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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malin Genie" data-source="post: 1928804" data-attributes="member: 1058">WotC products provide a common ground for people beginning to game with one another, so that each player/DM knows that what is being used in the game is (1) widely available (2) widely accepted; if not actually 'better' than the alternatives. I don't for one moment think that WotC balances or playtests its stuff better than all other publishers, but as noted already there has been in the past some very poorly-thought-out 3rd-party material that may still influence gamers' opinions of non-WotC material.If I buy a WotC book I have a reasonable chance that any group I play with will accept material from it; if I create a character from WotC resources, I have a reasonable chance that the DM will accept it without challenging or altering mechanics or equipment I have chosen; if I want to start an online gamebased on non-WotC material I have less of a chance of finding people who already own the relevant material.Which reinforces my tendency to buy WotC books over non-WotC books.  I have bought non-WotC books before and will in the future, but I know for the above reasons I probably won't get as much mileage out of them as I will out of WotC books, and so they have to offer something extra in terms of functionality or inspiration to overcome that.  In addition, I can usually flip through WotC stuff in my FLGS, whereas many non-WotC books I might otherwise buy are only available through ordering over the Web, and I have no way of actually checking out the contents before buying.  Yes, I can access reviews - but a WotC product is likely to be tried by more people, and thus more thoroughly reviewed and discussed than any third-party product, so I have a more informed opinion before I consider buying.I'm not saying that the above situation is good, but it exists; just as many businesses will buy Microsoft because they fear potential interconvertibility and compatibility issues (which may or may not exist) reinforcing the tendency of the next business along to buy Microsoft.  (I use Linux and Firefox, though, so make of me what you will <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/paranoid.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":uhoh:" title="Paranoid    :uhoh:" data-shortname=":uhoh:" /> )</blockquote>

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