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<blockquote data-quote="Hammerhead" data-source="post: 5435861" data-attributes="member: 73">It sounds like the writer of TechDirt wants content for free. Understandable, of course, but I don't pretend that giving me stuff for free is going to be in many companies' best interests. Especially when the company in question is the dominant player in the industry (the 'give away' stuff strategy tends to be most effective as a new, relatively unknown entrant, or when you have no other choice). For example, making DDO Free to Play was a great move, because no one was paying for it anyway; making WoW free would be terrible, and cost Blizzard millions of dollars in subscriptions a month. I may not be a D&amp;D subscriber myself, but it does seem to be a pretty good deal to me. And regarding Paizo, I would disagree with a few of your assertions about the company. Yes, they certainly listen to their fans and respond appropriately, but innovative risk-takers? Their main rules line involved tweaking an already existing system of someone else's design, in reaction to complaints about the changes of 4th edition. Essentially, changing just enough to justify a switch, while not offending the fans of 3.X. Definitely smart, but they don't exactly win innovator of the year for me. 4th edition, by comparison, attempts far more mechanical changes by balancing each class on an identical power framework. Whether or not WotC succeeded in creating a better, more enjoyable game I leave to personal taste, but it seems to me that 4e has more ambitious, creative design regardless of its quality.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hammerhead, post: 5435861, member: 73"] It sounds like the writer of TechDirt wants content for free. Understandable, of course, but I don't pretend that giving me stuff for free is going to be in many companies' best interests. Especially when the company in question is the dominant player in the industry (the 'give away' stuff strategy tends to be most effective as a new, relatively unknown entrant, or when you have no other choice). For example, making DDO Free to Play was a great move, because no one was paying for it anyway; making WoW free would be terrible, and cost Blizzard millions of dollars in subscriptions a month. I may not be a D&D subscriber myself, but it does seem to be a pretty good deal to me. And regarding Paizo, I would disagree with a few of your assertions about the company. Yes, they certainly listen to their fans and respond appropriately, but innovative risk-takers? Their main rules line involved tweaking an already existing system of someone else's design, in reaction to complaints about the changes of 4th edition. Essentially, changing just enough to justify a switch, while not offending the fans of 3.X. Definitely smart, but they don't exactly win innovator of the year for me. 4th edition, by comparison, attempts far more mechanical changes by balancing each class on an identical power framework. Whether or not WotC succeeded in creating a better, more enjoyable game I leave to personal taste, but it seems to me that 4e has more ambitious, creative design regardless of its quality. [/QUOTE]

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