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Author Topic: What Game For Stranger Things?  (Read 3040 times)

jhkim

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Re: What Game For Stranger Things?
« Reply #30 on: June 14, 2022, 04:05:20 AM »
  This is going to lead to an off topic question, but do you (or anyone else) know what happened to them?  I have quite a bit of their stuff, and it sure looked like it would play with some conventions I like (skills, better hits from rolling higher, targeted shots, armor being Damage reduction), and a guy I liked (Carella...though he did love to power creep) and never really got to play it too much.  Did something happen?  A death, bankruptcy?  Over extended?  I just remember their stuff being a pretty good buzz over a decade back and now sort of ....poof.

There's an interview with Eden Studios founder Alex Jurkat - who founded Eden along with George Vasilakos.

Quote
My time and work product at Eden allowed me to work my way into the good graces of WotC. I began taking freelance work as a D&D editor/developer. Steady pay for work I adored. Compared to my law work, or my current work (see below), it was still pretty meager, but compared to the net-negative of Eden, I was living large. Again, I got to work with great creators on great product (3e and later editions). Once again, success was more short-lived than I hoped. The freelance work dried up as 4e came on line. I weathered it, earned little to nothing for some time, then was able to get work assignments again once 4e cranked up. A year or so of good times, then work dried up again as 5e came on line. At that point, I found myself in the same position as the end of my Eden days — no revenue, few prospects, no sustainability. It was time to “cut my hair and get a real job”.

Source: https://www.unboundbook.org/?p=18532

So despite putting out a bunch of products, Eden wasn't really making money for the creators, and they moved on to other stuff. Jurkat went on to freelance for WotC, but then left gaming entirely for a librarian career. CJ Carella moved on to publishing novels, based on his website at http://www.cjcarella.com/ . Vasilakos opened a game store in Albany according to his Wikipedia page.

oggsmash

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Re: What Game For Stranger Things?
« Reply #31 on: June 14, 2022, 06:18:43 AM »
  This is going to lead to an off topic question, but do you (or anyone else) know what happened to them?  I have quite a bit of their stuff, and it sure looked like it would play with some conventions I like (skills, better hits from rolling higher, targeted shots, armor being Damage reduction), and a guy I liked (Carella...though he did love to power creep) and never really got to play it too much.  Did something happen?  A death, bankruptcy?  Over extended?  I just remember their stuff being a pretty good buzz over a decade back and now sort of ....poof.

There's an interview with Eden Studios founder Alex Jurkat - who founded Eden along with George Vasilakos.

Quote
My time and work product at Eden allowed me to work my way into the good graces of WotC. I began taking freelance work as a D&D editor/developer. Steady pay for work I adored. Compared to my law work, or my current work (see below), it was still pretty meager, but compared to the net-negative of Eden, I was living large. Again, I got to work with great creators on great product (3e and later editions). Once again, success was more short-lived than I hoped. The freelance work dried up as 4e came on line. I weathered it, earned little to nothing for some time, then was able to get work assignments again once 4e cranked up. A year or so of good times, then work dried up again as 5e came on line. At that point, I found myself in the same position as the end of my Eden days — no revenue, few prospects, no sustainability. It was time to “cut my hair and get a real job”.

Source: https://www.unboundbook.org/?p=18532

So despite putting out a bunch of products, Eden wasn't really making money for the creators, and they moved on to other stuff. Jurkat went on to freelance for WotC, but then left gaming entirely for a librarian career. CJ Carella moved on to publishing novels, based on his website at http://www.cjcarella.com/ . Vasilakos opened a game store in Albany according to his Wikipedia page.

  Thanks, I knew Carella was writing novels, but did not know the other guy's (and thus the company's) story.     

oggsmash

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Re: What Game For Stranger Things?
« Reply #32 on: June 14, 2022, 06:37:03 AM »
    After reading the story, I think I smell a massive kickstarter on the horizon for him/former Eden.   What happens after that I do not know.

Lurkndog

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Re: What Game For Stranger Things?
« Reply #33 on: June 14, 2022, 10:15:49 AM »
A couple other details:

The owners' main line of business was operating a game store. Eden was always a side project for them, and the actual work was done by freelancers such as CJ Carella.

Most of those freelancers have since moved on and become unavailable.

I'm not sure what is up with the game store today.

As for Beyond Human, it has been in limbo for over a decade now. It is always possible that one of the founders will come into some money and pay someone to finish it, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

I can't remember if there's been a kickstarter for it or not. I think the owners wanted to avoid a situation where they promised to deliver a game, but then didn't have time to actually work on it.