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January 2002, Volume 2, Issue 1 UPDATE - CASE CLOSED, BOARD DECIDES TO LIQUIDATE CAMARILLA! But the Real Fight has Just Begun - White Wolf vs. Camarilla: A Civil Action by Gordon Olmstead-Dean and Staff "During the course of most stories, there will come a time when two or more players will come into a conflict that cannot be resolved through roleplaying alone." - The Masquerade, 2nd Edition
The case is
closed. The Temporary Restraining Order against White Wolf granted
to the Camarilla was overturned by the Utah court on February 5.
During the ensuing ten days, White Wolf moved to take actions which
had been blocked by the TRO. Updated positions by both
parties are found through the links below.
On February 12 or immediately thereafter, Texas A & M university, whose TAMU server hosted the Camarilla domain shut down service, reportedly as a result of a letter from White Wolf's attorneys. On February 14, White Wolf posted a letter on its Fan Club site, and on or about that time, began displaying the Camarilla logo on that site - Read White Wolf's statement . On February 15th, the Board of Directors of the Camarilla made a decision to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation) - Read the complete decision below. So the battle ended. Camarilla is now the name of the official fan club of White Wolf. Practically however, the battle has just begun. White Wolf has left the somewhat clearcut realm of legal battles, and entered the murky realm of LARP-Group Politics, visited by so many groups before - NERO and NERO Alliance, SOLAR, and so forth. The real questions: Will ongoing Chronicles that identify as "Camarilla" embrace the new White Wolf Club? With the ability to effectively 'dissolve and reform' instantaneously, legal rulings mean little to an individual GM and his players. Will the GMs and players continue to do business with the "new" White Wolf owned Camarilla. White Wolf faces the onus of being perceived as a 'heavy" by LARPers - a notoriously anarchistic lot. Will all or a part of the leadership of the previous Camarilla form a new organization? If so, will it retain the allegiance of groups that were part of the former Camarilla? A new group faces the challenge of media control - the former name, and the ability to communicate using the domain name, belong to White Wolf. What else might happen? Will some Camarilla groups join other Chronicles, or simply become indpendent? Perhaps more than one new organization may form in the wake of the liquidation of the former group. To follow the story, stay tuned! Camarilla Members and Groups - Take our Survey and register YOUR Opinion! Original LARPer Article You may have seen the breaking story. "There's some sort of legal battle going on between the Camarilla and White Wolf." A lot of terms are being thrown around, and a lot of statements made. But what does it mean, and who is winning? The LARPer offers a careful analysis and a fair presentation of both sides. First, we present a look at the facts in the case, carefully assembled by LARPA President Scott Mohnkern who holds a Juris Doctorate from University of Denver College of Law. Then we'll take a look at the two sides in the legal controversy. The Camarilla's point of view is represented in an article received from Shea Porr, Camarilla President. The Camarilla is one of the two largest worldwide organizations for "shared world" live vampire games, along with One World by Night, which has never held a licensing agreement with White Wolf, and is unaffected by the case. The Camarilla is without question one of the largest LARP entities in the world. To conclude we'll take a look at White Wolf Publishing's side of the story in a Press Release which White Wolf representatives referenced in their response to our inquiry. 2002 has already been a year of changes at the Atlanta based gaming concern, which announced in January that Mike Tinney would replace long-standing CEO Steve Wieck. Wieck who is a majority owner and controlling partner, along with his brother Stewart expressed support for the change and a desire to "return to creating products." Regarding the Camarilla, it is unclear if the company's actions represent a change in policy under new executive leadership, or a continuation of an ongoing policy towards ending a five year standoff with Camarilla since the expiration of a 1997 licensing agreement.
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