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Irda Ranger · 5th February 2008, 09:15 PM

Yes, very interesting. Very speculative too, however close to the situation he is.

I also expect there will be differences, but I fear the changes will all be in an effort to increase WotC's monopoly rents on its IP to the harm of the larger market (including the players). Anything that harms the cycle of innovation and feedback in game theory and game design means lost opportunities for us to have really awesome games.

Naturally of course WotC going out of business because anyone can resell the whole PHB (an extreme example) also harms innovation, since they have less incentive to do all that hard design work and playtesting. So a balance must be struck. But my concern is that WotC will move along the scale further from Linux and closer to the RIAA for apparent short-term benefits to WotC but to the long-term detriment of the gaming community (including WotC too).

I hope they hired some good economists and market modelers before coming to any decisions, rather than relying on corporate's "gut instinct."

5th February 2008, 09:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
Irda Ranger Thank you DaveMage Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Garden State Posts: 2,053	Yes, very interesting. Very speculative too, however close to the situation he is. I also expect there will be differences, but I fear the changes will all be in an effort to increase WotC's monopoly rents on its IP to the harm of the larger market (including the players). Anything that harms the cycle of innovation and feedback in game theory and game design means lost opportunities for us to have really awesome games. Naturally of course WotC going out of business because anyone can resell the whole PHB (an extreme example) also harms innovation, since they have less incentive to do all that hard design work and playtesting. So a balance must be struck. But my concern is that WotC will move along the scale further from Linux and closer to the RIAA for apparent short-term benefits to WotC but to the long-term detriment of the gaming community (including WotC too). I hope they hired some good economists and market modelers before coming to any decisions, rather than relying on corporate's "gut instinct." __________________ I don't "tell stories" when I play D&D. I adventure. Afterward, when the gold is counted and the bodies piled high, we may tell stories about how it all went down. Or not. The slaughter will continue until play improves.