> Woodelf wrote: > >Jim Butler wrote: > >To be fair, I understand that there are a small number of gamers that > >only want to see new rules systems; new ways to do things that are > >better than the old ways. But that number of gamers is much smaller by > >comparison, and publishers are looking to where the consumers are right > >now. > > actually, i was thinking of a 3rd sort of gamer which is, i suspect, > much larger than the rules-tinkerers: those who are simply content to > use a good-enough rules system, but don't happen to like D&D/D20. > *those* are the ones for whom, i suspect, D20 has done nothing.
My gut tells me that these rules-tinkerers are either a.) a subset of what I think are those looking for new rules systems, or b.) non-purchasers that have been disenfranchised from any game system. If either of these are true, they're the last people I'd want to try and market my products to. > also, i was intending to contrast not rules-intensive D20 supplements > vs. rules-intensive non-D20 supplements, but rules-intensive > supplements [that just happen to be D20-based] vs. rules-light or > rules-less supplements. because the former are to some degree > dependent on that rules content, requiring me to either ignore that > portion of the content, or understand it well enough to use it as is > or convert it to a system of my choice. and, while the rules content > could be completely superfluous (merely restating in mechanical form > what is also present in the text), i've seen few or no RPG products > where that is the case. even in some of the best supplements of this > sort (the many GURPS setting supplements), i often find that too much > of the material is expressed in terms of mechanics, rather than > narration, which is a frustrating extra step (decoding the foreign > system, before instantiating it in my system of choice). a > supplement created from the gronud up to function without rules, or > to be compatible with a large number of systems (TPO, Central > Casting, just to name a couple) thus tends to be more usable no > matter what system you use (one of the intended ones, or one the > authors' never heard of). I'd say that the reason you don't see more products that are rules-free is because they don't sell. I know that when I go out to buy new gaming products, I'm looking for things I can easily adapt into my game. I'm not looking for something I'm going to have to put a huge amount of work into (because I don't have the time to devote to it). I realize that I'm not our typically consumer, but I know that if time and work wasn't an issue there would be no reason for anyone to buy any manufacturer's product; players and DMs would just create them on their own. Good Gaming! Jim Butler, President Bastion Press, Inc. http://www.bastionpress.com _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
