TORG and Ulisses Spiele (SP?)

[PrinceEarwig]

Anyone heard anything at all about the ongoing licencing of new TORG?
Since the german company press released last August that they had bought the rights I've seen nothing more anywhere.
Not being a German speaker mysself I find the Google Translated version of their web forums to be a bit tough to read :)

[Whill]

I haven't heard anything, but I believe that some of the TORG fans that sometimes visit this site may be fluent in German, so they could check out their forums and report back to us here. Do you have a link for their forums to post in this thread just in case?

[Kansas Jim]

When they bought the game last year they said it would be years before they were ready to publish anything, so it's probably still too early to expect any news.

[skeloric]

Even then, they'll release it in German first.
IF it succeeds there in Germany enough to warrant an English translation THEN we will see it again.
OTHERWISE, its gone for good as far as English gamers are concerned.

[Stormchild]

I can't find anything about Torg on their website, but it looks as if they are very occupied with DSA (the dark eye). But the fact that the admin calls himself TORG is a good sign I think. I hope I will meet some of the Ulissses guys at Feen Con at July 31st.

[PrinceEarwig]

OTHERWISE, its gone for good as far as English gamers are concerned.

Not if I win the lottery it isn't :D

[skeloric]

Not if I win the lottery it isn't :D
I've used that line for over 20 years.
Still hasn't happened.
...
...
Just to put that into perspective.

[skeloric]

There are a few issues from my digging around about this:
1. There is no clear understanding as yet as to whether they will keep the system or design a new one.
2. As there was no notable interest (that I was aware of at least) in this RPG domestically, their interest in having a native English speaker/company to translate it and offer it here seems not likely to occur.
3. Seeing as TORG has been absent from the shelves for almost 5 times as many years as the span of years in which it was published, the chances of it ever really returning to a new English edition is pretty much NIL.

We might as well hold a funeral.

[GreenDragon]

As they say over on the Battletech forums (in regards to both the original game and the Clix version) so long as people are still playing the game, it aint dead.

[skeloric]

As they say over on the Battletech forums (in regards to both the original game and the Clix version) so long as people are still playing the game, it aint dead.
I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF BATTLETECH -- that's pretty damn well an example of DEAD right there.
If I were to go to my local mall and poll everyone there, just how many might have any clue at all what "Battletech" might be?
So, DEAD IS DEAD even if its sitting on your personal shelf.

[GreenDragon]

The Truly sad thing is, BT is actually still being published. They maintain that the game books are actually more mainstream now than ever. This of course doesn't negate the fact that previously, they had novels in real bookstores where anyone could find them. Rather than available as electrical impulses on a website.

[PrinceEarwig]

I think BT was quite a bit bigger than TORG though. Cartoon series, comics, novels, snap fix airfix model kits, a series of computer games, an RPG AND a table battle game.
Think GURPS may even have had a BT sourcebook.. that became GURPS Mecha

[skeloric]

I think BT was quite a bit bigger than TORG though. Cartoon series, comics, novels, snap fix airfix model kits, a series of computer games, an RPG AND a table battle game.
Think GURPS may even have had a BT sourcebook.. that became GURPS Mecha
I'm suddenly getting the feeling that all of this talk about "Battletech" is actually some big con job to make fun of me.
I KNOW there hasn't ever been any of that stuff.

[GreenDragon]

And in a bizarre twist, the way you phrase that sounds just like one of their freelancers when he posts on their forum.
(Also I believe I have successfully - albeit unintentionally - threadjacked this topic).
Anyway my point was, it doesn't matter if the game is being published, or has wide recognition. So long as there are a few die hard fans who are still playing, Torg lives on.

[Whill]

And in a bizarre twist, the way you phrase that sounds just like one of their freelancers when he posts on their forum.
(Also I believe I have successfully - albeit unintentionally - threadjacked this topic).
Anyway my point was, it doesn't matter if the game is being published, or has wide recognition. So long as there are a few die hard fans who are still playing, Torg lives on.

I completely agree, and likeways reject the notion that my favorite game Star Wars D6 died when d20 came out, because WEG Star Wars is still being played to this day. But you might as well give up on trying to convince skeloric through all his dread. He has been all doom and gloom about TORG for years. In his mind, a game is dead if it is not currently being published and I learned long ago that won't ever change. I just accept that as a part of who skel is. I can understand that point of view a bit if you will only ever have trendy gamers to play with, a group who just moves on to the next flavor of the month. People like that haven't played 80s/90s RPGs since the 90s and don't look back.

To them, I am just a scaley, old grognard. I haven't been a GM for Star Wars for almost 6 years now. I've been a player in a WEG Star Wars game for a couple years now, and even though it is likely to end soon, I still chose to remain optimistic that I will have players for my return to being a Star Wars GM in the future. Another Star Wars D6 game being published someday would undeniably be cool, but the unlikelihood of that doesn't impact my plans in the slightest to someday run Star Wars again.

So play and enjoy your old WEG Torg game if you want to. You'll know it's not dead.

[johntfs]

TORG is dead, but its ghost still haunts me. I have almost all the books, including the novels and associated material, lacking only the comic book "Tharkold's Invasion of Los Angeles." I have TORG R&E along with a (legally purchased) download of "A More Perfect Union." I love the system and the setting. I just cannot find anyone with whom to play it.

Still, I have made an uneasy peace with this. Do I believe that TORG will be on gameshelves again? Not really. Do I think I'll get new material even in digital form? Probably not. At this point we have to be content with what we have and go from there. For all our complaints about it, War's End brought the saga to a close. A close, but not necessarily the close. If you want new material, make your own and trade it amongst yourselves, because that's the only realistic way that it's going to happen.

[skeloric]

I completely agree, and likeways reject the notion that my favorite game Star Wars D6 died when d20 came out, because WEG Star Wars is still being played to this day. But you might as well give up on trying to convince skeloric through all his dread. He has been all doom and gloom about TORG for years. In his mind, a game is dead if it is not currently being published and I learned long ago that won't ever change. I just accept that as a part of who skel is. I can understand that point of view a bit if you will only ever have trendy gamers to play with, a group who just moves on to the next flavor of the month. People like that haven't played 80s/90s RPGs since the 90s and don't look back.
That last bit is exactly the problem.
I have everything except the comic run and "A More Perfect Union".
What I don't have is a group.
At least not any sort of potential group that would devote time and energy to working through all the warts of TORG to find the RPG I feel in love with back in '93.



To them, I am just a scaley, old grognard.

Aren't we all, at least when it comes to our presence here?



I still chose to remain optimistic

I just don't have that sort of luxury.

[skeloric]

TORG is dead, but its ghost still haunts me.
I love the system and the setting. I just cannot find anyone with whom to play it.

Still, I have made an uneasy peace with this.
Do I believe that TORG will be on gameshelves again?
Not really.
Do I think I'll get new material even in digital form?
Probably not. At this point we have to be content with what we have and go from there.
For all our complaints about it, War's End brought the saga to a close.
A close, but not necessarily the close.
If you want new material, make your own and trade it amongst yourselves, because that's the only realistic way that it's going to happen.
Well as my own links show, I've been there with the rest making TORG stuff.
I've reached a level of frustration where I leave these forums sometimes for months at a time.
Maybe I'll do so again.
Not like TORG is going anywhere...:(

[GreenDragon]

I completely agree, and likeways reject the notion that my favorite game Star Wars D6 died when d20 came out, because WEG Star Wars is still being played to this day. Ironically my most recent foray into Star Wars used the Masterbook System. I converted D20 info for the Legacy era to D6 then the D6 stats to Masterbook. I just find MB to be better for long term campaigns, D6 has a serious power creep.

[Whill]

Ironically my most recent foray into Star Wars used the Masterbook System. I converted D20 info for the Legacy era to D6 then the D6 stats to Masterbook. I just find MB to be better for long term campaigns, D6 has a serious power creep.

Conversely, the Masterbook system just seems scaled so that anything a character might do is just so much more difficult that I would imagine starting PCs die off a lot easier, don't they? But if you had a long-term campaign with it then some PCs must have survived.

I actually even start my PCs off a bit more advanced than RAW but to combat the "power creep" advancement is slower.

[skeloric]

Most RPGs have some issue with the power level as well as power creep.
Its all in discovering the SPECIFIC manner in which the issue presents itself.

[PrinceEarwig]

Hell, while there are fanboy loving games companies out their like Cubicle 7 who are willing to just provide the odd service like, "Rereleasing the original Fighting Fantasy system" and the like.. I still have hope for old game systems.

[PrinceEarwig]

because I happen to know for certain that Angus and the boys at Cubicle 7 would have LOVED to have gotten the TORG license .. many a conversation had about it in the day.

[Kansas Jim]

because I happen to know for certain that Angus and the boys at Cubicle 7 would have LOVED to have gotten the TORG license .. many a conversation had about it in the day.
That would have been cool, Cubicle 7's done some great work with licensed properties.

[Whill]

Perhaps Ulisses Spiele will consider sub-licensing an English edition of TORG to an American game company??? Is there any hope???

[skeloric]

Perhaps Ulisses Spiele will consider sub-licensing an English edition of TORG to an American game company??? Is there any hope???
My understanding is that it is EXACTLY what they want.
Whether Cublicle 7 will accept merely translating rather than the creative control they were hoping to get is another question entirely.

[Kansas Jim]

Perhaps Ulisses Spiele will consider sub-licensing an English edition of TORG to an American game company??? Is there any hope???
They said that licensing it to another company would be the only way to get an English language edition done, as they would not undertake it themselves.

[Apieros]

One of the comments in this thread that I heartily agree with is that if people want new Torg material, the best way to do it right now is to produce it themselves or read other's material and give constructive feedback.

For those interested in doing so, I suggested a way here (http://www.wegfansite.com/forum/showthread.php?3151-Torg-E-mail-List).

That post was originally in this thread, but it got moved. Still, I stand by the comments I made there. Community contributions are valuable, and can help jumpstart your own ideas.

[Matlock]

Hello,

I'd like to use my first post to this forum to spread a bit of optimism. From everything I know about Ulysses they may be the firm most likely to breathe new life into an old game like Torg. They have done so with a few German systems in the past and have some experience managing an English language RPG (Dark Eye). The area in Germany where they are based was home to a number of Torg groups that were around for a couple of years back in the 1990s. There is also a decent population of native speakers nearby although I doubt that this really makes a difference.

That does not automatically mean it is going to happen, but Ulysses would not have bought the rights without some kind of plan.

Question is how will we first edition Torg players react when the second edition arrives and it is not what we remember from the good old days...

[PrinceEarwig]

We might see some news about this in the next few months (or at least some more juicy rumours) as I have just had Angus at Cubicle 7 confirm that they are sharing a stand with Ullyses at the Essen games conference.

[Havard]

Very interesting! If Cubicle 7 begins producing english language products for TORG, I have high hopes for good quality material :)

-Havard