Please Help Save Palladium from Going Under
This isn’t something I normally do, but Palladium has been around for a long time, and I have a lot of fond memories of gaming with their RPG’s.
Here is the open letter from Palladium’s president.
“An open letter from Kevin Siembieda, President & Owner.
A Crisis of Treachery
At a time when Palladium Books’ future has never looked more promising, we have been dealt a crippling blow.
For legal reasons, I cannot go into details about exactly what happened. Suffice it to say that betrayal of trust, theft, and embezzlement has inflicted what we estimate to be $850,000 to 1.3 million dollars in damages to Palladium.
It is a blow from which Palladium cannot recover. At least, not without YOUR help.
Out of options . . .
I have borrowed tens of thousands in loans and sunk every dime I’ve had into Palladium Books. I’m selling everything I own to keep Palladium going. That’s the real reason I’m selling my 25 year old toy collection, art and other items at the Palladium Open House.
But it’s not enough.
For the last year I had kept Palladium going with the hope that something would break in our favor. After all, we had all kinds of exciting things going on behind the scenes, and the huge loss seemed, for a while, like something we could overcome. Then a string of misfortune.
A series of unfortunate events
- The truly wonderful Rifts® videogame – Rifts® Promise of Power – was stillborn. The N-Gage platform never took off in North America. That meant the N-Gage and Rifts® Promise of Power would NOT be available on the mass market in the USA and Canada. Finding it anywhere in North America required an act of God.
- There would be no Nokia royalty-based revenue stream.
- Nor would there be a Nokia videogame sequel and the money that might come from it.
Note: Nokia treated me nothing short of GREAT. They lost truckloads of money on this venture. We’re both the victims of marketing fallout. Please don’t blame these wonderful people for Palladium’s woes – circumstance just didn’t make them part of our solution.
- Minimal gains into the book trade (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Hastings, etc.). PSI’s (Publisher Services Inc.) efforts to get Palladium RPG products into the book trade have been slow to say the least. Although we are confident PSI will be a good partner and get us into many national bookstore chains, it is taking much longer than anticipated.
- The Rifts movie? Stalled. Until Jerry Bruckheimer has a script he loves, the movie can’t get the green light. That makes perfect sense, but it doesn’t help Palladium’s bottom line right now.
- There were discussions with a company interested in doing a Rifts® MMOG but it didn’t pan out.
- Other potential deals have moved forward at a snail’s pace or have fallen to the wayside.
- Going public with this appeal may very well cost us getting the Robotech® license renewal.
- It doesn’t help that the role-playing game industry is in a slump and going through a transitional phase.
- Palladium has a team of amazing writers and artists brimming with ideas and enthusiasm. We have dozens and dozens of ideas and opportunities that will knock your socks off, but not the money to implement them.
- Palladium’s writers and artists have been troopers, waiting months to get paid, but their generosity is not enough.
- Treachery and skullduggery from within threatens to put us out of business.
Please help save Palladium Books®
I struggled and struggled with whether or not I should turn to YOU for help. Palladium and I have always had a close relationship with our fan base. Everything we do, we do with you in mind. We buck the trends, keep prices low, produce The Rifter®, and try to bring happiness with our annual X-Mas Grab Bag offer. We love gaming and gamers.
The irony is, we should be doing fine except for the treachery that has crippled us.
It was actually trusted fan-friends and freelancers who gave me the idea to turn to you, the people who are most important to our survival on so many levels.
Time and time again, each person I spoke to would be stunned by the news that Palladium was facing the possibility of closing its doors soon.
Time and time again, the person would say something heartfelt like, “I can’t believe it. I can’t imagine a world without Palladium in it. Kevin, if I had the money I’d give it to you in a heartbeat.”
I heard this so many times, almost word for word, that it gave me an idea. What if I went public and told all our fans about our trouble? Would they help?
It seemed like a viable solution, but was it right to ask our fans for . . . a helping hand?
My friend, Teresa Mead, helped me decide that this was the best solution when she said to me, “Kevin, I know your fans, and I think they’d be angry if you didn’t turn to them. They care about Palladium. If they find out they had a chance to save it, but Palladium’s gone because you didn’t ask them, it will make them furious. They’ll feel cheated and betrayed.”
I thought about that a lot, and I think she’s right. So here’s goes.
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How you can help
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Purchase the limited edition print “A Megaverse® United”
- I, Kevin Siembieda, will draw a special, pencil drawing with key characters from our entire game line to be made into a simple, black and white, toned piece of artwork, 11 x 14 inches, printed on a good quality paper.
- Each print will be hand signed by me. I’ll indicate which number that print is (i.e. #1, 2, 100, 1000, 2010, etc.). I don’t know how many there will be in the end; I pray for thousands!
- EVERYONE who purchases the print will see their names appear in the back pages of a major book listed as “Heroes of the Megaverse®!”
- The print will sell for $50.00 plus shipping and materials (envelope, protective cardboard, etc.), probably about $2.00-$5.00 by regular first class mail.
- We need those sales NOW!!! If 4,000 or 5,000 people all order that darn print within a month or two, it should give us the money we need to get back on our feet! Without a shot in the arm of some big cash, and fast, I fear Palladium is gone. That kind of jump start should carry us through the year and should enable us to do the other things we need to do to keep the company going for years to come!
YOU can make a real difference
This is one of those rare moments in life when YOU, as an individual, can make a real difference. You can be a real hero by purchasing one of those prints and encouraging every Palladium gamer you know to do the same. Spread the word online, at conventions, at game stores, everywhere. Encourage every Palladium fan who has ever enjoyed our games, purchased a Grab Bag, or visited us at a convention to run home and place an order.
I would never ask this great kindness of you if I didn’t think it would really work to save Palladium and keep us going for years.
This is easier than it may sound.
Four or five thousand may seem like a big number, but that’s not even close to the number of gamers who purchased the Rifts® Ultimate Edition within the first few weeks of its release!
Palladium has a mailing list of 14,000 fans who buy from us throughout the year.
We sold 2000+ Christmas Grab Bags last year alone.
We get 25,000-50,000 hits on the website every month, with some months exceeding 100,000!!!
Millions of gamers around the world have played our games over the years — Rifts®, Ninja Turtles®, Robotech®, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited, Nightbane® and others. MILLIONS!
With YOUR help Palladium CAN survive, but we need a rapid infusion of cash. That means we need YOU to spread the word about Palladium’s situation and encourage others to buy a print too. And as soon as possible.
YOUR help is real
Any amount we can sell will make a difference. 2000 prints sold is a big help and “should” enable us to limp through the rest of the year working toward getting into the book trade and launching new products that can make a difference. 4000 prints sold “should” free us of the most crushing debt, and help get us standing on our feet. 5000 prints or more should help enable us to release a range of amazing role-playing games, sourcebooks and related products. With the cash we need, Palladium can do all of the following.
Release the stockpile of exciting new sourcebooks and products created by Palladium’s unbelievable crew of talented freelance writers and artists.
Palladium can release new RPGs and publish more products for ALL its game lines, hopefully boosting overall sales and making Palladium strong again.
Palladium can reprint key titles.
Palladium can expand vital advertising.
Palladium can keep doing the X-Mas Grab Bag that makes Christmas that much brighter for so many people.
With your help, a little luck and hard work, this will be the boost we need to keep Palladium going for years and years to come.
Without giving away too many secrets, we’ve been looking into a number of exciting licenses and new product areas you guys and gals have been asking for over the years, including novels, comic books and toys. Things that would already have been in production except for the crisis of treachery.
YOU will be a bigger, intrinsic part of the Palladium Megaverse than ever before. You’ll be true champions who did something noble, kind and significant.
YOU have my word that fans will always come first and I will repay you by keeping Palladium’s quality high, our prices reasonable, and giving back whenever I can.
What else can you do?
- Come to the Palladium Open House and celebrate the past, present and future, buy back-stock items, toys, art and rare collectibles.
- Keep supporting Palladium by purchasing our games at stores and online from Palladium Books.
- Spread the word about Palladium’s role-playing games to other gamers. The greatest sales tool there is, especially in this age of the internet, is “word of mouth.” Encourage others to play Palladium games, run games and demos at your favorite game store or local game convention.
- Take advantage of online offers and sales, like the 25th Anniversary items.
- Tell stores that you want our books and wish they’d carry them (but only if it’s true).
- Share your thoughts and ideas with us.
- Forgive me for having to bother you with our troubles. I hope this appeal doesn’t offend anybody. I’ve run out of options.
- Please do not try to assess blame or blast the person or persons who may be responsible. It can only lead to more trouble for Palladium. Besides, we need you to focus on the positive with us. Palladium CAN be saved with some help from its friends.
If Palladium Books should come to an end, I have no regrets. I’ll know I did everything possible to keep going and do right by everyone. I have nothing but wonderful memories I will cherish forever. Palladium Books has allowed me to touch the lives of millions of people, meet thousands of fans, and become friends with scores of wonderful people.
– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher – Spring 2006
Copyright 2006 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
This Press Release may be used and portions reprinted with Palladium’s permission for the purpose of news and promotion. Rifts®, Megaverse® and Palladium Books® are registered trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. and Kevin Siembieda. Heroes Unlimited, Powers Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Tome Grotesque, Beyond Arcanum, Splicers, MercTown, Merc Ops, Dinosaur Swamp, Chaos Earth, NEMA and all other titles and names are trademarks of Palladium Books.“
Insecurities
I’ve always been a little confused about how a great amount of people can be insecure about so many small problems. They’re really trivial I think.
What got me thinking about this today was the renewed debate on the book, and now movie, the Da Vinci Code. I think Big Deal….so Dan Brown is making the new Indiana Jones…
I think it has to be that most people just don’t have very many things that ‘define’ them so to speak, they all feel, as I do, that they’re just mediocre. That the one true thing in their lives is their religion. An attack on their religion is an attack on them personally.
To me, it seems to be a joke gone bad…My honor roll student can beat up your honor roll student bumper sticker type of joke. Except people take this seriously. You’re book is making fun of mine. You’re cartoon is making fun of my book. yada yada yada…..
Me personally, I think it’s ok to be mediocre. It’s ok to be in the average. With 6.5 billion people in the world, you will fall into an average somewhere. There are maybe 100 people in the world that are known worldwide, so chances are, the rest of us are, well, average.
I also feel that if you believe in your faith, then an attack on a religion shouldn’t be much of a concern to you, unless your faith is your religion. That’s based on a book. If that’s the case, I think that you may have definitions, core definitions, in your life a little confused.
I’m wanting to know how many people who are bashing this book and movie have actually read it. Are they just taking the words from an insecure religious leader and revamping them as their own?
The solution….maybe take a few big steps in your life and find out what you truly believe; is it a book or is it a faith; and redefine who you are by actually getting out in the world, and push the envelope. It is truly amazing how much a person can actually tolerate if they let themselves.
Long week with a sprinkle of hail
Last week, damn, it was busy. First, let me stress the importance of testing patches before you deploy them to hundreds, if not thousands, of workstations. I have a relatively small site, 60 machines or so, 100 people, give or take. But when two patches screw up all my machines, and worse, patches pushed down, in the middle of the workday, forcing people to reboot w/o saving any information they may be working on, then seriously degrading the usability of the machine once it starts, that’s when I get a little annoyed. Anyways, last week was very fun…
More fun this week. Shannon, the truck, is in the shop today to be troubleshot, and maybe fixed. It sucks actually having to take my truck to the shop, I always do the work on her when I can. She’s only been in the shop one other time, and that’s because I wasn’t in the country to fix the problems. She’s a good truck though, and I have no illusions about getting rid of her anytime soon. Even when it comes time to replace the pac in the truck, it’ll still be a lot more cost effective than replacing the truck. She’s 8 now, has about 120k miles on the frame and engine, and she still starts on the first crank.
I am looking at getting another truck, or car, sometime in the future though. I have to get Jessica her new car, or van, first. Her’s is the priority, since she has a 94 w/ 120k on it. Her van is just beat up and showing it’s age. I’m looking at getting a diesel though. It won’t be a replacement to my truck, but may be more of a daily driver, considering what fuel costs are looking to be. A diesel because they typically get a lot better fuel mileage, and also because there is a relatively inexpensive method of running the vehicle off of vegetable oil. They’re known as Grease cars typically, and well, if I can drive a vehicle on about 2 gallons of diesel/month and a few hours of work a month to filter out the oil, so be it. Leave it to me to tinker with something :) This again is a long term project.
Human after all – that was the saying last week. I studied (apparently not enough) for one of my certification tests, and failed by a question. So damn close…but, I know where to focus more, and will get it next time. Hopefully, that’ll be in another two weeks or so. The day itself was hectic and annoying, and that probably didn’t help my overall composure. Shannon was running like uber-crap all of a sudden, slow traffic, an accident at the key intersection that I was supposed to turn at, drivers on the road here driving erratically for really unknown reasons (just being themselves I’m figuring)…so to get 15 miles away, took me an hour. So much for trying to be early and get composed. I got there in the nick of time and all flustered. Yee haw. It sure didn’t help that a full 1/3 of the questions I had not studied nor did I know exactly what it was asking. I have a pretty good idea of what it should have been, but testing is the hard part…knowing the answer to the question it’s asking, not the real world answer that you should give. I know that doesn’t make sense….more or less, you study to pass the test, not to pass real life.
Next, after the test, was coming to the conclusion that I have to take the truck in. She runs awfully if she wants to. I’m sure there is more of a real reason, but I can’t seem to find it. Overall, it would still cost me quite a bit to fix it myself, since I don’t have half the tools required. I’m not into investing $500 + into tools I may use one or two more times in my life. That, and I have no experience in fuel injection, so there is the problem that I may make the situation worse. It’s a gamble that I can’t afford to take in both time and money.
The updates pushed to my computers last week have me more than annoyed. It caused me to work entirely too much to fix a problem that could have been fixed by testing out the patches in a static environment, like they’re supposed to be. Job security, eh?
I had the big-wigs from the government agency I contract for here, as well as the regional boss from the company I contract through, and the airport engineers, yada yada yada. I’ve done this now for 3 airports, and it doesn’t seem that big of a deal to me anymore. The Government guys were at least easy to get along with, a little quarky, but hey, they’re geeks as well. Just highly paid geeks. (One day) That was by far the easiest part of my week though. Stressful, a little, but I’ve been preparing for those two days for two months now. Easy.
The biggest issue on the table right now is with my company. Seems the wording of an email last week seemed to allude the the possibility of about 45 of us lonely airport geeks being out of work. I have to be a little cautious in my wording here, be as specific as most of you have known me to be. The deal is, my company is subcontracting through another company for this portion of the contract. The overall contract is huge, we’re talking probably billions of dollars. My company holds a very small, but very important stake in that contract. Seems the big company started looking for another small company to take the place of my company. This has to do with government requirements for what they hold as a Small, Minority owned business. No big deal, all that would have happened is that I would have been paid by another company, done the same job, so forth. The issue today, however, is that the small business picked to do this job is owned by the same guy that was formerly the president of my present company, and something with a non-compete agreement, yada yada yada. Long, drawn out story (pissing contest). Anyways, the wording on the table right now is that even though our company is destined to lose contract, the other company will not have the right to contact us (the current employees) nor can they hire us. Hmm…
This also goes against what they (my company) told us 2 weeks ago, that they would not pursue us (the employees) in legal matters dealing with a non-compete agreement that we have with the company, saying that it would be in their best interest to at least hand us off to the new company, having no loss in service to the government agency, the major contract holder, or ourselves, being that we’re the ones trying to provide food for our families, so forth.
Overall, a lot of us feel like the gold-fish in the toilet. We’re not dead, we are getting pissed on, and well, we’re only a handle twist away from being flushed. I don’t like getting pissed on.
Just got a call back from the dealership about Shannon. She’s doing ok, another bad O2 sensor (just frackin replaced those), a leaking intake manifold, a bad catalytic converter, and fowled injectors. I’m getting it all taken care of, minus the catalytic converter. That’s expensive. Overall, it’s going to cost a little under a grand. I’m not happy about that, but it’s cheaper than what I thought it could be. The intake alone is a problem that’s been weighing on my mind lately…
Hopefully, she’ll run better.
I have work to do, spent entirely too much time writing about a life that very few want to read about.
