Forum > ICE News and Discussion
ICE now and future
Malim:
A long time fan here!
I have some holes in my knowledge about ICE, that I would like filled if possible.
Where does ICE stand today in sense of ownership, who and what does ICE own and have the rights too produce? ( Rolemaster?, Shadow World?, Spacemaster? RMU? )
How strong is ICE as a contender on the RPG marked?
What is the future for Rolemaster and Shadow World ( Where I do my adventures )
After the great loss of TKA, what will become of Shadow World?
I hope a person from ICE can help out, since wikipedia is abit unclear on present day ICE status.
-Jesper
jdale:
I think this is all true, in Wikipedia:
--- Quote ---In December 2001, ICE's assets were purchased by Aurigas Aldebaron LLLC, an intellectual property ownership company backed by several wealthy individuals. The new owners licensed the Iron Crown Enterprise name and other assets to Mjolnir LLC until 2011. Starting in January 2011, licensing was transferred to Guild Companion Publications Ltd.
In 2016 Aurigas Alderbaron merged with Guild Companion Publications Ltd to create a single company: Guild Companion Publications. This company both holds the Iron Crown Enterprises intellectual property and produces and sells Iron Crown products.
On January 9, 2017 Guild Companion Publications Limited officially changed its name to Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd.[5]
--- End quote ---
Best way to get a list of products which ICE has ownership of, is to go to Drivethrurpg and see what is listed there for sale. Might not be comprehensive but it's at least close.
Regarding Shadow World, Nicholas has said "We will continue to publish new Shadow World modules from other carefully selected writers, with Priest-King of Shade scheduled to be first. We will support Shadow World in both RMU and HARP." There are still some unknowns while details are sorted out, e.g. figuring out what unfinished drafts and manuscripts exist.
Colin-ICE:
Hi Malim.
I am but a lowly marketing troll and don’t know everything or have all the answers but I will do my best to answer your questions (though take them with a pinch of salt).
The idea of who owns a company and what a company owns are confusing and beyond what my brain can handle today, so your first question is a little difficult.
Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd is owned by a few of people. First and foremost of that small group of people is ICE Director Nicholas Caldwell. Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd holds the rights to the intellectual property surrounding Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Shadow World, HARP Fantasy, HARP SF, CyberSpace, Silent Death and maybe a few other smaller bits and pieces. This does not mean that we own the rights to everything that has ever been produced under those properties or that we own the rights to everything Iron Crown Enterprises has ever produced (I told you it was confusing). Whether it is a new product or one that was produced way back, we need the agreement of the authors of those products to allow us to sell them (except in instances where the authors were working as ICE staff at the time (I think – Complicated).
We are realistic in our appraisal of our market strength. We’re never going to take on D&D. We want to produce high quality products that meet the standards and expectations of our existing fans and we hope to pick up some new fans along the way but we’re a small company staffed almost entirely by freelancers and volunteers.
I think what is quoted above from Nicholas neatly answers the Shadow World question.
I hope that helped.
Colin (The Marketing Troll)
Boromir:
The thread https://ironcrown.co.uk/ICEforums/index.php?topic=11282.msg237302#msg237302 has an up-to-date list of the old ICE products that are not under license. @Colin-ICE and I have been trying to reduce this list as a background activity with slow progress.
Vladimir:
I am new to this site because I have been a longtime Rolemaster player (Since 1987).
My current GM (Fred) runs a weekly game (2nd Ed) on Discord and while he has most of the ICE publications, I have been buying him the hard copies of the out of print books he lacks.
I retired a few years ago and gave him my game library of various OOP books (yes, some were worth a LOT on Ebay) but my friend would put them to good use, instead of gathering dust in storage. Then it occurred to me: What happened to ICE? And here I am. Fred is also glad that the RM rules are moving forward with RMU and I'll see if he'd like to playtest them.
Like most of the players in my gaming club, I started out as a wargamer; And as an Army veteran, I apply the skills I learned as a soldier and squad leader in my gaming. I've been a proponent of skill-based games for decades and RM is one of the best I've played, although I'm still not keen on levels and professions, but that is another philosophical discussion for later.
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