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Message: <blockquote data-quote="johnsemlak" data-source="post: 777743" data-attributes="member: 7233">RE the 'official' vs third party questionSeveral people in this thread have criticized others for not giving third party stuff a look, saying that they are missing out on some very good material by not considering 3rd party stuff.That is a valid point, but I don't think people or consumers should be blamed for not bothering to look at certain products.  It is the responsibility of all companies to sell their products, and I think that includes third party publishers.There are many good reasons why some poeple (including people I game with) don't bother with 3rd party material:  They don't know about it; some of it is shotty material; it often has lower presentation standards (illustrations, layout, etc); the authors are less known; and perhaps most imporantly, they are less available than WotC products.Example:  Many people have give Monsternomicon as an example of a third party product that is as good as WotC's stuff.  That may be true, but I haven't been able to find a copy.  I can't find one where I live (I can get WotC stuff easily, OTOH) and when I went home for xmas I didn't see any at several bookshops I checked.  You can't blame people for not buying Monsternomicon if they can't find it.All of us have limited resourses of time and money we're willing to devote to D&D.  Many people probably buy the core books and nothing else save a few supplements.  Any third party product is always going to be an 'extra' expense, so poeple are going to think very carefully about it.  Also, many people are not willing to take time to read reviews and newssites to familiariize themselves with the whole myriad of 3rd party publishing.  Again, I don't blame them.  WotC publishes good stuff (generally), so it's easier to stick with them if they buy non-essential products.Again, I return to my main point--don't blame others for not looking at 3rd party stuff.  It's the responsibility of those companies to market and sell their products.</blockquote>

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