Only the Lonely: Why We Demand Official Product

[Fenris-77]

There is still some lingering idea that it's not really official unless it's hard copy. A very interesting anachronism in this digital age.

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

I cut my teeth on the Black Box, and one of the things I loved about it was that it taught newbie DMs how to D-I-Y. You'd stock part of your first dungeon... and then you were given a map with almost everything (except the dragon and the treasure hoard) to stock... and then given pages of directions on how to brew your own.

I've been doing the same since with everything. I have yet to meet an RPG system I haven't wanted to hack in some way... to me that's as much fun as actually playing the game. And with 28 years experience and a background in stats, probability, writing and publishing, I consider myself as "qualified" as anyone at TSR/WotC to create my own materials. Maybe someday I'll make something for publication.

Some third-party materials are as good or better than WotC. Kobold Press - run by ex-WotC/TSR guys - is a mark of quality above WotC in my book. Sandy Petersen's 5e Cthulhu Mythos book is a masterpiece. Several others I could name too.

Darn kids! You want everything handed to you in a shiny book! Don't you realize that making it up - or at least editing it, combining it, messing around with it to see what happens - is all part of the fun?

 

[prabe]

There is still some lingering idea that it's not really official unless it's hard copy. A very interesting anachronism in this digital age.

Sure, it's an anachronism. OTOH, I run everything pencil-and-paper, and I've found that when I'm putting together adventures the stuff I've downloaded sits on my powered-off computer and falls out of my head, while the stuff in books goes in. If I have to print out all the PDFs I want to use, so I remember to use them, why wouldn't I prefer to purchase actual books?

 

[Undrave]

It even goes beyond desire for official product: there has also been a sense that a product doesn't "count" unless it's a printed, hardcover book. I remember before Tales from the Yawning Portal came out, there were frequent complaints that WotC had not published any short, stand-alone adventures. Whenever I or someone else pointed out that WotC had published dozens of short, stand-alone adventures in the form of AL modules, it never seemed to make the complainers happy.

Yeah but the AL modules kinda stink

 

[jayoungr]

Yeah but the AL modules kinda stink

They do vary wildly in quality, although some of them are awesome. But that was never anyone's complaint on the board; the complaint was always "WotC doesn't make short adventures."

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

It may also be worth bringing up how the current media landscape seems absolutely obsessed with nostalgia. The Marvel and Star Wars movies feature characters originally created in the 60s and 70s. When is the last time a hit new tv series wasn't based on a novel? And any time we get a new video game console you know that Skyrim and Resident Evil 4 will soon be available for it. Basically our media currently loves reboots and remakes of old properties that have proven to be reliable. So I don't think it's odd that some people expect the same sort of treatment in their RPGs, even if it doesn't quite make sense business wise.

Wizards holds the IP to Planescape, Dark Sun, Spelljammer, Greyhawk, Mystara, etc. and are unlikely to just release them to the public domain. So only they are able to release that nostalgic content that people crave. Sure there are probably third party settings that are based on the settings of old. But based on doesn't give us the same comfort as the real thing.

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

Sure, it's an anachronism. OTOH, I run everything pencil-and-paper, and I've found that when I'm putting together adventures the stuff I've downloaded sits on my powered-off computer and falls out of my head, while the stuff in books goes in. If I have to print out all the PDFs I want to use, so I remember to use them, why wouldn't I prefer to purchase actual books?

Well, being a laptop-using DM I find PDF more convenient - particularly for adventure modules and monster books - I often can't resist the lure of print, either, especially when such beautiful books are being produced today. For my 38th birthday on Sunday, I just treated myself to the print editions of 5e Cthulhu Mythos and the Warlock Grimoire - while I have all of the materials in PDF, and usually wouldn't get a hardcopy of a book that is mostly DM's-eyes-only, I just found them too attractive to pass up.

(And it's always fun to intimidate my players by slapping two big, heavy books filled with pure NOPE on the table.)

 

[Fenris-77]

I do love pure NOPE when it comes in the 500+ page flavor. No one is intimidated when you slap down a handful of post-it notes and a napkin with a crayon map on the back.

 

[jayoungr]

It may also be worth bringing up how the current media landscape seems absolutely obsessed with nostalgia. The Marvel and Star Wars movies feature characters originally created in the 60s and 70s. When is the last time a hit new tv series wasn't based on a novel?

That is partly due to the fact that high-quality movies and TV series are so expensive to make that those with the money to invest are reluctant to shell out for something that doesn't already have a proven, built-in audience. Which probably also applies to WotC and published books.

I'm not convinced that the actual consumers are so focused on nostalgia that they would reject something new just because it's new.

 

[DEFCON 1]

...and if you go to McDowell's instead of McDonald's, you're going to miss out on the sesame seeds.

Just wanted to give the thumbs-up to the prime Coming To America reference.