> I'm taking your "them" as in everyone involved (fansites, small
> companies, big companies, etc.). Quality versus quantity. Its true that
> you can find a ton of info on D&D through many fan websites, but how
> much of that info would be free if they could sell it? Another thing to
> keep in mind is that fansites are simply that. The are just fansites.
> They don't have an art department or an editing department and they
> aren't concerned with releasing products for sale. A professionalesque
> company (I use the term loosely here, because we are not established
> IMO) can provide high quality that is made to supplement D&D the way it
> should be.
Just a comment here. While I agree that the quality factor of most
fansites isn't all that high, the general consensus of this thread
seems to be that the d20 material produced for sale will be of high
quality just by the nature of its being "for sale". I've seen a lot
of small press material (and most "d20 companies" are likely going
to be small press*), and for every good book/supplement/game out there,
there is a crappy one, either in presentation, content, or both. Just
because someone puts out a shingle that says "d20 Publisher" doesn't
mean that they are automatically going to be producing top-notch stuff.
I realize that producing commercial material requires more time, money,
and resources than a fan site on Xoom or Geocities. And I also realize
that the effort involved would *likely* result in higher quality due
to that effort. But let's not delude ourselves into thinking that
"commercial=high quality". I've already seen a couple of places that
are going to produce d20 material for sale that I have little faith will
actually be worth looking at (by the same token, I've seen a few that
look good so far - though the end result remains to be seen in all
cases).
Bruce Gulke
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
* This isn't meant as a slam to the little guys, or an implication that
only good material comes from the big companies; I'm just saying that
the new publishers focusing on d20 will primarily be small...
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