The yellow stripe is a history of the first two major cases of confusion in the marketplace as it relates to DCC modules. The first case was confusion about whether they were true reprints of TSR modules, which was when the blurb was changed to "All New Module For Any Fantasy Campaign." The second case was confusion over which modules were 3.0 vs. 3.5, which was when the blurb was changed to include "3.5 compatible like all DCC modules!"
Now we face the third possible situation of confusion in the marketplace. With 4E launching, and game stores still carrying backstock on 3.5 and in some cases 3.0 products, confusion in the marketplace is a very real concern. I am highly aware of this because marketplace confusion is very expensive for me. It costs money when mistakes are made. For example, a store that accidentally liquidates the wrong inventory because they misidentified what was 3.0 vs. 3.5. I've deliberately kept 1E modules out of the supply chain because I do not want to muddy the waters even more.
Some of you shop online, but many more gamers do not. In a game store there is not a handy link that says, "Rules Edition: 4E", nor is there a "search" function. You generally have one resource, which is the store employee. Thus the challenge for me: How to provide that store employee with all information necessary to avoid yet another case of marketplace confusion?
The answer: a very dramatic change in presentation. Trust me, the yellow stripe was not enough.
The change in DCC art has nothing to do with a preference for digital art, or a "slap in the face" to anyone, or an intent to draw new customers. It's a requirement of doing business. If the DCC series is to succeed under the 4E rules, the customer has to know which modules use which rules, and the only way to arm the store employee with that knowledge is a clear and obvious change in the cover design. There can be absolutely no chance of confusion over what's 4E and what's 3E. And this has to be true in the lowest-common-denominator store -- not Games Plus in Mt. Prospect, IL, where half the staff attends Gen Con, but at places like the Borders on Ponce de Leon Ave. in Atlanta, GA where my modules sit on a lonesome shelf surrounded by employees who think RPG's are something that Afghani rebels shoot at helicopters. The cover design has to be so very different, so completely different, that anyone can tell they're different from what came before.
JZavoda, you're drawing conclusions about my intent behind the change that are completely wrong. It's about keeping the DCC line viable in retail stores. You seriously think I'm delivering a "slap in the face" to old school? Who brought back Erol Otus? Who brought back Jim Holloway? Who hunted down Jim Roslof and hired him for his first professional gaming illustrations in decades? Who persuaded Jeff Dee to start doing module covers again? Who talked Diesel into re-creating some of his classic art? All the DCC knockoffs from other publishers that have appeared in the last couple years -- you think I haven't noticed the little cottage industry the DCC line spawned? I've done more to make "old school" viable than probably anyone else in this industry. And I'm thankful my work has created a secondary market for these classic artists, in the form of Expeditious Retreat and Pied Piper and the various other companies that have popped up. You think I'd have pulled all this off if people from "the honored past" didn't trust me? The fact that Otus, Roslof, Holloway, Dee, Diesel, Arneson, and others have all agreed to work with me -- after staying away from the industry for decades -- says volumes.
It should be obvious to everyone that I have a strong affection for old school dungeon crawling and the classic vein of adventure writing. But the look of the DCC line must change for it to succeed under 4E. Yet that in no way impacts what the old-school artists can work on in other lines. I'm currently in negotiations with someone who wants to publish 1E adaptations of the existing DCC backstock. I've been talking with some of the old-school artists about adaptations of the 4E modules. But there's one huge footnote on all of this: the 4E license, the GSL. There is still a lot to be resolved. Wizards has announced they are changing the GSL once again. Will that open up the possibility of 1E adaptations where now it does not exist? So much is still unclear that it's impossible to commit to anything at the moment.
To those of you who don't like the cover design for aesthetic reasons, send me your comments. Notes like Treebore's are constructive and well received. The look of the 4E modules will be changing, not in huge ways, but at Gen Con some things were obvious once we had printed books on a shelf for the first time -- not enough color, too much white space, etc.
To those of who don't like the cover design for nostalgia reasons, sit tight and calm down. I am frankly astounded at how much innuendo has been read into a simple change in cover art. Am I the only one on the planet who knows that sometimes there are sound legal and business reasons for not talking about everything that's going on? But based on a couple pieces of cover art you're assuming I'm throwing out five years of work? Otus, Roslof, Holloway, Dee, Diesel, and Arneson all trust me, but you guys don't? Seriously, calm down. Nobody runs game companies to make money. We all do it because we love it. It's hard to love it when reading some of the things that have been posted in this thread. I am not surprised that some folks object to the new design (change always brings disagreement), but I am surprised by how feral the response has been. You're not backed into a corner, no one is taking your bone. The bone is just out of the room for a little while until some things are worked out.
So give it time... don't make any permanent judgments yet... and just take it one day at a time. Sooner or later, Wizards will announce what they're finally doing with the GSL... and I'll know what my options are... and some of my negotiations will conclude... and maybe I'll be able to announce something that you guys find appealing. In the meantime, the DCC line will continue under 4E, with no marketplace confusion, and retailers will continue to stock Goodman Games products deeply, which is ultimately what keeps the company in business to continue producing quality work of any type in the future, including the 1E con specials that the Acaeum crowd loves so much.
