The deal was a bear simply because of the number of parties involved: Atari, Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, BioWare, EA and us (Beamdog). We managed to get the terms sorted quickly through great former relationships. It actually took longer for me to get through the wall at Atari and talk to the right people than it took to put the core deal together. I remember meeting the fellow who had shut me down for a few months at GDC once we had the deal underway. He offered, "You must hate me," when we met in person, to which I responded, "Not anymore."
I'm very happy to have had some great friends such as Richard Iwaniuk, Greg Zeschuk, and Ray Muzyka, who were exceptionally helpful in getting terms agreed to by the involved parties and signed off in a reasonable timeline. Richard was able to line up the key people on that end and quarterback the requirements. Derek French was also a great asset at BioWare, as he assisted us in our spelunking for code and art assets throughout the course of the development. (Key lesson here is without someone on the ground running a contract in each group, it just doesn't happen.)