Goodman Games solicits input

[Sticknia]

Considering what I have seen of 4e, I'm guessing that a 4e native publishing would make the most sense. Primarily because of how deviated from older editions it is.
Then make available 3.5, Pathfinder, and a few other primary's and call it good.
Obviously this is a lot harder than it sounds, but 4e is a marketing master piece and if you are going to make money on an RPG, go with the one designed to make money.

 

[Shemeska]

but 4e is a marketing master piece

*blink* Wha? Marketing masterpiece? The rollout was a case study in what not to do and how to cheese off large segments of your audience, the whole Virtual Tabletop debacle, the delayed and delayed and then clunker of a GSL, their forum drama, most 3PP largely dropping out, etc. Fragmenting the marketplace isn't exactly a resounding marketing success.

 

[Fifth Element]

*blink* Wha? Marketing masterpiece? The rollout was a case study in what not to do and how to cheese off large segments of your audience, the whole Virtual Tabletop debacle, the delayed and delayed and then clunker of a GSL, their forum drama, most 3PP largely dropping out, etc. Fragmenting the marketplace isn't exactly a resounding marketing success.

While this is not always the case, when people hold diametrically opposed viewpoints, the truth often lies somewhere in the middle.

(I might also say that the people they cheesed off were not actually their audience, though.)

 

[Chrono22]

None of them has a Character Builder or a DDI at all.

Actually they do. It's just not called DDI. It's called DM tools, redblade, mythweavers, etc. Those are also open btw.

 

[BryonD]

(I might also say that the people they cheesed off were not actually their audience, though.)

Not once Wotc was done firing them. Right?

 

[Hairfoot]

Except we're talking about adventures, not player rules supplements. None of WotC's digital products discriminate against 3rd party adventures, and if you're worried about the Monster Builder encroaching on your territory, simply stat up your monsters in the Monster Builder and release them as a pack of files! Now, instead of having to deal with people avoiding your product because of D&D Insider offerings, you can now tout its integration with D&D Insider as a selling point!

True, but from a marketing perspective the point still stands. Subscribers have a steady stream of official material coming straight to their hard drive, which relegates 3P material to a retail ghetto. The GSL is essentially a lengthy way of saying, "Tsch-yeah, buy a licence and publish if you like, but don't think you're getting any of our market share."

Does the monster builder accept external files?

While this is not always the case, when people hold diametrically opposed viewpoints, the truth often lies somewhere in the middle.

Or, as Richard Dawkins said, "When two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie exactly halfway between them. It is possible for one side to be simply wrong."

I wasn't paying a lot of attention during the market implosion, but I do recall that every time I visited ENworld while it was going on, there seemed to be a consensus of, "I love 4E but this corporate jerk-around is terrible".

And, while it's true that the people who laughed loudest at the schemozzle probably weren't the target market, even the true believers thought it was the height of bastardry to try herding the fanbase into a new edition by cancelling PDFs of the old.

 

[Fifth Element]

Or, as Richard Dawkins said, "When two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie exactly halfway between them. It is possible for one side to be simply wrong."

Thus, the qualification in my post that it is not always the case. I believe in this case that it is the case. Sometimes one side is simply wrong. Sometimes both are, and the truth is in the middle. Recall what they say about the vocal minority.

I wasn't paying a lot of attention during the market implosion

Okay then.

 

[Hairfoot]

Okay then.

Of course, if you can link to any sustained defences of the roll-out I'd be forced to reconsider. If they were there, you'd think would have been as prominent as the criticism, even to an infrequent observer.

 

[Fifth Element]

Of course, if you can link to any sustained defences of the roll-out I'd be forced to reconsider. If they were there, you'd think would have been as prominent as the criticism, even to an infrequent observer.

I don't recall any threads being started on the topic, not sure why someone would bother with that. But in most any of the innumerable "Wot$ has fired me as a customer and kicks puppies" threads, you could find people replying "no they didn't, no they don't, stop being melodramatic."

Remember the "They lied to us! They told us they weren't even working on 4th edition!" meme, that was subsequently shown to be based on a quote taken out of context. I did actually start a thread about that one, and some of the complainers did own up and admit they were wrong. But the meme continued even after that.

 

[haakon1]

So, 4e modules with an old school feel would be just perfect.

If it says "4e" on the cover, I'm not even picking up it to read what it's about at the FLGS . . . just a bad feeling about the whole system at this point.

Even though I don't play OSRIC or C&C, I do check those out to see if the story is super interesting.

While I really want 3.5, or failing that Pathfinder, system neutral is definitely close enough.