Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What a small industry 5e publishing really is, and WOTC are thieves.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 8595866" data-attributes="member: 6988941"><p>I strongly suspect that the Forgotten Realms would not have been worth much of anything as an IP but for its use in Dungeons and Dragons. Rather generic fantasy settings (which is what it is, that's what I like about it for the record) are a dime a dozen, and TSR would not have invested heavily in one they didn't own outright when they easily could have just used another of the ones they owned outright (so even some sort of ongoing royalties arrangement was not realistically in the cards).</p><p></p><p>If Greenwood was an exceptionally talented author or the owner of his own popular rpg, or computer game, or other product in need of a fantasy setting he might have been able to turn a rather bog-standard fantasy setting into something he himself could see more substantial profits off of. But I think in the scenario where he, as the person he is, held on to his IP he would have maybe sold a few obscure fantasy novels.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile by selling out Greenwood has gotten a prominence, prestige, and at least some degree of employment over the years. I just don't see the realistic scenario where that particular person held on to that particular IP and it worked out the same or better. I'm sure the rights holders could have been a bit nicer to him over the years, but he's hardly been a victim.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Benjamin Olson, post: 8595866, member: 6988941"] I strongly suspect that the Forgotten Realms would not have been worth much of anything as an IP but for its use in Dungeons and Dragons. Rather generic fantasy settings (which is what it is, that's what I like about it for the record) are a dime a dozen, and TSR would not have invested heavily in one they didn't own outright when they easily could have just used another of the ones they owned outright (so even some sort of ongoing royalties arrangement was not realistically in the cards). If Greenwood was an exceptionally talented author or the owner of his own popular rpg, or computer game, or other product in need of a fantasy setting he might have been able to turn a rather bog-standard fantasy setting into something he himself could see more substantial profits off of. But I think in the scenario where he, as the person he is, held on to his IP he would have maybe sold a few obscure fantasy novels. Meanwhile by selling out Greenwood has gotten a prominence, prestige, and at least some degree of employment over the years. I just don't see the realistic scenario where that particular person held on to that particular IP and it worked out the same or better. I'm sure the rights holders could have been a bit nicer to him over the years, but he's hardly been a victim. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What a small industry 5e publishing really is, and WOTC are thieves.
Top