OGL:Someone releases as OGC a most revolutionary & awesome game design.You, Wotc...

Jack99 · Jun 30, 2009

This. My phone won't give you xp so I will have to owe you until I get home from the hospital.

thecasualoblivion said:
Between the thread title and this question, you seem to be wording this in a way that you're implying two specific answers:

1. WotC gets steamrolled by an upstart OGL game and gets the black eye they deserve

2. Or WotC takes the role of the big bad corporation and uses its corporation powers to destroy the poor little upstart, showing us all how evil they really are

Both of those seem like pipe dreams. The most likely occurence, which your wording kind of skirts, is that WotC will do absolutely nothing because they aren't really threatened.

xechnao · Jun 30, 2009

Jack99 said:
This.

Not really. Check the last post in the previous page. No need to derail this to anti-Wotc, pro-Wotc debate just because. Please try to avoid this.

thecasualoblivion · Jun 30, 2009

xechnao said:
Not really. Check the last post in the previous page. No need to derail this to anti-Wotc, pro-Wotc debate just because. Please try to avoid this.

In response to this, I have to ask if the OP wasn't meant as a anti-WotC leading question? If it wasn't, I really didn't understand what you were getting at.

Scribble · Jun 30, 2009

xechnao said:
Perhaps I should have made this as a poll.

1. Do nothing
2. Try to take ideas for the current edition if possible
3. Try to design the next edition on (the ideas of) the new revolutionary design
4. Turn the next edition to OGL and develop on that design
5. Hire the person that did this to work on the development of the next edition
6. Something else, explain.

Mr. Piratecat is this possible? I mean, can I transform the thread in a poll?

You know those math problems in school that were "trick questions" designed to be answered with D: Not Enough Information?

That's this question.

You can't really formulate a solid business plan without a lot more info then we have here. Doing so seems like you're acting more through emotion rather then business reasoning. (Which I will admit seems to be how many gaming companies do act...)

I'd want to know things like: What's popular about it? How do MY customers feel about it? How do they feel about it in comparison to my product? If my product is lacking features the new game offers, are my customers upset it lacks those features? If so can I reasonably add them to my product without causing a big issue? (system wise not legally or anything.)

Just seems like something you probably don't wan to decide on a whim.

ggroy · Jun 30, 2009

Piratecat said:
Either way, you don't change your corporate strategy because one person challenges you. I don't think it's even a blip on your radar, to be honest.

For a business in a small niche hobby like tabletop rpgs, I would imagine this is the case.

On the other hand, in a huge multinational business with a worldwide oligopoly or cartel, that's a completely different story. Examples of this would be diamonds, oil, pharma drugs, etc ...

xechnao · Jun 30, 2009

thecasualoblivion said:
In response to this, I have to ask if the OP wasn't a leading anti-WotC question? If it wasn't, I really didn't understand what you were getting at.

Eh, I already tried to reply to this. Is that complicated? I do not believe I am getting at anywhere in particular. Just let us discuss about our instincts on how our market works or might work or should work.
The case might be extreme or a pipe dream but it serves its purpose regarding the expectations of people regarding our hobby (say hobby to not repeat market and its ok since till now they are very strongly connected -and this connection is the link that makes the discussion interesting)

ggroy · Jun 30, 2009

Scribble said:
I'd want to know things like: What's popular about it? How do MY customers feel about it? How do they feel about it in comparison to my product? If my product is lacking features the new game offers, are my customers upset it lacks those features? If so can I reasonably add them to my product without causing a big issue? (system wise not legally or anything.)

The "band aid" way of dealing with this, is to write up new splatbooks which replicate some of the new desirable features. In the case of TSR, it was publishing books like Unearthed Arcana (1E AD&D), Player's Options books (2E AD&D), etc ...

w_earle_wheeler · Jun 30, 2009

I'd play it during lunch.

thecasualoblivion · Jun 30, 2009

xechnao said:
Eh, I already tried to reply to this. Is that complicated? I do not believe I am getting at anywhere in particular. Just let us discuss about our instincts on how our market works or might work or should work.
The case might be extreme or a pipe dream but it serves its purpose regarding the expectations of people regarding our hobby (say hobby to not repeat market and its ok since till now they are very strongly connected)

I have two concerns, the game as I play it and the game as it exists in theory. Feelings ain't got nothing to do with it, and bringing feelings into this does nothing but muddy the waters. There are peoples feelings and then there is reality, and when peoples feelings drift far away from reality, they stop mattering to everyone else outside of that little world.

For what its worth, I asked a direct question and did not get a direct answer. I'm not sure what you're getting at, but I will say that if you don't want people misunderstanding you or tearing your posts apart, you should try speaking in plain English. This flowery language is pretty and all, but it really muddies what you are trying to say.

xechnao · Jun 30, 2009

thecasualoblivion said:
I have two concerns, the game as I play it and the game as it exists in theory. Feelings ain't got nothing to do with it, and bringing feelings into this does nothing but muddy the waters. There are peoples feelings and then there is reality, and when peoples feelings drift far away from reality, they stop mattering to everyone else outside of that little world.

For what its worth, I asked a direct question and did not get a direct answer. I'm not sure what you're getting at, but I will say that if you don't want people misunderstanding you or tearing your posts apart, you should try speaking in plain English. This flowery language is pretty and all, but it really muddies what you are trying to say.

Oh, man. I asked you to avoid this yet you keep asking for what, a declaration of war? The direct answer you are talking about does not exist. If it is muddy for you then so be it. Market does move on feelings or rather, to be more precise, the consumer's base feelings or expectations is an existing force in shaping and driving markets.
By posing the question in the OP and trying to answer it, I let us consider some things. Not necessarily for shaping the market but figuring out how we want it, how we expect it and how we should expect it to be. For me this holds some interest. If it does not hold for you then do not participate. It is not like that you have to answer the questionnaire.