Given his notoriety as it specifically relates to tie-ins, you'd think Richard Arnold would already have a Memory Beta entry--but knowing how many novelists and comic book writers don't have entries there, either, I'm not exactly surprised.
Question on Richard Arnold and his role
- Thread starter RonG
- Start date
He does have a FanLore page:
https://fanlore.org/wiki/Richard_Arnold
and a Memory Alpha page:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Richard_Arnold
Nah, I'm good. I've heard enough of his perspective to know that I don't want to hear more from him.
Yes, I'm aware there are other wikis with entries for him.
Although I think it's amusing that Fanlore describes him as a "cautionary tale," it continues to be odd (if, again, unsurprising) that the wiki most relevant to his past work doesn't include an entry for him.
More generally speaking, Memory Alpha is now consistently better at having entries for people involved in creating tie-ins, and at keeping those entries up-to-date.
There would be signs of a previously-deleted entry under the redlink if one had ever been made. Back when I was more motivated to create such entries on Memory Beta, it seemed like they gathered little notice--there are author pages I created over a decade ago which have never been edited since.Maybe the Overlord CaptainMike keeps deleting it?
After September 1991, RA immediately picked up consulting work with Trek licensees who were trying to get approvals for all kinds of Trek-related merchandise. He also had regular paid convention appearances, including international cons who could not afford Trek actors. (At a Brisbane, Australia, convention, he once mentioned he was sometimes earning more doing consulting and conventions than when working at Paramount.) He also helps LA-based actors when negotiating with international convention committees.
He had some health problems in recent years and has probably semi-retired. He is 66 years of age, after all.
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There's an unexpected Richard Arnold story in the autobiography of, of all people, Sgt. Benton from Doctor Who actor John Levene.
John is basically like a great British eccentric, but because he's never been formally declared one, people tend to find him annoying rather than charming, though I've always quite liked him and found his stories of how a fairly small recuring role in Who had this massive positive experience in his life rather sweet.
But his autobiography is entirely full of stories where I could never decide if they were bullshit, or even he'd been an easy mark for slightly cruel people taking the piss out of his gullibility.
The Arnold story relates to when Levene was living in America. The two because friendly, John got to visit the TNG sets and claims in all seriousness that Arnold had guaranteed him the role of Robert Picard in Family.
Which... would have been extraordinary to see. For anyone who hasn't seen 70's Who, the fact Levene's most prominent role when he was in America was a one-off guest appearance in Bettleborgs should give a feel of why it's unlikely he was considered at the Jeremy Kemp level.
I can't remember the excuse for it not happening now, but based on all the stories around Arnold, I think this Levene anecdote at least is just someone BSing him for whatever shits and giggles Arnold was getting out of it.
John is basically like a great British eccentric, but because he's never been formally declared one, people tend to find him annoying rather than charming, though I've always quite liked him and found his stories of how a fairly small recuring role in Who had this massive positive experience in his life rather sweet.
But his autobiography is entirely full of stories where I could never decide if they were bullshit, or even he'd been an easy mark for slightly cruel people taking the piss out of his gullibility.
The Arnold story relates to when Levene was living in America. The two because friendly, John got to visit the TNG sets and claims in all seriousness that Arnold had guaranteed him the role of Robert Picard in Family.
Which... would have been extraordinary to see. For anyone who hasn't seen 70's Who, the fact Levene's most prominent role when he was in America was a one-off guest appearance in Bettleborgs should give a feel of why it's unlikely he was considered at the Jeremy Kemp level.
I can't remember the excuse for it not happening now, but based on all the stories around Arnold, I think this Levene anecdote at least is just someone BSing him for whatever shits and giggles Arnold was getting out of it.
Well, you're way off - Richard Arnold was never credited as a writer or editor of any of Memory Beta's subject matter, beyond an off-hand mention in a couple of comic lettercolumns maybe. There's really no evidence of his influence on Trek in the body of subject matter that Memory Beta pulls from, so therefore, no article. Most "meta" topics like this are usually left to Memory Alpha.
Was it Vendetta that Peter David dedicated to him -- "To Richard, the biggest windmill I know"?
"This one is for Richard," but otherwise yes.
Yep. I had many chats to Richard about the tie-ins over the years. RA personally disliked TAS, so he did not like it when Arex and M'Ress joined the post-ST IV comics. But he was in a place of power as the person vetting tie-in manuscripts on behalf of GR. He made sure those characters were gone for the post-ST V comics. (M'Ress had to be redrawn as antelope-horned M'yra, and Arex's new storyline was given to the lanky two-legged Ensign Fouton.) And while he claimed he was only ever enforcing GR's wishes, it's easy to imagine how even casual conversations in the "Star Trek Office" could be influenced in certain ways.
Also the Peter David DC Annual #3, with Scotty visiting Peter Preston's grave. IIRC, "Arnold" is clearly visible on a nearby tombstone.
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Oh, and resumed since July.
Since this thread was already revived from the grave, I figured I would respond to some of the misconceptions here since no one else has.
Star Fleet Battles is still known as a wargame, a different genre though one very closely related to RPGs. There is a Prime Directive RPG by the publisher set in that universe (complete with Kzinti), but mostly that publisher focuses on wargames.
To be clear, Star Fleet Battles (and other stuff put out by Amarillo Design Bureau) still call them the Kzinti. The Starfleet Command game series did rename them (though whether that was due to respect for Larry Niven or because in the 1990s there was a very strict "No TAS" policy or both I have no idea) but if you go pick up the latest edition of Star Fleet Battles or Federation and Empire or whatever, they are still the Kzinti like they always have been. They do have a modern license directly from ViacomCBS rather than the Franz Joseph estate, but this wasn't a change that was required in whatever terms they have now, and the Kzinti still continue to show up in their publications.
Star Fleet Battles is still known as a wargame, a different genre though one very closely related to RPGs. There is a Prime Directive RPG by the publisher set in that universe (complete with Kzinti), but mostly that publisher focuses on wargames.
To be clear, Star Fleet Battles (and other stuff put out by Amarillo Design Bureau) still call them the Kzinti. The Starfleet Command game series did rename them (though whether that was due to respect for Larry Niven or because in the 1990s there was a very strict "No TAS" policy or both I have no idea) but if you go pick up the latest edition of Star Fleet Battles or Federation and Empire or whatever, they are still the Kzinti like they always have been. They do have a modern license directly from ViacomCBS rather than the Franz Joseph estate, but this wasn't a change that was required in whatever terms they have now, and the Kzinti still continue to show up in their publications.
"We're gonna assume everything is fine until Larry Niven gets mad."
Which is what upset Gene R.: the use of the term "war". But because the license was with Franz Joseph, and not Paramount/Viacom, neither Gene nor Paramount could stop it.
I wasn't aware they were still publishing the "war game" version. Thanks. As far as I knew, Paramount-licensed Star Trek gaming from other companies began emphasising the "roleplaying" aspects to appease Roddenberry, although he still had reservations about FASA's RPGs.
From my discussions with Richard at the time, it was the only way that the computer game version was going to be permitted. The kzinti had to become the Mirak Star League in that.
I would assume this new licence was signed after Roddenberry's death (and Richard's tenure in the Star Trek Office) in September 1991, and perhaps after Franz Joseph Schnaubelt's death in June 1994? They may have also come to an agreement with Larry Niven, too? I recall Niven's original problem was Star Fleet Battles' development of the kzinti without any participation/agreement from him, and when he was trying to license "Ringworld" out as an RPG (eventually published by Chaosium in 1984).
And yes, the "no TAS policy" was between May 1988 and September 1991.
Yeah, this was one of Roddenberry's shifting stances. The game mostly took it's inspiration from Balance of Terror which I'm guessing he later wasn't a fan of but approved of back in the 60s. Steve Cole, who created the game, based it on naval combat games of the time as that episode was basically a WWII submarine story. In the 1980s when Roddenberry wanted a more pacifist take, I imagine things like that would have really gotten to him. Considering the direction the films went, and later seasons of TNG as well as DS9, and fan reaction to those things, this is an area where Roddenberry and Arnold really weren't able to get their way with changing things in the later parts of the franchise before he passed away.
Yeah, it's their most popular product still, 40+ years later. They have several additional wargames as well, Federation and Empire which is on a larger scale, Federation Commander which is a more modern rules set, Star Fleet Battle Force, which is a card game, and Star Fleet Marines which is a ground combat wargame. They have also licensed out the rules for several other wargames, like Starmada and A Call to Arms. Wargames are still very much their bread and butter, even if the genre isn't what it was in their heyday of the 1970s.
I believe it. The funny thing is now we have multiple references to the Kzinti in modern Star Trek, between the name drop in Picard and the actual Kzinti ensign in Lower Decks.
I believe the new license was signed with Paramount (and now ViacomCBS?) when the video game adaptation came out. I do know it is current and they have specific rules they need to follow (no mention of Kirk, no mention of stuff from later series or the movies, etc) but of course I don't know what the details are nor what they pay, and frankly it's none of my business beyond what they have chosen to make public. Whatever the case, it's no longer some weird grey market 3rd party product but officially licensed and the copyright notices on the products reflect this.
I'm not sure. I know they have slightly redesigned the Kzinti (no batwing ears or rat tails) and have fudged the history and backstory (it's the Kzinti Hegemony for example, and Larry Niven always called them the Kzin rather than Kzinti) but how much of that is due to Larry Niven or just aesthetic changes for the game I couldn't say. I do know when I talked to Larry Niven in 2020 he was pretty nonchalant about modern Star Trek referencing the Kzin, so he may just see it as extra marketing or may not care as much as his fans do regarding their use. Personally, I'm a huge Larry Niven fan and of the Kzin in particular (I actually went out of my way to by the first magazine they appeared in and got it signed by him) so I wish he was getting some sort of cut from Paramount/ViacomCBS and whoever else but I just doubt that's the case when it comes to Star Trek.
I wasn't sure when this policy ended, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was still a factor when the video game came out in 1999. Richard Arnold was gone by then, but I don't think his policy influence was completely dropped yet, and there was the matter that the Filmation rights were still in a weird state at the time so for all I know that could have played a role.
Despite all the speculation regarding how much of the influence on licensed products was Richard Arnold and how much was Gene Roddenberry, I am pretty certain the Star Fleet Battles thing was clearly Roddenberry, and it may be the case when it came to later products that Arnold knew how Roddenberry felt and maybe went a bit overboard but really was acting in the spirit of what Roddenberry actually felt when it came to the amount of violence in tie in works. If I remember correctly, before Richard Arnold came on the scene, Roddenberry was also bothered by the Slash fiction phenomenon, which could have led to some of the policy towards the books not being tied together and being strict about how characters were portrayed. I'm not trying to be a Richard Arnold apologist, but based on what I know with the Star Fleet Battles situation I think there really was something to the idea he was acting on Roddenberry's wishes and just went overboard when it came to PAD due to a personal grudge.
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