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Elmoth wrote:Considering Francesco said explicitly in an interview that tabletop games are better bang for the buck than RPGs, well, I guess that Cubicle 7 would say that Hobbit tales gets preference here.

Almost anything is better bang for a publisher's buck than an RPG The rpgamers want a continual drip of product or they don't feel that they are able to use the core rule book that they spent 40 or 50 bucks on. RPGamers are notorious for demanding hefty full colour volumes that compare to coffee table books rather than a useful reference work for the game, see the RQ6 KS for an example of a fanbase that throws money at the chance to have a slipcased hard back with a cotton bookmark and fresh/new art. The envy apparent when a European game book with it's accent on design and good illustration is seen on US gaming sites is positively tangible. The US-based gamers want such a product themselves but usually fail to understand for European companies this is a prestige product at a commensurate price and 40-60 bucks just doesn't cut it for quality production. They want the caviar at fish roe prices and for many the economics of running a company seems beyond their comprehension.

Part of the problem is an aging gamer base that has family and other mid-life obligations and a little more money but still hankers after the days they spent as a student playing RPG's for days at a time. Without the time to research and write their own adventures and worlds they demand, and pay for, glossy tomes from the likes of Paizo to use at their weekly or monthly three hour game.

Paizo has, by dint of their relationship with WotC, a subscriber base that is used to paying a monthly fee for shiny new products every thirty days. Leveraging this into a successful business that effectively crushed DnD 4e was a master stroke. I doubt that a company starting out with that strategy today could develop into a successful company without extremely deep pockets to fund the months of development work needed to bring product to market. When you think that designing and developing a product based on a well-known IP takes two years or more from concept to launch that's a whole bunch of money. A group with a history of producing good material might use KS to get the funding, but several bad apples who have taken largish sums of money and failed to deliver on promises has soured that route for many supporters.

Do I have an answer, no but then if I did I'd be rich and famous

Elmoth wrote:Considering Francesco said explicitly in an interview that tabletop games are better bang for the buck than RPGs, well, I guess that Cubicle 7 would say that Hobbit tales gets preference here.

I have no problem if C7 wants to do a card game. However, I do have a problem when said card game jumps the line on two other (late) products. Hobbit Tales should have been a priority after Heart and Rivendell were out.

Beran, if M-e E have a bunch of products in their hands for review and one is a book of 200 pages and one is a bunch of illustrated cards (many of those pictures are already approved) and a 4/6 page rulebook, which do you think get's past the inquisition first?

Should C7 sit on a product that's ready to go and will generate income to pay salaries and their production budget or should they sell it for an income stream until M-e E finish reading the 200 page book?

Your argument makes no commercial sense for C7 and comes across as whining on the forum. Sorry, but I'd rather C7 have that income stream and sell what's ready than sit and wait for approvals to satisfy fanboys.

Ok, first...I am not a Fanboy. I don't worship at the the feet of Tolkien, I fully embrace the changes in the movies as technically necessary to bring a book to a movie. I don't howl about the additons like Tauriel, etc. Please don't refer to me as such.

Since every product in the TOR line is mired in legal issues how did this card game just spring out of the gate from no where? This product had to have been in production for some time now...why nothing until now at its release. If it had been part of one of the previous release schedules I would be ok with it, but it wasn't. My problem is the timing of the thing. If the time spent on the card game had been put into the production of Heart, Darkening, Rivendell at least one (perhaps all) of those products would be out now making C7 money. I certainly don't see where my arguement doesn't make business sense.

Card games and rpgs occupy different slots in our production schedule. So no resources in terms of time or budget were taken from Rivendell or Darkening to make Hobbit Tales.

Beran wrote: Since every product in the TOR line is mired in legal issues

No products in the TOR line are mired in legal issues.

Jon Hodgson wrote:We will indeed have an update to the 2014 release schedule soon. We have just a few details to confirm before we can say any more. Thanks as ever for your patience.

Thanks for the answer Jon!

Jon Hodgson wrote:No products in the TOR line are mired in legal issues.

In that case I guess I need clarification on the subject. I was under the impression that the delays were primarily due to licencing issues?

Beran wrote:

Jon Hodgson wrote:No products in the TOR line are mired in legal issues.

In that case I guess I need clarification on the subject. I was under the impression that the delays were primarily due to licencing issues?

There's a review and approval process that each TOR product has to go through. Depending on the content this will vary in length. That's not a legal issue or licensing issue though, it's standard practise for Middle Earth Enterprises, and exists for each TOR product - they simply have to be reviewed and approved and books that are dense with text content are going to take longer than board games and card games for instance.

What legal and/or licensing issues did you think there were?

I had thought that the Approval/Review Process was part of the Licensing/Legal side of the arragment. So, the delays are more bureaucatic, rather then legal?