Club Jade

In what I’m sure is not a shock to any and all active gamers, Wizards of the Coast will not be renewing their Star Wars license.

They picked up the RPG license back in 2001, redoing the game twice, and some say they never quite captured the spirit of the original West End Games line that was an important launching point for the modern EU, and many writers still working with the franchise today.

I don’t think we’ve seen the end of a Star Wars RPG: StarWars.com’s line about “announcements regarding future products” almost guarantees it – so here’s hoping that Lucasfilm can find a company with the enthusiasm they – and the fans – need.

I’m always a week behind on the RPG releases, so gamers ought to have no trouble finding Wizard’s Jedi Academy Training Manual this week. No idea if there’s anything of use to non-gamers in there, but the cover is nice.

As for Wednesday… Diamond hasn’t updated their shipping list yet, but Midtown Comics is listing Legacy #36, The Clone Wars: Wind Raiders Of Taloraan and the second Vector collection.

We finally have releases this week! Tomorrow, keep an eye out for WOTC’s Legacy Era Campaign Guide. (Does this contain info from the entire Legacy era or just the comic? FYI, the buzz for this has not been very good.) On Wednesday Knights of the Old Republic #39.

And next week, we finally get that damn Outcast book.

Random House is among the publishers doing some housecleaning and restructuring right now. I’m not seeing Del Rey get any mentions, even in the blogs, but the Star Wars line is a massive cash cow, so maybe the folks there will weather it out. (Wizards of the Coast, however…)

But my point: I’m going to echo Scalzi and say that now is a good time to go buy some stuff that doesn’t have the safety net of a massive franchise and a 4-year contract, i.e. all those other books. Remember, science fiction and fantasy is a niche market, and thus likely to get caught up in cuts along the bottom line. So go out and support your favorites: Every paperback helps, and the bookstores aren’t doing that hot, either.

UPDATE: Scalzi is having a suggest-a-thon.

The paperback of Death Star, by by Steve Perry & Michael Reaves, will be cruising into bookstores tomorrow. Roleplayers or the detail-oriented might also want to look for WOTC’s Scum and Villainy supplement, which came out last week.

As for comic fans, Wednesday will bring the Vector storyline even closer to an end with part 11 (of 12) in Legacy #30.

Eddie of Star Wars Chronology spotted a Legacy Era Campaign Guide on Amazon. It has a release date of March 2009 and lists Star Wars RPG regulars Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, and Gary Astleford as authors. (Perusing their listings also turns up campaign guides for The Clone Wars and The Force Unleashed.)

Remember, Amazon is not exactly a reliable news source, so we can’t be 100% sure of this… But seeing as they’re doing a KOTOR guide I don’t doubt they’re up for detailing other EU eras.

Comic Book Resources talks to Knights of the Old Republic scribe John Jackson Miller about the book’s upcoming ‘Vindication’ storyline.

Speaking of KOTOR, Wizards of the Coast is gearing up for the release of the Knights of the Old Republic campaign guide and miniatures in August with some previews – the first of which went up yesterday. (via)

• Insider: Rebelscum reports that the latest issue is shipping now; cover promises ‘the essential Expanded Universe.’ Riiiight.

• Holonet News: Pablo shares the original pitch for the pre-Clone Wars news source.
• RPG: StarWars.com gives us a look at WOTC’s Threats of the Galaxy, which comes out next month.

Sterling Hershey weighs in with September’s developments in the RPG realm and his take on Family Guy: Blue Harvest.

Now, we sometimes forget this in our pursuit of booze and parties, but GenCon is actually a gaming convention. Over at the TOS blogs, Sterling Hershey has the reports on the Star Wars and general RPG announcements.

For the EU fans, looks like WOTC will be making Legacy of the Force, Knights of the Old Republic, and The Force Unleashed minis.