chaosium Archives — d100 News

October 7, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 2 comments

30 September–6 October 2019: Wendy’s & Critical Role; DriveThru Reconsiders; Kickstarter

Welcome to the first week of October 2019 where the biggest news of the week is a fast-food chain publishing its own RPG. The road to the mainstream was never going to be all blockbuster movies and celebrity endorsements, but we definitely didn’t see this one coming. That may be the most contentious story this…

September 23, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

16–22 September 2019: Kickstarter; Kayfabe; Sales

Busy week! Let’s get right into it. The struggle over unionisation at Kickstarter continues, and we can see its ripples in the RPG community. Meanwhile, Fandom, which bought D&D Beyond earlier this year, has acquired the Cortex RPG, and has plans for it. In weirder news, a Pro-Wrestler’s mocking of Dungeons & Dragons draws a…

September 16, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

9–15 September 2019: D&D History, Consent in Gaming, Carnival Row

We are beginning to see the news pick up again after the lull of the last few weeks. There are rumblings about Kickstarter’s anti-union practices, and we see one publisher considering whether to continue using the platform. We could see a call for a boycott in the near future, and we will be interested to…

September 3, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

26 August—2 September 2019: Dave Arneson, Tariffs, Crunch

We’re back after a little rest with a slightly-later-than-normal update! (Can I just say that I highly recommend holidays? — Amy) This week we’ve got a fair bit of early D&D history, with a focus on the game’s contentious authorship. Notably, an article from Kotaku argues that Dave Arneson was the real genius behind role-playing…

August 26, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

19–25 August 2019: Rick Loomis, American Football, Les Bijoutiers Fantaisistes

This week, our main story is a sad one: Flying Buffalo founder and RPG luminary, Rick Loomis, has passed away. There are some moving tributes to his work and influence, as well as some ways for gamers to support his family. We have some gaming industry news: the Critter “Hug of Death” hits Chaosium, the…

August 12, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

5–11 August 2019: Wheaton sues; 30–50 Feral Hogs; Obscure RPGs

This is an odd issue of d100, with a peculiar mix of serious & silly. The biggest news of the week: Wil Wheaton is suing geek media producer, Geek & Sundry over the revenue of the Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana actual play series. It’s a jarring story, and a sharp reminder of the business…

July 15, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

8–14 July 2019: Paid Gaming; LGBT Representation; Awards Season

Featured Image: Cover Art for Demigods by Jason Mills. Artist: Minerva Fox We’re in that eye of the storm before Gen Con, and this week is a fairly quiet one — apart, of course, from Twitter. The Twitter debates we’ve noticed this week have been around two particular articles: Bloomberg on the subject of professional…

March 18, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

11–17 March 2019: Adapting RPGs, Remembering Larry DiTillio, Cthulhu in Australia and Japan

This week we see a host of announcements related to adaptations: RPGs being made into movies, movies being made into RPGs, RPGs into computer games, miniature-lines into RPGs, and so on. We get some reminiscences on Larry DiTillio’s work at Chaosium, and on the global reach of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu. In addition, we have…

February 18, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

11-17 February 2019: #AbuseIsNotAGame, Roll20 Data Breach, IP

Editor’s Note and Content Warning: We usually stick the most important story at the top of the page, but this week that story is about sexual abuse and assault. We understand that many of you might not want to be faced with this, especially after a week when the subject has dominated our social media…

February 11, 2019 by Amy Goodenough 0 comments

4-10 February 2019: Corporations, Digital Dragons, Greg Stafford on Quora

The Companies Behind the Games Hasbro, parent company of Wizards of the Coast, releases its Fourth Quarter and Full Year Reports for 2018, reporting a 12% net revenue decline across the board (largely due to the loss of Toys ‘R’ Us), including a 12% decline in revenue from their Gaming products. Their Dungeons and Dragons…