Reynard
aka Ian Eller
This is sort of a tangent from the "Market Dying" thread, as well as any of the multitude of doomsayer threads that have come up recently. It is purely conjecture on my part, and not intended to posit a belief on my part. Rather, I am curious what others think of it.
Almost everyone is saying that d20 products aren't doing so hot, and it seems that what they are referring to is "D&D support" d20 products. Mongoose got on and said they are doing very well with their other lines, OGL and otherwise, and some others have suggested the same. It got me to thinking about the relationship between D&D and the d20 market.
When 3.0 first came out and the d20 market exploded, WotC was putting a great deal of energy into supporting the new game with the supplements from all the old games. What i mean is, Manual of the Planes, Fiend Folio, Dieties and Demigods, FR products and Oriental Adventures. There were a number of years there when it seemed that WotC was simply re-producing 'classic' sourcebooks. At the same time, d20 settings and rules expansions and adventures were flying like monkey turds at the zoo. Near as I can tell, this was good for everyone except maybe the retailers near the end, when all the product got tossed in the $5 bin.
A lot of people point to 3.5 as the dividing line between a successful d20 market and an unsuccessful one. I am not sure whether it is as cut and dry as that, but let's assume it was at least a benchmark. One thing that hurt was back compatibility, certainly, but there is another issue. Version 3.5 wasn't followed by 3.5 versions of all those old books again (thankfully). Instead, it seems to be the point at which WotC started created "new" D&D producs (minus the race/class books -- though there was plenty of new material, even for 3.x, in those books). The environment series, the monster specific books, Eberron, and stuff like Heroes of Battle started coming out. in the near future we have Magic of the Incarnum and the PHB II, plus WotC jumping back into adventures and expanding their Races line to include even more esoteric stuff.
So, what i am thinking is that for a long time, people went to d20 companies to support D&D, precisely because WotC was busy re-imagining the classics for the new edition. Now that that is finished and WotC is looking forward, both in terms of 'fluff' and in terms of rules, d20 publishers are suffering. Because, i think, given their druthers, D&D players would rather have 'official' material if given a choice. Now they have a choice.
Thought?
Almost everyone is saying that d20 products aren't doing so hot, and it seems that what they are referring to is "D&D support" d20 products. Mongoose got on and said they are doing very well with their other lines, OGL and otherwise, and some others have suggested the same. It got me to thinking about the relationship between D&D and the d20 market.
When 3.0 first came out and the d20 market exploded, WotC was putting a great deal of energy into supporting the new game with the supplements from all the old games. What i mean is, Manual of the Planes, Fiend Folio, Dieties and Demigods, FR products and Oriental Adventures. There were a number of years there when it seemed that WotC was simply re-producing 'classic' sourcebooks. At the same time, d20 settings and rules expansions and adventures were flying like monkey turds at the zoo. Near as I can tell, this was good for everyone except maybe the retailers near the end, when all the product got tossed in the $5 bin.
A lot of people point to 3.5 as the dividing line between a successful d20 market and an unsuccessful one. I am not sure whether it is as cut and dry as that, but let's assume it was at least a benchmark. One thing that hurt was back compatibility, certainly, but there is another issue. Version 3.5 wasn't followed by 3.5 versions of all those old books again (thankfully). Instead, it seems to be the point at which WotC started created "new" D&D producs (minus the race/class books -- though there was plenty of new material, even for 3.x, in those books). The environment series, the monster specific books, Eberron, and stuff like Heroes of Battle started coming out. in the near future we have Magic of the Incarnum and the PHB II, plus WotC jumping back into adventures and expanding their Races line to include even more esoteric stuff.
So, what i am thinking is that for a long time, people went to d20 companies to support D&D, precisely because WotC was busy re-imagining the classics for the new edition. Now that that is finished and WotC is looking forward, both in terms of 'fluff' and in terms of rules, d20 publishers are suffering. Because, i think, given their druthers, D&D players would rather have 'official' material if given a choice. Now they have a choice.
Thought?
) and there doesn't seem to be room for any but the most well-written modules, or ones that cater to a certain audience (such as Necromancer Games 'Third edition rules, First edition feel').
