GVDammerung
First Post
I can certainly understand and respect the thought that 4e is the preferable way to go for a 3rd party publisher. I can't dissent except to the degree that I am aware of 3rd party publishers who have launched their own 3x derivative systems and done well enough to stay in business and to keep supporting their derivative systems. But anon.
Having read the responses along the line that 4e would be prefered if Wotc can get the 4e SRD and the terms of the 4e OGL or something like them out to 3rd party publishers in a timely manner, I'd have two thoughts.
First, how long is any given 3rd party publisher willing to wait on Wotc to get around to meeting the needs of 3rd party publishers with respect to information on 4e? When will the 3rd party publishers say "We can't reasonably wait any longer and are commiting to produce a 3.75 edition?" Obviously, wait too long and you miss the window of opportunity to release a 3.75 edition by next Gencon.
Second, while understanding and respecting the thought that any 3.75 edition is not seen as a "long term option" at this point, I would not entiely discount the possibility that, if a 3.75 edition is launched (even as just a stop gap) it might prove sufficiently popular to justify continuing in a 3.75 vein even after a 4e SRD and OGL were released. Simply, put - you never know. If a 3.75 edition becomes the thing to do, I'd advise presenting it with the door open to continuing it if it proves sufficiently popular.
As has been noted, 3rd party publishers don't need to succeed to the same dollar level as Wotc to "win." A successful 3.75 edition for 3rd party publishers is on a scale vastly different from a Wotc release to be considered a success. This makes releasing a 3.75 edition less daunting for 3rd party publishers IMV. They can achieve less and still succeed on their terms.
While it is taken as a truism that "as Wotc goes so goes the hobby," that "wisdom" reflects the state of affairs to date. It does not automatically hold true for the future. To be trite, even the mightiest oak begins as a seed. If Wotc has miscalculated in any way with 4e insofar as the public's willingness to support 4e, and there is ample circumstantial evidence of that to this point in all the naysaying/negative or ambivalent reaction to 4e, this only opens wider the opportunity for a 3.75 edition to "grow."
Of course, catalyzing all this is the existing d20 license and OGL. It was made for just such an opportunity. The existing d20 license and OGL allow any 3rd party publisher to more than second guess Wotc's move to 4e. These publishers can attempt to gain a larger piece of the D&D market for themselves with something like a 3.75 edition. That is business.
Is this "wrong?" If successful, would a 3.75 edition "doom" the hobby by spliting the market? Hardly.
The common wisdom is that TSR split its market and doomed itself. Accepting that, it did not doom the hobby. The hobby came roarig back with 3x. If 4e cannot hold its market in the face of a successful 3.75 then 4e does not merit remaining the dominant player in the market. Any split occasioned by a successful 3.75 would reflect some fundamental issue with 4e. Market forces would then take over. Wotc would either correct the problem or it would see 3.75 publishers correct it for them. Either way, the hobby would be well served. The hobby exists not to see Wotc prosper but to see the hobby served, whether that be by Wotc or by some other combination of publishers.
In my gaming life time I have seen games "come out of nowhere" and take gaming by storm. Magic, albeit a CCG, did so. On the roleplaying side, so did Vampire. There is now an opportunity to potentially out-D&D D&D. I think this is something any business should consider and can consider without feeling they would "doom" the hobby by splitting the market if they succeeded. Seeing Wotc as the inevitable once and future king only allows Wotc to get lazy and passes up without inquiry the potential to see the hobby grow.
On that score, growing the hobby, Wotc has hardly been a perfect caretaker, but that is another topic entirely.
Personally, I'd like to see Paizo, Necro, Goodman and Cook take a run at Wotc. Let the market decide, not a sentimental, overfondness for the status quo Wotc. YMMV.
Having read the responses along the line that 4e would be prefered if Wotc can get the 4e SRD and the terms of the 4e OGL or something like them out to 3rd party publishers in a timely manner, I'd have two thoughts.
First, how long is any given 3rd party publisher willing to wait on Wotc to get around to meeting the needs of 3rd party publishers with respect to information on 4e? When will the 3rd party publishers say "We can't reasonably wait any longer and are commiting to produce a 3.75 edition?" Obviously, wait too long and you miss the window of opportunity to release a 3.75 edition by next Gencon.
Second, while understanding and respecting the thought that any 3.75 edition is not seen as a "long term option" at this point, I would not entiely discount the possibility that, if a 3.75 edition is launched (even as just a stop gap) it might prove sufficiently popular to justify continuing in a 3.75 vein even after a 4e SRD and OGL were released. Simply, put - you never know. If a 3.75 edition becomes the thing to do, I'd advise presenting it with the door open to continuing it if it proves sufficiently popular.
As has been noted, 3rd party publishers don't need to succeed to the same dollar level as Wotc to "win." A successful 3.75 edition for 3rd party publishers is on a scale vastly different from a Wotc release to be considered a success. This makes releasing a 3.75 edition less daunting for 3rd party publishers IMV. They can achieve less and still succeed on their terms.
While it is taken as a truism that "as Wotc goes so goes the hobby," that "wisdom" reflects the state of affairs to date. It does not automatically hold true for the future. To be trite, even the mightiest oak begins as a seed. If Wotc has miscalculated in any way with 4e insofar as the public's willingness to support 4e, and there is ample circumstantial evidence of that to this point in all the naysaying/negative or ambivalent reaction to 4e, this only opens wider the opportunity for a 3.75 edition to "grow."
Of course, catalyzing all this is the existing d20 license and OGL. It was made for just such an opportunity. The existing d20 license and OGL allow any 3rd party publisher to more than second guess Wotc's move to 4e. These publishers can attempt to gain a larger piece of the D&D market for themselves with something like a 3.75 edition. That is business.
Is this "wrong?" If successful, would a 3.75 edition "doom" the hobby by spliting the market? Hardly.
The common wisdom is that TSR split its market and doomed itself. Accepting that, it did not doom the hobby. The hobby came roarig back with 3x. If 4e cannot hold its market in the face of a successful 3.75 then 4e does not merit remaining the dominant player in the market. Any split occasioned by a successful 3.75 would reflect some fundamental issue with 4e. Market forces would then take over. Wotc would either correct the problem or it would see 3.75 publishers correct it for them. Either way, the hobby would be well served. The hobby exists not to see Wotc prosper but to see the hobby served, whether that be by Wotc or by some other combination of publishers.
In my gaming life time I have seen games "come out of nowhere" and take gaming by storm. Magic, albeit a CCG, did so. On the roleplaying side, so did Vampire. There is now an opportunity to potentially out-D&D D&D. I think this is something any business should consider and can consider without feeling they would "doom" the hobby by splitting the market if they succeeded. Seeing Wotc as the inevitable once and future king only allows Wotc to get lazy and passes up without inquiry the potential to see the hobby grow.
On that score, growing the hobby, Wotc has hardly been a perfect caretaker, but that is another topic entirely.
Personally, I'd like to see Paizo, Necro, Goodman and Cook take a run at Wotc. Let the market decide, not a sentimental, overfondness for the status quo Wotc. YMMV.
