Gather 'round the cathode ray tube and listen as Allen speaks of the latest at Azrael, including a new task for yours truly:

Date:  Wed, 11 Apr 2001 12:10:11 -0500
From:  Allen Divers (allen@azraelproductions.com)
To:  Rage Yahoo (rageinfo@yahoogroups.com)
Subject:  [Rage] State of Azrael : April 2001

      
    Greetings everyone,

    Things proceed as always, slow :-)

    About a month ago, someone pointed out to me that I said I would do a
    monthly article and post it on the website.  Well, unfortunately, I haven't
    been doing that.  Although, I did realize that I've been posting monthly
    updates to the list serve, so that kind of makes up for it. (not really, I
    should have been posting them on the website as well).

    Well, in news, Lurks-between-Bytes is joining the Azrael team.  Lurks will
    be handling update of the website so it can actually look like its more up
    to date.  We'll be starting off with a simple link to his site from out main
    page.  Once we get the software issues ironed out, he'll be doing direct
    updates to the website.

    The reasoning behind this is simple.  I don't have the time to update as
    often as I should be.  Our web staff currently consists of me.  Yep, just
    me.  And for those of you that don't know, I run the website
    http://www.azraelonline.com which is currently the bread and butter of
    Azrael Productions.  Any web time I have to do updates goes to that site.
    If you want to know why, its because that site makes money.. well, not much
    money at all really, heck its barely enough to pay for itself at the moment.

    In other news :

    Play testing for Rage: The Apocalypse has begun.  We've got around 150 new
    cards in the pool that our play test groups are smashing to death.  Once
    things are finalized with our investors, we'll begin the search for artists
    to begin the artwork of the cards.  To save on money, we'll be going to you,
    the fans, to help out.  We'll be sending a call out for artists soon, so
    watch this list.

    We've had a massive set back on the side of Rage: Tribal War.  Thanks to the
    various cutbacks and slashing over at Wizards of the Coast, the man who was
    my main contact is no longer there.  I have been dealing with him for nearly
    a year to get all Rage related material from WotC's vault.  This includes
    the Vegas Edition which will be the focal point of the Rage: Tribal War set.
    All is not lost in the fact we have some of the early play test materials
    for Tribal War, the major setback is the loss of the artwork.  I've spent
    the last week dealing with everyone and their brother at WotC and hopefully
    have a solid connection who can get me those materials.  If not, we will
    lose development time because we will have to make the card templates from
    scratch as well as the logos and various other tidbits.

    We also had hoped that the original templates for Rage: The Apocalypse would
    be among that collection, as we will need to create those from scratch.
    White Wolf, with its original scrapping of the Rage card game, didn't keep
    much in terms of archives.  This is the main reason there is no Operation
    Twilight set.  It never got off the ground, and any materials created no
    longer exist.

    The set back also affected us in other ways.  We were negotiating with WotC
    to pick up a license to create an RPG around.  An RPG is cheaper to print
    and would have brought us some capital to apply towards financing the
    support structure for the card games.  We had concluded talks, and had begun
    the finalizing paper work phase.  Then the shake-up at WotC occurred (for
    those of you that don't know, WotC lost a major portion of its workers when
    Hasbro decided to cut a lot of their losses) causing them to sell off the
    parent license of the license we had just negotiated for.  Talking with WotC
    now, the parent license should be sold off this week, with them finalizing
    everything involved.  Will we get the sub license?  That depends on the
    company that buys the parent license.

    So, once again, we are at a sit and wait point.  In the meantime, at some
    point this week, I hope to get a poll up about Rage: The Apocalypse.  The
    game needs some updating to bring it up to speed with current card game
    tactics.  Now, I realize that was the same thought going through the heads
    of FRPG when they created RALV, they just went one step too far with the
    game.  We are threading on a thin line, and want to make sure we don't cross
    it.

    And finally, I'll leave you with the preliminary plans for the re-release of
    the both games.  This will go up on the poll as well.  Again, this is
    preliminary and may change before release.  We want your opinions, so share
    them!

    The current plan is to release 6 fixed decks for each game.  Each deck will
    be playable out of the box.  Each deck will contain somewhere between 20 -
    30 new cards, with the rest being filled out by reprints.  The reasoning is
    to create a solid product that will allow us to introduce new players to the
    game.  It will have a low entry cost for retailers so that they don't feel
    they are at risk like previous releases.  Why fixed?  From a printing
    standpoint, its cheap.  It allows us to use as few printing sheets as
    possible and avoids the need for sorting and randomization.  Why reprint old
    cards?  It allows us to fix cards with wording trouble as well as again
    saving us money because we don't have to commission new art.

    Now, I know many of you want a full sized expansion with boosters and
    starters and the whole wazoo, well, economics dictate that it ain't gonna
    happen.  Our investor spoke to retailers at the Gama Trade Show who are very
    hesitant about picking up any new card games, especially ones based on games
    that failed before.  The games themselves are solid games, that have always
    had strong followings.  If anything, it was bad management that left this
    bad taste in everyone's mouths.  We've got a lot to over come.  The first
    step is showing that people play the game.  For those of you out there, see
    if you can start running informal tournaments at the local shop.  Even if
    its only 4 or 5 of you playing, it will show the retailer people are
    playing.  If you can, run a tourney at a show or even just a demo.  We need
    your help to get the word out.  With Lurks' help, we'll get you coverage on
    the main website.  At some point, we hope to have the database system done
    with the player registry and tournament registry.  Those will go a long way
    in helping out.

    Well, that's about it for this month.  As always, if anything new pops up,
    I'll let you all know.

    thanks!

    Allen Divers
    CEO, Azrael-Productions
    Editor-In-Chief, Azrael-Online
    allen@azraelproductions.com
    http://www.azraelproductions.com
    http://www.azraelonline.com

Date:  Thu, 12 Apr 2001 14:29:02 -0500
From:  Allen Divers (allen@azraelproductions.com)
To:  Rage Yahoo (rageinfo@yahoogroups.com)
Subject:  RE: [Rage] Re: State of Azrael : April 2001
           
      
    > > Play testing for Rage: The Apocalypse has begun.  We've got around
    > 150 new
    > > cards in the pool that our play test groups are smashing to death.
    > Once
    > > things are finalized with our investors, we'll begin the search for
    > artists
    > > to begin the artwork of the cards.  To save on money, we'll be
    > going to you,
    > > the fans, to help out.  We'll be sending a call out for artists
    > soon, so
    > > watch this list.
    >
    > When will the Tribal War playtesting sign-ups begin?

    No plans for any sign ups.  Opening things up like that just gets messy.
    I've got people in mind, and when the time comes I'll be calling on them.

    > Maybe the time is approaching for you to stop being nice.  I don't
    > know the full situation, but it seems to me that according to your
    > deal, they are legally obligated to provide you with
    > that stuff, and for them to delay is obviously hurting your
    > business prospects.  It's probably not worth a full-blown
    > confrontation, but a hint or two in that direction might get them
    > moving.

    I stopped being nice long ago.  Its reached the point where it is
    jeopardizing our deal with the investors.  From my point of view, wotc has
    ruled the roost too long, and with the way Hasbro views them, they need to
    stop trying to stymie the little guy, and start protecting their own butts.

    You've all probably noticed that in the last year, a lot of card games have
    begun surfacing again.  Hasbro's shakeup of wotc helped that explosion a
    bit.

    > Although the laptop containing the card templates LeSquale made for
    > last-year's Gencon was stolen, i believe i still have a copy of the
    > templates on another computer.  He made templates for the character
    > cards of each tribe, but not for combat cards or sept cards.  Not a
    > perfect solution, but it might give you a starting point.  They're
    > quite good - let me know if you want them.

    Absolutely, every bit helps.  It will at least allow me to mock up the play
    test cards.

    > > So, once again, we are at a sit and wait point.
    >
    > How long would it take to get things to production once the materials
    > are all in?  (Conservative guesstimate?)  The best release
    > time is (to my mind) the end of summer (near or at Gencon) -
    > teenagers and college kids have free time and money to spend from
    > summer jobs, etc.  That seems like an impossible date for now, so
    > what's your next ideal launch date that might be feasible?

    Production is a tricky one.  In an ideal situation, we can go from
    production to print in 6 weeks, barring any major complications.  The
    factors that would slow that process down are creation and manufacture of
    the artwork, turn around time from White Wolf on approval and waiting for an
    open slot at the printers.

    The first 2 factors interweave... initial ideas and storyline must be
    approved by White Wolf.  Once the cards are created artwise, they go for
    approval.  If they come back unapproved, we have to fix it and submit it for
    approval again.

    Once its all said and done, we hope the printer has an open slot for
    printing.  Actual printing time takes from about a week to 2 weeks,
    depending on the setup of the printer.  We also have to do spot checks to
    make sure everything is being printed right (its during this process that
    words, logos, images, trademarks and so on, disappear from cards).

    To have cards ready for gencon is a dream, I'd love to have it done, but at
    this rate, its not going to happen.  That's part of the reason, we're
    concentrating on a small set size.  I'd love to give you a launch date, but
    at this time, I can't pin one down.

    > > The current plan is to release 6 fixed decks for each game.  Each
    > deck will
    > > be playable out of the box.  Each deck will contain somewhere
    > between 20 -
    > > 30 new cards, with the rest being filled out by reprints.
    >
    > So if i buy six starters i am guaranteed to have every card in the
    > set?  Starter prices in the $8-$10 range, i presume?  Care to comment
    > on who the starter tribes will be?  (We need playable wyrm for Tribal
    > War!!!)

    Under current plans, that is correct.  And I will tell you one of the
    tribes... Glasswalkers :-)  But I think everyone knew that one already :-)

    > >The games themselves are solid games, that have always
    > > had strong followings.  If anything, it was bad management that
    > left this
    > > bad taste in everyone's mouths.  We've got a lot to over come.  The
    > first
    > > step is showing that people play the game.
    >
    > Just don't fall into FRPG's trap.  The games must be promoted in
    > magazines like SCRYE, DRAGON, etc.  Sure, it's expensive, but it's an
    > absolute necessity.  We are glad to do our part - run tournaments and
    > demos and tell people about the game, but we can't do everything.

    We are aware of that.  Connections have already been made, its just a matter
    of them taking us seriously, which is why we need your help in doing it.
    Get out there, play, make a showing of it.

    > Any plans available for Gencon yet?  We have a joint
    > Apocalypse/Tribal War event scheduled already, but we still don't
    > know about the championships.  Do you plan on being at Gencon?

    Gencon plans are in the works.  As for the championships, that is under
    discussion.

    thanks,

    Allen

Date:  Thu, 12 Apr 2001 14:46:31 -0500
From:  Allen Divers (allen@azraelproductions.com)
To:  Rage Yahoo (rageinfo@yahoogroups.com)
Subject:  RE: [Rage] Re: State of Azrael : April 2001

      
    >       Thanks for the update.  I follow the game industry, and had been
    > wondering what sort of effects we might feel from the Hasbro situation.
    > Your message hit all of my questions, and answered them in a reassuring
    > manner.  It's good to know that Rage is in such capable hands.

    Your welcome.  I remember when the Hasbro buyout of Wotc was announced.  A
    few people I talked with at the time felt it was the best thing that could
    happen to the industry, bringing it from the backrooms of toy cons to the
    forefront.  I felt it was going to be a bad thing because to be in the
    hobbygame industry, you have to focus on your core.  Try to appeal to the
    mass market, and your game becomes watered down and nobody wants to play it.

    It's a fine line to walk, and about the best way I can do it is to say, I
    want to create a game that I want to play.  Forget about making everyone
    happy.

    later,

    Allen