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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 3476570" data-attributes="member: 7635">I don't think the sky is falling yet, But perhaps the d20/OGL market is shrinking enough that WotC doesn't want to make war with its own IP any longer (Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Rokugan, Kalamar) so its taking back its IP (worlds or logos) and battering down the hatches to work on a smaller selection of material which is more profitable.Ryan Dancy said the market is pretty much shrinking, and I assume it will continue to in light of MMORPGS and other digital role-playing. WotC can't withdraw the OGL, but there is no reason it needs to compete with itself for shelf-room, esp as the Game-Store is slowly dying and bigger booksellers (Borders, Amazon) become the new marketing strategy. Pulling back DL and RL (and GH via Dungeon/Dragon Mags) eliminates three outside sources of FRPG material. Removing the logos off L5R and Kalamar limit their exposure as well. These companies though, without WotC's swagger, will have to compete harder for shelf-space, while Hasbro/WotC will always have the upper-hand on this. Now, WotC only has to compete with a handful of successful d20 publishers (Ronin, Malahavoc, Etc) who together don't have the same strength as WotC. WotCs modules have distribution edges of Goodman's, etc. In fact, the only competition WotC is making for itself in the next 12 months is SW SAGA, which has enough Lucasites to make it viable (and doesn't compete deeply with traditional FRPG-style games).I don't see this as the beginning of 4e or whatever, but I do see it as the final stanza for viable OGL content as is. Perhaps PDF, smaller web-publishing, and such will carry those games (not counting the successful ones, like Ronin) but I think the era of of OGL publishing is over...</blockquote>

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