Thema: Guardians of Order in der Krise?

[Selganor [n/a]]

Auf ENWorld hat sich jemand darueber aufgeregt dass er (obwohl die Website im Februar angekuendigt hat dass es verfuegbar ist) noch immer das Bonusmaterial von seiner Preorder gekriegt hat.

Der Wikipedia-Eintrag

2005
Misc: Guardians of Order downsizes to just Mark C. Mackinnon after a hard season. GoO will continue to publish the games still in the release schedule (such as Tekumel).

2006
Dozens of artists and other freelancers are left unpaid for work on many products, including the art-heavy Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) RPG. A form letter was sent in early 2006 to the unpaid artists, explaining the hardships had by the company, but intentionally left out details as to when payment would be remitted. Game of Thrones is to be distributed by White Wolf publishing. Allegedly, some employees are also unpaid.

macht auch nicht wirklich Mut. (Auch wenn der wahrscheinlich von jemandem der mir GoO Probleme hat(te?) geschrieben wurde)

Nur mal als Vorwarnung dass man nicht Sachen die in den Laeden nicht beikommen "sicheheitshalber" bei GoO direkt bestellt (und das Geld evtl. verliert)

[Samael]

Sehr unprofessionell.

[Ein]

Naja, ich denke sowas passiert, wenn eine Firma den Bach runter geht. Also etwas Geduld. Entweder fängt sich GoO wieder und kommt dann sicherlich auch seinen Leistungen noch nach. Oder GoO geht Bankrott.

[Selganor [n/a]]

Daher ja erstmal die Warnung (und das ?) und nicht gleich die Meldung "GoO ist tot"

Aber schon erstaunlich dass sich auf deren Boards auch nix erkennen laesst und das (laut dem ENWorld-Thread) der Chef von GoO schon laenger nicht mehr auf E-Mails antwortet

[Roland]

Die Boards von GoO sind voll mit Threads in denen nach dem Schicksal der Firma gefragt und darüber spekuliert wird. Bei rpg.net gibts auch einige. Seit Februar hat sich aber weder der Besitzer der Firma,  noch einer der ehemaligen Mitarbeiter, die vorher desöfteren in den Boards zu finden waren, in irgendeiner Form geäußert.
Außerdem scheint GoO keine Bestellungen mehr auszuliefern und telefonisch nicht mehr erreichbar zu sein.

[Selganor [n/a]]

George R.R. Martin hat sie wohl erreicht: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/news.html

GUARDIANS OF ORDER OUT OF BUSINESS
July 28, 2006
    I regret to announce that Guardians of Order, the Canadian games company that issued the GAME OF THRONES role-playing game last fall, is closing its doors and going out of business.
     Although the GoO website remains open and there is some fan activity on the message boards there, it would appear that orders are no longer being fulfilled and emails to Guardians itself are going unaswered. The company's office has been vacated, and the company phone has been disconnected, When I finally reached GoO's owner and president Mark MacKinnon last week, he confirmed what many had come to suspect -- that he is shutting down operations. MacKinnon is presently attempting to place some of GoO's games with other companies.
     I am not privy to all of the details of how and why Guardians is going under, but I do know the company's finances were very badly affected by the decline in the value of the American dollar against the Canadian dollar. Most of GoO's sales were in the United States, so a weaker dollar meant less money coming in. The massive and gorgeous GAME OF THRONES role-playing book, four years in the making, was finally released last November (for details, see the news stories in my archives) and appears to have sold quite well, but its success proved too little and too late to save Guardians of Order.
     I am presently attempting to work out some sort of settlement with Guardians that would allow the RPG to continue with another company, but at this writing the future of the game (if any) remains unresolved.
     Ironically, this announcement comes just as the GAME OF THRONES RPG has been nominated for four "ENie" awards as one of the best games of 2005. The game has been nominated in the categories of Best Production Values, Best d20/ OGL Product, Best Product, and Best Game. If you're a fan of the game and would like to cast a ballot, voting is open until July 30 at http://www.enworld.org/ennies/voting.php

[Haukrinn]

Traurig. Ich hoffe, die TriStat-Designer kommen bei anderen Firmen unter. Verdient hätten sie's allemal... 

[Monkey McPants]

Ich heule ja besonders um Nobilis. *seufz* Aber es ist allgemein schade, GoO waren definitiv einer der genialsten Publisher da draußen. Tolles Zeug...

M

[Fatman]

Ich stell gerade fest, dass ich sogar ein Buch von denen gekauft habe- und das war ganz gut. Schade, das.

(Auch wenn ich nun die Hoffnung habe, dass ASOIAF, wie Wild Cards auch von SJG verlegt wird... das spart mir Arbeit)

[Roland]

SJG hat bisher D20 noch nicht angerührt.

Hoffnungen kann man sich wohl eher bei WW, Green Ronin oder Mongoose machen.

[Selganor [n/a]]

Naja... immerhin: " MacKinnon is presently attempting to place some of GoO's games with other companies."

[Mc666Beth]

Ich finde es sehr schade um GoO. 

[Selganor [n/a]]

Scheint so dass Mongoose schon einen "Notfallplan" in der Schublade hat und nur auf Kontakt mit MacKinnon wartet den umzusetzen.

Von daher... scheint so dass die LINIEN den Bankrott ueberstehen koennten.

[Mc666Beth]

Laut dem was man von MacKinnon gehört hat, war das Problem ja eher, dass sie ein kanadisches Unternehmen sind/waren aber alles über US-Dollar lief, der stand wieder so schlecht, dass dadurch ziemlich viel Geld verloren ging. Ich würde das garnicht soweit von der Hand weisen, da sich auch andere Firmen darüber beklagt haben. Ob es nun letztendlich wirklich daran lag, dass weiß nur MacKinnon.

[Mondbuchstaben]

SJG hat bisher D20 noch nicht angerührt.

Das ist ja nicht ganz richtig:
http://www.sjgames.com/munchkin/rpg/

Dirk

[Hurle Vents]

Sch****, da kann ich ja lange warten. Ich hab's schon befürchtet, jetzt muss ich also doch zur d20-Version von AGoT greifen. Ich hoffe, ich bekomme beim Durchblättern keinen Ausschlag... 

[Monkey McPants]

Endlich mal ein Wort von GoO: (Link)

My gods, I have no idea where to begin.

Yes ... effective more-or-less immediately, Guardians Of Order has ceased operations.

First, an apology. I am terribly sorry that George Martin broke the news about our situation. That is certainly not how I wanted the information to be released, and I had thought that my frank conversation with him about A Game of Thrones-specific issues was in confidence. This is the second time now that someone other than me releases very important news about Guardians Of Order, which leaves me frantically trying to patch the holes. The polite and proper thing for me -- as President of the company -- to do would be to contact all of our creditors (which includes some great freelancers and industry associates) FIRST and explain the situation to them. I was working on that process when my efforts were derailed by one simple website post. So I am very sorry that someone else took it upon himself to release this information. It's not how I was proceeding to handle things.

But yes, the end result is the same. GoO is no longer.

This was a very sad decision that I had to make, but it wasn't really a difficult one when I took a long, hard look at the facts. The company simply accumulated too much debt, with little hope of paying it off within the next decade, and my recent plans to get the company back in shape didn't materialise. When I kept my emotions in check and simply analysed the facts of the company's financial forecast, the only course of action was very clear. There were a combination of factors that contributed to the ultimate inability of the company to maintain fiscal health (which I have outlined several times in other posts over the years) -- the extreme softening of the RPG sales market, the drastic shift in USD/CDN exchange rates, etc -- but external circumstances are not entirely to blame. Simply put, I did not have the business acumen to run the company profitably when the going got tough. I'm going to steal a John Nephew analogy for a brief explanation.

I've been driving down the gaming industry highway in my GoOmobile since 1997, with a coffee in the cup holder and a muffin on the passenger's seat. For many years of driving, the highway was a straight path with very little traffic on it. Consequently, if I swerved a little as I ate my breakfast while driving, it wasn't a big deal ... the situations on the road were very forgiving and it was easy to keep on driving. Unfortunately, when the road started getting very crowded around 2003 and started making many twists and turns, I didn't have the foresight to put down the coffee and muffin, place both hands firmly on the wheel, and pay very close attention to the road. I just kept on driving like before, assuming everything was the same. Ultimately, the GoOmobile swerved into the path of an incredibly powerful semi-truck called "Exchange Rate Fluxuation," causing a terrible wreck and writing off the vehicle.

I'm not making light of the situation, but I thought that John's analogy was a perfect fit. Running the company when things were peachy was easy, but I faltered when the going got tough. For my lack of knowledge and experience, I sincerely apologise to our many thousands of consumers and fans, our creditors and freelancers, and to my many friends who put their faith in my dream. I failed, and I'm sorry I couldn't do better.

So where does that leave things now? I don't have all the answers yet -- I was trying to line them up before making this announcement -- but here's what I can say at this time:

* BESM Third Edition is finished and ready for press. Another company will be publishing it and providing future support. It's the most elegant version of BESM and the Tri-Stat System that I have put together and am very proud of it. If you pre-ordered the book from us, more information will follow.

    * Advanced d20 Magic is back from press and will be hitting stores in August. Customers who pre-ordered directly from us will be receiving their orders.
    * We are still attempting to place the A Game of Thrones RPG with another company. Of course, this requires GRRM's approval and we are still working out details. AGOT is a fantastic game, and we will do our best to see it continued.
    * All outstanding orders will be fulfilled. If we are unable to ship you the order for some reason, you will have the option of having a refund sent to you. We are no longer taking any orders directly from our web store.
    * Our products will remain for sale as both print books and PDFs as long as the stores will carry them. We are arranging for our products to be transferred to another company. I have no information regarding their future publication.
    * Our Tri-Stat/brand licenses remain in effect for as long as indicated in the contracts, and licensees may still publish products under the terms of such licenses. Obviously, the Magnum Opus imprint will cease to operate.
    * Our creditors (which includes freelancers and friendly investors) will be contacted directly in the coming weeks. There is still much to do on this end, and I ask for your patience while we get things in order and communicate with you.

Some people have inquired about my personal future, so I'll be brief. I am leaving the gaming industry. I need to concentrate on recovering financially from the collapse of the company and on rebuilding the strength of my family, which unfortunately suffered over the past couple of years. I am now working as a real estate sales representative in Guelph, and find the work a refreshing change of pace. My health is great, my family is very understanding, and I look forward to what the future will hold.

There are so many people to whom I am grateful for all their help, advice, and support over our 9-year run. Please forgive me if I forget anyone:

    * my wonderful wife, Karen, for ... well ... everything
    * my parents for always giving me their best wishes and telling me how proud they are of my accomplishments
    * Adam Jury, who stuck with the company and with me until the end
    * Jesse Scoble, for sharing so very many awesome experiences under the guise of "work"
    * Jeff Mackintosh, for accepting that job offer initiated in the Columbus bar
    * David Pulver, for putting BESM 2e on the map
    * Ryan Dancey, for always being just a phone call away; sweet, dude
    * John Zinser, for showing and mentoring me in the Hard Way
    * Cindy Rice, for befriending this little guy in New York many years ago
    * John and Michelle Nephew, for keen insight, support, and friendship
    * Alex Fennel, for working with this fellow foreigner for several years
    * Joe Saul, for always shooting straight and giving me the US perspective
    * Erick Wujcik, for giving me the opportunity to carry the torch, even if I couldn't follow through
    * Derek, who offered to help an old friend in need
    * Andy, Todd, Jules, Lindsey, Ken, John, and Lowell for lending a helping hand
    * Steve, for helping make deals happen
    * The Hero Games crew, for making advertising a lot of fun
    * Marcelo Figueroa, for his eternal offers of assistance; and of course
    * our customers, fans, and supporters -- without whom running Guardians Of Order would have been impossible. You have my sincerest gratitude.

Hello and goodbye, as always.

Mark C. MacKinnon
President, Guardians Of Order, Inc.
Guelph, Ontario
July 31st, 2006

Wenigstens hört man endlich mal was, obwohl die "Entschuldigung" eigentlich einfach nur eine Frechheit ist...

M

[Crazee]

BESM Third basierend auf TristatDX ist da:
guckst Du z. B. bei Partner Dragonworld