In addition to organizing the Rage 2000 US National Championships at GenCon, Mattew Burack, AKA The Ghostdancer, talks to the WW president Steve Wieck about what sorts of things we can legally do as fans to continue support of Rage.

Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 17:43:55 CDT
From: Matthew Burack (mrburack@hotmail.com)
To: rageinfo@frpg.com
Subject: Good News!!!  Steve Wieck's Responses to Rage Questions

Respected Allies -

A few weeks ago, i sent an e-mail to Steve Wieck (big kahuna at White Wolf,
for those that don't know), asking him some questions about the future of
Rage.  He promised to get back to me as soon as DragonCon was over, and kept
his word!  Now i will relate to you his responses.

> > 1) Are we (the former Garou Nation members) allowed to continue to
> > use the term "Garou Nation" when describing ourselves for official
> > purposes?  I.E. - Can we register convention events as sanctioned
> > by the Garou Nation?
>
> Yes, as long as you are a Garou Nation member.

So, this year's Origins and Gencon Rage events are hereby officially
sanctioned by the Garou Nation, as are any that we choose to run in the
future.

> > 2) Can we create cards to be added to the playable lists?  What
> > sort of trademark recognition and qualifying statements would be
> > necessary to keep us on friendly terms with WW/WoTC/FRPG? (Not only
> > for new cards, but in general use as well.)
>
> How would these be issued? Website posting which people then use proxy
> cards for deck construction? Actual printing of cards?

I replied that internet distribution and proxying would be the method of
choice, to which he responded:

> Just be sure to list White Wolf, Inc. as the copyright and trademark
> holder. See any of our books or our website for a guide for such a
> legal line.

So, pending review and revision by Matt Farney and other respected garou
Nation members, new cards may be added to the "official" set of playable
cards.  ** More on this at the end. **

> > 3) Would White Wolf be willing/able to contribute prizes to the
> > tournaments being held at Origins and Gencon this year?
>
> Yes, if held by Garou Nation members. How many tourneys and how many
> participants are expected?

I gave Steve the details, and he sent two gift certificates to Origins and
is sending some prizes for Gencon as well.  He has been incredibly generous,
and deserves our thanks.

(I skipped #4 because it was more of a personal request than GN business.)

Now for the bad news that we all suspected anyway . . .

> > 5) Does White Wolf plan on supporting (Garou Nation) or reviving
> > either version of Rage?  (I know this one's a long shot, what with
> > two strikes against Rage, but I figured I'd ask.)
>
> Well, not that we don't want to, but we have to earn a living too, and
> for the foreseeable future, Rage is not commercially viable.

Note, that this is not a definite NO, and a strong showing at the major cons
and active tournament play could shift this view.

Before he answered the first five, i threw another at him just out of
curiosity.

> > Has White Wolf ever considered making a unified World of Darkness
> > ccg?  I am familiar with Jyhad and Rage, and it occurred to me that
> > it would be much simpler to mesh the different World of Darkness
> > factions in a ccg than it is in the rpg.  Any thoughts on this?
> > Thanks!
>
> We're putting our energy behind renewing the Vampire CCG right now and
> wouldn't want to launch another CCG any time soon. A comprehensive WOD
> CCG has been bandied about here in the office though, and I wouldn't rule
> one out, just nothing soon.

Interesting, no?  Skip to the end for final words.

> Regards,
>
> Stephan Wieck
> President
>
> White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
> 735 Park North Blvd. Suite 128
> Clarkston, GA, USA 30021
> www.white-wolf.com

The End:
On new cards:
  I envision a process something like this:
1) Card Idea - whoever creates the card writes it up in as much or little
detail as they wish, then submits it to Matt Farney and whoever else is
deemed an appropriate authority on this.
2) Revision - Matt, etc. make a first draft which may not resemble the
mechanics of the Idea, but should be true to the spirit.  They release this
draft to the list.
3) Playtest - We (the list) playtest it and post any problems/abuses we
find.
4) Re-Revision/Release - Matt, etc. revise if necessary and make the final
version available on the "official" list.
5) Errata - Hopefully this won't be necessary, but just in case.

  Before we get deluged by cards people have thought up, let's put some
guidelines on it.
1)  Any or all new "official" cards may be excluded from tournament play by
the tournament organizers.  This should be stated in advance and well
publicized.
2)  The priviledge of creating a new card should only be given out to Garou
Nation members who are actively working for the advancement of the game,
above and beyond the norm or as a special prize for winners/placers in
_major_ tourneys.  As a possible guideline: 1 card priviledge for
tournaments with 10-14 participants, 2 for 15-19 participants, and 3 for 20+
participants.
3)  Let's all try and use some restraint here.  I think 12 new cards per
year would be a pretty good _maximum_, and somewhere from 6 to 9 would be a
better amount.  That gives three to the Championship, three to SRC, and
leaves six floaters for other tournaments/special awards.  I know we all
have reat card ideas and want them to see play, but there really is a lot of
work involved in prepping a card, and we don't want to flood play with
half-tested cards.  I think that's enough new cards to keep things
interesting without putting too much strain on reviewers.

  If it so happens that you receive the priviledge of creating a new card, i
urge you to be creative.
  Making yourself, your favorite rpg character, or your list persona into a
card is tempting, but noone else is going to get as much fun from it as you
will.
  Try to make something everyone will enjoy.  A new combat card, equipment,
or ally could be as much fun for everyone to play as it is for you.
  Don't try to make the ultimate card.  We don't want there to be cards in
this game that are over-powered.  A combat card that does 12 damage and is
unblockable by anything but kailindo cards might sound cool, but it wouldn't
really be much fun to play with, and it would probably get revised down
anyway.
  Think of it as an opportunity to fill in the holes in the RALV system and
show off your cleverness.

**  That said, i hereby nominate Matt Farney to create the first "official"
new card for his years of service to the games and actions as RALV rules
guru.
**  I also nominate Fenris Lorsrai for the honor, for her continued support
of the games.  She has donated time and effort in sculpting trophies for
SRCII and the RALV US National Championship, as well as being an active
member of SRS and the Garou Nation.
**  I also nominate the oranizers of Stones River Challenge to submit 2 Card
Ideas - the cards created for the winners of the first and second SRC.

**  As (unofficially-official) prize coordinator for the RALV championship
tournament, I hereby announce that the priviledge of making a card will be
one (or more) of the prizes for the tournament.  The champion will get to
submit a Card Idea - the Glory prize.  The tournament participants will also
vote on one among them to be given the priviledge of submitting a Card Idea
- the Wisdom prize.  One more card priviledge will be given out in a method
yet to be determined - the Honor prize.  (How's that for incentive?)

On community support:
  Though i may sound like i'm issuing edicts, these are really just
suggestions and should be taken as such.  If you disagree, speak up!  If you
don't speak up, we'll assume you agree.  This game is community-supported
now and decisions (where possible) should be made communally.

One final note:
  Though my responses deal primarily with RALV, Steve's comments are equally
viable for WW Rage.  I would suggest similar guidelines, but that's up to
you hard-core WW Ragers to decide.
tournament, I hereby announce that the priviledge of making a card will be
one (or more) of the prizes for the tournament.  The champion will get to
submit a Card Idea - the Glory prize.  The tournament participants will also
vote on one among them to be given the priviledge of submitting a Card Idea
- the Wisdom prize.  One more card priviledge will be given out in a method
yet to be determined - the Honor prize.  (How's that for incentive?)

On community support:
  Though i may sound like i'm issuing edicts, these are really just
suggestions and should be taken as such.  If you disagree, speak up!  If you
don't speak up, we'll assume you agree.  This game is community-supported
now and decisions (where possible) should be made communally.

One final note:
  Though my responses deal primarily with RALV, Steve's comments are equally
viable for WW Rage.  I would suggest similar guidelines, but that's up to
you hard-core WW Ragers to decide.

Now, the biggest flaw that I see is hinging alot of these abilities on Garou Nation membership. FRPG has officially dissolved the Nation, and as such, we have no way of adding new members (vital to continued support/growth of the fan base). Fortunately, it sounds as though Azrael Productions has some tricks of their own. (See the press release here.)