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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rothe" data-source="post: 3305059" data-attributes="member: 39813">I feel for those guys.  Even if they could make the a leap in game design it is probably a bad business decision. D&D has a huge installed base and has set certain expectations of what an RPG "needs" mainly because that is all that most people have seen.I liken making a great game to software.  People in the software field seem to rave about Firefox (spelling?) and other browsers, but the vast majority still use InternetExplorer despite it's many documented problems.  Microsoft may not make "the best" software but it works well enough for enough of what peole want to do.  The barrier to change is just too high, despite assurances that a Mac, for example, can now run most or all Windows programs.  People have invested into a certain game mechanic for RPGs and the barrier to conversion is just to high, even if spelled out.  It doesn't help/hurt, that a huge amount of material is published for d20.  To me, this is very similar to the Mircosoft business strategy circle..software-feeds-operating system-feeds-software-feeds operating system-repeat.  Except with d20 its..mechanics-feeds-supplements-feeds mechanics-feeds supplements, repeat.  The very mechanism that created this, the OGL, is even analogous to the PC clone route that let Microsoft crush Apple.So I can see the "hate" for d20 that creative game designers may have, it has basically foreclosed the market for alternative core mechanics as a valid business decision.  Its the same "hate" many Mac proponents had for Microsoft (or maybe still ahve) before the iPod saved the company.  Personally, I have a love/disappointment relationship with d20.  I love that it seems to have revitalized the industry and found a great way to let everyone contribute to the game while still having a means to control core quality.  The dissapointment is that it does create a barrier to other core mechanics to be introduced and flourish, a barrier that has nothing to do with quality.  In WOTC case I doubt it was an intended consequence.</blockquote>

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