NIN wrote on Oct 16^th, 2014 at 10:08am:



Well the License is available...

In computer business you get the license to create one product... ( be it an online game or a not online noe )....
And you may get a 'You will be alone in the market for a given number of year' line in the license if you're a good boy and pay upfront some nice amount of money.
Then the IP owner can just sell the license to anybody else to create yet another new product.

The only special thing about DDO is that originally Hasbro/WoTC sold an exclusive license to Atari ( meaning that Atari was the only company allowed to develop computer games based on D&D ), then Atari sub-licensed the license in various bits by market segments ( single player games ( TOEE ) , MMO ( DDO ), whatever it was going to be called originally since it was not going to be a MMO ( NWO )... )

All went to hell when Atari failed to deliver the required services for DDO... and after the court the exclusive license became void. Hasbro was back in full control of the thing, with a semi-undead MMO ( DDO ) and a not living yet monster ( NWO ). They cut a deal with Turbine over DDO, and then with PWE when Cryptic was sold to them by Atari, since it was a direct deal between Hasbro and PWE, everything was back on the table... This is why they could adapt their MMO to the D&D 4th Ed somewhat and use Neverwinter as a setting.

Now if we want to see a new D&D game, Hasbro/WoTC needs to cut a deal with a company to produce one...

So in the end, as long as the revenues generated by the game in maintenance mode covers the expenses of said maintenance mode, the game will be kept alive.
See Asheron's Call...

Flav wrote on Oct 16^th, 2014 at 12:26pm:


ty for the explanation.  since licensing wouldn't be an issue then (in terms of preventing someone else from developing a product), it's pretty discouraging to see the lack of competitive options out there.  the MMO market in general seems to be flattening which sucks short term but might thin the field longer-term and shore up profit margin potential.

still, the licensing fee must take a huge chunk out of profit models.  how else can you explain having such a fabulous IP with only NWO as the only related competition to emerge over the life of DDO?  Depressing.

Would love to see an MMO based on sub and DnD version 2.0 (a la Baldur's Gate 2) with spell sequencers, simulacrum, wish, true backstabbing and whirlwind mechanics etc.