JVisgaitis
Explorer
I posted this over on the D&D 4e forums, but I thought it was worth repeating here to see what other people thought.
Just listened to the recording of the OGL meeting and I just wanted to clarify my position on this one area:
Someone mentioned that there wouldn't be a way for you to bring value to the mark without some sort of review process and I agree. I'm not referring to the entire potential 4e publishing community as I know there are a ton of PDF publishers.
I think it would make the most sense to start with companies that would be committed to producing print products. The d20 trademark doesn't mean a whole lot to PDF publishers. It's something that has resonance (negatively at this point which is unfortunate) with retailers, distributors, and people buying books off of a shelf.
People that are intimately familiar with the PDF industry understand that there is a lot of wheat and chaff out there and they are educated enough to know to post on message boards, read reviews, and find out about a company before making a purchase. By and large, PDF price points are also a lot cheaper so there isn't as much risk involved and they are purchased directly by consumers so store owners and distributors aren't getting burned with product that sits on a shelf or in a warehouse. With PDFs its low risk.
I propose this. Use a review process for companies that intend on producing print products. Companies that are granted the right to use the mark in print should also be allowed to use the mark on PDF products that they produce. If you want to go so far as to extend the mark to strictly PDF companies, I would simply look at the top publishers on rpgnow.com and other online sales outlets and give them the right to use the mark.
That's the best solution that I can think and it:
1. Keeps your reviewing products down to a minimum.
2. Serves as a seal of quality and compatibility where it matters: in the retail space.
3. Keeps the mark so that companies that are producing quality products are recognized for it.
4. Helps maintain the reason the mark was created in the first place.
5. Gives customers who may be drawn over to a PDF publisher from the Digital Initiative a frame of reference to know what is of good quality and prevents them from getting burned and leaving a bad taste in their mouth.
And just for the record, I'm not trying to say that PDF companies aren't valid or don't contribute to the market or anything ridiculous like that. After our first foray into print, we've been doing PDFs so we're one of the little guys too. I just think that this is the fairest possible way to do this for all parties that are involved.
Thoughts?
Just listened to the recording of the OGL meeting and I just wanted to clarify my position on this one area:
jvisgaitis said:
WotC_ScottR said:
Someone mentioned that there wouldn't be a way for you to bring value to the mark without some sort of review process and I agree. I'm not referring to the entire potential 4e publishing community as I know there are a ton of PDF publishers.
I think it would make the most sense to start with companies that would be committed to producing print products. The d20 trademark doesn't mean a whole lot to PDF publishers. It's something that has resonance (negatively at this point which is unfortunate) with retailers, distributors, and people buying books off of a shelf.
People that are intimately familiar with the PDF industry understand that there is a lot of wheat and chaff out there and they are educated enough to know to post on message boards, read reviews, and find out about a company before making a purchase. By and large, PDF price points are also a lot cheaper so there isn't as much risk involved and they are purchased directly by consumers so store owners and distributors aren't getting burned with product that sits on a shelf or in a warehouse. With PDFs its low risk.
I propose this. Use a review process for companies that intend on producing print products. Companies that are granted the right to use the mark in print should also be allowed to use the mark on PDF products that they produce. If you want to go so far as to extend the mark to strictly PDF companies, I would simply look at the top publishers on rpgnow.com and other online sales outlets and give them the right to use the mark.
That's the best solution that I can think and it:
1. Keeps your reviewing products down to a minimum.
2. Serves as a seal of quality and compatibility where it matters: in the retail space.
3. Keeps the mark so that companies that are producing quality products are recognized for it.
4. Helps maintain the reason the mark was created in the first place.
5. Gives customers who may be drawn over to a PDF publisher from the Digital Initiative a frame of reference to know what is of good quality and prevents them from getting burned and leaving a bad taste in their mouth.
And just for the record, I'm not trying to say that PDF companies aren't valid or don't contribute to the market or anything ridiculous like that. After our first foray into print, we've been doing PDFs so we're one of the little guys too. I just think that this is the fairest possible way to do this for all parties that are involved.
Thoughts?
