[WW] [monumentally OT] How to make the D20 system better

["J. H. Frank" <frankjoh@pilot.msu.edu>]

> The problem as I see it is that Hasbro is in it only for the money.

Maybe, but the D20 System and D&D brand are run by WotC.  And WotC is made
of all sorts of people.  Some of them may be in it for the bottom line, yes,
but true money-grubbing is rare in the gaming industry.  In fact, the same
motivations move people at WotC as those that move people at PEG- the
motivation to do well in the industry, and the motivation to not starve to
death while trying.  Granted, WotC people probably eat better than Shane and
Co.  :)

>  In
> their feeble minds, they figure that if you have to buy their stuff to
> play other games, then you will buy their stuff.  What they fail to
> realize is that the average gamer is on a limited budget, and the more
> expensive a game is, the less likely they are to buy it.

I'm pretty sure someone at WotC /may/ have thought of that.  Never can tell,
I guess.

>  If Joe Gamer
> goes to the store and decides he wants to buy, for sake of argument,
> Weird Wars, but then discovers he has to shell out an additional $60 (I
> am not counting the Monster Manual, because I don't see it as a
> necessity) for another product which he may or may not ever play (not
> to mention I have heard future editions of the core books are going to
> be more expensive), he is quite likely to put the Weird Wars down and
> walk away.

Correction:  Anyone that wants to play Wierd Wars needs two things- a PHB
and a copy of Blood on the Rhine- and that's only if you assume that
everyone needs a copy of a rulebook whenever they game.  It would certainly
be possible to play Wierd Wars with just the WW book and a passable
knowledge of D20, or by that logic, without a Wierd Wars book.  One person,
the person running the game, needs three books- the first two that anyone
needs, and a DMG.

Currently, the PHB and DMG cost $20 U.S.  Thus Joe Gamer must spend an
additional $20.  Assuming that Joe Gamer has gamer friends, Joe Gamer may
even safely assume that he can borrow a copy of the PHB from one of his
friends and forego even that extra cost.  Jim Gamemaster, on the other hand,
needs to spend an additional $40 dollars on the game, which is a significant
investment.  However, for some cost-benefit analysis, let's do some
comparisons:

To run Deadlands, Jim should probably buy the DL Player's Guide and
Marshall's Handbook.  Each book costs $25 U.S., bringing the total to $50.
For this money, he gains the ability to run Deadlands (a great game, btw).
For fifteen dollars more, Jim can purchase the D&D 3e PHB, DMG, and Wierd
Wars: Blood on the Rhine.  This gives him the ability to run both Wierd
Wars, and D&D.

What this comes down to is that if you think you may ever run third edition
D&D, a D20 game is economically viable.  If Jim Dee-Em never, ever, wants to
touch a Dungeons & Dragons product, he'll pass on Wierd Wars.

>  Now if he only had to buy a book with all the essentials in
> one place, say "The D20 System Guide", for maybe an additional $30-35,
> he is a little more likely to get it.  Then, once he like the D20
> stuff, maybe he will go out and get the DnD stuff too, thus more money
> for Hasbro.  But that whole scenario is a little too complex for the
> simple-minded folks at Hasbro, so I would not expect that to happen
> anytime soon.

Or the "simple-minded folks at Hasbro" realize that people are more likely
to spend $20 or $40 dollars on a full-featured game than $30-$35 on a
bare-bones ruleset with little-to-no source material.  Furthermore, those
same "simple-minded folks at Hasbro" are allowing other game companies to
use their system, which is by most accounts mutually beneficial.

Example:  Jake Gamer (Joe's brother) does not want to take the time to learn
a new gaming system.  But, lo and behold, by purchasing a D20 System game
Jake Gamer can avoid the learning curve associated with a new system.  And
because of the OGL, gaming companies basides WotC (e.g., Pinnacle) can move
product into Jake Gamer's hands, whereas before he was reluctant to buy a
new game.

Further Example:  Jonny Gamer (Jake and Joe's little brother) is just
getting into gaming.  Jake and Joe decide to teach him how to play Dungeons
& Dragons, as that's the game they started with.  After learning D&D, it is
far easier for Jonny to play other D20 Ssytem games than to learn a new
system.  This opens a large section of the market to him, and puts the money
he gets from mom and dad into the hands of a D20 system publisher.

>  I have heard that there was a rumor going around GenCon
> that Diamond Comics/Alliance Games is in negotiations with Hasbro to
> pick up the TSR stuff from them (it would not surprise me if Hasbro
> broke down and sold all the parts of WotC, considering they only bought
> it for the then-current fad of Pokemon, which is dying way down now).

It can bew safely assumed that WotC was purchased because of strong brand
identity in three areas: Pokemon, Magic: the Gathering, and Dungeons &
Dragons.  Large corporations love brand identity.

> Now if this happens, maybe the business side of D20 will be run a
> little better.

I strongly disagree with this as well, given how smoothly Alliance and
Diamond run at times, but this section of the conversation is even more OT
than a discussion of D20 marketing strategy.

The point of this is: please don't flame people (such as everyone that works
at Hasbro) if they're not able to defend themselves.  The people at
Hasbro/WotC/ex-TSR do some good work, and even if you disagree with their
marketing strategies, they're no more feeble-minded than anyone else that
tries making a living in the gaming industry.

    J. H. Frank
"I'm not Ryan Dancey's sycophant, but I play one on the WW list."