Troll Lord Games

From the 4th edition news header on enworld.org, I found this excerpt interesting...

"A game divergent enough to break that legacy with the SRD is simply not going to be tolerable to anyone vested in the D&D player network. Such a radical break would almost certainly result in a 3rd party version of the game, published under a new brand name, becoming the de-facto inheritor of the D&D player network externality..."

So, did we already see this happen with C&C for AD&D and Old / Classic D&D?

Personally, I find myself increasingly eyeing up those products not in any way tied to d20 (aside from C&C of course! *Ahem*), like Lejendary Adventures, the new Runequest RPG, Tunnels & Trolls, and Warhammer Fantasy 2e. 3e feels more and more like a sinking ship, which I guess makes me a rat!

No, what he's saying is that if 4e D&D is too different from what is currently in the SRD, then another company will come along and develop a game that is compatible with the current 3.x SRD and that game will then overcome 4e D&D in the market.

I strongly doubt it. In the first place, the D&D brand name is still really strong (it's probably the most valuable role-playing IP in existence); in the second place, it's very possible that 4e could be a better game than 3.x. Dancey's comments seem predicated on the assumption that 3.x D&D is the best that a game could possibly be.

I'm also not sure I agree with his comments about it being third-party publishers' fault that they were not able to do well in the wake of 3.5
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dcs wrote:
In the first place, the D&D brand name is still really strong (it's probably the most valuable role-playing IP in existence)

Yep, that's the kicker - the fact that really good systems like C&C (for class-based) and LA (skills-based) have existed for some time but have to roll the proverbial stone up the mountain to get noticed all comes back to the moniker "D&D" carrying such weight.

Frankly if WOTC does go the 4e as miniatures-table top with less role play it could be the best thing to happen for TLG if RPGers over there feel "abandoned" - frankly I doubt with the furor Wizards will go this way, and if they do it would be a bad move on their part, but then they don't ask my advice on the subject lol.

John http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
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John "Sir Seskis" Wright

Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
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Normally, I dismiss anything said by Dancey out of hand, but in this case he is propably raising a good point. But then, outside of WOTC's Marketing department, who cares ?