Doomtown is headed to AEG games, and a little more information on the future of Rage from Ed Bolme. First, we pick up Lon Franson's reply to the question of Rage's current status:

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 16:30:42 PST
From: Lon Franson
To: rageinfo@frpg.com
Subject: Rage's future

On Mon, 22 Nov 1999 10:03:19 -0600 (CST), Jeff Waltersdorf wrote:

> On Mon, 22 Nov 1999, Fabrice & Christine wrote:
>
> + Hi Guys ... it seems a bit dommed here.
> +
> + I was gone for 3 months and it seems no messages are still posted on the
> + list
> + Can someone give me the main infos since August?
>
> Basically, Rage is kinda sorta a Classic game, Ed Bolme is kinda sorta the
> brand manager.  Vegas Edition has been indefinitely delayed.  Refuse and
> Dances With Shadows have said their farewells to the community, and
> countless others have quietly slipped away (judging by the quietness of
> the list...)  Decisions are supposed to be made regarding the future of
> Rage "by the end of the year."

And all this is made interesting by other developments on the WotC/other
game company front.  Starting in January, WotC is giving Doomtown back to
AEG (the company that originated the concepts and licensed them to WotC -
IIRC).  AEG now does the CCG 7th Sea as well, so they've gotten into the
mess.  What this means for Rage is anyone's guess, but it clearly indicates
(to me) a desire by WotC to divulge themselves of games they can't cover
because they are so busy with others.  Ed Bolme (who was/is in charge of
Doomtown) indicated the release of Doomtown to AEG was due to the fact that
they couldn't give it the attention they felt it deserved.

Now, maybe WotC is in negotiations with WW to return Rage to them.  I don't
know.  Maybe WW doesn't want it back.  I don't know.  But the whole
situation does imply to me that WotC won't 'stand in the way' if another
interested party steps up to take a swing at Rage.

I just thought I would share the current event situation with the list,
(many of whom play no CCGs besides Rage).  Discuss if you wish.

--  Lon Franson     |:|    
  +----------------------------------------------+
  | Tor Heimdall                  Fenrir Rotogar |
  | Matzu Ho-Tzu                Enlightened Lion |
  | Lucas Maxwell                       Marshall |
  +----------------------------------------------+

Ed Bolme responds...

Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 16:08:11 -0800
From: Edward Bolme
To: 
Subject: RE: Rage's future

> > Decisions are supposed to be made regarding the future of
> > Rage "by the end of the year."

Based on sales of Netrunner, yes.

> Ed Bolme (who was/is in charge of Doomtown) indicated the
> release of Doomtown to AEG was due to the fact that
> they couldn't give it the attention they felt it deserved.

Yep. Right now our resources are strained to the max.

> But the whole
> situation does imply to me that WotC won't 'stand in the way' if another
> interested party steps up to take a swing at Rage.

I'd say that's true. But I just shook hands with the guy who will be the new
Classic Games brand manager starting Januray next year, and that's nothing
but good for y'all.

Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 19:52:06 -0500
From: Matt Farney
To: 
Subject: Re: Rage's future

Some more of Matt's opinions:

>>Based on sales of Netrunner, yes.
>
>     I hope this doesn't mean the same thing as "based on sales of Equinox"
like before...


If the best Classic game (from Sales predicitions/statistics) fails, it will
probably be a while before they try it again.  If it succeeds, great!

>>Yep. Right now our resources are strained to the max.
>
>     ?????  Do you mean FRPG itself, or Hasbro/WotC as a whole?  I can't
imagine money being tight with P*kem*n making so bloody much money :)


Money does not equal resources.  They are not staffed well enough to
actively produce and market all of the games under their umbrella.  In
addition, I don't think there are enough printing plants to continue to
output that much Pokemon/MtG and print much of anything else at all.

>>I'd say that's true. But I just shook hands with the guy who will be the
new Classic Games brand manager starting Januray next year, and that's
nothing but good for y'all.
>
>    Great!  Anyone we know? C'mon Ed, spill the beans! ;}


Hmm, I'd be curious to hear who myself...

-MF