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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5816832" data-attributes="member: 22779">So, let me get this straight.  I push away a segment of my target market.  I then turn around and GAIN 50% of the best numbers I have ever achieved in the previous market and that's still a failure.  Oh, right, because the magazines now come bundled with other products, there can be no comparisons made.  Obviously not.  Since, well, the comparison made shows that WOTC did in fact know what they were doing when they brought the magazine in house and made it digital.But, since that's what the evidence says, we must never, ever allow that to be unchallenged because, after all, WOTC can never, ever succeed.  Look, my entire beef here is that the OGL evangelists are insisting that we accept without criticism the "truths" that they are putting out there.  That any other interpretation of what happened must always be wrong and only the interpretation that says OGL is the greatest thing evah is the way of the truth.Take the idea that OGL made 3e popular.  Hrm.  Let's go back in history a bit shall we?  3e was the first D&D release in over ten years and probably one of the biggest RPG releases of any game in several years as well.  Vampire was dying, there had been no major new games for years and TSR had died.  Along comes 3e, riding an excellent marketing campaign, backed by some serious cash and people who were very passionate about the game.Boom.  Huge success.Now, compare 4e.  Third major D&D release in less than ten years, never minding several competing games releasing around the same time.  A marketing campaign that was... heh... less than excellent to say the least.  Fizzle.  See, my question is, if the OGL market was driving 3e, why did it fail?  Even the huge sales during the 3e bubble couldn't save 3e from 3.5.  Sales fell for WOTC, even when the 3PP were doing the best business they would ever see.  Two years after 3e releases, you get 3.5.  If the OGL was so successful at driving sales, how do you explain this?In my mind there are any number of equally valid explanations for the ups and downs of D&D.  The problem is, the OGL evangelists refuse to accept any other possible interpretations.Which brings me to my biggest concern.  Those who are the most vocal about the OGL have a vested interest in seeing an OGL D&D.  Their personal pocketbooks are the ones directly affected by this.  The cynical part of me looks at the posters in this thread, many of whom make money writing OGL material and wonder just whose interests are being served here.  Gamers or people who want to sell to gamers.Now, I know I'm just going to get blown off yet again with another round of posrepping whoever "rebuts" my point.  But, to the rest of you reading this, step back and think for a second.  Just who benefits from an OGL?</blockquote>

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