 January 29, 2010 - 2:18am | Wizards of the Coast have decided not to renew their Star Wars license: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75862/22320345/Wizards_of_the_Coast_announcement Maybe they'll be looking to replace it with another Sci-Fi setting. Maybe one that they own the rights to... Crow Wayne Peters Senior Artist Blitz Games, Leamington |
 January 29, 2010 - 7:56pm | Somehow I have no confidence in them handling my favorite game. 1. I'd expect them to complicate the rules 2. Mis-manage the product in favor of milking it for short term profit with no consideration toward building a long term customer base. 3. Push Alpha Eclipse and Night Bugs hard cover rules then come out with Alpha Eclipse 2 and Night Bugs 2 rules that you have to buy in hard cover because the first hard cover book they sold you was heavy on fluff and was missing all the stuff they should have put into it so now they have to bilk you for the 2nd set of hard cover books. Then since there was some complaints about the rules there will be Alpha Eclipse version 1.5 and Night Bugs version 1.5 that now you have to buy cause thats the new version and you can't use the old and the newer is better cause now they fixed the problems Hand held High and "Honest Ifshnit" 4. the few modules they bother to focus on producing will be slick and shiny and little else. 5. I suspect that if we polled the community the only real concensus on whats broke in SF is the blinking Zebulon time line but I'd expect them to take all the parts that are not broke and fix them and the thought of that is scary. 6. Then the real customer base "us" would get cease and disist orders cause you cant have the division that we'd represent "sabotaging their game" No disrespect toward Opra who ultimately owns WOTC but I have little faith corporations- I usually assume them to be money grubbing illigitemate male offspring and by and large they've proven me right. Sorry the above sounds cynical but its what I'd realistically expect out of them based on past performance. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 29, 2010 - 8:04pm | Amen Preacher! *CLAP!* Singin' to the choir! The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of
the strong. * Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi |
January 29, 2010 - 8:36pm | You know while I'm in the mood to rant.... Did anyone else notice that the big cheese who made the announcement that WOTC is dropping the Star Wars product who goes by the monicker WotC_BigGuy and is the director of marketing only has 9 post on the forums? and yet 75% of his post is promoting new stuff to come. Then all the bummed people have like 1,000 to 6,000 posts. Kind of says it all the big cheese cant be bothered with the gaming community other than to say well it was a good run now spend some money on the new Ifsh*t cause Hand held High its gonna be good "Honest Ifshnit" its good because we market it. What was that do I actually play any of it? naw you'd know if I actually played any of it cause I'd have posted on the freaking forums but I'm not some dork, geek or other breed of loser I'm a corporate suit! What we really need is a 20th level cleric with a resurection spell to bring back Gygax! I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 29, 2010 - 9:15pm | Yeah, but don't they still have the license to Buck Rogers? More likely they just expand on their sci-fi setting in d20, they have some book with some SF aliens in it. And then because of OGL there are plenty of sci-fi out there for it. Truthfully I prefered West End Games version of Star Wars. I didn't like WoTC whole d20 rules. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
January 29, 2010 - 9:40pm | Yeah, but don't they still have the license to Buck Rogers? More likely they just expand on their sci-fi setting in d20, they have some book with some SF aliens in it. And then because of OGL there are plenty of sci-fi out there for it. Truthfully I prefered West End Games version of Star Wars. I didn't like WoTC whole d20 rules. Do they really? I would have thought that She Who Must Not Be Named would have hung onto the intellectual property of her family even while she was the CEO at TSR and drained the company of every dime she could having TSR pay for every Buckdodgers product printed whether it sold or not. I'm surprised that they still have the license, are you sure? And there's another job for the 20th level cleric, best slip him some platnum to cast resurection in reverse on the Buck Rogers product. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 January 30, 2010 - 12:12pm | That fact that the "remastered" books lasted this long, is a real shock! Then someone posted the old Marvel Superheroes books, they where gone like that! When folks posted old TSR books on Scribd, files and users left and right got deleted - including my user! Of the people who got busted on copyright infringement, only 8 people got sued - only because they were pirating the 4e PHB2. Being involved with the old-school retro-clone community, I have never heard of WotC sending out S&D letters to the makers of these games. I think that the SF Remastered books differs from the aforementioned Marvel downloads, as there was more effort put into the newer SF game then just scanning the old books - it was a creative effort to improve upon slightly uneven rulesets. That, or we just we just fly way below their radar. If Wizards wanted to produce a sci-fi setting to fill the gap of their discontinued SW license, all they need to do is take the Star*Drive and Star Law stuff from D20 Future, and mash it together into their Saga system. |
 January 31, 2010 - 6:46am | Somehow I have no confidence in them handling my favorite game. 1. I'd expect them to complicate the rules 2. Mis-manage the product in favor of milking it for short term profit with no consideration toward building a long term customer base. 3. Push Alpha Eclipse and Night Bugs hard cover rules then come out with Alpha Eclipse 2 and Night Bugs 2 rules that you have to buy in hard cover because the first hard cover book they sold you was heavy on fluff and was missing all the stuff they should have put into it so now they have to bilk you for the 2nd set of hard cover books. Then since there was some complaints about the rules there will be Alpha Eclipse version 1.5 and Night Bugs version 1.5 that now you have to buy cause thats the new version and you can't use the old and the newer is better cause now they fixed the problems Hand held High and "Honest Ifshnit" 4. the few modules they bother to focus on producing will be slick and shiny and little else. 5. I suspect that if we polled the community the only real concensus on whats broke in SF is the blinking Zebulon time line but I'd expect them to take all the parts that are not broke and fix them and the thought of that is scary. 6. Then the real customer base "us" would get cease and disist orders cause you cant have the division that we'd represent "sabotaging their game" No disrespect toward Opra who ultimately owns WOTC but I have little faith corporations- I usually assume them to be money grubbing illigitemate male offspring and by and large they've proven me right. Sorry the above sounds cynical but its what I'd realistically expect out of them based on past performance. You're too kind.... "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
January 31, 2010 - 7:29pm | I, for one, am not saddened by Wizards' loss, as I've never much cared for either of their SW games. As for those morons producing a SAGA version or (shudder!)a 4e version of Star Frontiers(from the sounds on the WoTC boards, d20 Modern is virtually a dead horse), I think it would be better to just wait til the company dies and then those rights will be up for grabs at(hopefully)fire-sale prices, as it's almost certain Green Ronin, DP9, Pale Puppy, Chaosium, Palladium, and, especially, SJ Games won't touch them, though it is almost certain that every one of the companies above will make at least a faint-hearted attempt to snap up the Star Wars RPG rights. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
 February 1, 2010 - 4:21am | What blows my mind is that they're still selling Magic: The Gathering products. I saw a bunch of starter packs at WalMart the other day for about $40 each. Sometimes I'm glad I DON'T have kids: "Daddy, buy me Magic cards!!!" Hmm, filet mignon and lobster tails or Magic cards... I mean, I worked in a comic book store back when Magic hit the scene, and that was circa 1993-96. How can that actually still be alive and well? |
February 1, 2010 - 4:15pm | There were rumors Palladium tried for the Star Wars license years ago, before West End Games got it. I don't think DP9 will even try for it as they are too busy doing all the new Heavy Gear stuff and plans to reboot Jovian Chronicles, and with Gear Kreig and Core Command sitting in the wings. DP9 has no room for Star Wars, even though I think it would be one of the best systems to handle it. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
February 1, 2010 - 5:32pm | Yeah, Sargon, I totally forgot about that...that and their working with SJ Games to publish and market the SilCore rules. My opinion, either Green Ronin or DP9 would be the best two systems for a new SW incarnation. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
February 1, 2010 - 5:34pm | What blows my mind is that they're still selling Magic: The Gathering products. I saw a bunch of starter packs at WalMart the other day for about $40 each. Sometimes I'm glad I DON'T have kids: "Daddy, buy me Magic cards!!!" Hmm, filet mignon and lobster tails or Magic cards... I mean, I worked in a comic book store back when Magic hit the scene, and that was circa 1993-96. How can that actually still be alive and well? Filet mingnon and lobster tail, definitely. My opinion on CCGs should be elsewhere in this site or the FS one, so I'll not comment on Tragic: The Fleecing right now.... "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
 February 1, 2010 - 5:45pm | I'll disagree and say that the best "system" for SW would be the one we create as a community. (Those of us who like the setting). I've heard good things from friends playing the latest incarnation of SW RPG (no idea what name it goes by, lol) Never played myself - I'm still using WEG d6 version. |
February 2, 2010 - 2:13am | SAGA is the latest SWRPG incarnation. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
February 2, 2010 - 4:36am | My opinion on CCGs should be elsewhere in this site or the FS one, so I'll not comment on Tragic: The Fleecing right now.... Please, do tell...there's no search feature here LOL It just blows my mind, because when I worked at that store the game became popular overnight and faded out just as quickly. I mean we got stuck with a lot of stuff we couldn't move...we offered unopened packs at deep discount and loose cards at "pick any 10 for a nickel" as well, and it all just continued to collect dust. You could actually count how many times you clipped your toenails between Magic sales. Fortunately we didn't take a complete bath over it, we probably broke even at best (I didn't ever see the books, just a fair shake of the general sales and handled all the receiving/sorting). So it just struck me as odd that something we couldn't move for a couple of bucks (starter packs) back then was selling for almost $40 at Wally World. Then again, I didn't actually see anyone at Wally World buying it...but if "budget minded" WalMart is asking $40, what are the other places asking? Scary, to say the least. |
 February 2, 2010 - 11:38am | Should WotC decide to pick up SF as their "new" sci-fi game, I'd be all for it, simply because some SF is better than NO SF... Long live the Frontier! |
 February 2, 2010 - 2:46pm | I think I saw WOTC is coming out with Gamma World (what edition would that be now, 12?) for the D&D 4th edition d20.75 or whatever passes as the current D&D system rules. It is possible that they'd jam SF into that mess of a system, if they had any desire to do so. I'd much rather see them go belly up and someone else pick it up. They don't seem to have any interest in selling the rights so far and have no real interest in supporting a worthwhile Sci-Fi game. |
 February 2, 2010 - 3:54pm | I see a lot of lack of understanding here. First the "big chief" is new. He was hired in the middle of last year, and his major duties weren't expected to be in swing until January, that's why he doesn't have many posts. He hasn't had much of a chance to settle in. As for the Star Wars RPG product line, it was flipping amazing this time around and came in fantastic waves that didn't happen for the first edition from WOTC. The game won awards for game design and is an excellent game to play. Star Wars RPG is going away, not because WOTC mismanaged it! But because Bush left the economy in flippin' shambles! They had to trim down their production in order to survive, and a product line in which they have to pay for a license is always going to be the first to get cut, and since it was their last licensed product, well then it's obvious that it had to be cut. I guarantee they very badly did not want to let go of Star Wars. Finally, WOTC has NEVER (in my memory) informed us that a product was going away BEFORE it went away. This is unprecedented in my memory and I think bodes well for WOTC's future. They finally have a product manager who knows what the hell he's doing. View my profile for a list of articles I have written, am writing, will write. "It's yo' mama!" —Wicket W. Warrick, Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi "That guy's wise." —Logray, Star Wars Ep.VI: Return of the Jedi Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? - Felicia Day (The Guild) |
February 2, 2010 - 4:25pm | Star Wars RPG is going away, not because WOTC mismanaged it! But because Bush left the economy in flippin' shambles! They had to trim down their production in order to survive, and a product line in which they have to pay for a license is always going to be the first to get cut, and since it was their last licensed product, well then it's obvious that it had to be cut. I guarantee they very badly did not want to let go of Star Wars. Yeah, considering they stressed the point that they could sell SW product til August and were hyping the heck out of their upcoming Unknown Regions sourcebook. Who knows? Maybe they do plan to go out with a bang. I still don't like SAGA, no matter how many awards it's won. Milli Vanilli sto—I mean, won the Grammy for Best New Artist...and, we all know the rest of that story. Not a lack of understanding, just a opinion formed by years of RP experience with several different systems. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
February 2, 2010 - 4:32pm | New flash, Bush has been gone for over a year now and Obama isn't doing anything to help the economy either. Doing more harm than good. Which really has no bearing on what WoTC does with it's Star Wars license. Really this does nothing to really effect gamers as odds are most will just go back to writing up stats for what ever game system they want to play Star Wars in. There are convertions out there after all. So what WoTC does is really insignificant here. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
February 2, 2010 - 4:40pm | My opinion on CCGs should be elsewhere in this site or the FS one, so I'll not comment on Tragic: The Fleecing right now.... Please, do tell...there's no search feature here LOL It just blows my mind, because when I worked at that store the game became popular overnight and faded out just as quickly. I mean we got stuck with a lot of stuff we couldn't move...we offered unopened packs at deep discount and loose cards at "pick any 10 for a nickel" as well, and it all just continued to collect dust. You could actually count how many times you clipped your toenails between Magic sales. Fortunately we didn't take a complete bath over it, we probably broke even at best (I didn't ever see the books, just a fair shake of the general sales and handled all the receiving/sorting). So it just struck me as odd that something we couldn't move for a couple of bucks (starter packs) back then was selling for almost $40 at Wally World. Then again, I didn't actually see anyone at Wally World buying it...but if "budget minded" WalMart is asking $40, what are the other places asking? Scary, to say the least. Okay, my opinion of CCGs:If I want to stretch my imagination I want to stretch my imagination, not play frickin' Go Fish with a deck that has pretty pictures. As for the recent re-entry of Tragic: The Grifting, I can only guess that Wizards is trying to cash in on the nostalgia value of the game, for those who, back during the game's brief heyday, might have had their right brains so fried by constant vid gaming that they are incapable of wrapping their remaining braincells around something as complicated as an old-school paper and dice RPG(as opposed to d20, SAGA and their ilk, whose overthought, overcomplicated, overly anal tomes have strict rules covering going to the bathroom and how many dice of damage are sustained, should the primary challenge of Straining result in failure). Wizards may also hope to attract(to this glorified game of War with pretty pictures) a newer audience of brain-fried children fed too much cookie-cutter vid games, cookie-cutter MMORPGs, and fake interactions with fake avatar people on Gaia, IMVU and similar sites, and are left with hardly enough braincells to comprehend the complex concept of a six-sided die. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
February 2, 2010 - 4:57pm | New flash, Bush has been gone for over a year now and Obama isn't doing anything to help the economy either. Doing more harm than good. Which really has no bearing on what WoTC does with it's Star Wars license. Sargon, they're all the same, and, just wait, come 2012, the Emperor will have a brand new outfit and the economy will start looking better. See our charts. Unemployment's going down. If that ruins your life, that's your problem Hell, Reagan(or at least his handlers) and Clinton both pulled that con game on the American people. But, you're right, it's neither here nor there. Wizards is losing the license simply because Wizards is mismanaged, and their "decency" to announce beforehand they were not renewing the license is balanced by their using their announcement as an opportunity to market their SW product. Really this does nothing to really effect gamers as odds are most will just go back to writing up stats for what ever game system they want to play Star Wars in. There are convertions out there after all. So what WoTC does is really insignificant here. Not to the fanboys who laid down their cash for hardcover after hardcover, but, yeah, in the end, life goes on. Some other company will get the gaming rights to Star Wars, as it's an almost-guranteed gold mine, even with Lucas looking over their shoulder, and no one else in the industry is going to pass it up without at least a looksee. And, there are fan-created rules for playing Star Wars under nearly every RPG system known, GURPS, True20, Traveller, both Cyberpunk rulesets(a lightsaber battle using Friday Night Firefight will be brief and fatal, even using the Force),HERO System, Rolemaster(gods only know how with that nightmare of a system), Chaosium's BRP, and I think there's even one out there for Pale Puppy's system. And, of course, there's doubtlessly tons of fan material for the SAGA and d20 versions of the SWRPG, both on and offline. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
February 2, 2010 - 9:15pm | Wasn't Magic an "original" WOTC product? Maybe that explains some of their revival appeal. As for who "wrecked the economy"...it goes back a little further than the Bush administration. Somewhere between Bush senior and Bush junior, someone enabled easier loans for homes in order to "make it affordable for anyone". That simply went into overdrive during the last administration, making unaffordable homes...still unaffordable...yet permitted elaborate sales pitches and even further goofy loans all in order to "convince" uneducated idiots that they were affordable. Blame the typical American consumer, up to his/her eyeballs in debt while making $30K/year signing the bottom line and lacking a basic grasp of math that says it's not a good idea agreeing to a monthly payment that exceeds his/her monthly income. Add to that, other administrations made it easier to walk away from mortgages. I bought some stock that didn't turn out so well, should I walk away from that too? I owe more on my truck than it's worth, should I walk away from that too? I don't feel like paying my credit card bills anymore, should I walk away from that too? It is that exact premise that puts us exactly where we sit today. Yet the banks were "too big to fail". Not being able to collect, a situation enabled by Uncle Sam over the past couple of decades, made them fail. If you loan everyone you meet a $20 bill and none of them pay you back, how long will you last? THAT is where you need to look for pointing the finger of blame concerning the economy. |
February 3, 2010 - 2:36am | Well, WOTC are indeed producing Gamma World as a boxed set, using the D&D4 rule system (they're also producing a new version of the D&D 'Red Box' too). Gamma World as a setting looks rubbish so I don't think I'll be bothering. As for SAGA, well, the response from the fan base seems to be that it's not really a surprise and to be fair, it's pretty much a done deal anyway. There are books that detail all the various periods of the franchise, books that detail the various classes and books for the rest (ships and droids etc). The minis have about 6 different versions of every character and vehicle that ever appeared in the films, comics or novels. They have a complete system that they can play for ever. They're not really bothered. As for someone else picking it up. I can't see it. The license is way beyond the reach of most mere mortal RPG companies and those that can afford the $100,000 (apparently), well, if Hasbro can't make a respectable profit from it why would anyone else be able to? It's the same problem with Star Trek. Decipher just gave up because there just really wasn't any money in it. Last Unicorn before them, did a terrific system with a great many source books... and then died. As for doing Star Wars with another system. Well, my system of choice would be Savage Worlds, but there's already an excellent homebrew source book out there which I can get for free. Why the hell would I want to buy an official source book that could easily break Pinnacle? This is true of most systems, I think. Crow Wayne Peters Senior Artist Blitz Games, Leamington |
 February 3, 2010 - 10:48am | HOLY MOLY!!!! I just wanted to drop in my reaction. I am shocked. Stunned. My gast is flabbered. WOTC splits with Lucas? You know what? It just goes to show you that working with George Lucas must be a hideous experience. Of course I might be wrong, but I think that is the root of this. I have heard all sorts of official and unofficial nightmare stories about working with him and his company. I have not read all of your posts yet, but I will right now. I just had to say something right away on it. This could be HUGE news for us. |
February 3, 2010 - 11:14am | Gentlemen, gentlemen - please! Let's leave the Bush-Obama-Great Recession stuff for the politics boards. Real quick: they both suck (or sucked.) Alrighty then... Star Wars RPG died not because it was a bad game or mismanagement by WOTC, but because those recent movies by Lucas were bad, and they polluted the RPG. Plus, my guess is that Lucas & Co. probably messed with WOTC on issues outside of their purview one too many times. Now, here is the 64,000 Credit question: what does this mean for us. Frankly, I prefer to see it as an opportunity for Star Frontiers. I understand what Jedion is saying below, and everything he says is true and correct. But, what if a new (i.e. OLD SCHOOL) paradigm could be set up, by us, to WOTC? And maybe we can get some cash too? Look at the amazing QUALITY of the Star FrontiersMan! Is there ANYTHING better for RPG gaming in the zine world out there? Sci-Fi or otherwise? My guess would be "no". Maybe there is some fantasy zine, but I would bet the farm that our stuff is at least as good as theirs, if not better. We have all contributed, and will continue to do so. With this gaping hole in the WOTC product line, a wise exec would enlist US to bring back an established, ready-to-go game. WE know what needs to be done. A strong Convention presence (with T-shirts and whatnot) and tons and tons of beautiful modules. Combining this strategy with the Web is a no-brainer. I'm sure that many of you have other great ideas. We need to look at the bright side on this. WOTC dropping Star Wars and Lucas could be a huge opportunity for Star Frontiers. I think we should put together a delegation to speak to WOTC now, and see if we can work something out. Think about it: they are now free from the shackles of Star Wars - able to make their own decisions without having to call George every 8 minutes for approval. |
February 3, 2010 - 11:30am | Some more thoughts... I would like to directly address Jedion's concerns, and unfortunately I can't - at the moment. Hasbro/WOTC/Oprah might do all of the bad things that you mentioned. However, I will remind everyone that nothing would change around here. We cannot be "cease and desisted" if we are not making any money. After all, what would they sue for? You can't squeeze water from a stone... I think that they have been chastened and embarrassed by their latest rules debacles. Of course, they may be proud and arrogant and incapable of change from their 3.0/3.5/4.0/12.462 habits. But, if we have any kind of say at all, and they would be absolutely moronic to ignore us and our quality work, we could prevent that from happening. I think the cat is out of the bag on the rulebook scam, and the public will not be fooled again. Therefore, their only real option, as far as I can see (if they are not just stupid), is to return to the Old School. That being conventions and modules backed by a juicy Web presence. We need to look into this - as a community. |
 February 3, 2010 - 11:42am | WOTC splits with Lucas? You know what? It just goes to show you that working with George Lucas must be a hideous experience. Of course I might be wrong, but I think that is the root of this. I have heard all sorts of official and unofficial nightmare stories about working with him and his company. This made me laugh. Back in 97-99ish I was on a Rifts mailing list, and people would post all sorts of conversions to it, regular posts would deal with Star Wars conversion to Rifts/Palladium system. One guy that had some really well balanced conversions said he got a cease & desist email from Lucas's lawyers. He posted it, and then a few hours later Palladium staff came on and asked people to stop with the Star Wars conversions becasue they were contacted as well. Both parties posted email from Lucasfilms(?) and Palladium copied the letter they had gotten as well. They were threatened with some serious sounding legal action. This was in the time frame that West End lost the SW d6 license and Lucas was looking for another game company to bring it out. Time flies when your having rum. Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time. |
February 3, 2010 - 12:42pm | WOTC does noty seem interested in Sci-Fi -- Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Alternity, etc ... . Many of their past sci-fi efforts had merrit, but no solid, long term support. |
February 3, 2010 - 4:43pm | Let's leave the Bush-Obama-Great Recession stuff for the politics boards. Real quick: they both suck (or sucked.) I agree that both suck/ed, but I wasn't blaming either of them. I blame the American consumer and the lack of personal responsibility which our society so dearly promotes. Nothing political about that! As for licensing issues, hey...if someone makes a popular product and has the forethought to secure licensing rights (before or after realizing the popularity), God bless him or her. As long as the consumers are willing to pay the (inflated) price to cover it all, so be it. |
