The Economics of Open Gaming - An Open Letter To WotC

[mxyzplk]

So what does Wizards' continued silence on this issue mean? Not good, IMO.

 

[DaveMage]

So what does Wizards' continued silence on this issue mean? Not good, IMO.

It probably means:

“We’re still vetting our final policy regarding open gaming. As soon as that process is complete, we’ll make an official announcement. Stay tuned for more information.”

 

[Yair]

It probably means:

“We’re still vetting our final policy regarding open gaming. As soon as that process is complete, we’ll make an official announcement. Stay tuned for more information.”

LOL

 

[Lizard]

So what does Wizards' continued silence on this issue mean? Not good, IMO.

At this point, there is absolutely no point to an 'early release' of the material. I suspect the announcement will be that there will be no 'early adopter' clause, and the GSL will be made public with the release of 4e, and commercial products will be allowed in 1/2009, or even immediately, depending.

If there's going to be a GSL at all.

About the dumbest thing they could do would be something like 'You can still pay us 5 grand and publish before 1/09'. Even dumber would be 'Pay us 5 grand and you can publish now, everyone else can start on 6/09' or the like. OTOH, with only two companies so far committing to 4e, it would be worth it for those two to have the market to themselves for a year, so WOTC might actually get some takers. OTOOH, if there's a perceived value in paying to get in early, more companies will do so, and each company which does so reduces the value of being early, leading to a classic tragedy of the commons. It's all rather interesting.

 

[lurkinglidda]

You realize, I don't think there's a single person on here who understands what you mean by that.

I do.

 

[Ydars]

At last; WoTC return to us after April Fool's Day!

You must be bemused and amused by all this GSL related talk Lidda?

 

[xechnao]

At last; WoTC return to us after April Fool's Day!

You must be bemused and amused by all this GSL related talk Lidda?

Why? - are you?

 

[catsclaw]

You realize, I don't think there's a single person on here who understands what you mean by that.

I do.

Can you explain it to me?

I understand we're talking about the cycle of gamers who leave D&D for a different system then return to it. I've no idea what "offer and demand" means; I think it's something to do with supply and demand. And "smoothly ridden and fully acknowledged" is just beyond me. Are they economic terms of art? Legal terms of art?

If I had to make a stab at it, I'd say it means if gamers stop playing d20 games and then return too quickly, producers will not be able to supply the unanticipated demand, leading to market inefficiencies. Which is debatable, but makes sense.

 

[Dragon Snack]

You must be bemused and amused by all this GSL related talk Lidda?

Why? - are you?

I actually am kind of amused by it - but I don't have a horse in the race. It's not really schadenfreude, but it is rather like watching a car wreck.

I imagine however, that Linae is probably chafing under an NDA, rather than being amused...

 

[Ydars]

I guess I am Xechnao. I helped to start some of it, but I hope you understand that I was doing so because I believe having no GSL would be a serious mistake and could threaten the future of D&D.

You, I know, do not agree with me, but I hope you will understand that at some level we are the same; we both care about the future of the game. We just differ in our beliefs about what is best.