People keep writing as if it is no problem and there are lots of different publishers for this type of game. I don't consider 3 companies as "a lot" of publishers to choose from. It does give some opportunity to reflect on why there are so few companies that produce and sell the longer bigger games. The only company that really excels in that right now is FFG and who knows how "age of piracy" fit in their schedule right now.

One of the things that make age of piracy unique is the great sculpts for the different pirate ships in the game and that alone means that a lot of companies will not be able to handle the game. This industry really needs more companies with the strength and size of FFG. Right now though I dont see any companies nearing FFG in terms of capability to turn out big and beautiful games but I hope that Z-Man games will eventually grow into that.

I'm another who was looking forward to the game, and will certainly buy it if another publisher picks it up.

Or realise that not all quotes are in the official
My apology to Mr. Berg!

Keep your chin up. I'm sure you'll get a good publisher. I agree with most of the guys who posted here - go for FFG. Hey, FFG, this one's gonna be a hit!

Argh, there are less and less games coming out that interest me, so my wishlist is already pretty short. And now they start to cancel the few games that are on the list....not fair!
Christian, please do not give up. Z-Man sounds like a good publisher to try. Keep us posted!

Let's just say that Christian needs to check his geekmail....

I've heard very good things about AoP and was really looking forward to it... hopefully another publisher will have the good sense to snap this one up.

Hi everyone!

I made this thread before going to the UK for a few days, and now look what happned. I'm really overwhelmed and happy for all your supportive words - what a reception. I'm now going through the huge amount of geekmail I received

I appologize to anyone I don't get to reply to - but I would like the chance to say that your wishings and suggestions will all be noted and appreciated.

Regarding FFG; They actually showed some interest in the game when it was announced. At that point we were well into things with ProLudo and I felt I would be screwing them over by just packing up and leaving (How's that for irony?). We have been contacting FFG daily the past 3-4 weeks but with no luck of getting a hold of Christian... perhaps we have been screened?

Anyway we're still on it and will try chase up FFG a bit more due to their preliminary interest. If that goes to hell then we will start expanding our search.

Thanks to everyone, and again I appologize if I do not get back to you directly.

Cheers!

Ridiculous and terrible.

I was also very much looking forward to this as well - an absolutely great looking game.

And I am sure none of us know the half of the effort and love Christian has poured into this game.

I know Christian will not give up, as much as I am positive we will all still see this game one day.

Hello,

Truant Games and Ulisses Games merged together to create a new
boardgame division:

http://www.truant.de/index.htm

Maybe they need a new supreme product

Give them a try, they did the German version of Kingsburg lately.

I hope it works out with FFG. Based on the content I've seen, this is the one pirate game that I have been waiting for.

Hi Christian,

i wonder what the guys from Pro Ludo or the other company said why they don´t publish the game?

Are there any issues about the gameplay? Is it the money they had to invest? :what:

Greetings

Hi Tom (The Tom Tykwer?)

ProLudo were very happy with the game and already invested money in it (work and art). The new company wanted a game where Combat was less detailed and faster - kind of "roll a die, play a card, compare ships - see who won". We on the other hand wanted combat to be slightly more involving and thematic which in turn takes longer.

The game takes 3 hours with players familiar with the game, but can take longer with "newbies" - and this was unacceptable to them.

So that was pretty much it.

i feel very sad to hear it.

I hope you can find another publisher.

May FFG can be the publisher to do it.

Are you test with Z Games or another european publisher ?

txus

Oh ok, i understand... will you keep the title "Age of Piracy" or go back to M&M and who owns the graphics and the ships?

Have you considered creating a family/simple/quick version of the rules to aid in selling the game, but having a geek/detailed/long version of the rules as a variant/appendix?

We own the ships. The artwork is owned by the new company - I think they would be open to the idea of a new publisher buying it off them. They are however contemplating on doing a pirate game themselves (years from now) so they might wan't to keep them. As for the title - I'm not sure if they actually own it, or if it's up for grabs - with a subtititle I guess it is. Howevever we quite liked Merchants and Marauders so who knows - it might return

But - most importantly we own the ships 100%.

We thought about it - but ultimately that's not the game we wanted to do. We were not aiming for a light familiy game (why bother with games like that when you have Pirates Cove?). This is a Pirate game made by gamers for gamers. It's about time we had a pirates game for the typical FFG customer who likes exiting gameplay tied together by great components and artwork.

However we are considering all different options - like having NPC battles be more snap and keeping the more detailed combat for PvP. Once prototypes go out to potential publishers we will se what their feedback is... Based on that we might make some changes.

Obviously we have no problem with combat as it is (nor have any testers voiced any disaprovement). Even though battles may take a few minutes another player controls the NPC and has great interest in playing that NPC well. So actual downtime is pretty limited if players do their actions simultanoeusly (as advised in the rules).

Blackbeard (GMT)... Is an obstacle?

I have in my right hand "Blackbeard" and "Age of Piracy" in the other hand...

Cheers and good luck.

They seem to be different kinds of games. I see no need to bash either of them. (Edit: What I mean is that the games seem to be different enough and owning both when Age is finally released shouldn't be a problem. After all, I own more than one fantasy adventure game and they're all different enough that sometimes I want to play one, sometimes another...)

BTW, do you REALLY have Blackbeard on your right hand??? I'm anxiously wating for my copy to arrive!

-Jorge

Well, that sure sucks a part of the male body that I should not like to mention...

I'm sad to hear that since I know how much you have committed yourself to this project.

Expressions of sadness won't change your state, however, so I'll rather say that given your commitment and belief in this process, I remain quite adamant that you'll pull this off. You have the drive. And that is the one tool that is capable of shaping the metaphysical stuff that is the essence of dreams.

My, my. I'm turning quite poetic. No, I don't drink.

Although it cuts the heart seeing your Flute go down, fat and ladden with rum and slaves, there's always another captain and another ship. And after a Flute, there's always a Frigate.

Hoist the flag on the mizzen and get ready to deliver a broadside with the starboard 24-pounders!



P.S. And looking at the bright side: you get to use the original title. Merchants & Marauders sounds like a name, it has character, it distinguishes itself, it stands out. Age of Piracy just sounds like everything else. It sounds like "We wanted to make a lot of money, but we were so bored that we couldn't come up with anything else." Please. Stick to your convictions and your intuition. Now you know that publishers do not reward you for not doing.

I thought you weren't going to mention that body part...

FFG should pick this up!

They make great epic games (Decent, Tide of Iron, etc) and I'd love to see this game done right. Consider it a blessing in disguise that it was not published by ProLudo? FFG would make a nice, huge box with tons of parts and I'd be done right. I'm sorry that ProLudo thought gamers might not want a '3 hour game'...but there are plenty of fast playing Pirate games.

As a side note, I think a well designed game should have rules that would allow for a faster, less involved game and another set that would allow for a more involved game.

There is always the possibility that they already have an epic pirate game in the works.



I'll second that. IMHO Pirate's Cove and Plunder would make that market unattractive.



I agree. I really like to see it when games offer tiered play. It gives advanced players a chance to play a round or two with the basic rules and to get the game concepts down before moving into the more advanced rules.