OGC Wiki (merged)

[BryonD]

I really doubt that they will have all changed their minds since then. As can be seen by this comment:

That is a completely separate very good point.

When you talk about things like Open Source Code, there tends to be a lot of drive among the development community to just get the best tool.

Game design has a lot more of a personal thing going. Designer A will re-invent the wheel rather than use someone else's wheel just because they want to use a wheel of their own design.

Obviously there have been a lot of exceptions. But they are still just exceptions. And you are quite correct to point out the behavior.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Which is why I think that a professional, subscription-based site -- say $500/year -- would be a good idea.

I'm sure it's just my ego talking again, but I can't imagine that there's $500 a year worth of OGC published that is useful to me.

Note I'm not saying there's not $500 a year of good OGC published, just the subset of "good" and "useful to me" isn't $500 a year.

If I'm going to spend $500 a year, it will be on books that make it through the filters that are already out there; books that I will use in my games as well as in my publishing efforts.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Game design has a lot more of a personal thing going. Designer A will re-invent the wheel rather than use someone else's wheel just because they want to use a wheel of their own design.

Abso-friggin-lutely.

Gamers-- and I'm not just talking publishers, but everyone invested in this hobby-- are typically upper-percentile folks, with all the self-assured egotism that goes with it.

We are all the smartest guy we know.

 

[philreed]

I'm sure it's just my ego talking again, but I can't imagine that there's $500 a year worth of OGC published that is useful to me.

Note I'm not saying there's not $500 a year of good OGC published, just the subset of "good" and "useful to me" isn't $500 a year.

If I'm going to spend $500 a year, it will be on books that make it through the filters that are already out there; books that I will use in my games as well as in my publishing efforts.

In one year, no. But many years of accumulated material . . .

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

In one year, no. But many years of accumulated material . . .

Accumulated, perhaps, and just perhaps. Problem is, say in one year I do get my $500 worth of accumulated OGC from the resource. Nest year I still have to pay and there is no assurance (actually, we can say it's pretty much a given) that there will have been $500 of good new OGC added to the resource. In that case I am the one who's $500 down with only a small fraction of that cost of new OGC to show for it. For it to be worth it again, I'd have to wait another 4-5 years so that the accumulated amount of OGC since my last raid of accumulated OGC becomes worth my expense.

I think the idea of a publisher OGC resource is good; I would love to have a place where I can check for existing OGC and whether it fits my needs or not (heck, I'm in that place right now, and I'm about to design it myself just because of the hassle of finding out if there is anything out there, let alone if it's good for my needs), but not at such a cost, even if I could afford it on a regular basis.

 

[Prest0]

Where did this $500 figure even come from? I thought it was just pulled out of the air. It seems to me if we're just talking about a publisher resource, publishers would be expected to contribute their own material to make the wiki worthwhile. For $500 I'd expect someone else to do the work for me...AND I'd want a back rub! Take it down by a factor of 10. Charge $50--high enough to keep many casual users out--and require that users contribute their own OGC.

 

[Maggan]

Just to keep thinkgs interesting, here was post, made in jest, over on rpg.net. *I* found it to be very scary, as I could actually see it as being plausible.....

And there I was, adding my disclaimer while thinking of you, and then you go and quote me on another board.

Well, at least you did quote the whole thing.

/M

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Where did this $500 figure even come from? I thought it was just pulled out of the air.

It was. I was just using it as an example. I'd happily pay $50 and contribute for such a resource.

 

[eyebeams]

My views are here:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/eyebeams/226945.html

 

[GMSkarka]

Unfortunately, he isn't thinking about how others will be adversely affected either. Apparently, his concerns are more around everybody being able to use the OGC easily, rather than what this would do to those producing it.

That's largely because Mike is a designer. He has never run a publishing business in this industry. He's thinking like a designer, not a publisher.

Remember folks, just because somebody is a "name" in the industry, that doesn't mean that they actually know what they're talking about.

Mike is a brilliant designer--easily one of the best in the D20 field. However, that doesn't mean that I'd follow his advice on marketing, publishing, distribution, or any number of other topics which are crucial to the functioning of this business.