[Open_Gaming] Source of games?

[Githianki]

>ME: Many games exist because at some point the market demanded it. >RYAN: I disagree. >Many games exist because the company that controlled the most popular system >aggressively tried to stymie any attempt to use it without a license, and >they didn't grant licenses. � And once that pattern was established, it >became the norm, so that the market continued to divide and subdivide, with >each publisher staking out a portion of the rules continuum and then >defending it against encroachment. >The current RPG market is a direct result of the >unnatural< actions of TSR, >then most of the companies that followed it, not the natural actions of the >desires of consumers being fulfilled by unrestrained providers. I can't believe you think that most RPG systems exist because people couldn't get licensed access to D&D.  There are plenty of systems which exist not only to cover different genres, but also because many people were dissatisfied with the mechanics of D&D.  The fact that they had any market success at all is because consumers were willing to purchase them; because they wanted them.  You can say that people would have rather had each genre in the D&D system but that ignores the fact that TSR released many genres (Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, etc.) using the same basic system but other games continued to be made and bought.   Somehow, I get the feeling that you think a publisher tries to stake out a piece of market first then design a system around it (thereby being forced to create a new system if they can't use one on the market already).  Maybe Wizards has worked this way, but I think plenty of companies evolve a system from a setting or just a way of playing (rules style) that they prefer.  Most RPG game companies started out small. A large established publisher may think in market capture terms but many games and small publishers start out from a different perspective in the design process.  d20 may be the end-all-and-be-all now, but D&D  sure as hell wasn't back when the market was being fragmented. Now, the litigious nature of the industry may have arisen from the factors you mention, but the very dictum of creating new things to explore and enjoy better explains the diversity of the industry.  Industry exists because of D& D=yes.  Industry only diverse because of D&D=no. The OGL may solve a lot of the problems we all face (publishers and players alike) but ignoring the idea that there are people who want some diversity in systems doesn't help.  The OGL shouldn't just be about d20, and the idea that the OGL will eliminate all other systems by opening access to the d20 system is just wrong.  While d20 will help the OGL become established, ultimately the success of the OGL must be independent of d20 because ultimately d20 is not the perfect system. -Alex Silva