[Wuthering Heights] Thinking about selling a pdf version.

[Philippe Tromeur]

I'm planning to release (commercially and electronically) an updated version of Wuthering Heights before the end of 2003.

I think the final file will be 48 pages (approximately) :
- 16 pages of rules and general principles
- 16 pages of Tragedies (scenarios), including my twisted vision of Moby Dick
- 16 pages of Appendices (alternate rules and silly stuff), including "Oriental Tragedies", a japanese variation

I will sell the whole file for cheap ($5.00 ? $7.00 ?) at RPGnow.com (or somewhere else ?), and I will make the first 16 pages freely available as a demo.

A first version is to be seen there : http://tromeur.com/wuthering/wuther.pdf (1.252 MB, low-res)
I have to create some border (at least at the bottom), re-write some text (too "flowery" but not always elegant), etc. There are lots of holes, and the d20 text inside is too "goofy" (I plan something more subtle).
I will also slightly modify the rules (mostly the problem table) but I'll discuss that on the Design forum.

Opinions ?
Advice ?
(about the first attempts at a layout, about the price, about anything...)

[hieronymous]

Philippe,

re-salut!

i've sent a few comments to you privately at pht(at)fr.st, but perhaps that's not an email address you check frequently. also, i have one additional comment about artwork. have you looked at the Dada-ist collage novels of Max Ernst? La Femme 100 tête, Une Semaine de Bonté, etc.

i don't know if that's too far from the melodramatic path you are striking, tho'.

i'm really smitten with your game, btw.[/i]

[samdowning]

Have you checked out any copyright ownership of Wuthering Heights?

We wanted to do a Lost World game, and even though the book itself is old enough to fall outside the copyright laws, there was still someone holding on to the copyrights for the characters.  I haven't been able to check out your link (my computer's been acting up pulling pdfs from offline all morning) so I don't know if you stat out the main characters or not.  But this was a big time no-no.  We would have been allowed to do a free game, but that wasn't what we wanted to do.

[hieronymous]

As it was published in 1847, I doubt WH has any lasting copyright on it. I've never heard of a work having it's copyright extended over 150 years, but I could be wrong. In fact, the entire book is on line:

http://www.literature.org/authors/bronte-emily/wuthering-heights/

WH is Philippe's English title for his own translation of his French RPG, René ( a reference to Chateaubriand). Other than the title and a reference to Brontë, there are no other allusions to the novel. I suppose you could play Heathcliff, but I don't think that's the intention. In any event, none of the novel's characters are mentioned in the game...


--françois

PS by Lost World, do you mean the Crichton novel, or an earlier work?

[samdowning]

PS by Lost World, do you mean the Crichton novel, or an earlier work?

Actually, I'm referring to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 book.  The book itself is outside copyrights, but the characters were used in his later books and thus are still copyrighted material.  So no NPC's of Professor Challenger or Ned, for instance.

[Perrina]

As it was published in 1847, I doubt WH has any lasting copyright on it. I've never heard of a work having it's copyright extended over 150 years, but I could be wrong. In fact, the entire book is on line:

http://www.literature.org/authors/bronte-emily/wuthering-heights/

WH is Philippe's English title for his own translation of his French RPG, René ( a reference to Chateaubriand). Other than the title and a reference to Brontë, there are no other allusions to the novel. I suppose you could play Heathcliff, but I don't think that's the intention. In any event, none of the novel's characters are mentioned in the game...

FYI, you may want to check with MTV about copyrights, even on the name, as they just filmed and released (on television) an updated version of WH:

http://www.mtv.com/onair/wuthering_heights/

Kerrie

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

The more I think about it, the more I like "Rene" as a title for the game, given some introductory material to explain it a little. It's just evocative enough, and mysterious, to make me interested.

It's risky, yes, since a game title might do well to convey some information, but for me, for some reason, "Rene" works.

Best,
Ron

[Philippe Tromeur]

It's risky, yes, since a game title might do well to convey some information, but for me, for some reason, "Rene" works.

The title is not supposed to be mysterious. A French reader knows what book I'm talking about when reading the complete title "René le Jeu de rôle romantique".

And Wuthering Heights is a kewl name too, and it is famous, so I keep it !

[hieronymous]

Philippe,

You might want to look into selling the game through www.rpgnow.com

[Valamir]

I'd keep it Wuthering Heights too.  If there are any Copy Right issues the usual first step is a "cease and desist" which is pretty easy to comply with for a PDF release.  

I'd dig a little deeper before shelling out money for a print run, but a PDF is simplicity iteself to change if it becomes necessary.

[hieronymous]

I doubt that the name "Wuthreing Heights" alone would present a copyright problem. Philippe's game does not touch upon the characters, events, or places of said novel; the only use of Emily Brontë's work is in the title (and "The Ghost of Emily Brontë Presents...).

Note that according to this site, titles may NOT be copyrighted:

http://www.benedict.com/info/registration/what.asp

DISCLAIMER: I am not an attorney, and nothing in this or any other post of mine should be construed as legal advice.