Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cbas10" data-source="post: 1241001" data-attributes="member: 6459">from Psion:I would have said something very much like this, but Psion expressed it very well.  The large variety of d20/OGL books out there does not bother me.  It might create a problem among the segment of the market that buys gaming items on impulse (of which there is a lot of in my area), but for most of the guys I game with, the huge variety barely affects us at all - positively or negatively.Part of the problem with the massive number of people trying to get published is the fact that the majority of local gaming stores simply cannot have enough of every book available.  We COULD, but it would drive most of us to the poor-house before the next Christmas Season.  At least 90% of all d20/OGL products that we have gotten in have either (a) been dramatically discounted so taxes do not have to be paid on the inventory (b) continued to sit and collect dust or (c) been given away as promotional material.  D&D is not a small-time game around here; it sells well and is the highest seller in the store.  Most of the gamers here are either full-time students, professionals, or normal wage-slaves with families like the rest of us.  None of us have the time nor inclination to create settings or adapt material to the ones we use.  This all leads me to what my gamers - those in my area - want: Quality Story Material.The biggest strength of the 3.0/3.5 D&D/d20/OGL concept is the fact that we can have a pool of 30+ players in about a dozen games happening throught any given week at the game store.  Aside from a few aspects of DM style and a VERY RARE house rule or two, we can all play and relax, knowing we have the rules and books necessary for whatever game we want to run or play in.  The rules are all the same; we are not rules-lawyers, but we don't want to take even more time away from our wives and kids by learning ANOTHER system or ANOTHER set of feats or ANOTHER group of classes and prestige classes..etc...etc.....etc.  We want story, we want something we can identify with, and we want content that is genuinely interesting to read and "take part in."  Any monkey with a finger up his but and some toilet paper to write on can devise new feats, spells, classes, magic items, etc.  Who cares?  The only way that any company will CONTINUE to sell anything is to have a great story or a great source of inspiration for players that they can absorb and run with.The most anticipated books this year (aside from Forgotten Realms titles; they don't count, as they have their own build-in fanbase) around here have been the new white-cover Player's Guide Series by Sword and Sorcery.  These books came through and fulfilled every expectation; they are easily the best books out there this year.  At least a half to two-thirds of each of these books gives the reader the inspiration I was referring to: WHO is your character, WHAT group does he belong to, HOW does that group affect your character, WHERE does your character belong in the world and among his peers, and WHEN does your character make that transition from drawing upon the material's inspiration to contributing to the material's inspiration.  Sure, there are a few feats and classes to back up the background and setting, but it is obvious that those rules are pointless and worthless without the setting and story to support it.All of THIS is what will make or break a d20/OGL publisher.  Even WotC will have to follow this rule.  Right after releasing Draconomicon and setting the standard of quality even higher than before, they release "Complete Warrior."  Only when the next generation of gamers flows in (who do not have access to Sword and Fist and that line) will this book even begin to possibly sell very well.  Sure, only 20% of it is actually reprinted material, but I was hard pressed to find ANYTHING that was not something previously done or mentioned in a book or Dragon Magazine and re-hashed for 3.5.In short (I could have said this long ago to save you readers some time), the successful books will be the ones that keep the ROLE-players in mind, not the number-crunchers.  We don't need crazy new concepts and really freakin bizarre game settings to refresh things; we want good ideas to expand upon solid basic concepts.</blockquote>

Verification