D&D 4E Non-WotC publishers - 4ed, settings, and $5,000

[catsclaw227]

With the GSL delays, don't be surprised if they extended the $5k lead window from January '09 until April '09 or so to give the publishers a larger advance on products.

Not sayin' it's gonna happen, but don't be shocked if you see it...

 

[JoeGKushner]

With the GSL delays, don't be surprised if they extended the $5k lead window from January '09 until April '09 or so to give the publishers a larger advance on products.

Not sayin' it's gonna happen, but don't be shocked if you see it...

Depending on how long it takes WoTC to finallize their material, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Jan 09 to Aug 09.

 

[Truth Seeker]

For Eberron, there was a cry out, when it was first announced, that the time table was going to be advance, by 2 years.

The fans spoke with their voices.

The idea was nixed.

Good thoughts, all. Anyone want to speculate about the second point, i.e. the settings?

We know Wizards is "drastically" altering the Forgotten Realms, but what about Eberron? My guess is that THEY don't even know yet and are going to play wait-and-see with FR, to see how people like the 4ed version.

 

[JoeGKushner]

For Eberron, there was a cry out, when it was first announced, that the time table was going to be advance, by 2 years.

The fans spoke with their voices.

The idea was nixed.

Only because the book hadn't been written yet.

A pity the same could not be said for the Forgotten Realms. :\

 

[Hussar]

Is 6 months enough of a lead time? IMHO, yes. Traditionally, haven't most sales of books pretty much finished within 6 months of release? I mean, sure, you still sell books after that, but, it's those first six months that see the most sales. Having a clearer field for six months seems like a pretty big advantage to me.

But, that is my very ill informed opinion.

As far as SL goes, well, I won't hold my breath. WW has abandoned all D&D stuff and doesn't appear to be headed back in that direction. The last SL book came out what, three, four years ago? I can't see them being too interested in getting back into it. Not with their Eve overlords overlooking.

 

[Nymrohd]

I don't think it would have affected the changes done to the Realms. I think the designers knew very well what the response would be.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Is 6 months enough of a lead time? IMHO, yes. Traditionally, haven't most sales of books pretty much finished within 6 months of release? I mean, sure, you still sell books after that, but, it's those first six months that see the most sales. Having a clearer field for six months seems like a pretty big advantage to me.

Well, yeah, but it's mid-February and almost none of the third-party developers have even seen the 4e rules. It takes more than 4 months to design, playtest, lay out, print, and distribute a book, I'm betting... and that's if they released the rules immediately.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, yeah, but it's mid-February and almost none of the third-party developers have even seen the 4e rules. It takes more than 4 months to design, playtest, lay out, print, and distribute a book, I'm betting... and that's if they released the rules immediately.

For some, it's none of those things directly. It's the book trade distribution element that's impossible.

 

[Ipissimus]

The other problem is what you decide to sell. I think in the 6 month (or however long) window, you'd be better off doing a Paizo and supplying the market with campaign books detailing an adventure path from 1st-30th level. This is a bit of a deviation from those books that were successful under the OGL, since the popular books in 3e seemed to have been monster, race and class books. The problem being, producing the books fast enough to take advantage of the short time available. The other concern is that will nudge into WOTC's line of adventures and Dungeon magazine... not a choice to make lightly.

Now, some companies might want to put out 'Quintissential Eladrin' style books, but I don't see how you could develop new races, classes or monsters for 4E so soon after release with people still getting used to the new paradigms. New Powers, Feats and Paths might be the way to go.

But I'd still be reticent to fork out $5000 when I don't know the rules I'll have to do business by. If it goes something like: 'WOTC reserves the right to take all your intellectual property and run', I'd be kicking myself. Not likely, but I wouldn't want to bet $5000 on it.

 

[Glyfair]

To be honest, I'm surprised more designers haven't adopted the patron model for their works.

It's still a work in progress. In fact, Wolfgang even ditched one of the big selling points, exclusivity, after the first project. Even so, he still has whiners complaining about how they can't get "Steam & Brass" now because it was an exclusive product.

Right now Nic Logue has become the second designer to take his hand at this sort of thing. It's directly under Wolfgang's company, so it's not quite someone else completely diving in. We'll have to see. Also, I suspect it will have a better chance of gaining traction after 4E has been out for a bit and the D&D divide has had a chance to heal a bit.