So who is Richard H Arnold?

[Wingsley]

According to this Memory Alpha article on Richard Arnold, he is currently 54 years old.

If this is correct (and I see no reason why it would not be), Mr. Arnold would have been 18 years old when supposedly first met Mr. Roddenberry in 1972.

 

[Surak]

He played a vital role in scripting Phase II, which became the first film.

I've met Richard Arnold many times since 1984, when he was a volunteer guide at Paramount, and he's never mentioned having "a role" in the scripting of "Phase II". He would have been very young in the 70s. Are you sure you have the right anecdote here?

He's likely thinking of Jon Povill.

 

[Michael Hinman]

I don't think very highly of Richard Arnold, mostly because I think he does come across as ... well, harsh.

I also think he's been out of the loop since about 1994, but people still listen to him and quote him as if he has some idea what's going on.

Look at some of Richard Arnold's statements from the past:

http://trekmovie.com/2007/02/13/richard-arnold-claims-insider-knowledge-on-trek-xi/
Here Richard Arnold claims that J.J. Abrams will not direct. Although you do have to give him credit for the "late 2008" release date -- although, as Tony points out, had ALREADY been rumored on the Web for quite some time BEFORE Arnold made the statement.

http://www.trektoday.com/news/250700_06.shtml
In a story Christian wrote eight years ago, Arnold vehemently denied there was a Series V in planning stages (he was wrong). Even Paramount by that point acknowledged that Series V was deep in the planning stages, planning for a fall 2001 release.

http://www.trektoday.com/news/170400_02.shtml
Arnold acknowledges there is a Series V, but now vehemently denies it will be a "Birth of the Federation" concept

And don't even get me started on the Star Trek: Voyager movie ... =P

 

[NCC621]

^ That's very funny! Lends credence to those who say that he's totally out of the loop.

 

[Solariabsg25]

Yep, the licensing contracts went up for grabs after Season One of TNG. But FASA already blotted its TNG copybook with the Star Trek Office. FASA put out a "TNG Season One Sourcebook", after much negotiation with Richard about the "new" material that needed to be there to enable a RPG to work, but supposedly they never submitted a revised final draft of their TNG "Officers' Manual" before it went to press. IIRC.

Great info there. I think FASA basically had a free rein before TNG came along, because apart from the movies there was no new Trek on the air, so they had all that history to work on and could fill in the blanks. Once TNG came out of course, then Paramount were concerned about FASA altering "history" that they wanted to establish.

The thing is, licenced games have always been a real minefield, most have lived fairly short lives, the most enduring was the original STRPG, and the various incarnations of the SWRPG.

Star Fleet Battles have been the most successful Trek-based game of all time, having taken the step of licencing the Franz Joseph Technical Manual rather than Star Trek, and establishing themselves as an alternative universe to Star Trek, even being able to set their in a different century!

As to Richard Arnold, there have been a hell of a large amount of people cursed for laying down the law, from GR tossing out the whole Tech Manual by deciding no starship could function with odd-numbered nacelles, through to Okuda getting dragged through the coals for deciding that the Reliant as a Miranda Class rather than an Avenger Class.

 

[jokerhaha]

I met Arnold several years ago when I was in high school. For career day i said i wanted to be a movie producer. My teacher had a real movie producer come down and give a speach. He invited me to Paramount to see how he works. He also introduced me to Arnold. He gave me a tour of the TNG set and the planet set. They were filming the episodes were Picard and Wesley crash on a desert plant and were some baby alien uses a holigrphic planet. I got to meet Riker and Crusher. I also got to hang oug out with most of the crew while they were taking a break. I spent half a day there.

I remember his office was full of trek stuff. He was pretty cool with me. I am 32 years old now and remeber that day better than my wedding day.

 

[Jack Bauer]

Does your wife know that? ^^^

 

[Therin of Andor]

Star Fleet Battles have been the most successful Trek-based game of all time, having taken the step of licencing the Franz Joseph Technical Manual rather than Star Trek, and establishing themselves as an alternative universe to Star Trek

It didn't help though that the accepted term up till Star Fleet Battles had been "war game". Eventually the term "role playing game" seemed to replace it.

I recall Larry Niven having terrible problems when he tried to license "Ringworld" as a RPG, and the kzinti were already being used by an early incarnation of Star Fleet Battles, as part of their TAS material. IIRC, he tried to rally Roddenberry to his cause but, due to the way SFB had licensed from Franz Joseph, there was nothing Roddenberry or Paramount could do, though SFB did rename their kzin-like race.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Score one for Niven, at least.

 

[EEE]

It didn't help though that the accepted term up till Star Fleet Battles had been "war game". Eventually the term "role playing game" seemed to replace it.

RPG's & Wargames are very different animals (apples & oranges). And should not be confused by the above quote.

 

[Therin of Andor]

RPG's & Wargames are very different animals (apples & oranges). And should not be confused by the above quote.

My point exactly. The term RPG wasn't in vogue when the first "Star Fleet Battles" came along. Most people seemed to refer to it as a "Star Trek war game", hence Roddenberry's annoyance with the term.

 

[EEE]

RPG's & Wargames are very different animals (apples & oranges). And should not be confused by the above quote.

My point exactly. The term RPG wasn't in vogue when the first "Star Fleet Battles" came along. Most people seemed to refer to it as a "Star Trek war game", hence Roddenberry's annoyance with the term.

I believe you missed my point... to say "RPG" replaced "wargame" is incorrect and to say so causes unnecessary confusion. You may have meant 'some confused individuals incorrectly refer to them as RPG's,' which avoids the confusion. I'd hate for someone to buy Star Fleet Battles and expect an RPG (SFB is all about the combat).

And actually, the term "RPG" was indeed in vogue when SFB came onto the scene, thanks to Dungeons & Dragons, having been published about 5 years prior to SFB. (even though it's close to 3 decades ago *ack*, I remember those days vividly... my ex-wife was into D&D, and I was heavy into SFB)

 

[Noname Given]

RPG's & Wargames are very different animals (apples & oranges). And should not be confused by the above quote.

My point exactly. The term RPG wasn't in vogue when the first "Star Fleet Battles" came along. Most people seemed to refer to it as a "Star Trek war game", hence Roddenberry's annoyance with the term.

As someone who grew up with Star Fleet Battles and Dungrons and Dragons back in 1979 when the first version of Star Fleet Battles appeared (I was in High School) - the term RPG was in fact 'in vogue' and War Gamers and RPGers of the day did in fact know the difference. 1978 was when D&D went hardcover with the Player's manual, Monster Manual, and DM's Guide (and I'm geeky enough to still have my originals of those) - and t he term 'Role Playing Game' and 'RPG' were in widespread use among the geeks of the day.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Boy, kids these days don't even know their pop culture history...

 

[Nerys Myk]

Arnold's cropped up in Comic Book Resources' "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed" column twice in the last month. on the first occassion PAD actually dropped in and filled in what happened between him and Arnold. including Arnold declaring the Gold Key comics were what DC should aspire to, which led to PAD laughing in his face. PAD also told how he had a script rejected, resubmitted under the name Robert Bruce Banner and had it approved.

Arnold's mandates also included "Kirk is no longer interested in romantic relationships with women" and one story having "too much violence" despite only featuring a fist-fight...

Getting only one side of the story is never a good thing.

If PAD had his way, seems like every-other line would be a cutesy in-joke. It's those "Hey, LOOK AT ME! I'm writing!" bits in his work that make it unreadable, for me.

I thought I was the only one who felt that way!

 

[Therin of Andor]

term 'Role Playing Game' and 'RPG' were in widespread use among the geeks of the day.

Sure, the two terms might have been in "widespread use" with gamers, but in 1980 I was a ST fan, first and foremost, and an avid ST collectibles collector, when I investigated whether I wanted to get involved with SFB. It was definitely spoken about as a "war game", rightly or wrongly. I'm talking public perception here, not which term was, in fact, correct.

The other (incorrect) public perception with "Dungeons and Dragons", of course, which I encountered when teaching elementary kids in the 80s, was that many parents believed that D&D was associated with devil worship. So if that was an RPG, it wasn't necessarily doing any good for ST.

I believe I even recall interviews with Gene Roddenberry where he referred to SFB as a war game, and found the emphasis on battles in SFB too much for his exploratory Starfleet.

 

[bthenryjr1]

Richard Arnold is, and maybe, some of the things I've read discribed in a few comments concerning him as a person. I realize that he may come off as conceeded to many that might read about him and have met him through past and present, but it is not his true nature to want to be seen as someone unapprochable or unlikable. I know the man personally and have for some 30 years. He is a wonderful human being! Yes! Very smart and can be self absorbed, but he has lead a wonderful life that Trek fans and many writers of opinion only dream that they could have been apart of! Some love to trash or make ill coment of him out of jealousy, or for whatever sadness they have in thier life, but those who care for him and know him love the man!
I 've been Richards friend and was on the Paramont lot many times with Richard in the Hart Building as they watched the cuts of the Next Generation to be edited and I can tell anyone who askes again on this site 'Who is Richard Arnold', answer: A faithfull dedicated friend to those he knows and cares for, and someone who is very special and has contributed to the Trek Nation. Love him or hate him in some of your opinons, but do not deny that his devotion to Mr. Roddenberry and Star Trek has been sincere. Who is Richartd Arnold? I promise you, someone it would be
interesting to meet, talk to and know. I have. It has be a priviledge and I don't know what life would be like without having him be my friend! God Bless Trek Fans! Long live the Federation!

 

[Ian Keldon]

Good stuff Therin, being heavily into the FASA STRPG, I know some of the backstory to that. I think the way FASA described it was after TNG was released, they wanted to charge more for the copyright, but placed a lot of restrictions on what could be included that wasn't onscreen. And an RPG needs a lot of back-story never seen on-screen, so they would have been creatively stifled, along with having to abandon many items still in development (the large-scale strategic game and Star Fleet Marines supplement to name just two).

A good example that actually made it to the shelves that showcases the horrible effect of Arnold and the approval office on FASA would be the TNG Officer's Manual (blue cover) and the First Year Sourcebook. The later was to be much thicker and expand on the material, (much as the OM did), but it got gutted by the approval process.

 

[Ian Keldon]

Arnold is easy to villify,

Imagine that...a villain that people "villify"...

For many years, it was his paid job to make sure that the original series conception did not spin out of control in novels and such, via "Mary Sue" characters, etc. So of course he developed some very visible detractors, particularly among the novelists.

Because he made it impossible for them to "breathe" creatively. His mandates (supposedly at GR's behest) turned a vibrant tie-in franchise into cookie-cutter plots and tapioca characterizations.

At least one excellent author (Diane Duane) had a book series completely derailed by the Arnold Mandates.

 

[Ian Keldon]

If PAD had his way, seems like every-other line would be a cutesy in-joke. It's those "Hey, LOOK AT ME! I'm writing!" bits in his work that make it unreadable, for me.

I thought I was the only one who felt that way!

PAD's writing (novel writing at least) has deteriorated in quality over the years. His earlier Trek books are far better than his more recent ones.