HeroQuest 25th anniversary crowdfunding!

[Thrawn]

I at I know legally regarding HQ:

Contrary to what Gamezone seems to think, this is still the big elephant in the room, and it worries me that some time between me giving my money, and the time the game is supposed to be delivered, the money is going to turn into a legal defense fund.

With that being said, it begs the question about how much of this project is actually HeroQuest. The models look great and the Gamezone seems to really like the property. But without GW's IP and with a questionable legal situation, is this going to be a new version HeroQuest or just an unauthorized fan remake? I really don't know what to make of this. If I back this, is it just going to be a cool coffee table piece when I continue playing "Classic" HQ? Are the rules just going to be one of dozens of fan rewrites that stray from the game we love? Are the quests just going to be some made up or edgy remake? Aside from the cool looking models (which obviously don;t match the GW style that we are used to), is this going to feel like I downloaded this material from someone's website?

I definitely share this concern as well. I've written dozens of campaign packs, and such, based around GW IP. Although GZ has said, "you can download original quests" as their reason for not including them. The truth is, a lot of the locations in the quests are GW property, so including them could have been a problem for them. (I would have been disappointed with reprints of original material anyway.) Basically though, without the game workshop world behind it, how much will it feel like heroquest. They are changing the mechanics, and changing the setting. Will it feel at all like the original game?

Cost is something that concerns me. The base game is $100 with no quote on shipping. I could literally be paying $200 for this. The cost quickly jumps to over $150 in order to take advantage of the additional material they are making. Given the rough legal future this game will likely face, one would kind of want to get everything now or risk never seeing it again. Again, the long distance shipping and increased weight of all the extra components could make this $300 or more. There is an obligation to pay whatever they want to collect for shipping (even if they aren't profiting) that makes me want to tread carefully.

High price + high risk + not sure what the game really is + low communication + company I don't know = lots of concern. That will get shouted down quickly on the comments though. Anything that doesn't sound like blind support gets jumped on at this point.

[Thrawn]

-Hasbro, the rights holder for the game itself, seems to not give to hairs of a rat's behind about the game, but also seems completely uninterested in letting anyone touch the property.
-The North American (and possibly UK?) rights to the name were lost decades ago.

I don't think so. The name is in use, even without the space in between Hero and Quest.
I've mentioned it before and as long as this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeroQuest_%28role-playing_game%29 isn't directly addressed I'll keep my hands so off of this project...

And I'm still completely with Sjeng on this. Just won't comment it anymore as my posts seem to be ignored profoundly and with a vengeance.

What I expect to happen with this project is that the name of the game will be changed some time after the kickstarter, before the game gets released. The rules aren't the same. The setting isn't the same. Change the name, and you will basically have a new game. The money is already locked in at that point, so not much backers can do about it if they are upset that they pledged at that point.

[knightkrawler]

Then it's a bootleg of the game we love without even the name sold to us suggesting it is the official new version.
Wow. Think about that. An entirely new aspect...

[Teldurn]

I just don't like the fact that "some company" in Spain who happens to have had the rights to sell HQ in 1989 now claims to release an OFFICIAL remake of HQ, 25th anniversary, and do so by changing basic elements of the game such as the cards, spells, RULES, the damn BOARD, and even the fimir, because, guess what, they DON'T have the rights for THAT. How "Official" does that sound to you?

As said before, this is a bootleg, plain and simple, and GZ wants to make some easy money off of the name that a different company has made with its game. Not that I like GW that much, but HQ is a game by GW and MB, and has only been released ONCE (well, twice if you count the immediate revised edition 1 year later plus the US version of the game).

It's nice to make a 25th anniversary HQ, but as a FAN project, not as a so-called official release by what I still think is a shady company. This stinks all over. I'm a man orc of principles, and this is crossing the line.

As much as I was at first so excited about this project...after seeing more of the details emerge, I have to completely agree with you on all these points. Every, single one.

[Thrawn]

So now the question for me arises.... If I purchase one now with the kickstater am I definitely going to see either the product or a full refund????

Definitely is a strong word. If you don't see the product (which is very possible), you probably won't see a full refund either, because some lawyer will have your funds by then.

[Jackyboy]

Some very sounds arguements guys, thanks for the lesson. I thought about whacking the big bundle on a creditcard today as well! wow! Think I'll have to watch this space carefully and see what happens in the coming months.

[knightkrawler]

A fun leisure time activity: finding this project from typing in kickstarter.com in your browser search bar and simply looking for it from there.
It's at least two clicks away. That doesn't seem much, but with Kickstarter taking percentages you should expect a project with pledges approaching half a freakin' million bucks would be among the first staff picks or at least among the first three in any category. I mean, this project took off like a rocket in its first two days and didn't lose a bit of momentum. It's gonna be Reaper Bones II level in the end, but it's not even advertising/websearching backed? Just sayin'.

I'm starting to love this.

[Andy P]

I just don't like the fact that "some company" in Spain who happens to have had the rights to sell HQ in 1989 now claims to release an OFFICIAL remake of HQ, 25th anniversary, and do so by changing basic elements of the game such as the cards, spells, RULES, the damn BOARD, and even the fimir, because, guess what, they DON'T have the rights for THAT. How "Official" does that sound to you?

As said before, this is a bootleg, plain and simple, and GZ wants to make some easy money off of the name that a different company has made with its game. Not that I like GW that much, but HQ is a game by GW and MB, and has only been released ONCE (well, twice if you count the immediate revised edition 1 year later plus the US version of the game).

It's nice to make a 25th anniversary HQ, but as a FAN project, not as a so-called official release by what I still think is a shady company. This stinks all over. I'm a man orc of principles, and this is crossing the line.

I get your point, I really do, even though I'm backing it. Still, I wonder: as this "bootleg" version has made HALF A MILLION DOLLARS in two days... is there anyone at GW HQ thinking "hey, wait a minute... we missed a trick here"...

Maybe instead of crapping out dross like Dreadfleet, then deciding that one-off boxed games don't sell; maybe, just maybe, as a result of this, GW might realise that properly updating well-loved properties with an appropriate level of support is (a) what people want and (b) potentially very lucrative. So some good might still come of it, who knows?

[Andy P]

High price + high risk + not sure what the game really is + low communication + company I don't know = lots of concern. That will get shouted down quickly on the comments though. Anything that doesn't sound like blind support gets jumped on at this point.

Can we not do this? Almost every post on the last couple of pages of this thread has been heavily negative about the project. So please don't start making out like anyone not being glowingly positive is some kind of oppressed blessed martyr, valiantly struggling against the overbearing majority. It's unbecoming.

[knightkrawler]

High price + high risk + not sure what the game really is + low communication + company I don't know = lots of concern. That will get shouted down quickly on the comments though. Anything that doesn't sound like blind support gets jumped on at this point.

Can we not do this? Almost every post on the last couple of pages of this thread has been heavily negative about the project. So please don't start making out like anyone not being glowingly positive is some kind of oppressed blessed martyr, valiantly struggling against the overbearing majority. It's unbecoming.

I think thrawn is talking about the comments page on kickstarter itself. There the real *lemony goodness* is happening. Talk about glowing.