yes, those could still make some money back through POD and PDF but I suspect that the sale would include all of the books he has already printed. It sounds like there are a considerable amount of books left.

Nicephorus · July 22, 2008, 09:57:12 AM

Quote from: Mcrow;227094I would think that if you buy the rights to d6 you would get the files for all of the d6 brand books (space,fantasy, adventure..ect).

I would think so but those details would have to nailed down prior to handing over money. It wouldn't be the first time that someone bought less than they thought they did.

Mcrow · July 22, 2008, 10:02:21 AM

Quote from: Nicephorus;227095I would think so but those details would have to nailed down prior to handing over money. It wouldn't be the first time that someone bought less than they thought they did.

The first thing everyone here needs to agree on must be what the deal must include for it to be a go.

For me it would have to include:

All the files./rights for the D6 brand books and all hard copies of them he has.