by aramis » Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:28 pm
Technically, ADB's license comes from Paramount now - courtesy of the Courts.
ADB is exceedingly picayune about IP in general - not just their own, either, but especially about their own or Paramount's. See, there isn't much that can cost ADB that license those being failure to pay royalties, exceeding the license, and encouraging violations of Paramount's IP. See, the license they have doesn't time-expire.
This means that, coupled with the explicit no-sublicense clause, they have to be very careful.
As for variations on PD... with the rerelease of PD 1st Ed, and no Trek on TV to speak of, the version list at present is:
PD One (Prime Directive 1E) - PDF only. used print available
GPD - PDF, Print
PD20 - d20 SRD based. PDF only now, IIRC. Used Print available
PD20M - d20 Modern SRD based. PDF, Print
MGTPD - Expansion for the Mongoose Traveller core rules. Will be PDF and Print.
The vaporware editions:
d6 system - keeps losing authors. Due to freelancer based commission on completion, every new author is a new attempt from scratch. Much desired, since d6 Star Wars is pretty close to the right tone.
GPD is pretty popular - for a GURPS book, at least. Then again, Trek of any flavor was one of the most requested GURPS expansions since 1987... when SJG first asked. And, SVC does play GURPS.
SVC's approach is "If it doesn't cost much, and makes as much back as it costs, why not?" By "doesn't cost much" he means "just paying the freelancer to adapt the GPD books" and print runs. This has lead to somewhat less popularity for GPD and PDd20/PDd20M... people are holding out for systems they can stand. SFB fans tend to vary widely in RPG tastes.
PD One is rereleased in PDF for the few of us who love it. Then again, it's the edition getting the love on RPG Geek. SVC blames its failure on being a custom system - I blame its failure based on bad marketing and not providing for ship crew characters and ship-to-ship in RPG-mode - but mostly just not getting the word out outside of SFB related publications. Even in the 90's - no adverts and no hype = no sales!
If the MGT-PD sells well, SVC might be willing to do a low-cost to him license deal for a S&S2 "conversions book" - one that clearly establishes the system text remains with the company, but the races and ships remain with ADB. But, for all practical purposes, it needs to be basically written on speculation to a workable draft, then taken to SVC and JS as a "Hey, this is doable." It also needs to have a significant fanbase support right off.