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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Derulbaskul" data-source="post: 5508073" data-attributes="member: 1581">Yes, I am aware of all of this and yet I stand behind my comments.Why? Because models don't always work. Why did we have a Global Financial Crisis? The short answer is due to faulty models. The only point here is that a model is simply a model; it may or may not be a solid representation of reality.Degrees are nice; I am sure I have one or two somewhere, but there is a profound difference between providing advice and actually running a business and making commercial decisions just as there is often a profound difference between models and reality (witness the GFC).Does it?More particularly, does it in the case of WotC's D&D products?I don't think we have a model for that. D&D books are not just for reading. You prepare your games by referring to them. Pirated PDFs are not exactly the ideal medium for this.Also, look at WotC's experience with D&D. Clearly print products don't work for them else we wouldn't have had so many products cancelled this year.Now, if the products are not working as first releases then clearly the issue of second, third or fourth print runs is largely irrelevant. IOW, piracy is not affecting the subsequent print runs because the first print runs are not happening.To be clear, my point is this: there is a commercial decision that needs to be made by WotC as with any business. External advisers are nice but they are not always right. And external advisers advise toward sclerosis; it's those with commercial experience who make the game-changing calls, like Ryan Dancey did with the OGL and SRD.Personally, I think WotC made the wrong call with pulling PDFs, cancelling the offline builders while the online versions were still in development and reducing their DDi content without a single message to the fanbase from Bill Slavicsek et al. We're seeing sclerosis. I would really love to see what Ryan Dancey or another game-changer (like Lisa and Erik at Paizo) would do if they were able to take over the D&D brand at WotC before we're left with troll's leavings (sorry, WHRPG reference).</blockquote>

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