Myth by Megacon Games being sold - Update

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**Dark Severance**

Myth Update
Posted by MERCS Miniatures

We can pull back the curtain a little more.

The Myth property is being purchased. When the contracts are finalized we will answer all your questions (including replacement questions). This has been an extremely long process. It still isn't finished, but it is very close. We still have to be careful with the NDA because the whole thing could collapse. When the contracts are all signed, expect an extremely long update. I'll tell you the whole story.

All the remaining material in JM will be delivered in one more wave. Please hear my sincerity. It is extremely important to us to get you the rest of your product. When everything is finalized, we can go back to show and tell updates. We've been wanting to show you all the stuff we've got done and soon we will be able to.

Last Friday, Keith submitted the most recent batch of Myth JM from the PM to the shippers. This will be the last one downloaded and submitted until the final wave is shipped.

Is this new news or has this been discussed previously? I seem to recall it being hinted at but can't remember where it was discussed.

Does anyone have any predictions on who did the acquiring?

**BigDaddio**

Interesting....

Pure speculation on the buyer: WarCradle Studios

**primalexile**

I feel like this is an IP CMON would milk until dry. I still haven't received anything from my pledge of the latest Myth KS.

**Sining**

It was discussed in the Myth Journeyman thread I think. Someone mentioned the creators said they were under NDA and one of the only possible reasons was someone was buying Myth or Megacon

Automatically Appended Next Post:

primalexile wrote:
I feel like this is an IP CMON would milk until dry. I still haven't received anything from my pledge of the latest Myth KS.

Does CMON really need to buy Myth? It's not as popular as zombicide and they can always do a copy.

**Siygess**

It could be CMoN but they have so many products in that space, it seems like they would be competing with themselves. So my money is on Asmodee.

**Dark Severance**

It could be good for a newer company so I could see WarCradle Studios. I still feel like they are settling in with Wild West Exodus. I could also see Mantic or even Corvus Belli buying it. I don't see CMoN buying it up, just doesn't seem like something they'd need or do. I would see maybe Sodo Pop or Ninja Division before CMoN.

I hope this means better quality miniatures, some in resin (I'd even settle for metal) would be nice. Also would like to see some improvement to the game system, rules breakdown, etc.

**Ahtman**

So it was just the Myth IP and not also their MERCS/Recon IP that is being sold?

**PsychoticStorm**

We will see, most probably whoever gets the licence will be more competent than them, they manage to turn most of their IP and customer loyalty bad.

Somehow....

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Sounds tentatively positive since KS backers sound as if they will still be getting everything (i'd bet that's why its taken such time to finalise)

fingers crossed it goes through ok for them

**Dark Severance**

Ahtman wrote:
So it was just the Myth IP and not also their MERCS/Recon IP that is being sold?

As far as the announcement has been made, it stated the Myth property. Since there was not reference to MegaCon or MERC, etc I would assume it is just Myth.

**Alpharius**

Sining wrote:It was discussed in the Myth Journeyman thread I think. Someone mentioned the creators said they were under NDA and one of the only possible reasons was someone was buying Myth or Megacon

It is, but this is probably newsworthy enough to get a thread here...

Does CMON really need to buy Myth? It's not as popular as zombicide and they can always do a copy.

**ecurtz**

Why would anyone want the IP? It's pretty universally regarded as terrible. Maybe somebody like Reaper would want to buy the molds?

**PsychoticStorm**

The IP is not bad, the game mechanics are in their core good, it has a steady following and maybe the damage Megacon did to the IP lowered its value enouph for someone small to take it, who knows at this point.

I agree with Alpharious it is newsworthy enouph to be here and not in Myth were many who would be interested would not see it.

**Alpharius**

And not only that, but I think the "2.0" revision to the rules is pretty highly regarded too.

So if your only experience is with the 'original rules', well, maybe look into the 2.0 stuff?

The two Kickstarters pulled in almost $2 million (and who knows how much more in the PMs), so, there's that too.

**spiralingcadaver**

The 2.0 fix covered a lot of the terrible rules writing, but it didn't salvage for me any of the fundamental flaws in the mechanics. Least-enjoyable dungeon crawl I've ever played.

**Elbows**

I'm with spiraling...I don't know what version of the rules we were using, but the original Myth game (we tried it twice with three very seasoned and diversely experienced gamers) was the worst written/designed game I've ever experienced.

I mean...terrible. I think the aesthetic and the idea was neat, but I've never seen a product more terribly edited/written. A real shame considering how incredibly well it did on Kickstarter. I did not enjoy it at all...either time we played.

It'd be neat to see someone take the IP and actually do something with it though.

**TalonZahn**

The art reminded me of someone trying to cash in on the look of Penny Arcade stuff.

I backed huge on the first KS, couldn't stand playing it and sold it all off.

**Triple9**

I finally broke my Myth stuff out about 2 weeks ago and have been having a blast. The 1.0 rules kept me away for the longest time and I still wasn't a huge fan of the sandbox quests even with the 2.0 rewrite. However, the module play is fantastic. I would advise anyone who hasn't tried it to download the stone of life module/teaching module and give it a crack.

**JoshInJapan**

I tried the game a couple of years ago, using a fan-edit of the 1.0 rules and cards. It was fun once we got into it, but my group doesn't meet regularly enough to really make the character progression work. I'm on the fence about keeping it or selling it.

**455_PWR**

I had a hard time understanding and playing version 1. The 2nd edition works very well, as well as some fan edits. I was going to sell the game but kept it for several reasons:

1. Collectability, very few 1st kickstarter editions out there
2. Minis are good and can be used for other games (relicblade)
3. Game is very unique... nothing else is like myth

I just hope we get our kickstarter stuff, as I'd like to use the other characters in the 2nd edition.

**Alpharius**

455_PWR wrote:
I had a hard time understanding and playing version 1. The 2nd edition works very well, as well as some fan edits. I was going to sell the game but kept it for several reasons:

1. Collectability, very few 1st kickstarter editions out there
2. Minis are good and can be used for other games (relicblade)
3. Game is very unique... nothing else is like myth

I just hope we get our kickstarter stuff, as I'd like to use the other characters in the 2nd edition.

Fan Edits?

Got a link to them?

I'd love to check them out - thanks!

**455_PWR**

I used to get them on BGG. There were several posted in the forums (either rules posted there or links to other fan sites), but those are several years old so finding them might be a challenge now. Many of the nicer ones were posted in the files section, including: fan edits, community re-writes, and alternate options/enemies/heroes/gear. Some were removed after 20 was released, but there are still a few posted there that are easily downloaded.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/140519/myth/files

I always liked the fan made stuff as those files were usually made with quite a bit of community feedback.

**Dark Severance**

Myth: Journeyman Update #157
July 31, 2017

NDA News and Production Samples

We appreciate the patience most of you have shown. I can say more now, so I will.

We started this process almost a year ago. I sent emails out to those people in the industry that we respected, could afford our properties, and we would fit into as a studio. In the email, I explained we didn't want to be publishers any more:

We started MegaCon Games 8 years ago under the name MERCS Miniatures. There are three of us. In that time, we’ve had our share of successes and setbacks. We are reaching the completion of our active and last Kickstarters. We have plans for several more games, including expansions to existing properties, but we've decided we don’t want to be a game publisher any more. We're pretty far from what we truly wanted to do, which was design games. Publishing has made us smarter game designers, but there are things we don't have the bandwidth or the skill to do effectively: marketing, community, logistics.

We are looking to become a design group for a larger game publisher and/or sell off some of our IPs. The pressure of performing all the jobs is too much. You know what is required to run a hobby game business. We cover all the jobs: warehousing, distribution, finance, marketing, logistics, customer support, art, game design, and game testing. We cannot continue as we are; we are dying a slow death.

There is more to the email, but it is focused on each of the potential publishers so I cannot share any more details.

One of the reasons we can be so patient is we do not intend to ever publish another game again. So this option is the only option for fans of the Myth property. You would never see another Myth game if we didn't get this right. No Myth Master. No Myth Battles. No more modules. No Myth 2.0 box in retail. No rpg. No Myth Legendary. No Myth Adventurers toolkit. It would stop. So we can take some heat in the comments and a bad Facebook review or 10, because we understand this is the only way forward. If the deal fails, we are done.

We agree with you. We design cool games. We suck at the business part. The communication part. We see the changes in what a backer expects out of Kickstarter. We are not CMON. We do not have half the game produced before we even launch the KS campaign. We have to do 90% of the work required after the KS closes. As much as our games look like they come from a team of 20, they come from a team of 3.

So, I sent that email out and we had a lot of interest. I went out to GAMA in March and met with everyone. All of those meetings required an NDA. I can't talk about the who and what we spoke about. But, I left those meetings with real offers.

Over the course of the next few months, we reduced the three or four real offers down to one. Since that time we've been working to get this thing taken care of. At times during the negotiation, it appeared as though it might fall apart. Even now we don't have a final, definitive yes. Both of us, we the seller and they the buyer, are waiting on a third party to give us the go ahead. We are waiting for a yes or a no. It could come this week or next.

In the meantime, we've continued to finalize all the elements of the Journeyman KS. Some of you have expressed resentment toward the Emergence Event and Dark Frontier KS, because they are being completed before the JM stuff. We can appreciate this perception. They were easier to finalize and get off our plates in terms of production and shipping.

For some perspective, the EE expansion is the equivalent of 1 JM module. In design. In production prep. In cost. It took 6-8 months to produce. Journeyman has 11 modules. It takes a lot of time to finalize and produce these elements.

While this was going on, we were in negotiation to sell Myth and become a design studio. We are still under an NDA, but there is a mutual understanding of trying soothe the JM backers because you see some of our other KSers finishing.

Some of the events that have happened are under NDA and may never be revealed. Other information you are looking for I simply don't have yet. I do not have a shipment date for the last wave. We aren't even finished with production. So much of what you all our asking I can't answer because of the NDA or because of we don't have that information yet. With all that said, I can address some questions:

-Replacements? We are not sending out any replacements until we have produced and paid for all the production and fulfillment shipping. Shipping replacements is expensive and we cannot afford to dip into the production money until we have paid all that is due.

Some might push back and say it should come out of our salary. First off, we don't make a salary. We take draws based off of profit. And we haven't had any form of payment from game publishing for 14 months now. We saw the writing on the wall coming last summer. It is one of the reasons we made so many changes to overhead. It also spurred the conversations about our future.

Not only have we poured our heart and soul into our games, we have poured our own financial security and that of our families into this business. We are invested and the only way that investment will ever pay out is if we deliver the last wave of this KS to you and can sell the property. If we don't deliver the last wave, the property has little to no real value and as I said, we are done with publishing and KSers.

-Pledge Manager? The pledge manager will open again so you can update shipping addresses, but it is a waste of time to open it up without a final production and shipping date.

There is a lot more to say and address when the NDA goes away.

(snipped out information on Production Samples, as really the pertinent information to this post is the NDA/Selling.)

**PsychoticStorm**

Yes, no real information yet.

**Dark Severance**

To a degree. The first statement though made it seem like they were being bought out. The last update shows they were seeking someone to buy them out and they wanted out of the business. It also lets us know they approached companies, which limits who would be able to buy them or take on their IP.

It also leads to believe that even though it wasn't listed that MERC was being bought out... since they stated they aren't interested in publishing anymore that it would mean it is being dropped or is included as part of the "Myth" purchase.

**Chairman Aeon**

Alpharius wrote:
CMON already has enough of its own properties that 'compete' with this: Zombicide Black Plague and Massive Darkness come to mind.

You need to think like a breakfast cereal manufacturer...don't leave any space on the shelf for new entrants.

Alpharius wrote:
All indications are that it is 'just' MYTH - but really that's just speculation on our part as of now!

That email sounds like everything is on the block. Does CMoN have a sci-fi property? I mean getting MERCS could be more important than get MYTH to them.

**PsychoticStorm**

I am not sure, if they bundled or that no other property they did was considered worthy.

Personally, only their Myth IP is worthwhile and while they have damaged it, it is still worth something, especially since the sculpts are presentable.

The rest of the update states some thing that have been said from their backers including me a few times in the past, they cannot run a business, no focus, no PR, no coordination and too much inexperience.

I am not sure they can go back into been a development studio, our industry is not computer games industry were you can revert from publisher to developer, because there is not much demand for developer studios, Individual game designers, sure especially if they have good selling products under them.

I honestly do not think they have any and the reviews show it, they also have burned too much goodwill recklessly (I imagine one of the reasons why they do not want to keep on as publishers, their name is tainted).

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Chairman Aeon wrote:

Alpharius wrote:
All indications are that it is 'just' MYTH - but really that's just speculation on our part as of now!

That email sounds like everything is on the block. Does CMoN have a sci-fi property? I mean getting MERCS could be more important than get MYTH to them.

Anything would be better than getting MERCs, too simplistic setting, illogical setting for games, unfit artwork and sculpts, the redesign alone to become worthy of a professional IP and wargames/ boardgames title would be enouph to spend on a new IPand if I was in their position, I would invest in a new IP.

They have dark age though and their Xenosyft IP that they recently tied to the Dark age IP, so they have a solid sci fi/ post apocalyptic IP in their portfolio anyway and they spoke of the possibility of a sci fi Zombiside in the future.

**Myrthe**

As a point of sale and due diligence ANY potential buyer would expect and demand that MegaCON do NOTHING to damage the market perception and reputation of the game. What buyer wouldn't walk away from buying a car if the salesperson crashed it into the dealership before delivery ?

MegaCON should be conducting business as usual (for them a stretch) as the negotiations move forward (if they actually are). An NDA does not give them reason to slack off on committed production or KS fulfillment. Their delays are only saddling a potential buyer with their mess and commitment. One that, I'm sure, will also factor in to final negotiations. Unfortunately, how do you put a dollar damage amount on the ire of backers and the damage to the IP ?

**Alpharius**

I thought this was new info!

July 31 seems so long ago now.

I was hoping (I know, I know!) that they'd have more to tell us by now...

**spiralingcadaver**

Myrthe wrote:
Unfortunately, how do you put a dollar damage amount on the ire of backers and the damage to the IP ?

+1. Maybe there are enough die-hard Myth fans out there that the game could move forward, but it seems unlikely to have a very strong expansion, with all the vocal negativity towards the line.