One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure --on 3pp product "glut" 4e / 3e

[Jack99]

In reading Clarke's announcement about Necromancer games, the GSL versus OGL discussion has come up again.

A question occurred to me: "What was SO bad about the "glut' of schlock that accompanied the quality products early on in 3e's release?"

Another way to phrase it: "4e fans, would you prefer a TON of products for 4e (with the risk of a substantial amount of junk) or the somewhat scant amount that is being offerred presently by 3pps?"

So far, only 2 third party publishers have put out quality products on a consistent basis. A few others are just getting started and show promising stuff, so I expect those 2 to become - well something more.

However there has been a lot of crap released as well.

I would prefer if we stuck to just a few companies publishing quality stuff.

 

[Greg K]

and that's where a lot of 'fanism' among the d20 crowd started to come in when you could only afford one or two books a month, were you going to wait for Malhavoc to come out with a new hardcover or buy three-six adventurers from Goodman?.

I still don't see that as a bad thing. It means people have choices. And, for those of that don't buy adventures, the question was simply does the Malhavoc product interest me or not (and vice versa for those that buy only adventures, but not other products).

 

[Greg K]

I agree. I remember enthusiastically buying Quintessential Fighter, reading through it looking for great new stuff for my new fighter to take...and thinking "Uhh, this stuff just doesn't work!"

That one purchase probably killed another five purchases I would have otherwise made. Because if the first product I bought was bad, I assumed everything else from other companies would be equally bad.

So, why didn't you do your research first?

 

[Sacrificial Lamb]

So, why didn't you do your research first?

This is my question as well. We live in the "Internet Age" now. If a product interests me, I research it online first, because I can learn so much more about it that way. It usually prevents me from being burned as a consumer. I rarely "buy blindly" any more...

 

[Remathilis]

During the 3e era, a bought a few 3pp materials, but most of my early forays into 3pp were fraught with stuff that was too powerful, not properly built, or just plain awful (I have a handful of mini-modules that were terrible. AEG I think?)

Ironically, now that there are companies I trust (Necro, Paizo, Malhavoc, Green Ronin, Goodman) I'd buy a lot more 3pp. Too bad WotC (and Goodman) seem to be the only company willing and able to support 4e.

 

[Greg K]

This is my question as well. We live in the "Internet Age" now. If a product interests me, I research it online first, because I can learn so much more about it that way. It usually prevents me from being burned as a consumer. I rarely "buy blindly" any more...

The only way that I might buy blindly is if it is a $2 or less and from a company that I respect. Otherwise, there is the interet for reviews, discussions and previews (and the company had better have a real preview of some of the crunch if it is a pdf only and a good idea for print products as well) and examining the product physically (e.g, at the game store, conventions)

 

[Crothian]

So, why didn't you do your research first?

There was not many reviews or good information on the net about products in the early years of 3e.

 

[Greg K]

There was not many reviews or good information on the net about products in the early years of 3e.

Maybe not the first year, but by 2002 you could already find formal reviews on the internet and, at the minimum, informal reviews in discussion forums before that.

 

[Crothian]

Maybe not the first year, but by 2002 you could already find formal reviews on the internet and, at the minimum, informal reviews in discussion forums before that.

That was true for WotC books, but many of the 3pp really didn't get a lot of good discussion. There was a lot of it out there and people quickly had their favorites.

 

[Nikosandros]

Casual gamers booklist(from my groups)

4E PHB
4E PHB II
Adventurer's Vault
Martial Power
Arcane Power
Character Builder from DDI(either from their own account or leaching from somebody else)
(maybe) Forgotten Realms Players Guide

In my group the casual players only have the PHB.