If I were a Big Game Company...

[Tewligan]

Eberron shot JFK and sold Elvis to the aliens.

BG, you beat me to the same joke by about 20 minutes. Now I'm furious...FURIOUS!

 

[Greatwyrm]

If I was a big game company, I'd be glad that anyone in my office came up with an idea that might revitalize sales and maybe even draw some new customers. Especially when my main competition is the video game industry, which grosses more annually than movies do.

And if I was going to make an all new game setting and lie to people about it, I'd say it had been in production for years and was the pinnacle of creativity. That way, I could avoid telling 11,000 current customers that this product was better than what they came up with.

 

[der_kluge]

That's far too clever and malicious an idea for WoTC to conceive of it. I think in actuality it's more like:

"we're out of ideas, so let's solicit free ideas from the masses, and market the best one."

 

[The_Universe]

The original post is interesting, but I don't really see why WotC would secretly substitute their own in-house campaign setting for the theoretical "winner."

For me, it all comes down to the value of labor. Why pay some guy (or gal) $20,000 for a campaign setting (and several other guys (or gals) 10,000) that you're just going to toss in the dumpster.

The contest let WotC reap the benefits of what (I am guessing) totaled in the millions of hours of work on settings and idea, all for a measley...what...$140000?

THAT seems like genius, to me.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Weird. That's just what I assumed was going on. I was reading the post going "what, is this supposed to be news?"

 

[MDSnowman]

Let me guess... this evolves into the whole Eberron-Illuminati connection. I for one knew that the setting I sent in for the setting search was utter crap... I was in a totally uncreative phase at the moment and just threw something together, little suprise that it was crud.

Perhaps WotC put something into the water to make me uncreatvie for that month!

 

[Umbran]

That's far too clever and malicious an idea for WoTC to conceive of it. I think in actuality it's more like:

"we're out of ideas, so let's solicit free ideas from the masses, and market the best one."

Considering that 3e was, in large part, built upon the house rules that became common in 2e, this is hardly new behavior.

As for Snoweel's conspiracy theory, it's all fine and dandy until you hit, "The one we prepared earlier." Seems to me that's pretty darned speculative. Too speculative to be taken seriously.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

I wouldn't appreciate homebrewers. Homebrewers don't support product lines tied to campaign settings.

Um, excuse me??? I only run homebrew campaigns, but I've lost track of the number of campaign materials I've purchased from WOTC and other companies. Every homebrewer I know buys settings or supplements, even if only occasionally, to steal ideas from.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Let me guess... this evolves into the whole Eberron-Illuminati connection.

Ah, so I'm not the only one who discovered it? Did you ever notice how the Lord of Blades is always pictured with exactly 23 blades visible on his body?

 

[MDSnowman]

Ah, so I'm not the only one who discovered it? Did you ever notice how the Lord of Blades is always pictured with exactly 23 blades visible on his body?

Shhh be careful Great Wyrm... if we let on we know too much... ..our lives will be over.