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bighara wrote:I'm curious as to how this will affect OGL and retro-clones, publishing-wise (either publishing for the classic systems, or if the OGL will suffer for open source content).

I am not sure what you are getting at here. I think they are just pulling in some cash for the fiscal year since they announced that 4e was getting scrapped for this "Next" system.

I'm just wondering aloud (so to type). Will the availability of these past systems from them prompt WOTC to kick up any new fuss about the retro clones? The OGL is not 100% cut and dried (nothing is in IP law, it seems). It's really too late, most likely, but lawyers have gotta eat, too.

bighara wrote:I'm just wondering aloud (so to type). Will the availability of these past systems from them prompt WOTC to kick up any new fuss about the retro clones? The OGL is not 100% cut and dried (nothing is in IP law, it seems). It's really too late, most likely, but lawyers have gotta eat, too.

I think this would have happened awhile ago if they had an issue/case with what has been going on. This is the same company that supposedly shut down someone's OSRIC Player Guide because it had a drawing of a beholder in it (which if it has any grain of truth means they are watching). They also know that they have a "brand name" much like Nike or Levi. Most people want "Dungeons & Dragons"...period. They don't care about games that are "similar". Most of us here don't care much as we just want some rules that allow us to play the game. Also sales for those modules would go up a tad if everyone that plays games like LL or OSRIC know that these things would work in their games. Take that "In Search Of The Unknown" and play it with LL! Don't be concerned that it doesn't say Labyrinth Lord on the cover. It surprises me on the number of people that are not aware of this.

Yeah...I think there only two things that would potentially have repercussions for the OSR: if WotC released print copies of the older rules and if they allowed third parties to publish supplements and materials for them. But, even then, I think it would depend on how much they charge for print copies. I mean I'm not sure how much of an impact their release of the AD&D books has had on OSRIC (if any)...but the OSR seems to be very much focused on OD&D, B/X and BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia, anyway...

Like I said before, I just don't see WotC doing POD (not enough QC). Also, I somehow doubt they'll release print copies. With the 1e books, they did the whole "makeover" thing, which seems more their style. The time & expense of doing something like that for all those old products? Not likely. All that is just IMHO, of course.

I agree that hard copies of rule books and adventures will still drive some OSR sales. I know having our products in print (as opposed to pdf only) is a big factor in what we sell.

bighara wrote:I agree that hard copies of rule books and adventures will still drive some OSR sales. I know having our products in print (as opposed to pdf only) is a big factor in what we sell.

If something is available in any form of print, and not outrageously priced compared to the PDF (not say more than 2x the PDF price, not including shipping costs), I will ALWAYS go with the physical version. (Of course, I tend to wait for discount codes from Lulu etc. if I am wanting several items in the same time-frame.) There are a few things that I am still waiting to see if any sort of POD option appears, even though it has been months or (even) a year or two since the PDFs showed up.

I will probably be about the last person to get any sort of e-reader for recreational reading, unless my vision starts failing and I need something to read it aloud for me (assuming I can still hear at that point).

I will be watching the secondary market to see if print copies of those few B/X - 1E modules I don't already have fall any; if they don't move much I will probably relent and buy the PDFs. However I will still keep half an eye out for a chance to get the physical modules without breaking the bank.

Arent they releasing 4 adventures in a hard cover compilation? Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, some others. In March. Also all the Slavelords adventures . Its on their website. Maybe other titles will get the same treatment.

The plan seems to be to make everything available - of course, this might change or there might be some other issues preventing that (I don't know why B10 was missed out so far). But I do think the retro clones are independent of their forebears by now. They provide new adventures, they are often better organised than the originals (even B/X - although it was pretty much perfect, it was never compiled into one volume), and the originals have always been available relatively cheaply second-hand (not to mention the PDFs floating about). They certainly won't have any effect on my plans for Blueholme, although they may affect the amount of time I have to spend writing Blueholme material ...

They're spreading their offerings out amongst all four editions, four pdfs per week, which means they're not offering B/X stuff nearly fast enough! Come one guys, I need a copy of X4 to make my collection complete!