Who is the Leader among D20 companies?

[BButler]

Lately, I've been most impressed with Alderac. The Rokugan setting was very good, as were the supplements for the setting. Spycraft is IMHO the most innovative use of the D20 system yet, and, from what I undersand, the core book is selling like hotcakes.

Sure, their generic medieval fantasy stuff has been hit-or-miss, but their other D20 stuff has been quite good.

WOTC, of course, is the "leader." They developed 3e and the OGL, for goodness sake.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

I agree that Wizards is the current leader but the quality and originality of other companies have greatly improved. wizards seems to have stagnated when it comes to original content. do you think wizards would still be the leader in 3-5 years?

 

[Davelozzi]

I think Wizards will continue to hold the market share but I think some of the more interesting products are coming from AEG.

 

[Patrick-S&S]

I agree that Wizards is the current leader but the quality and originality of other companies have greatly improved. wizards seems to have stagnated when it comes to original content. do you think wizards would still be the leader in 3-5 years?

Phew... 3-5 years is a long time ahead in this industry IIRC. I suspect that in 5 years the current hype will have stagnated and become a less popular hobby. The on-line RPGs will probably have bursted leaving the pen and paper industry in the back burner as it was only a few years ago before d20 (at least fantasy). If WotC will be one of the top dons remains to be seen. I suspect the winner will be those who combine both elements, electronic and P&P.

 

[Nikchick]

D'oh! Too bad your poll came up now, instead of six months from now. GR has some really awesome, unusual, and (imho) innovative stuff on the horizon (most of which I can't even talk about yet). Without tooting my own horn quite as loudly as KDLadage I fully expect to be seeing folks' opinions of GR steadily improving over the next year or so.

Ah well, I can wait a few extra months until some of our plans come to fruition.

Nicole

 

[Nightfall]

Don't worry Nik I know the worth of a GR product. There's VERY few that I don't already have and/or don't own.

I'm just a little shocked that Wizards is considered d20. Sure they did some stuff with WoT and Star Wars...but I don't ACTUALLY see that as being better than say...Spycraft.

I'm not going to give my spiel about S&SS being the largest or having the most diverse...but I will say I like S&SS campaign setting AND the fact they've done well with Ravenloft. Green Ronin though is STILL a great favorite of mine.

 

[chatdemon]

I'm a big fan of Alderac (Spycraft kicks ass) and Sword & Sorcery (R&R and the CCs are solid books despite some mechanical glitches in the game balance, easily corrected though).

BUT...

Green Ronin is hands down the best D20 out there right now.

Legions of Hell - Excellent
Armies of the Abyss - Excellent
The Freeport adventures - very good
Freeport itself - very frikkin excellent, perhaps perfection incarnate in a gaming book
Arcana: Socieites of Magic : very good, lots of plot hooks and adventure ideas.
Shaman : very good, from my first impression, havent given it a thorough read yet

Ok, so GR's oriental monster book (Jade ghosts? something like that?) was a bit lacking, but hey, one stinker in a catalog of otherwise excellent material is perfectly excusable.

WotC, well, nothing they've done for 3e has really impressed me all that much, excepting the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, which is right up there with Freeport in quality IMO, but I am a diehard Greyhawk fan, so there may be a bias. None of their stuff is truly bad, but nothing has yet to stand out as incredible.

 

[Psion]

D'oh! Too bad your poll came up now, instead of six months from now.

Heck, I voted for GR now!

That said, I definetely think AEG is getting up there. And SWRCR is very sweet; although I am not impressed with WotC's recent D&D stuff I still rate them pretty highly. I also rate SS&S and Necro pretty highly for keeping quality high and costs low in an age where ever other publisher seems to be clamoring for higher prices, but I really wish SS&S would get more of their yummy sourcebooks out the door.

 

[JeffB]

I voted for Kenzer just getting the edge on SSS (though Necromancer should probably be lumped into that category as well).

IMO Kenzer really has their finger on what gamers are like and do like.

I also think that they have the highest production values for price (better than WOTC AFAIC)

They offer the most bang for the buck. Their modules are really a bargain for the amount of material you can get out of them. The Living Kalamar book was 12.99 or such for 64 pages. HBG from WOC is 14.99 or so with the same page count, worse artwork, and less useful information. The Kalamar Players guide is packed with info, including some very useful things like official feat lists (and where to find them), and Spell worksheets for a 30.00 hardcover. Yes it's B&W, but the layout is easier on the eyes and the art is better (IMO) than the full color 3E PHB (which is now the same price). I just can't stand paying 30 bucks for a book tthat I can't stand to look at (those lines..UGH) or find anything in, but I don't mind paying a bit extra for something that's easy to use and easy on the eyes. (I must say though that Necromancer and SSS are just as good in the issue of most bang for the buck)

Due to their contractual issues I suspect, they also have the best grasp of the 3E rules (which is something I don't care about, but it seems many reviews on this site, and others knock any company that doesn't follow the rules to a "T").

There is very little eratta/proofreading probelms for their products (picked up the new Pekal Gaz last night, and only noticed one typo in the whole book).

As a DM, I find their products more useful than many otther d20 companies, and far away better than WOTC..

But that's me...

 

[chatdemon]

D'oh! Too bad your poll came up now, instead of six months from now. GR has some really awesome, unusual, and (imho) innovative stuff on the horizon (most of which I can't even talk about yet). Without tooting my own horn quite as loudly as KDLadage I fully expect to be seeing folks' opinions of GR steadily improving over the next year or so.

Heh
As you can tell from my previous post, yall already have at least one loyal fan right here.
I'm especially interested in seeing more collaborations between Chris P. and Erik Mona. Their work (along with the others involved) on LoH and AotA is top notch.
I can't say I'm a big fan of race handbooks, but GR has earned a high enough repuation with me that I'll check them out anyway as they are released. The cooperative OGC thing is also intriguing.
Keep up the good work, you guys do kick ass.