Feedback on a Look Inside Lock'n'Load

Started by bayonetbrant, October 11, 2014, 10:02:04 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

bayonetbrant

The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Double Deuce

It'll be interesting to see how/if things change now that David Heath is on board. David went above and beyond in helping breathe new life into Steel Panthers.

Richie61

#2
So basically David Heath came in and bought LnL from Mark? Huh. Wonder if that is a good or bad thing in the end.  Thought Mark & LnL did some great board games on their own.  :)

Wonder if this is where Panther Games is going now.
http://www.panthergames.com/

Had this sent to me the other day.

QuoteSubject: Two Hour Wargames Sold? Not exactly: here's the news.

This is to clarify what had been hinted at. Here are the press releases.

http://clubfantasci.com/lnl-publishing/

http://grogheads.com/?p=6330A

Now here's what's going on in more detail.

LnL has contracted with THW to take all the current games, and future titles, and turn them into board games. They will have maps, counters, etc. as a board game normally would have.

They could also produce them as Print and Play games. Computer games are also an option. In addition, they would publish the miniatures rules as well.

This does not change what's happening now. Rules will still be available on the THW site, until they are published by LnL. When that happens they will go through the THW portion of the LnL web. LnL will produce and fulfill the orders.

As there are currently lots of games, this will take a long time. During that time I will still release games as usual.

The new owner of LnL has guaranteed that while they will publish the games they will NOT change the games in any other way. I have final say so on all games, unlike the ATZ board game by the previous owner.

This will allow for higher production quality and distribution in new markets - board games and computer games.

So as a current THW customer, things will not be changing as all new games will go through THW first. Hope this makes sense.

Ed
aka Richie61

"If You Don't Stand for Something, You'll Fall for Anything"

Jack Nastyface

Wow...that's interesting.  Two hour wargames has some really good products.  I downloaded their chain reaction rules and am keen to try them.  LnL has always had a great graphics design team...it will be interesting to see if they come up with anything cool by merging some of the "skirmish level" stuff from THW and LnL graphics.
Now, the problem is, how to divide five Afghans from three mules and have two Englishmen left over.

LongBlade

Quote from: Richie61 on October 14, 2014, 08:06:32 PM
So basically David Heath came in and bought LnL from Mark? Huh. Wonder if that is a good or bad thing in the end.  Thought Mark & LnL did some great board games on their own.  :)

I didn't see anything there that would indicate Mark won't continue to make great games.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Richie61

LOL! Neither do I. I said "on their own" and don't see anything pointing to Mark not continuing such  ;)

Quote from: LongBlade on October 15, 2014, 10:30:01 PM
Quote from: Richie61 on October 14, 2014, 08:06:32 PM
So basically David Heath came in and bought LnL from Mark? Huh. Wonder if that is a good or bad thing in the end.  Thought Mark & LnL did some great board games on their own.  :)

I didn't see anything there that would indicate Mark won't continue to make great games.
Ed
aka Richie61

"If You Don't Stand for Something, You'll Fall for Anything"

bayonetbrant

More Lock'n'Loadness, including the Heroes of the Pacific PC game and yes you read that right

http://grogheads.com/?p=6360
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Richie61

Nice!

And they are going to publishing their computer titles in house too! Matrix ain't going to be happy with this one - LOL!

Quote from: bayonetbrant on October 17, 2014, 12:59:59 PM
More Lock'n'Loadness, including the Heroes of the Pacific PC game and yes you read that right

http://grogheads.com/?p=6360
Ed
aka Richie61

"If You Don't Stand for Something, You'll Fall for Anything"

LongBlade

Quote from: Richie61 on October 17, 2014, 09:15:59 PM
Nice!

And they are going to publishing their computer titles in house too! Matrix ain't going to be happy with this one - LOL!

Quote from: bayonetbrant on October 17, 2014, 12:59:59 PM
More Lock'n'Loadness, including the Heroes of the Pacific PC game and yes you read that right

http://grogheads.com/?p=6360

Hang on to your hat, Fred. There's more to come ;)
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Pinetree

So who's taking bets that the next announcement will be Panther's Command Ops are being published by LnL?
Gen. Montgomery: "Your men don't salute much."
Gen. Freyberg: "Well, if you wave at them they'll usually wave back."

Staggerwing

Quote from: Pinetree on October 18, 2014, 08:51:07 AM
So who's taking bets that the next announcement will be Panther's Command Ops are being published by LnL?

You're not going to take any of my money!  :))

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=11089.msg283703#msg283703
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Staggerwing

Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

bayonetbrant

Quote from: Pinetree on October 18, 2014, 08:51:07 AM
So who's taking bets that the next announcement will be Panther's Command Ops are being published by LnL?

I'll take that bet :)

but it's not really a fair bet, since I actually know what the next announcement is!
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

bayonetbrant

Mark's getting some stuff off his chest
http://overdaedge.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-new-lnlp-clarification.html

QuoteHi Folks,

As many of you know, I not only write books, but also design games. In fact, from 2006 to 2013, I owned the game publishing company, Lock 'n Load Publishing. I recently read a disturbing blog post detailing some nifty ideas by the new ownership (which is great), but also some rather shady implications about the company under my tenure (which is less than great). Following the reading, I decided  to put down some facts, clarifications, and a wish concerning LNLP. My desire is not to get into a flame war, but rather clarify publicly, what has been said in public.

1. I am deeply upset by the Lowry's blog post found here. http://clubfantasci.com/lnl-publishing/ . No one spoke to me concerning the article prior to its release. I spoke with David Heath concerning the post last night (October 21st). David states it was not his (Lowry's) intent (Lowry is a LNLP employee so I assume his writing is approved by Heath) to throw me under the bus. I believe Heath, but that said, the post, and Lowry's subsequent comments on CSW about the "new" owners create a fiction that seems to point to "things were not so good under Mark, things will be better now".

2. I sold LNLP lock stock and barrel on March 25th, 2013. Let me repeat that. I sold LNLP on March 25, 2013. Not a week ago, not just before Lowry's weekend at LNLP, not six months ago, not a year ago. If Lowry wishes to explain the chain of ownership, he may. Suffice to say, I sold the company in March of 2013. I'm still employed with the company as a designer.

2. I think LNLP did pretty well under my ownership, The company released 61 products in 6 years. That includes boxed games, ziplocks, downloads, and books. As part of the sales agreement, I was responsible, completely responsible (including the counter and proofreading mistakes), for bringing home America Conquered, Desert Heat, Space Infantry New Worlds, and Eisenbach Gap Deluxe. With the exception of those four titles, LNLP has only been able to publish one, new boxed game, and one new magazine in 19 months. Some of that lack of movement is due to tooling up with the new printing gear (a great idea). Some not.

3. I'm honestly not sure how many awards we garnered between 2006 and 2013. I'm going to guess it was in the neighborhood of six to seven, let alone the nominations, which were in the dozens. Basically, we made a lot of games that I loved playing. We were very lucky that many of you loved playing them too. We were exceptionally lucky that many of you helped, for no other reason than to help.

4. I screwed up. Yeah, I bet that's news, right? Three games that I can think of (America Conquered, ATZ, and Warparty) were over a year late. Other games, such as Swift and Bold, the original Eisenbach Gap, and to a small extent HoB and IDD had flaws. I'm sure there were others... not trying to dodge anything. I made mistakes; I think I tried to make them right. I know I never stopped trying, but I also know that most of my games garner an average of 8.0 on BGG, so... seems like they aren't completely deplorable. 

5. I don't think there was a lack of communication when I was at the helm. Yep, I whined about cross posting in several different locations. Never would have been able to do as much as I did without a lot of help from you guys, but I attempted to keep you current, and I was brutally honest. I would give you my best guess on delivery dates, and then explain why I always missed them. After delivery dates and production schedules were no longer in my hands, it was no longer my call, nor my place to comment on them. I do know that in general, David Heath has been very concerned with product delivery and is working to bring OOP games back, and hiring a PR rep, such as Lowry certainly seems like a positive step.

6. Finally, the wish. My "inside" friends tell me there has been grumbling concerning the company's sale. That somehow I've abandoned LNL, NAW, and WaW fans. Taken the money and run, so to speak. Nothing could be further from the truth. Given the opportunity. I'll continue to design and grow the systems (along with folks like Ralph Ferrari, Matt Lohse, Jeff Schulte, and others). Lock 'n Load solitaire is the tip of the iceberg, there's also a multiplayer version of WSR, LNL minis, and the upcoming V2 rules for NAW, which will be published with Stalin's Triumph. Keep in mind, that these are designs I'm working on, but I can't set their publication dates, or even if they get published. My wish is that you understand I'm as passionate about game design as I have ever been, and I'm eager to help David Heath move LNLP forward. What I am NOT eager about, nor will I tolerate, is the falsely conceived impression that this edition of LNLP is built on the ashes of some lesser version.

Bottom line, I'm proud on LNLP pre-March 2013, I hope to help David Heath make the company as good as it once was.
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

David Lowry

Hello,

It seems I have upset a few people with my article that was written and posted BEFORE my working with LnL Publishing as a contractor. I am not an employee of LnL Publishing as previously misreported.

My article was not poorly researched and I stand by it 100% first all. But it wasn't about Mark Walker. It was about LnL Publishing and where it stands today, what it shared with us as its future and its history on the issues I barely mentioned. That history includes David Heath, Jim Crabtree and Mark Walker. I stated that Mr. Heath recognizes these issues that they need to improve upon and took responsibility for it. I in no way mention Mark Walker, implied he didn't make great games or didn't have an impact in the war gaming world. However, the issues still stand on lateness of product, lack of communication, quality control through out the history of LnL Publishing. These issues are posted everywhere over the internet to include all the history of LnL not just the previous ownership. Since Mr. Walker at one time owned LnL Publishing, the issues were his responsibility at the time of his ownership and he is captain of his ship whether or not (this applies to David Heath as well) it was his fault. I specifically kept it very generic, because I know not every issue was specifically fault in particular especially when it comes to getting product from overseas and to not point fingers and post every issue I came across to not offend anyone.

As to Mark's comment about me not running it by him or that it was approved by Mr. Heath has no merit. I didn't have to run my article by anyone including him or Mr. Heath as I was not working with LnL Publishing at the time and I don't want outside influence in my articles. Mr. Walker was not an attendee at the summit, I have not met or ever talked with Mr. Walker so of course I would not seek is approval. The article was based on what I knew at the time and what was presented to me at the summit, discussions with people in the industry, reading the forums, videos on YouTube and reviews. LnL Publishing had absolutely NO involvement in the writing of that article. Nor shout it have. It wasn't meant as a fluff piece and certainly needed context as to the struggles it is having versus the direction I felt was positive and exciting.

I also replied about this on the Over the Edge Blog which has not been posted.