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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sir Whiskers" data-source="post: 1584995" data-attributes="member: 6941">Keep in mind that Gary has always been a bit of a control freak where D&D is concerned. I still remember the comment he made over 20 years ago, to the effect that anyone who used house rules might be playing an RPG, but they sure weren't playing D&D.That said, his concern for quality control has been born out in the market - there's fair more bad stuff than good. There are, however, two contradictory approaches to this. Gary would prefer a Nintendo-like system, where the parent company designs and/or approves everything published for the game. Theoretically, this allows the company to maintain certain minimum standards. Personally, I'd argue that such control is bound to fail at some point, as shown by what happened in 2E and what is currently happening with some of WOTC's more infamous 3E products (ELH, PsiHB).The other approach is based on competition. In this model, anyone with a few bucks and the necessary effort can get into the market. Theoretically, only the best will survive, leaving gamers with the best material to choose from. Unfortunately, it takes a long time for a market to shake itself out, and d20 is still doing so. The big names in d20 publishing are still putting out a lot of dreck, and the smaller players with some great ideas are having even more trouble getting noticed.Neither system is perfect, but given a choice, I favor the second approach over the first. Too much of the really good stuff I've purchased the past 3 years came from a non-WOTC publisher for me to want a centrally-controlled system such as Gary seems to be proposing. Still, I acknowledge that his argument has some merit.</blockquote>

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