Re: [WW] How to make the D20 system better [A Little OT]

["Ogy Joe" <ogyslists@mail.midtnn.net>]

[BIG SNIP]
> Now what I'm saying is why cant Hasbro/WOTC take the actually core 
> mechancics for the D20 system. Put it into a Hard Cover book(probably 
a 
> little bigger then they PHB or DMG) and sell that.  They could charge 
35 
> bucks(standard Hard cover pricing for a big book) and it would make 
way more 
> sense for games like WW.
> 
> I think this would actually encorage more people to play.  I think 
there is 
> a group of people that are avoiding the D20 system because its D&D.
> 
> To you realize if a company other then the ruins of TSR tried this 
they 
> would have been laughed out of the market.
> 
> Overall its a good system.  Personally I don't see how it draws more 
> players. My experience is that people tend to enjoy learning a new 
game,  
> different types of Rules system give the game different types of 
feel, I 
> introduced Deadlands to a group of guys who have only played D&D for 
the 
> last 10 years(two of them never realized that other RPG were more 
then one 
> book wonders), they loved it, they embraces the change and enjoyed 
doing 
> things differently.
> 
> Overall D20 is an okay system, I just think it need to be marketed 
> differently
> 
> Dan
> 
> "Wherever and Whenever we appear we leave only destruction in our 
wake; we 
> are the Lords of Death, Bringers of War, the Dark Angels."

The problem as I see it is that Hasbro is in it only for the money.  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.  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.  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.  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).  
Now if this happens, maybe the business side of D20 will be run a 
little better.

Anywho, enough of that rant.  Next topic please...

Ogy Joe

"How can you expect to succeed if you don't risk failure?"