new Heroquest 25th year anniversary

Bailey03

Bailey03

Well-known member
Yup, but copyright issues happened. Apparently someone else holds the rights to Heroquest in the US so they had to cancel the KS. However these guys own the rights to it in Spain (yeah, I don't understand international copyright law), so now they're doing it through the Spanish version of KS instead.
 
Chrispy

Chrispy

Active member
Yeah, I believe Milton Bradley has the rights to Heroquest- and they are in turn owned by Hasbro. These people like their intellectual properties- almost as much as GW. But I do remember playing this and even a couple years later wishing they'd release an updated one. Some of the first minis I painted were the plastic heros. I was always the wizard.. Silly story- we all got a ton of gold one game, and since my weapons were limited to staff and daggers, I bought a huge amount of daggers to throw and became a ninja wizard! :p
 
Chrispy

Chrispy

Active member


732271905cea323aca9e8c73aca048ca
 
crystella333

crystella333

New member
It just feels wrong that they are doing it this way. It wouldn't feel so bad if they had done the right thing but the fact they have just turned their noses up and said okay we can't get funded this way (Kickstarter) or that way (Verkami), so we'll do it this way (Lánzanos).
It reminds me of re-caster's in China or Poland. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should do it.

Just my opinion.
 
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D

dogfacedboy uk1

New member
crystella333 said:
It just feels wrong that they are doing it this way. It wouldn't feel so bad if they had done the right thing but the fact they have just turned their noses up and said okay we can't get funded this way (Kickstarter) or that way (Verkami), so we'll do it this way (Lánzanos).
It reminds me of re-caster's in China or Poland. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should do it.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

If they hold the rights to it in Spain, they are doing the right thing. It is perfectly legal if they hold rights to it. To be honest I am not sure - if there is still a large fanbase for this game, why GW have not instigated a relaunch like they did with Space Hulk. Good luck to Gamezone, I will be backing the project and probably buying a shit ton of minis from them at some stage, they have some very nice stuff.

dfb
 
Gepzo

Gepzo

New member
I thought the IP was in some sort of a dark in between place. Neither GW nor Milton Bradley own it outright, and neither is doing anything with it, and they do mention it in their write-up, that they tried contacting the holders and working out a deal... hmm... here's their write-up...

I would say that it is a lot different than Chinese recasters, they tried to contact the IP holders. It doesn't say if they were given permission or not. I'm thinking not, but we aren't talking about two mom-and-pop companies that are banking on the success of products with the IP. We're talking about a set of IP that is muddy, that neither company needs, or even wants. If Gamezone is going to take the responsibility of infringing on IP knowingly, and doing it in full daylight, where C&D could be delivered to their door, then that's incredibly different from a Chinese recaster who sells via an ebay identity, and would not stop if a C&D could be delivered.

Not saying it is "legal", but that doesn't mean it isn't at least chaotic good.

"We present to you a new tribute game to the memorable HEROQUEST board game on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. In this new edition you will find new illustrations, new miniatures, new cards, a new board... All contents are new and fresh, to the highest possible standards as to pay a suitable tribute to the game that marked an era.

Introduction

We are not saying anything new if we say that there was a 'before' and an 'after' in our lives with HeroQuest. You have read it put in many ways, but all of them have the same roots in dreams, thanksgiving and nostalgia in common.

Months ago, a partner of mine shared a link which led to a change.org petition. It was, at least, a wholehearted petition, but hiding an urge that, surprisingly enough, many of us shared without knowing: a conmemorative edition was demanded for to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

When I talked about it with a friend, he made me understand that the petition was really open, not focused to a single company. It was a petition made mainly to two big fishes, but open to any third party. It was practically as if someone had put up a challenge. And what we did at GameZone was to accept it.

After that came weeks of studying the legal aspects of the matter and getting in touch with people who could allow us to face this project. We quickly knew that no big fish was going to undertake this endeavour. It was complicated, costly and there was not enough time. Big companies have to plan their strategies with plenty of time, and none of them had announced anything nor planned to. The time left to get it done was simply too little. But not for a small fish.

We could react in time and focus all our efforts in the development of this commemorative edition. It was now or never. Or we got to the task right away, or no one would. And there would be no HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Edition.

The time lapse we have to achieve our goal is small, but enough for us. With the fundings raised thanks to this crowdfunding initiative we will be able to end the creative stage and prototypes, so we can start producing the actual components by early 2014. We have the knowledge and the tools, not the funds. The money we now ask for.

With the right funding this HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Edition will see the light just in time for next year Christmas time, fulfilling the desires of countless fans, among which we are included.

LET'S GIVE THIS CLASSIC THE TRIBUTE IT DESERVES
 
crystella333

crystella333

New member
Gepzo said:
I thought the IP was in some sort of a dark in between place. Neither GW nor Milton Bradley own it outright, and neither is doing anything with it, and they do mention it in their write-up, that they tried contacting the holders and working out a deal... hmm... here's their write-up...

I would say that it is a lot different than Chinese recasters, they tried to contact the IP holders. It doesn't say if they were given permission or not. I'm thinking not, but we aren't talking about two mom-and-pop companies that are banking on the success of products with the IP. We're talking about a set of IP that is muddy, that neither company needs, or even wants. If Gamezone is going to take the responsibility of infringing on IP knowingly, and doing it in full daylight, where C&D could be delivered to their door, then that's incredibly different from a Chinese recaster who sells via an ebay identity, and would not stop if a C&D could be delivered.

Not saying it is "legal", but that doesn't mean it isn't at least chaotic good.

"We present to you a new tribute game to the memorable HEROQUEST board game on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. In this new edition you will find new illustrations, new miniatures, new cards, a new board... All contents are new and fresh, to the highest possible standards as to pay a suitable tribute to the game that marked an era.

Introduction

We are not saying anything new if we say that there was a 'before' and an 'after' in our lives with HeroQuest. You have read it put in many ways, but all of them have the same roots in dreams, thanksgiving and nostalgia in common.

Months ago, a partner of mine shared a link which led to a change.org petition. It was, at least, a wholehearted petition, but hiding an urge that, surprisingly enough, many of us shared without knowing: a conmemorative edition was demanded for to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

When I talked about it with a friend, he made me understand that the petition was really open, not focused to a single company. It was a petition made mainly to two big fishes, but open to any third party. It was practically as if someone had put up a challenge. And what we did at GameZone was to accept it.

After that came weeks of studying the legal aspects of the matter and getting in touch with people who could allow us to face this project. We quickly knew that no big fish was going to undertake this endeavour. It was complicated, costly and there was not enough time. Big companies have to plan their strategies with plenty of time, and none of them had announced anything nor planned to. The time left to get it done was simply too little. But not for a small fish.

We could react in time and focus all our efforts in the development of this commemorative edition. It was now or never. Or we got to the task right away, or no one would. And there would be no HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Edition.

The time lapse we have to achieve our goal is small, but enough for us. With the fundings raised thanks to this crowdfunding initiative we will be able to end the creative stage and prototypes, so we can start producing the actual components by early 2014. We have the knowledge and the tools, not the funds. The money we now ask for.

With the right funding this HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Edition will see the light just in time for next year Christmas time, fulfilling the desires of countless fans, among which we are included.

LET'S GIVE THIS CLASSIC THE TRIBUTE IT DESERVES
Click to expand...

Yes they did ask and because they didn't get the written approval that Moon Design (who do own the trademark in the USA), they got told that they can't use Heroquest. Now from what i can see is that they are trying to get the funding done before its stopped again. If they planned to just keep it in Spain I wouldn't have a probelm with it but that just rubs me up the wrong way.

Here is what was said in reply to the Kick-starter being stopped and from the second crowd-funder who also pulled the plug on them
Official Update from Moon Design

We want to give some background on the dispute surrounding Gamezone’s Kickstarter campaign to launch a remake of the hybrid board game/roleplaying game originally published by Milton Bradley called “Heroquest”.Last week, Moon Design petitioned Kickstarter to remove the crowdfunding campaign for Gamezone’s “Heroquest” game. “Heroquest” is the registered US trademark of Moon Design and is the name of our “Heroquest” roleplaying game and assorted products. To allow a game using the same name to be promoted in the United States through Kickstarter without a license would be an unacceptable dilution of our brand and create market confusion to our detriment.

The trademark “Heroquest” is registered by Francis Greg Stafford with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Registration Number 4082281) for use in game book manuals. Moon Design Publications LLC has the exclusive license for use of that trademark. For some time now we have been working on creating a board game called “Heroquest” pertaining to the mythology of Glorantha and an updated version of our Heroquest roleplaying game.

The project by Gamezone, a Spanish game company, proposes to remake a role-playing/board game originally produced by Milton Bradley and Games Workshop in 1989. The project calls their game “Heroquest” which is identical to our registered mark and easily confused with it.

Gamezone initially asked us for use of the Heroquest trademark on July 31, 2013. The next day we asked them if they could provide us with a copy of any written agreement with Hasbro to produce a 25th Anniversary Edition of Hasbro’s board game. Gamezone did not provide us with any written confirmation (and as of this date still has not done so). On August 26, 2013, we informed Gamezone by email that we must decline their request.

Despite being explicitly refused permission to use our trademark, Gamezone went ahead and launched this Kickstarter. As a New York State corporation, Kickstarter is subject to US trademark laws and the use of our trademark in the campaign was a violation of those laws.We told Gamezone that they needed to immediately get a licensing agreement from us (which, among other things, would require that they pay us for the rights to the name since it would mean foregoing our opportunity to release our game using our trademark and to compensate us for that lost revenue).

Gamezone did not get back to us within the period we set, and rather than have this end up in litigation (which could also bring in other parties with IP at stake), we asked Kickstarter to suspend the campaign. We then spoke to Gamezone informing them that we had certain non-negotiable demands for any license agreement, among them a statement that Gamezone has explicit permission from Hasbro to make this game based on their IP. Gamezone has assured us that they can get such permission, but until we see confirmation, we cannot responsibly license our trademark to be used in this Kickstarter campaign.

We sympathize with the fans of the Milton Bradley game who enthusiastically supported this project. We strongly support Kickstarter and the revitalization of old games with a loyal following. However, such activities must be done with the consent of the trademark holder and of any other legal owners of the property.

Source: http://www.glorantha.com/background-concerning-suspension-of-gamezones-kickstarter-campaign/

Update December 8th 2013
It appears that Gamezone Miniatures attempted a new launch of their Heroquest project on the Spanish crowd-funding platform Verkami, only to have the new project suspended within hours.

Dear backers,

We want to comunicate our decision of stoping the campaign were you had pledged: ‘Heroquest 25th Anniversary’

The urge to publish the project by the authors today sunday 8 at 1 am has precipitated it’s publication without being able, the team of verkami, to spend the right time to review the project.

After carefully studying the campaign, we believe that the content of the project could be misleading to our users.

Your pledges will be cancelled so no charges will be made in your card or PayPal account.

We thank you for your trust, and we want to apologize for any inconvenience our handling of the project might have caused.

Verkami team
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
Staff member
cyberakuma said:
despite thid being the third attempt i have seen they are stillgetting backers
Click to expand...

Dragonsreach said:
Sadly that doesn't equate to enough funding.
Click to expand...

crystella333 said:
Not until its finished 'fund-raising'
Click to expand...
The only problem with fund raising this way is the number of "Drop-outs" at the end.
Anyone who has ever tried to organise something like a works meal/night out will tell you there are dozens who say yes and then disappear when the moneys needed. Got that T-Shirt!

While I like Gamezone, I'm not particularly interested in backing this as I found the game limited, less so than "Space Hulk", which I found to be grossly over rated.
 
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crystella333

crystella333

New member
noneedforaname said:
Things are even more interesting now that the contracted sculpters have decided to wash their hands of this one.
Click to expand...

Yep, seems like they couldn't get straight answers from Gamezone Miniatures.
Seems the waters just keep getting muddier and muddier, so glad I've passed up on this one.
 
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