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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7657110" data-attributes="member: 37579">The d20 flood was mostly good for WotC, as&nbsp; most accessories fed sales of the core books. Only a few lines went to the trouble of releasing their own versions of the rulebooks, so the core books still sold. And since WotC didn't need to market those side books it was free advertising for the d20 system and D&amp;D. The 3rd Party books could also target niches D&amp;D could not, bringing those people into the d20 fold. Plus it's easier to get people to move over to D&amp;D when they're familiar with the game from having played a different d20 system game. This worked after all: in the end they sold more PHBs during 3.0 than they did during 2e and 4e. There's also the quality component. 3PP released products that WotC could look at and evaluate, allowing them to hire the best people. It was a way for them to hire trained and experienced writers familiar with the game. Mike Mearls started on 3PP. It did have the planned result of protecting the game. Because the system could never go away any replacements for 3e had to be *better* and not just assume people would upgrade. Future systems had to win over the fans. Because of that WotC has to try harder but the end product is superior, which helps win over people on the fence. And, in the end, it's better to have your competitors making products for your game system than their own.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 7657110, member: 37579"] The d20 flood was mostly good for WotC, as most accessories fed sales of the core books. Only a few lines went to the trouble of releasing their own versions of the rulebooks, so the core books still sold. And since WotC didn't need to market those side books it was free advertising for the d20 system and D&D. The 3rd Party books could also target niches D&D could not, bringing those people into the d20 fold. Plus it's easier to get people to move over to D&D when they're familiar with the game from having played a different d20 system game. This worked after all: in the end they sold more PHBs during 3.0 than they did during 2e and 4e. There's also the quality component. 3PP released products that WotC could look at and evaluate, allowing them to hire the best people. It was a way for them to hire trained and experienced writers familiar with the game. Mike Mearls started on 3PP. It did have the planned result of protecting the game. Because the system could never go away any replacements for 3e had to be *better* and not just assume people would upgrade. Future systems had to win over the fans. Because of that WotC has to try harder but the end product is superior, which helps win over people on the fence. And, in the end, it's better to have your competitors making products for your game system than their own. [/QUOTE]

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