The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread ΛΕ

[Arakhor]

Hasbro is highly unlikely to sell the rights and I would imagine that any licence agreement would be based on what you plan to do with the intellectual property.

 

[caketastydelish]

Anyone have advice as to how to get out of panic attacks? And how not to dwell on mistakes and dumb things you said/did/thought in the past?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Yes. Therapy. And I'm not being sarcastic or trying to be funny.

 

[Synobun]

If you feel an attack coming on, you can possibly be guided out of it by a distraction that is controlled by someone else. An activity, or some kind of conversation that requires you to be reactive yet analytical. (Workable example: friend was feeling an attack coming on after an argument with her mother, I distracted her and pulled her out of it by asking her to walk me through her latest experiment in her biochem lab.)

I mean, yeah, therapy, but in the moment I've found the above to have the greatest chance of success both personally and with others. Some people have success with the "list five things you can see, four things you can smell, three things you can touch" method but that felt a little self-condescending for me. Same with the breathing exercises. But if they work for you, make use of them.

 

[Takhisis]

Sure, there's a demographic that just likes the same old thing. I just can't figure out why that demographic is so large.

Because people, in spite of abundant evidence to the contrary (see the avatar above this post), do tend to have good taste.

How much money are they expecting to make on it?

As much as you are willing to pay.

 

[caketastydelish]

Good advice everyone. I probably will seek a therapist. These days I can't let go of the past and it's just eating my soul alive... (not trying to have a pity party)

 

[FriendlyFire]

Anyone have advice as to how to get out of panic attacks? And how not to dwell on mistakes and dumb things you said/did/thought in the past?

PTSD is recognized as a problem for many people with any number of traumatic experiences and stressful environments
Your mind produces adrenaline as which when created excessively leads to stress, try all the usual things firsts change diet, change environment, regular exercise, take a break from work, avoid things that can trigger your PTSD
Try not to let your mind focus on the extreme negatives and try to turn them into positive learning experiences or how you can better yourself.

 

[Mouthwash]

Hasbro is highly unlikely to sell the rights and I would imagine that any licence agreement would be based on what you plan to do with the intellectual property.

Why wouldn't they sell the rights to a dead property? I doubt that the old Planescape merchandise is selling like hotcakes these days.

 

[Arakhor]

And you don't think I understand how market value works?

You wanting to purchase the rights clearly indicates that they do have a value and if Hasbro sold them to you, they'd get cash out of them once, as opposed to potentially licensing them more than once. Moreover, as Takhisis says, they expect to get as much as (if not more than) what you are willing to pay. That's simply how soulless, IP-hogging companies work.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Why wouldn't they sell the rights to a dead property? I doubt that the old Planescape merchandise is selling like hotcakes these days.

And you don't think I understand how market value works?

You wanting to purchase the rights clearly indicates that they do have a value and if Hasbro sold them to you, they'd get cash out of them once, as opposed to potentially licensing them more than once. Moreover, as Takhisis says, they expect to get as much as (if not more than) what you are willing to pay. That's simply how soulless, IP-hogging companies work.

I think many companies see IP like powerful one-use items in video games.
I could drink that mega elixir now, but I think I'll just hold on to it in case I need it for another tough boss in ten hours.
They're aren't selling or licensing it now because of imagined opportunity cost. What if someone makes them a better offer in ten years ?
What if you actually do something good with it and your efforts make the IP far more valuable than it is now but the company doesn't own it any more and misses out on huge profits because they didn't charge you enough ?
They simply can't take that risk.

 

[Zkribbler]

...And how not to dwell on mistakes and dumb things you said/did/thought in the past?

I quote to myself a few lines from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:

The moving finger writes, and having writ,
Moves on.
Not all your piety nor wit,
Can call it back to erase a single line,
Nor all your tears wash out a single word.

 

[Zkribbler]

why is Planescape so overlooked? You have one of the most unique settings in all of fiction, but no, D&D has to be ultrageneric dwarves n' elves.

Would it be possible for someone to buy it from WotC?

The word you're looking for is "license," not "buy." License just gives you the right to use someone else's material.

Years ago, a friend of mine talked the copyright holder of "Swamp Thing" into giving him the movie rights.
He made Swamp Thing I & Swamp Thing II.

 

[Traitorfish]

Let's do a real question now: why is Planescape so overlooked? You have one of the most unique settings in all of fiction, but no, D&D has to be ultrageneric dwarves n' elves.

Planescape, like almost all Dungeons & Dragons settings, is an amalgamation of other works. It stands out mostly because the genre its channeling, weirdo '70s psychedelic fantasy, doesn't have a lot of traction in the broader culture. Similarly, Dark Sun appears pretty original if you aren't as familiar with baroque future-past and dying earth subgenres that were popular in the '70s and '80s.

And that's not a bad thing, mark you, D&D settings aren't intended to be blindingly original, but to provide a framework for players and GMs who want to run a campaign in a particular setting without having to go through a lot of tedious world-building. The reason that the more generic settings like Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms seem to endure is that it turns out people mostly want a pretty boilerplate fantasy world, at least if they're playing D&D.

 

[Mouthwash]

And you don't think I understand how market value works?

You wanting to purchase the rights clearly indicates that they do have a value and if Hasbro sold them to you, they'd get cash out of them once, as opposed to potentially licensing them more than once.

There's very little demand for Planescape. If someone came along wanting to make products in that setting, wouldn't WotC realize the opportunity would likely not come again? If you had a car you never used, and no one will pay you more than $5,000 for it, would you refuse to ever sell it because *you* value it at $10,000?

I think many companies see IP like powerful one-use items in video games.
I could drink that mega elixir now, but I think I'll just hold on to it in case I need it for another tough boss in ten hours.
They're aren't selling or licensing it now because of imagined opportunity cost. What if someone makes them a better offer in ten years ?
What if you actually do something good with it and your efforts make the IP far more valuable than it is now but the company doesn't own it any more and misses out on huge profits because they didn't charge you enough ?
They simply can't take that risk.

I don't think the alternative of sitting on it forever and making nothing is a better strategy. Besides, the buyer would be the one assuming the risk of their investment falling through.

Also, what about the creatures and places that still exist in mainstream D&D settings? Those rights wouldn't be included, would they?

 

[Arakhor]

WotC doesn't make those decisions, Hasbro does, and Hasbro has already shown decidedly unwilling to do much beyond keep 5th Edition on life support. Magic cards are their big earner from the WotC stable, after all. Given that even today they're selling the classic 2nd Edition PDFs on DriveThruRPG and the like, what makes you think they care whether someone else is making legal Planescape products or not? They're certainly not in need of the cash if the glacial production of 5th Edition books is anything to go by.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I don't think the alternative of sitting on it forever and making nothing is a better strategy. Besides, the buyer would be the one assuming the risk of their investment falling through.

Well, depends...
If you get nothing and lose nothing you're even.
If the nerd who licensed your IP for 10.000 € makes 100.000€ you have just lost 90.000€.

Sounds objectively idiotic, but that's just how the world works my young Padawan

 

[Mouthwash]

Well, depends...
If you get nothing and lose nothing you're even.
If the nerd who licensed your IP for 10.000 € makes 100.000€ you have just lost 90.000€.

Sounds objectively idiotic, but that's just how the world works my young Padawan

If they thought the property was worth that much to begin with, why wouldn't they be pumping out Planescape stuff themselves? This is like saying banks should never give out loans at the market rate, because some people might reap higher profits than the average.

WotC doesn't make those decisions, Hasbro does, and Hasbro has already shown decidedly unwilling to do much beyond keep 5th Edition on life support. Magic cards are their big earner from the WotC stable, after all. Given that even today they're selling the classic 2nd Edition PDFs on DriveThruRPG and the like, what makes you think they care whether someone else is making legal Planescape products or not? They're certainly not in need of the cash if the glacial production of 5th Edition books is anything to go by.

So shouldn't they be more willing to sell?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

The word you're looking for is "license," not "buy." License just gives you the right to use someone else's material.

Years ago, a friend of mine talked the copyright holder of "Swamp Thing" into giving him the movie rights.
He made Swamp Thing I & Swamp Thing II.

At a wild guess, the key to this negotiation was "You hold a property that no one is willing to pay you a license fee on, so it is in fact worthless. If I make a successful Swamp Thing movie, or two, the property you are holding the licensing rights on will have some value. Someone else might want to make Swamp Thing lunch boxes and be willing to pay for the opportunity, etc." That's a pretty straightforward pitch that generally works.

I think many companies see IP like powerful one-use items in video games.
I could drink that mega elixir now, but I think I'll just hold on to it in case I need it for another tough boss in ten hours.
They're aren't selling or licensing it now because of imagined opportunity cost. What if someone makes them a better offer in ten years ?
What if you actually do something good with it and your efforts make the IP far more valuable than it is now but the company doesn't own it any more and misses out on huge profits because they didn't charge you enough ?
They simply can't take that risk.

The future opportunity cost argument I don't think applies, unless you are looking for long term rights. If I hold a moribund property the chances of someone making me a big offer for it in ten years are increased by me letting someone make something of it this year, as long as they don't bungle it terribly. Zkribbler's friend got the rights to make a couple movies, and as return on having "given away" the movie rights DC Comics did a second run publishing Swamp Thing comics, which ran five times longer than the initial run did. They also licensed movie rights again twenty years later, and probably not for free, to "reboot" the film presence; a project that eventually fell through and allowed them to collect for yet another license on movie rights ten years later.

 

[Ajidica]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the Planescape setting? I found it pretentious and felt like an overwrought philosophy major decided to write some Deep And Meaningful D&D fanfic.

 

[Mouthwash]

It has its flaws (especially the Lower Planes), but they could be fixed. I think the franchise was overly focused on Sigil as well.