11 hours ago, Andreievitch said:

This is assumptive at best. Unless you have source showing that they are using freelancers. The last Forge podcast had Sam Gregor-Stewart and Keith Kappel in it and they were talking like there are no freelancers working on any products. If they aren't involved then I dare say no one is.

I stand corrected. There was a lot of talk about freelancers, but no official announcement was made in that regard. What was said is that "…all three product lines are still ongoing." Fiscal ended on December 31st. The Announcement was made on January 7th by Tim Gerritsen on his Linkedin. This was not an official announcement and the team appears to have finished out the month of January as employees.

Speculation: Asmodee/FFG was going to make the announcement at the end of month and had to respond when the news got out.

Business Logic: They are reorganizing with the intent to make money off of this IP in the RPG space. The best way to do that is freelance and a couple of books a year. This will probably be done at the end of the quarter around the beginning of April. Why do I say that? Because that's how businesses do things. You cut contractors as needed and make layoffs at the end of the quarter and then reorg. An April announcement would definitely explain why no former employees know what's happening.

I have no insider knowledge, but the rampant doomsaying is no more credible than FFG doing what every successful business does and (until they say otherwise) it's been stated that "…all three product lines are still ongoing" and there's no reason to not believe that.

I have no dog in this fight. I am a customer who enjoys the products. I have all the books and will continue to buy them. Occam's Razor says they will continue to publish. Assuming they are closing is (as you said) "assumptive at best." Perpetuating the worst case scenario is self-indulgent and a waste of energy.

53 minutes ago, RookiePilot said:

I want to believe...

I see nothing to indicate anything other than they are slowing down. which they said they were doing. I suspect part of the pause is to give them time to be able to make a pair of sequel trilogy books. They have 2 seasons of a cartoon plus 3 movies. that should give them enough for 2 sequel era books.

12 hours ago, daggertx said:

I am thinking March we should hear something either way...

That's not how FFG works. They can go for many, many months with zero comment before finally saying "The line has come to the end."

36 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

That's not how FFG works. They can go for many, many months with zero comment before finally saying "The line has come to the end."

I guess it is a way to make sure they clear out the remaining inventory.

On 2/11/2020 at 4:14 PM, Banditks said:

I would also love to see an old republic book set but again i doubt it with people laid off from that department.

What specifically would you want from an Old Republic book? If it's just the setting information the SWTOR Encyclopedia should do pretty well. That and Wookiepedia.

On 2/11/2020 at 4:14 PM, Banditks said:

I would also love to see an old republic book set but again i doubt it with people laid off from that department.

Also doubtful until/unless LFL chooses to explore (or authorize licensees to explore) that era in the new canon. And, at that point, such a sourcebook would reflect that new canon rather than what we currently think of as “the Old Republic.” The MMO gets a pass by them because of its profitability as an existing property before LFL wiped the continuity slate clean.

That said, there’s not much crunch-wise about the era that can’t be handled with reskinning existing content. (Sure, the same can be said of the sequel era...except it’s a “sanctioned” setting, for want of a better term.)

1 hour ago, daggertx said:

I guess it is a way to make sure they clear out the remaining inventory.

They just got some stuff back in stock. I dont think you do that if you are shutting down the line. ANd again they just made a bunch of announcement for Legion and has announcements coming soon. I think all the doom and gloom is premature.

33 minutes ago, Rozial said:

What specifically would you want from an Old Republic book? If it's just the setting information the SWTOR Encyclopedia should do pretty well. That and Wookiepedia.

22 minutes ago, Nytwyng said:

Also doubtful until/unless LFL chooses to explore (or authorize licensees to explore) that era in the new canon. And, at that point, such a sourcebook would reflect that new canon rather than what we currently think of as “the Old Republic.” The MMO gets a pass by them because of its profitability as an existing property before LFL wiped the continuity slate clean.

That said, there’s not much crunch-wise about the era that can’t be handled with reskinning existing content. (Sure, the same can be said of the sequel era...except it’s a “sanctioned” setting, for want of a better term.)

I think an Old Republic book is unlikely. A book on the High Republic (the next setting focus for comics, games, TV, and film) is more likely. It's also a good place to bring SWTOR characters and storylines into new canon. The rumors and suppositions around Revan and the Jedi Crusaders might end up in the High Republic Era (a mere 400 years before the Skywalker Saga rather than millenia).

If all the speculation is right, I agree that “High Republic” is more likely. If Project Luminous does indeed carve out that setting, I suppose we’ll have to wait for the official announcement later this month to start speculation about how Far off such a sourcebook might be. Initially, Luminous was teased as just a cross-platform publishing initiative - novels and comics. But rumors/speculation/Magic 8 Balls are now suggesting that it will be multimedia with video games, TV, and film also involved. The broader and larger that scope, the further off an RPG book is likely to be.

7 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

That's not how FFG works. They can go for many, many months with zero comment before finally saying "The line has come to the end."

Or, as was the case with the 40K RPG line: go many months with zero comment, yank the titles from DriveThruRPG without warning, shove all the discussion forums into the archives, and still not actually say anything.

17 minutes ago, Vorzakk said:

Or, as was the case with the 40K RPG line: go many months with zero comment, yank the titles from DriveThruRPG without warning, shove all the discussion forums into the archives, and still not actually say anything.

Actualy, they did say something about the 40K RPG line. They did say that the line was cancelled and that they had either given up or lost the license.

10 hours ago, Daeglan said:

They just got some stuff back in stock. I dont think you do that if you are shutting down the line.

That stuff could very well have been on the way before the RPG team was fired.

10 minutes ago, Stan Fresh said:

That stuff could very well have been on the way before the RPG team was fired.

Still not a teason for doom and gloom. Push too much doom and gloom and you create a self fulfilling prophesy. Lets not do that.

5 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

Still not a teason for doom and gloom. Push too much doom and gloom and you create a self fulfilling prophesy. Lets not do that.

Yeah if we all smile really hard and hold hands surely the RPG team will be re-hired.

3 minutes ago, Stan Fresh said:

Yeah if we all smile really hard and hold hands surely the RPG team will be re-hired.

They dont need to be rehired. And pushing away new players with your doom and gloom does not help. It himders. What we want is to show there is still demand. Yelling to the hills the line is dead decreases demand.

3 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

They dont need to be rehired.

If you want them to work in halfway humane conditions, they do.

3 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

And pushing away new players with your doom and gloom does not help.

I'm not gonna pretend the line is fine towards new people. That would be dishonest.

3 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

It himders. What we want is to show there is still demand. Yelling to the hills the line is dead decreases demand.

Demand is buying books, not sticking your head in the sand online.

Just now, Stan Fresh said:

If you want them to work in halfway humane conditions, they do.

I'm not gonna pretend the line is fine towards new people. That would be dishonest.

Demand is buying books, not sticking your head in the sand online.

I am buying books. I have the whole line and have pre ordered the next one. And i am not sticking myy head in the sand. I am saying dont rush to judgement. The last time it was not till a week or 2 after the release of the last book that we got an announcement. At least lets see what happens then. Not pronounce the game dead prematurely.

1 hour ago, Daeglan said:

I am buying books. I have the whole line and have pre ordered the next one. And i am not sticking myy head in the sand. I am saying dont rush to judgement. The last time it was not till a week or 2 after the release of the last book that we got an announcement. At least lets see what happens then. Not pronounce the game dead prematurely.

Why do you keep accusing me of doing things I haven't done? What is the purpose of such behavior?

2 hours ago, Stan Fresh said:

If you want them to work in halfway humane conditions, they do.

What is more humane than getting paid to work on an rpg book from home?

6 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Actualy, they did say something about the 40K RPG line. They did say that the line was cancelled and that they had either given up or lost the license.

gamesworkshop yanked the license as they like to do that from time to time as they think they know better

they then try to make it themselves and fail hard core as the are good at making models not rules

25 minutes ago, daggertx said:

What is more humane than getting paid to work on an rpg book from home?

Freelancing lacks most of the benefits that come with steady employment yet it requires the same work. It's exploitative.

10 minutes ago, Stan Fresh said:

Freelancing lacks most of the benefits that come with steady employment yet it requires the same work. It's exploitative.

uhhhh it is voluntary so not exploitative. and with out freelancers there would be not be much in the way of RPGs because there is not enough revenue to do things the way you like. Role Playing is a very nitch industry. And having had many in person conversations with the Freelancers that have done work for FFG exploitative is not how they described it at all. They were very happy doing the work. and never expected it to be their day job. And freelancing does not require the same amount of work. Your attitude sounds like someone who has decided what freelancing is like with out actually talking to people who choose to freelance.

44 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

uhhhh it is voluntary so not exploitative. and with out freelancers there would be not be much in the way of RPGs because there is not enough revenue to do things the way you like. Role Playing is a very nitch industry. And having had many in person conversations with the Freelancers that have done work for FFG exploitative is not how they described it at all. They were very happy doing the work. and never expected it to be their day job. And freelancing does not require the same amount of work. Your attitude sounds like someone who has decided what freelancing is like with out actually talking to people who choose to freelance.

No, it's the attitude of someone who has informed himself on the topic and isn't invested in presenting a facade of happiness about the less awesome aspects of the RPG industry, unlike you.

Let's don't do this to yet another thread.

What obscure ships are you all hoping for? Something only briefly glimpsed in canon or from some fringe Legends content?