Monte Cook Presents the Year's best D20

[Darkness]

2. Monte excluding his Malhavoc stuff is a good idea but does cut a lot of great material out like Iron Might and Hyperconscious. Sorry but they're among some of the best stuff I've seen in a while so already the "best of" is wrong.

Well, it's in the nature of such a contest that "the best" is the best of what's been entered, regardless of what else might be out there. In the end, Malhavoc being "excluded" is no different than a publisher deciding no to enter.

 

[alsih2o]

The real analogy I want to use would draw into too many politics.

This is all a bit ridiculous to me. Anyone who doesn't wanna be in the book doesn't have to submit. Anyone who doesn't approve of the book doesn't have to buy it.

The (somewhat) free market will decide if this is a brilliant, inspired, economically succesful idea or a crackpot scheme.

It frequently seems that the worst thing one can do for ones reputation in this industry is to make a move with the whole of the industry in mind. This is sad for all of us.

Noone is being forced into participating, noone will be forced to buy the product (Monte has a decent beard, but I have seen him in person and he does not carry any reach weapons) IF enough publishers submit buyers will eb abel to gather good stuff easily. IF buyers choose to aquire this collection we will see more efforts in a similar vein(with an E, not an I).

Monte and Co. put out the effort and all decision makign is left in the hands of consumers and publishers. It doesn't get any better than that.

EDIT: Heck, I would go so far as to say that Mr. Cook and Co should include a mini-chapter on what they believe is their best, so we have a tone set for the book. I have added only one crunch bit all year and it is the AU take on action points.

 

[RichGreen]

I'm likely going to submit to this. Will it do me any good? I can't say "yes" with certainty but, in my opinion, if I'm selected I'll be able to leverage my placement in the book into increased sales.

This book looks like something I'd buy and I'll probably go out and buy more stuff by people whose stuff I like in the book. It's a bit like a compilation album, isn't it?


Richard

 

[Rasyr]

It frequently seems that the worst thing one can do for ones reputation in this industry is to make a move with the whole of the industry in mind. This is sad for all of us.

Boom! I think that you may have hit the nail on the head. This is not a move with the whole of the industry in mind, it is a move with Malhavoc in mind.

If it had the industry in mind it would be released far sooner than 9 months after the beginning of a new year (a possible maximum of 21 months after the release of a submitted product). It would not have a misleading title ("Year's Best" versus "Showcase"). It would have tangible benefits for those who submit as opposed to no tangilble benefits for submitters, with the only tangible benefits being for Malhavoc (sales of a book the most likely won't increase sales of the original products, especially seeing as those original products are between 9 and 21 months old).

The way that the distribution system works (for print products) does not support this product, or an increased availability of the contributing works for those few that might still be in print.

Add to this the fact that as Joe pointed out there are many different "flavors" of d20. Which will this support? Only those that match Arcana Unearthed? Those that match mainstream D&D? Those that match d20 Modern (or Future)?

Like I have said before, while I think that the idea of a "Year's Best" is a good idea, I don't think that the product as proposed by Malhavoc fits the criteria for something carrying that title.

 

[GMSkarka]

Until then, unless the shoe fits, feel free to stop cramming your toes into it and crying about it.

I knew that I liked you.

(Would've sent this via PM, but I don't have that functionality)

 

[pogre]

You know, the guy I would love to see the best of d20 from is J. Tweet. I believe he is a games' mechanics guru of the highest magnitude and I like the way he thinks.

Folks who have a similar high opinion of Monte Cook will be very interested in this book. The rest won't.

I see the book as mostly beneficial to publishers who submit, so I disagree with my good friend Wulf. However, I understand his concerns about a possible no-win situation that might cannibalize his own sales.

Mongoose has done something similar to this in a few different areas as I recall. It's a "hazard" of the OGL. I wish Monte would not use a submission process and just pick what he thinks is best. When he picks someone's stuff he could ask them for permission to directly mention their company and the product it came in. Who would not give permission for that purpose?

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

A few thoughts/ideas on what I'd like to see in a book of this sort:

Prominent cover display of who's included: Most compilations/best ofs prominently display the names of who's inside, so ideally it would be the same here. A nice, prominently displayed cover or back cover blurb saying "Featuring works from companies X, Y, and Z"

Minimal Edits: Edit to correct typos, etc, but leave the work otherwise unchanged. If it's good enough to be "the year's best", then it's good enough to appear as is.

Publisher's notes for context: Depending on the size of individual contributions, there should be space given over for a publisher to give a short blurb about the intentions of the feat/spell/meta-mechanic/monster/whatever. Different products have different design goals in mind, and putting them in without the context of the larger work might make people dismiss them unfairly.

Prominent Display of the Creators: A book isn't written by Mongoose Publishing, or WotC, or Green Ronin, or whoever. It's written by a specific author, and edited by a specific editor. In a best of, I think it would be very important to, whenever possible, acknowledge the specific author of the work, as well as the book's editor. That would be of benefit to the authors, as their names might come to the attention of companies looking to hire quality freelancers - there are a lot of good authors whose names deserve more attention than they get, both from the audience, and from game companies.

A nominal payment: Ideally, it would be nice to see a nominal payment to contributors. If the book sells well, there will be profit coming in, so it would be nice to see payment for accepted and published work - the publishers who submit work are going to be, essentially, contributors to the book, and while there's nothing stopping Malhavoc from just farming open material and publishing it as "the best", I think a bit of money (even just 3 cents a word) will make this book seem more legitimate.

Patrick Y.

 

[DaveMage]

The real analogy I want to use would draw into too many politics.

This is all a bit ridiculous to me. Anyone who doesn't wanna be in the book doesn't have to submit. Anyone who doesn't approve of the book doesn't have to buy it.

It's like office politics.

The sparring is so vicious because the stakes are so small. ::

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

It's like office politics.

The sparring is so vicious because the stakes are so small. ::

And yet you continue to pop in and throw little shots. I'd be careful about rolling your eyes - the publishers and authors are at least arguing about something that will/might affect them. You, conversely, seem perfectly happy to snipe and encourage argument without any stake in the outcome at all.

Patrick Y.

 

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

It's a book, right right?

A product based on his opinions of how other company's products are, right right?

If you don't like it...

DON'T BUY THE FRAGGING THING!

It's not like he's going to deduct $9.95 from your checking account the day it comes out.

Man, it's not a personal insult, it's not arrogance...

He got crap for minimalizing the Ennies, so he decided to see just how hard he is, then put his opinion in a book and offer it.

He's not waiting in your bathroom with a baseball bat to scream "SUBMIT OR DIE!"



And before anyone calls me a fanboy, let me put it straight...

I like the man personally, his writing is good, but his products don't fit in my campaign, and since I have no use for them, I do the same thing that I advise to you to do if you don't like the product...

DON'T BUY THE FRAGGING THING!