You guys are forgetting the real market force here: distributors. (though some of the arguments are the same)
Your products dont get to the fans unless the retailers buy them from distributors. Distributors bought d20 at first. But "d20" as a whole was a disaster. Lots of people got stuck with "d20" products. What distributors and retailers learned is taht there are a few companies (regardless of logo) that make products that sell through. That is what a distributor wants. You can make as many freaking logos as you want. If you dont get to put the "official" logo on your product (or in the case of d20, the official non-official logo) distributors are going to be WAY less interested. It doesnt matter if you make the connection with the purchasers. I agree with the posters who said there is only a small chunk of OGL saavy purchasers and they know what it is without the logo. What matters is if you make the connection with the distributors. If there is no logo like the d20 logo for 4E (ie if the d20 license is yanked) then my uneducated (ok, slightly educated) guess is that distributors will have little love for unofficial support. They arent that thrilled about d20. They like Green Ronin and White Wolf and Malhavoc and Necromancer, etc. But we have proven those things as companies, not logos. Sure, we used the logo to get in. But, even having established a track record of sales (we've done over 40 books now I think and only 1 lost money--and it didnt lose much. now if you are a distributor that is a track record you want to jump on) I still dont know how excited distributors will be to carry my stuff if it isnt more official. My guess: When 4E hits, if the best we can do are "OGL" products to support it, I think that means trouble. Not so much from the fans. I mean from the distributors. Clark --- Roger Bert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If 4E is not licensed then you can't brand your OGL > products to D&D or d20 > for that matter. The d20 System Trademark license > and licensees will likely > be rescinded by WOTC. Who are you going to be > branding too? > > Perhaps today a little "OGL" logo means it is > compatible with D&D more or > less for the very few purchasers who know what the > OGL is or even notice the > logo. But this will be meaningless when the logos > disappear from the real > D&D books. > > If your product is not meant to be played with D&D > than using a logo is > really meaningless even now. Gamers want a fun and > useable game and they > could care less if publishers can re-use their > material. Gamers can reuse > anything they want! > > And, to be blunt, most of the publishers are not > re-using material from > other companies. Sure, there has been a little. But > like I said the people > who could reuse the material already know what to > look for. > > There is no need for an OGL logo and this is > especially true if 4E is not > released under the OGL. > > Product branding, artwork, and any logos should > relate to the product (and > publisher) and not to the OGL. > -Roger > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of Steven > Trustrum > Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 8:32 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [Ogf-l] RE: OGL Logos > > > Roger, marketing isn't just about what currently > works under an existing > system but also what can be made to work under a new > framework. If 4e is > released and isn't licensed, alternatives will > become necessary to anyone > looking to continue their OGL lines with any sort of > non-WotC related > branding. That too, is (as you put it), a fact. > > Regards, > > Steven Trustrum > President For Life (or until the money runs > out) > Misfit Studios > > http://www.misfit-studios.com > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 416-857-2433 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Roger Bert > Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 8:24 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Ogf-l] RE: OGL Logos > > I can't believe that everyone is so interested in > someone else's logos and > willing to debate it so much. > > Here is the fact: The only logo that means anything > is the d20 System logo. > > It means something to most D&D players out there. It > means something to them > because Wizards of the Coast spent a lot of > marketing dollars on it and it > is seen on every D&D book. Heck, even all the 3E D&D > player's haven't even > noticed it or care. I mean no offense to anyone but > none of you need an OGL > logo. You would be better served using the time and > money you would spend on > an OGL logo to make your product better. > > The very, very, very few gamers out there that care > about the OGL already > know what to look for. > > Good Gaming. > -Roger > > > _______________________________________________ > Ogf-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l > > _______________________________________________ > Ogf-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l > > > _______________________________________________ > Ogf-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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