What do you want them to do about that?
The general public, I don't have a problem with. That's just the way business works. And yea, I knew. I paid attenction. Every last ounce of doubt from my mind was erased the moment I saw the Rules Compendium announced. But ENWorld polls done just before GenCon 07 showed that 75% of the people here didn't believe that 4E was coming. They weren't paying attenction. But that's not my problem.
How would I do it, if I were handling the transition:
- Get the 5 major 3PPs to sign NDAs a full year before making the announcement. Tell them flat out that 4E is coming and it will be announced next year and released a year after.
- Tell them that their input is valuable and highly desired. Show them what they have completed thus far and allow them to playtest inhouse only.
- Tell them that this game isn't going to be OGL and ask them to help write the license (keep your friends close and your enemies closer), but that Wizards makes the final decision as to what is in it.
- Allow them (and only them) to release products for 4E on day 1. Everyone else gets a delay.
- Be willing to license (exclusive, not free) D&D setting to the 3PPs after Wizards did their 3 book run.
With the above, 4E would have been as much a secret as it was before, the license would have been as much under their control as it is now, their system has the confidence of the major publishers and it eliminates any serious chance of competing systems. Wizards sells more core settings books without having to invest time and money into endless splats that never produce as much money. It gives the major publishers a chance to plan/write products, properly advertise and get products into catelogs, know the terms of the license and feel they have a say in its formation, and gives them access to content they never had before. Everyone wins.
My problem isn't that they didn't tell the world that 4E is coming, but that they did not own up to their actions even when it was obvious to those that paid attenction. If they want to be a leader, they have to lead and they have to take actions that makes people want to come along. Making them feel like they matter is a way to help people come along. In short, to be a leader they must demonstrate one thing: upfront honesty.
To date, Wizards has done little to inspire a feeling of value among licensees. Yes, they allowed a free license, but it is completely 1 sided and it took everyone in the industry by surprise just how one sided it is. That does not inspire a feeling that others are valuable or their perspective matters. Infact Wizards steadfastly refused to change their license until Clark said that he wants to use it but cannot. That makes me feel that Clark is valuable to them, not anyone else.
To put it in D&D terms, to be a leader, you need levels in a leader role. What does the leader do, keeps others from falling down. It feels like Wizards has gone back to the TSR days where they said, "This is what we're going to publish and you will like it." I'm not interested in that, neither as a customer nor as a freelancer. Wizards as become as irrelavant to me as TSR was during the 2E days.
EDIT: I prefer to focus on the future then the past. So how can Wizards fix this. Set a meeting date with current and major potential licensees and allow them to voice input and Wizards just takes notes. After they hear their everything the 3PPs have to say, then they begin negotiating. I know Scott Rouse said that he had worked on it and it is probably beyond this point, but truthfully, unless the changes are major (and more then just a way out of the license) the license will only solidify their position of irrelavance.
I've said it before and I will said it again. I am sure that Scott Rouse and many others at Wizards genuinely want many 3pps along for the ride, but actions of the corporation do not mesh up with that. I am not attacking any person there, nor am I calling Wizards evil. I am merely stating my opinion that not all of their actions have been as community inspiring as they could be. Yes, Wizards has the right to do as they see fit. But I also have the right to no longer see them or their actions as relavant and look to others for leadership.
