Guardians of Order schließt die Türen

[Greifenklaue]

Die kanadische Rollenspielfirma Guardians of Order, u.a. durch ihr Rollenspiel Games of Thrones zur Buchreihe Das Lied von Eis und Feuer von George R. R. Martin bekannt, schließt die Pforten und ist nun ,,out of buisness".

Guardians of Order möchte es aber möglich machen, dass ein anderer Verlag die Reihe weiterführt.

Im Original heißt es dazu:

,,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."

[Argamae]

Hat jemand das GAME OF THRONES Regelwerk (basiert auf D20) mal gesehen und in der Hand gehabt?
Das Ding ist wahnsinnig schön... ein echter Hingucker!



Vielleicht noch eine Ausgabe schnappen, bevor es ganz verschwunden ist...

[Greifenklaue]

Kaladrayn hat es, gell?

Die Reihe wird wohl weitergeführt, jedenfalls wollen die GoO-Leute das versuchen hinzukriegen und auch George RR Martin hat daran wohl ein Interesse.

Leider kenn ich die Buchreihe noch nicht *schäm*

PS.: Es wurde wohl auch für mehrere ?Ennies?, dem Rollenspiel-Oscars nominiert...

[Greifenklaue]

OKay, hier nochmal der ausführliche Text:

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>http://www.enworld.org/ennies/voting.php

From http://www.georgerrmartin.com/news.html

[Argamae]

Ich habe die engl. Buchreihe "A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE" gerade bestellt. Es ist seit langem mal wieder eine Fantasy-Reihe, die mich interessiert. Werde berichten, wenn ich darin vorangekommen bin.
Die Deluxe-Edition des RPG ist dermaßen geil und schön, daß ich wohl nicht umhin kommen werde, sie zu ordern. Ich werd halt schwach bei so kunstvoll schönen Büchern...

[Kaladrayn]

Ich besitze die Normale Ausgabe! Wollte mir auch die Deluxe version bestellen aber 100$ für ein Buch sind mir dann doch zuviel!
Schade das es erstmal kein zusatz Material geben wird das Buch ist echt schön Aufgemacht!

Das Lied von Eis und Feuer ist mit Abstand eine der besten Fantasy Reihen! Wer sie nicht kennt sollte sie kennen lernen!  [23]

[Greifenklaue]

Nun auch von GoO die offizielle Verkündung:

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

[Zy-Nist]

Hat jemand das GAME OF THRONES Regelwerk (basiert auf D20) mal gesehen und in der Hand gehabt?
Das Ding ist wahnsinnig schön... ein echter Hingucker!



Vielleicht noch eine Ausgabe schnappen, bevor es ganz verschwunden ist...

Kurze Frage hat hier jemand die Super Deluxe Ausgabe mit den Tri Stat Regeln ?

[Argamae]

Kurze Frage hat hier jemand die Super Deluxe Ausgabe mit den Tri Stat Regeln ?

Hm, NOCH nicht...  [25]

[Zy-Nist]

Kurze Frage hat hier jemand die Super Deluxe Ausgabe mit den Tri Stat Regeln ?

Hm, NOCH nicht...  [25]

Dann beeil dich das Ding war auf 5.000 Stück limitiert (Afaik)

[Greifenklaue]

Die Deluxe-Edition des RPG ist dermaßen geil und schön, daß ich wohl nicht umhin kommen werde, sie zu ordern. Ich werd halt schwach bei so kunstvoll schönen Büchern...

Auch hierzu neues:
http://22568.rapidforum.com/topic=101072254529