As you all know, we are in the midst of a legal dispute over the publishing rights and trademark to the Revised Villains and Vigilantes superhero role-playing game, which we created in 1982. This dispute is ongoing, and though it’s taking far longer than we’d hoped we remain firm in our conviction that the courts will ultimately decide in our favor.

At the moment, however, the court requires us to issue the following statement:

In 2010, a link was posted on the Wikipedia page for Fantasy Games Unlimited, which showed the state of New York had dissolved Fantasy Games Unlimited, Inc. in 1991. (For reference, this link can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/9vor4g2) The information it presents is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate and undisputed. But if the presence of that link inaccurately suggested that the corporation was dissolved due to failure to pay taxes- as opposed to being dissolved for ceasing to pay state incorporation fees, then we sincerely and regretfully apologize for and hereby retract any and all statements on our part which might have given that impression.

Also in regards to the Fantasy Games Unlimited Wikipedia page, there have been other comments (which have since been removed) which stated, in effect, that the Scott Bizar DBA Fantasy Games Unlimited has taken “unjustified positions” and “improperly threatens legal action” and “has a bad reputation for holding publishing works in limbo”. We had no involvement in the posting of such comments, nor did we direct anyone to make them on our behalf, and have no knowledge of or suspicion as to who made them. Therefore, we take this opportunity to publicly declare that we do not support these statements, we have no knowledge as to the specific situations those statements were referencing, and that we will have no further public comment in regard to them.

Additionally, we have made statements to the effect that Scott Bizar DBA Fantasy Games Unlimited does not have the right to publish our game Revised Villains and Vigilantes. It is certainly our belief that this is true in light of advice of legal counsel and the accumulation of a significant body of evidence. However, this is a matter that has yet to be legally determined, and which will be determined through the legal action which we have undertaken. If we have given the impression our belief represented settled legal fact, we sincerely and regretfully apologize and hereby retract any and all statements we have made which may have given that impression.

Furthermore, we sincerely and regretfully apologize for and hereby retract any statement that we have made which may have been interpreted as negative commentary upon the character, reputation, honesty, integrity or virtue of Scott Bizar DBA Fantasy Games Unlimited.

In discussing this issue we have attempted to distinguish between the two separate legal entities that are Fantasy Games Unlimited Inc. of the State of New York (for the sake of clarity, this is the legal entity which was formed on July 1, 1975 and dissolved by proclamation on September 25, 1991) and Scott Bizar DBA Fantasy Games Unlimited, which is still conducting business. While doing so, we may have given the impression that Scott Bizar did not have the right to do business under the name Fantasy Games Unlimited. It is our belief that, even though the corporation that is Fantasy Games Unlimited Inc. of the State of New York no longer exists, Scott Bizar does have the right to use that name for his current business. We therefore sincerely and regretfully apologize for and hereby retract any and all statements we have made that may have seemed to imply otherwise.

Finally, in the discussion of our ongoing dispute with Scott Bizar DBA Fantasy Games Unlimited, we may have made comments that could be interpreted as inappropriately negative assessments of his dealings with writers and artists, or the quality of his products. Again, we sincerely and regretfully apologize for and hereby retract any and all statements we may have previously made that might have given this impression.

-Jeff Dee and Jack Herman
Monkey House Games, Inc.

dsumner wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 2:46am:


Ditto

dsumner wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 2:46am:


Incorrect.  The fans were DRAGGED into this fight by (guess) and deserve to know the truth.  But it doesn't matter anymore.

dsumner wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 2:46am:


Also incorrect.  There was only one "parent" DEMANDING (not asking) fans to pick sides.

dsumner wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 2:46am:


Scott already has.  Now it's too late.

Sounds like another "Enjoy the boobies" thread is forming here!

Strictly for myself, I find the entire situation devolving into a court case scenario to be hugely disheartening.  I have a gut and intellectual conviction that V&V was the creation of Herman and Dee, the work of Herman and Dee, and belongs in those individuals' hands; I have little doubt that the eventual decree - whenever the wheels of the private justice system get around to it - will turn in their favour.  In the meantime, though, at least Jeff and Jack are playing by the rules, and will hopefully avoid the court's ire until matters are adjudicated.  Until then, I'm going to enjoy the hell out of my V&V 2.1 rulebook (as well as all the rest of the 2.1 stuff that was released before the shutdown), including the Banditos y Vigilantes wrestling moves, which have already begun to make their impact (literally and figuratively) on our own games.

(  .   Y  .  )


boobies

I realize I'm the newest member of this forum... BUT...

If you want to make Jeff and Jack proud - play the game.
If you want to support Scott's insight - play the game.
If you want to strengthen this community - play the game.

Your dollars and time are the currency that people across the entertainment industry are fighting to capture. Play this game because it is fun, not because of some misplaced loyalty to the original creators or the man who made it possible.

We should be building worlds, and sharing them.
A discussion about lawsuits and legal briefs isn't fun, and amounts to little more than mental masturbation.

Ramble

Ranger wrote on Aug 9^th, 2012 at 11:25am:


A number of Dave Woodrum's free supplements were available months before the formation of MHG. Citizen Report was already mentioned on this forum before that time, and Enter the Gene Pool was already in production as well. Did V&V languish for 20-odd years? Unfortunately, yes. But FGU was coming back before this dispute took place.

Yes, V&V did languish for 20 years, but it was more like a lack of capital (imo) that kept them from doing anything. Reprints of Aftermath!, Space Opera, etc. started rolling out a few years back. Just saying.

Now, did the court case inspire them to pump more energy in the V&V line? Probably. Again, just my opinion.

We just need to keep positive for the game and continue moving forward. The misinformation, bitterness and perceptions over the last two years are slowly coming to light for what really happened.

No one will ever know the perfect details of what soured the relationship between the publisher and the two creatives involved in this dispute. I agree with Ramble that we (now) don't need to speculate about the legal details. The truth about the timeline of events and the reasons for V&V to have 'languished', and whether people agree about hows and whys is all distraction for the big picture: The case is almost over and we have a game to go on with.

Fans like John B, Eric , Doug, Patric R., TIm H., and Dominique to name just a few kept the game a living thing. It took a long time for Scott to not only position himself to finance this again, but for technology to avail that. Now he has burned tens of thousands of dollars defending his right to keep going that could have made a lot of V&V for us.

We need to support the game and the publisher if the game is what is important; likewise we should probably accept that some people (including Jeff and Jack) who disagree with that are casualties in what will certainly be a lesson to us all.

Allen Shock!  Hey!  Where have you been?  Oh, wait, that's right!  You were banned from this forum!

Oh, sorry.  I'm not sure where I got that impression...?

I wonder what brought him back?   

Tempest wrote on Nov 19^th, 2015 at 2:13pm:


I don't understand what you mean when you say "Jeff and Jack will be given the complete array of V&V IP's at the end of the process". 

I have written intellectual property for the V&V game system, and my contract exists only with FGU. If Dee and Herman win, are you saying that you think they will be able to assume FGU's place in my contracts, and presumably the contracts that exist with other authors?

RAMBLE

Klystron,

Either way you go, you would be a freelance writer, not an employee. Since you have THREE adventures, try sending one to FGU and another to MHG following each company's published submission guidelines.

And yes, someone always ends up the loser in a court battle.

The best thing we can do is keep writing good stuff, keep playing the game we enjoy, and leave all the lawsuit garbage to the lawyers and judges (it is completely out of our control anyway).

Ironnerd,

The 3 adventures I have ready for submission, while not dependent on each other, are nevertheless linked and referenced to each other. They each could be stand alone but organizations are introduced and referenced so I don't want to send them to different publishers as that would eventually cause some of them to be lost.

Assuming the worst and the victor has no means to publish or continue after "winning" and court battle and my stuff never gets published officially, I will post it here for everyone to enjoy. It's all about the game for me.  Of course, I would rather see my stuff as part of the official universe but if not, I'm no worse off than I am now.....

Maybe they should just roll up some characters and battle it out within the  game context.

All rise, this court is now in session.  Both parties roll for initiative!

FWIW I think you're a very talented writer and I've really enjoyed your stuff, Ramble.  I'm hoping that - whichever side comes out on top - you'll reconsider and still stick with writing V&V material.

Majestic wrote on Nov 30^th, 2015 at 11:34pm:


...but they ARE taking people's money!  Meanwhile, FGU is doing what it always has.

I think that right there speaks for itself.

Quote:


Noble, but please don't do that.  You deserve more credit than that for your efforts.

Ramble wrote on Dec 3^rd, 2015 at 3:51am:


I look forward to seeing more of your work, too!  Yay!

Maybe.
Or it could be legendary.
I hope we get to find out.

RAMBLE

OH HELL YES, I'm a sweet talker.

Listen, write a book you are happy with, and then submit it to someone for publishing or publish it yourself.

If you want to give away a freebie... do a single character portrait. FGU gives those away for free, and even MHG (who is always looking for cash these days) only sells them for a buck. Whether you succeed, fail, or have a bag of mixed results, either way it's a new experience you can put under your belt. And it's shows your intentions without giving up all your ideas.

I have tons of books in the Grey Matter Mill churning and rumbling around... and my ideas are too sweet to give away for free. If your ideas suck - then give them away for free. If your ideas are good AND you have the tenacity to actually write them out, then you ought to be paid. You've earned it.

Also, don't assume that FGU and MHG are different sides of the same coin. When you study them, I think you'll see they act differently, they've got different strengths and weaknesses, and they've got different models for how they want to do business. The question is really, how do you want to do business? You answer that and you'll know who you want to work with.

RAMBLE