Will 3rd Party (now "4th" party) Companies Thrive like in 3.x OGL?

[Thornir Alekeg]

It seems that there was a huge revival of 3rd party stuff with 3.x. Will this happen again with 4e?

Projections?

jh
BTW, I'm hereby introducing the term "4th Party Products" in honor of 4th edition./

Some will fill gaps, some will convert their 3e stuff, some will put a different spin on the new rules, and some will create new "points of light."

Some will stink worse than a troglodyte, some others will be gems.

Some gamers will refuse to use them for not being "official," others will swear by them as better than anything WotC can do.

As long as there is a viable 4e market, and an OGL for publishers to use, there will be "4th party" publishers. How successful they are, and if there is a glut of new ones like we saw early in 3e, remains to be seen.

 

[dmccoy1693]

We know WotC's going to be doing adventures. So is Goodman. Necro says they'll be releasing a free adventure. Paizo wants to go 4E ASAP.

A 3rd ed feel company could give it a try. If they develop their own magic system based on 3rd ed, but will it balanced? Not as well as 3rd ed's. Will everyone agree that the 20 level spread of spells now will be appropriately spread over 30 levels? No. Can someone come up with the missing races and classes book? Yes, but it'll be invalidated by WotC's in a year or two, and they'll look like they produced unbalanced material or material that's not appropriately inline with enough with 4E's classes.

Without a d20 licence, is there any way to quickly identify Joe Schmoe's RPG products as being compatable with what WotC put's out? Probably not. So will you see a flood of new RPG companies around 4E's launch, probably not.

 

[Tharkun]

I hope that there are some Fourth edition versions of OGL games out currently as I would buy at least one copy to show support for the company of my favored game line.

 

[Melan]

It seems that there was a huge revival of 3rd party stuff with 3.x. Will this happen again with 4e?

No, because the market is much more cautious now. Getting into distribution is like swimming uphill, even for established publishers. Most upstarts will have no chance, period. The magical opportunity of "making it in the game biz" is gone, gone, gone. Also, WotC will occupy niches it had previously neglected.

3rd party products will exist, but not on the same profile as they used to. They will also be squeezed out of the strongly emphasized and more prominent electronic market. I just can't see WotC opening those doors before its competitors. Lastly, the "culture" of the game will be - is already - more suspicious of alternatives; today, Wizards isn't just selling its products, it is selling the idea that these products contain some magical quality of "game design" that imitators can't provide. They are already pretty successful in this area, too.

The future is Official.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Wizards isn't just selling its products, it is selling the idea that these products contain some magical quality of "game design" that imitators can't provide. They are already pretty successful in this area, too.

That's called a successful marketting campaign.

 

[Psion]

Yeah, but once the "official" version is out, the value of the 3rd party product most-likely would drop.

Maybe.

I don't know about anyone else, but when WotC got around to reprinting many of the creatures from the ToH, I preferred the ToH versions. (Cambion, anyone?)

 

[The Little Raven]

They better publish fast then, before gnomes, halforcs, extra "core" monsters, and classes which didn't make the PHB get published by WOTC.

I don't see how they'll beat the MM1 to print, as it's the book that contains gnomes and probably half-orcs as well.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Possibly not this year and if not this year it may be too late.

Failure by WoTC to get the SRD out to appropriate parties in time to make Gen Con is a huge deal for those companies that use the book trade.

And if you can't make Gen Con... well, it's the biggest convention so I don't see a lot of companies bending over backwards after Gen Con to try and get things straightened out.

I think it'll be more like business as usual unless WoTC creates a d20 seperate license that allows 'trusted' companies to use the D&D logo.

 

[Scribble]

I also don't like the idea that 3rd party publishers will only exist to "fill in the holes" the new system is already perceived to have. Or just rehashing their past successes. The 4E independent publisher that will be the most interesting in my eyes will be the ones that take a look at the new edition, and realize what new places they could take us to. I think there's going to be plenty of "extensibility" in the new edition for some really talented and imaginative designers to shine, without trying to appeal the limited audience of those that only grudgingly came to the new edition, or not at all.

Personally I think the ones that are successful, will be the ones that cater to both avenues. Release products showcasing what a creative mind can do with the new rules. Also release rules that "fill in the gaps" left when the change over occurs, but do so in a way that again uses the new system to best effect.

 

[catsclaw227]

Possibly not this year and if not this year it may be too late.

Failure by WoTC to get the SRD out to appropriate parties in time to make Gen Con is a huge deal for those companies that use the book trade.

And if you can't make Gen Con... well, it's the biggest convention so I don't see a lot of companies bending over backwards after Gen Con to try and get things straightened out.

From what I understand from Clark Peterson and Erik Mona, they don't need the full SRD, they just need the current ruleset. If I recall correctly, the 3.0 SRD didn't come out until after the launch of the PH.

I think it'll be more like business as usual unless WoTC creates a d20 seperate license that allows 'trusted' companies to use the D&D logo.

How is this business as usual?