Something I stumbled across while Reading Tvtropes

[foxtrotpenguin]

Like I said, I was reading Tvtropes (Exact link:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Eberron) and I came across this

"Oh, you're asking who came second in the setting search? Some dude named Rich Burlew."

This Maybe an Newbish question that everyone else already knows but,what ever happened to Rich's setting? Did he ever publish/ make it public? I'm really curious about it now that I know the only thing that beat it was Eberron (Meaning it had to be awesome).

[sofawall]

WotC owns all the rights to it, and he is not allowed to discuss it. If WotC uses it, they do. If they do not, they do not.

If they don't, it will never see the light of day.

[foxtrotpenguin]

Well that kinda sucks

[Zeta Kai]

It is the intellectual property of WotC, & will likely never see the light of day. It's in a filing cabinet in their corporate HQ, where it will rot, to the lament & anguish of gamers everywhere. It's a real shame, because I know many, many people who would pay good money to get their hands on his 100-page setting treatment. It would be the Holy Grail around here (more Last Crusade & less Monty Python).

Also, as an aside, ninjas are quick & quiet, like death itself.

[Lycanthromancer]

Also, as an aside, ninjas are quick & quiet, like death itself.Silent but deadly.

[Zeta Kai]

Silent but deadly.

I see what you did there, & it sounds like a raspberry. *THWPWPWP* :smalltongue:

[Haven]

Someone (I think it was on TVTropes, even) once pointed out to me that, if the Giant had won...he'd probably be busy working on that and we'd never have gotten Order of the Stick. :smalleek:

[kjones]

Maybe I've just been playing too much Shadowrun, but I envision a small, elite team infiltrating WotC headquarters, the hacker disabling security systems, the mage summoning watchers to scout astrally, the street sam silently taking down patrolling guards.

They make it to the storage room - the hacker scrolls through endless database entries in cyberspace as the rest of the team moves cautiously through meatspace, until... Here. Here it is. The hacker's fingers fly over a virtual keyboard, and in an instant, the maglock is down. The street sam doesn't waste any time - he pulls open the drawer, yanks out a single file bound with sturdy twine and labeled "TOP SECRET", slams the drawer shut.

Suddenly, the mage starts flipping out - his watchers are going nuts. The hacker and the street sam look at each other warily, their hands straying towards weapons, when...

That dragon from the TSR logo? He's real. And he went over to WotC along with all the rest of the IP.

The hacker doesn't stand a chance - he doesn't even have time to scream before he's reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes. The mage manages to throw up a barrier in time, shielding himself from the worst of the blow - but casting the spell took too much out of him, and he's lying unconscious and helpless on the floor.

These things never go smooth, thinks the street sam, as he dives for cover, pulling out his Panther XXL assault cannon. Why can't things ever go smooth?

(Anyone want to run this? I'll play the hacker.)

[TheCountAlucard]

(Anyone want to run this? I'll play the hacker.)Eh, no thanks; I'm already too busy working on one in which the PCs go to Florida to steal Walt Disney's cryogenically-frozen severed head. :smalltongue:

[Katana_Geldar]

So...Rich made Order of the Stick in his setting after coming second?

The rest, as they say, is history...

[Sstoopidtallkid]

So...Rich made Order of the Stick in his setting after coming second?

The rest, as they say, is history...OotS seems to be set in a generic setting, with the occasional reference to one of the other settings thrown in, especially ones from Eberron(lightning trains and pos energy undead).

[Mongoose87]

If his setting was ever leaked, and made its way to torrents, it would be hard for them to take that down. Effectively, it could grow to be widely available.

[Katana_Geldar]

I wonder how Rich would respond to that, given the way he protects his copyright Stick-wise.

[Thurbane]

If his setting was ever leaked, and made its way to torrents, it would be hard for them to take that down. Effectively, it could grow to be widely available.
Well, it's 100 page treatment, not a finished product...still, would be very interesting to see it.

[Kurald Galain]

If WOTC was still run by game designers, they would probably release it at some point as a free download, because it's not like they're making money off a document in a drawer somewhere, anyway.

But since it's owned by Hasbro, that's not gonna happen.

[Katana_Geldar]

That actually explains a lot, particularly their embarrassing mistakes with content of late.

[Project_Mayhem]

This sounds like a task for Trilby

[Mongoose87]

I wonder how Rich would respond to that, given the way he protects his copyright Stick-wise.

I think it's WotC's copyright, now.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

If WOTC was still run by game designers, they would probably release it at some point as a free download, because it's not like they're making money off a document in a drawer somewhere, anyway.

But since it's owned by Hasbro, that's not gonna happen.

I'll meet you outside their corporate headquarters with a block of Semtex, a case full of ammo, five ninja costumes, and a dull pen knife.

[Tiki Snakes]

Given how well Eberron has done, I'd say that depending on how close a second it came, there's a very real chance that they might choose to do something with it one-day. It's that kind of reason why they're likely to hang onto the copyright.

Obviously, online petitions mean nothing, and so on, but it might be worth while to take the time now and then to let Wizards know that, as a player and a customer, you would be interested in learning more about, or possibly purchasing, such a setting. Problem being, without knowing anything about it, that would be hard to be convincing about. :smallsmile:

[tbarrie]

It is the intellectual property of WotC, & will likely never see the light of day. It's in a filing cabinet in their corporate HQ, where it will rot, to the lament & anguish of gamers everywhere. It's a real shame, because I know many, many people who would pay good money to get their hands on his 100-page setting treatment.

Yeah, it's such a shame that corporate behemoths like Hasbro don't like making money.

Seriously, though, I'm inclined to agree that there would be an audience for it, what with how Mr. Burlew's name value has increased dramatically since the time of the contest. This is exactly why I'd give better than even odds that WotC will in fact publish it some day. If they don't, it's presumably because they have good reason to believe that it would not in fact sell well (and heck, given that they've actually seen the thing and we haven't, maybe they're right).