Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz wrote on Jun 18^th, 2021 at 6:07pm:


Rickyretardo wrote on Jun 18^th, 2021 at 6:36pm:


Yeah that's kinda my point. Betting the entire game on whether or not "A D&D movie" is a blockbuster is not a fantastic plan. I'm not saying I believe the movie will be bad, I have no judgements. However, the last D&D movie was bad, several have been bad, and the D&D fanbase is at times more toxic than starwars nerds when it comes to "the lore".

Counting on the success of this film to bring in players is an unwise strategy at best.

But, then, isn't that the only kind of strategy SSG knows?

Dragonborn wrote on Jun 19^th, 2021 at 12:06am:


I obviously wasn´t hinting at the Cameron movie, but the actual ship.. that fucking thing tanked.

Rickyretardo wrote on Jun 19^th, 2021 at 12:54am:


Gosh, I'm sorry I didn't realize! honest! total mistake! absolutely not trolling or pulling your chain... hahahaha!

ExploitEarly wrote on Jun 19^th, 2021 at 1:53pm:


Oh shit, its THAT far out? Yeah, even without the shitfest ED nerfs DDO was going to be just this side of maintenance mode by 2023.

Ya know what's really sad by way of comparison? EVE Online has figured out how to make the game immortal. That game launched in 2003; and via a combination of deep mechanics, mixing up the status quo, and active efforts to gain and keep new players, the game is set to blow past all records for longest-running MMO. The dev team on EVE thinks they can keep the game going for decades.

ExploitEarly wrote on Jun 19^th, 2021 at 3:38pm:


While I believe that you’re 100% correct here, I really wish it wasn’t the case.

noamineo wrote on Jun 19^th, 2021 at 9:59pm:

I think it was 5.  At least, I've only got the 5 mentioned here.

Kevin Sorbo was Hercules.  That was kind of cool to see him in it.

The series was watchable and considering the budget I think they did ok.

noamineo wrote on Jun 19^th, 2021 at 9:59pm:


Right's holders being stupid about their own IP really has no sliding cost scale.  I've seen $5k upfront deals where the holder was the most myopic, thick-skulled idiot, and was willing to sink a project on a property no human being even cared about.  They all think only "they" know the IP being developed.  Please, most of them were on coke or similars when they came up with it. 

Hasbro may still try.  Hershey went to bat trying to sue a friend of mine over 1.5 yrs based on their extremely liberal take on their IP rights.

But yes, the overall thrust is correct.  Be far enough away to do a good story, and stick to mostly open concepts and avoid the accountants. 

noamineo wrote on Jun 20^th, 2021 at 1:40pm:


Your confused about how licensing deals are written and how IP holders actually are involved.

If a licensor gets 150M guarantee from a deal, they don't give a shit whether the project shits the bed.  That guarantee is called a guarantee for a reason.  Most deals aren't front-loaded like that anyhow, because a license no one is willing to pay for isn't a license worth owning.  Aka no way Hasbro is asking for a 150M for DnD (I could probably find out what they would ask, but that's here nor there).  They would certainly get a mix of

I can tell you definitively that a product license from Disney goes for a 200k upfront guarantee right now.  For film it would certainly be more, but pure fantasies about Hasbro's license costs are still fantasies.  If Hasbro doesn't license IP, they don't have a growing business since a huge amount is based on just that.

After a deal is signed, the people in Hasbro, or any IP holder, who "approve" content decisions aren't the bean-counters, they are the creative types.  They aren't motivated by money so much as cockamamie ideas about their IP and how it should be treated.  This is hella amusing because rights holders whore out licenses left and right when they need cash to anybody with a checkbook (see Vegas licensing show), but somehow they are the ones who think they know the IP better than the people who are going to sell it.  Somebody over at Legendary isn't critiquing a product because they they they know how to sell more, they are just being stupid when they ask to move the mouth a couple centimeters on way.

The people at the top of Hasbro don't make content decisions.  They don't have time for that, nor would they ever. 

It's IP simps in the middle that do that.

noamineo wrote on Jun 20^th, 2021 at 1:40pm:

Ahh yes.  Mine came as a 5 pack so it had a generic cover for all titles but the disc itself says The Dragon Slayer and IMDB says The Godslayer.

ExploitEarly wrote on Jun 20^th, 2021 at 2:17pm:



Now, you're confused about who I am saying is going to fuck with the film. Let me distill it down:

Hasbro: "We want a lot of money for the rights. After that, do whatever the fuck you want."

THE STUDIO WHO BOUGHT THE RIGHTS: "We just paid a lot of money for these rights, best micro-manage the shit out of it to avoid fucking it up."

(Hint: the micromanaging inevitably fucks it up)

AAH wrote on Jun 20^th, 2021 at 7:10pm:


That would be the legendary hammer they need to save the day, IE "totally relevant to the plot". Things not relevant to the plot of that film: an dragon.

AAH wrote on Jun 20^th, 2021 at 8:14pm:


If you're the sort that likes to have the TV on in the background while you work/game/etc they are really good for that. Honestly if you focus on the quality of the acting and the cinametography(and ignore the lackluster special effects) they are really enjoyable.