>How do you derive "All game publishers are inferior to WOTC" from "Random
>individual, apparently unconnected with a gaming company and with no stated
>game design experience, who wants to start with the D20 SRD and produce a
>better game in the same genre as D&D, targetting the same market, but with
>higher quality and lower cost"?
>
Random individual gives his background: I recently designed a miniature wargame, Modern Spearhead, which sold out of its entire initial print run and is now in its second printing. This is my third published design work. I have also produced three separate computer game titles, coordinating artwork, programming, and storyline. And I am CEO for an online computer game company whose stated goal is to use digital distribution to topple the retail boxopoly... So, you will forgive me if, when I see a $20 retail boxed RPG, I think "I could do this better, or less."
Further, one of the reasons I think competitors to WOTC could produce a game that's the same as D&D but with lower cost is for the same reason that generic drug manufacturers can produce cheaper drugs than prescription drug manufacturer's, i.e. they don't have to absorb the entire cost of production because for them the item is a commodity, so they can price solely on marginal cost. For digital distribution, marginal cost is close to zero (and check out the demographics on how wired gamers are before you say that d.d. is no threat to retail). Even for retail, the imitator has an advantage in cost structure because they don't have to employ a team of editors, playtesters, writers, etc.
If you reply that, no, no, D20SRD will just be a bare bones and you'll have to produce all the 'content' from scratch (classes, races, monsters, spells, magic items), then I will return to my original position, which is that D20SRD would be no big benefit to the gaming community at all. Having designed many games, I know that the system is the easy part, and its not that hard to come up with new ways to roll dice. Its been done a dozen times since D&D came out and I daresay that many of those systems are superior to D&D. But coming out with something that has the depth of D&D, now that's something special, which is why I want to know how much of D&D will be OGLed under D20SRD.
I feel trapped in an endless argument loop... aaaahhh.....
Alexander P. Macris
WarCry Corp. -- Chief Executive Officer
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tele: 617.354.7843
Cell: 617.515.6934
Fax: 253.423.6181
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