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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Orcus" data-source="post: 4098171" data-attributes="member: 1254">I hear you. I wish the process was more transparent and open, too. I liked that about Ryan and the 3E process. But the bottom line is trust. Sure, it is easier to trust when you have a discussion list and frequent updates. You feel more in the loop. But we shure took a big chance with the way the 3E licenses worked out. I dont see the risk being much different here. Its just that there is less of a "loop." So it doesnt feel as good. Again, that is a side effect of Ryan. Open Gaming was his baby. Literally. And that was how he treated it. But that said, I trust Scott and Linae too. I think they are nice. I think they genuinely want this to happen and are doing everything in their power to make it happen (even if the process is a bit more "secret squirrel" than anyone wants). But I also think we have the almight dollar on our side. And when I am unsure what someone might do, I generally ask myself "if I was them, what would be in my financial best interest?" The answer there is clearly--help third party publishers support 4E. I think WotC knows the impact third party publishers have and I think they know it would be stupid not to have us help them. All you have to do is read the boards to see it. They've seen it. I know it. The people who said "we wouldnt have ever played 3E if it wasnt for Necromancer," and the "if Paizo or Necro go 4E, I will to." Its not hard to miss. Sure, 4E wants to hit new players, but NO ONE in business (that stays in business) tries to hit an uncertain new market and give up on their existing market. That is suicide. They want their current customers to come along. They also know that there is not the same NEED for 4E that there was for 3E. The game was, in my view, crying out for an update when 3E came along. That isnt true this time. Frankly, I think they know that we will be very helpful in bringing current players over to 4E. It strikes me that the critical time for that is launch. I dont think they want "4E launches, two thirds of current D&D players dont care" as a head line. So I think they have a clear business interest in helping us help them. My worry is some short-sighted suit thinks that third party publishers cut into WotC sales. But anyone who was actually around for 3E launch knows that is bull (of course, one problem is that there are too many people involved with 4E that werent around for 3E launch). You were there. You know. If you remember, we pulled quite the coup. SSS BEAT WOTC TO MARKET with a monster book. Our Creature Collection was on the shelves a month before the official monster manual!!!! And guess what, WotC didnt sell ONE FEWER Monster Manuals as a result. In fact, it energized gamers and helped with the adoption of 3E. Despite the rumors that WotC didnt like it, Ryan Dancey paraded the book around the WotC office and heralded it as a sign that open gaming was working--and he was right! Think about it--D&D competes with other game systems and companies (they dont compete with me and Green Ronin and guys like that, they own us). Yet, with open gaming, here was White Wolf--the second largest company and one of WotC's main industry competitors--selling a monster book that supported D&D! Ryan had competing companies making products to help support and increase his own companie's market share. Genius. Total genius. Of course, morons could say "hey that was a book we could have made and money we could have made." No it wasnt. If it was, you would have made it. So in my view, there always has been and there remains a strong business reason to get us supporting 4E ASAP. I think WotC knows that--I'm pretty convinced Scott and Linae get it, since I've talked about it with Scott personally. So in the end, even if it isnt as transparent as I would like it, I believe firmly that we will be allowed to support 4E in a meaningful way, and very soon.</blockquote>

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