I wanna be an RPG Superstar!


RPG Superstar™ 2008 General Discussion

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I have another question.
For the last six months, I have been working on an RPG campaign setting. I've completed the rough draft and just need to edit it and get the artwork done. As I am so close to completion, I've been considering methods of publishing, but I'm largely unheard of and I don't know how to catch people's attention without wierding them out.
When I first saw this contest, I thought it might be my big chance, but now that I've read the rules, I wonder. I could effortlessly fulfill each and every one of the contest entries, but that creates a problem.
If I do, your rules say that any submissions become property of Paizo. That's not so good for me. I don't care about money and I don't care about recognition, but I do care about what I ultimately plan on doing with my Gaea Project. If I am to fulfill the purpose I have for my idea, then it must remain my legal intellectual property, at least for a while. I need to maintain total control over the official works until such time as I have firmly established the "flavor," as you call it, of the world of Gaea. Once I feel certain of that, I plan on opening it up to the public completely.
Now that I've bored you to death, I'll ask my question.
When you state that all submissions become sole property of Paizo Publishing, does that include intellectual property as well as distribution rights? If so, then I am afraid I must decline. If I knew I could trust the company to follow my wishes for the project and not just give me the chance to publish an adventure and then shove me out the door with not but a check to show for it, that would be a different matter entirely, but I don't know Paizo Publishing's business protocol very well and thus am operating under the assumption that you'll do anything you can to make a quick buck, including selling your own grandmother's kidneys to to medical companies, nevermind that she has a rare blood disease that makes them useless for organ transplant.

Marathon Voter Season 8

Very erroneous assumption.
I take it you're visiting us from the WotC boards?


RJ Dalton wrote:

I could effortlessly fulfill each and every one of the contest entries, but that creates a problem.

If I do, your rules say that any submissions become property of Paizo. That's not so good for me.

Yeah. I don't think it's likely that Paizo would bend the rules of their contest just to suit your needs. Plus, that would be bad business on their part... to just let the creator maintain ownership of the work... they are a publishing company, afterall.

I'd suggest you try to flex your creativity into a new and separate project from the one you intend to market yourself, and enter the new idea into the Open Call. Otherwise, try to arrange a meeting with Paizo to pitch your entire campaign.

Good luck!
Cheers!

Sovereign Court Star Voter Season 7

[With regard to RJ Dalton's post...] There are those who truly are RPG Superstars, whether they are published or not. As one characteristic, I belive not holding on so closely to one's creations is an important trait of any prolific writer. That is to say, no matter how brilliant your Gaea world is, RJ D, you should believe you possess the talent to craft hundreds of brilliant works. The mind is infinite, thoughts have no weight and occupy no space, and there is no such thing as 'writers-block.' So, if Paizo wishes to keep a work's intellectual property, or any property, I believe that is the price of admission. And, no less, a telling test of one's RPG Superstar mettle.

On a humorous note, my wife quickly pulled back the shower curtain on me this morning. She held my 6-month-old daughter and exclaimed, "So! You want to be an RPG Superstar, eh? Finally! A contest that combines what you love about reality TV and [Pathfinder]!" (She had seen the Paizo announcement page I left on the monitor early this morning.) She added, "But you know, hon, don't be upset in the end with the 'popularity contest' aspect — the fans are voting, right?"

I stood there dripping, thinking back on the worlds and worlds-within-worlds I'd created over the years. I smiled and thought, "Regardless whether limited time or my responsibilities permit me (or others like me) to join the fun of the contest, the dream of being a paid [Gamemastery] designer exists for us, just like Eric Mona's dream of being the editor of Dragon did for him so many years ago!

Thanks again, Paizo, for your brilliance and for recognizing (and seeking to leverage) the brilliance in others like RJ D and the many gamers who frequent this message board.


Ahh...
Another opportunity to give myself ulcers...
I'm in.

Now, need more ideas...

Grand Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Bowhisper wrote:

Ahh...

Another opportunity to give myself ulcers...
I'm in.

Now, need more ideas...

I know how you feel, just when I had two weeks to relax but it is only 200 words.

Sovereign Court Contributor

RJ Dalton wrote:

I could effortlessly fulfill each and every one of the contest entries, but that creates a problem.

If I do, your rules say that any submissions become property of Paizo. That's not so good for me.

I understand to a certain degree where you are coming from; my entry for the previous open call included many elelments that I would like to use someday. Now I wonder about my legal right to do so.

However, I also think you partly misunderstand the intent and nature of this contest. The later rounds will have specific guidelines that we don't have the details on, and those details will likely be connected to the Pathfinder/GameMastery setting or even the final product. If Paizo doesn't claim ownership of the entries, they may be in the position of giving the entrants partial legal ownership of something that closely resembles the final product or other portions of their IP.

Of course, this also means that in future rounds, if you get that far, you won't be able to simply cut and paste stuff from your setting into the contest, because it probably won't meet their guidelines.

If you are interested in entering, make up a new magic item and send it in. Hang onto your own IP, because that setting is (probably) not what they are after. Part of the open call is also about your ability to create new materail withing the timelines that they give you. If you make it through and win, then you can pitch your stuff to them without surrendering your IP.

The Exchange

RJ Dalton wrote:

I have another question.

For the last six months, I have been working on an RPG campaign setting. I've completed the rough draft and just need to edit it and get the artwork done. As I am so close to completion, I've been considering methods of publishing, but I'm largely unheard of and I don't know how to catch people's attention without wierding them out.
When I first saw this contest, I thought it might be my big chance, but now that I've read the rules, I wonder. I could effortlessly fulfill each and every one of the contest entries, but that creates a problem.
If I do, your rules say that any submissions become property of Paizo. That's not so good for me. I don't care about money and I don't care about recognition, but I do care about what I ultimately plan on doing with my Gaea Project. If I am to fulfill the purpose I have for my idea, then it must remain my legal intellectual property, at least for a while. I need to maintain total control over the official works until such time as I have firmly established the "flavor," as you call it, of the world of Gaea. Once I feel certain of that, I plan on opening it up to the public completely.
Now that I've bored you to death, I'll ask my question.
When you state that all submissions become sole property of Paizo Publishing, does that include intellectual property as well as distribution rights? If so, then I am afraid I must decline. If I knew I could trust the company to follow my wishes for the project and not just give me the chance to publish an adventure and then shove me out the door with not but a check to show for it, that would be a different matter entirely, but I don't know Paizo Publishing's business protocol very well and thus am operating under the assumption that you'll do anything you can to make a quick buck, including selling your own grandmother's kidneys to to medical companies, nevermind that she has a rare blood disease that makes them useless for organ transplant.

Well, while I see your dilemma, the fact is that you are, as you say, pretty much an unknown. If this will be as effortless as you say (I appreciate that you maybe didn't mean it quite like that) it might be a good way to get your profile raised. The desire to go it alone is probably a desire for total control, but very few people really get that anyway. FR is Ed Greenwood's baby and made him famous in gaming cirles, but he has very little control over it now, for better or worse. But he still makes a living.

Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

Well, its after noon on Halloween. I've got my submission, where is the submission form?

Paizo Employee Senior Software Developer

It's not noon Pacific time yet.

Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

Gary Teter wrote:
It's not noon Pacific time yet.

Oops, sorry. Just eager I guess. So that's... 2pm central right?

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Mothman wrote:

Ha! This is awesome! Who came up with this idea?

Very, very cool.

That would be Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Whizbang Dustyboots wrote:
Should we be basing our country in your world...?

When the country task is assigned to the participants, we'll be providing more information.

Whizbang Dustyboots wrote:
And is the lucky winner the one who gets to write the last 3.5 GameMastery module before 4E comes out? :p

We won't be placing the winner's adventure on the release schedule until we have an accepted draft in hand. Similarly, we haven't determined when (or even if) we'll be transitioning to 4th Edition. So, while it's possible that these two unknowns will sync up, it's also possible that they will not.


Vic Wertz wrote:
Mothman wrote:

Ha! This is awesome! Who came up with this idea?

Very, very cool.
That would be Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens.

Does Lisa watch much "Design Star" on HGTV? Of all the reality-star competitions out there, this one feels most like that one in how you'll pare down the contestants.

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Talion09 wrote:

Just to be clear, since this was implied, but not in the FAQ:

We aren't limited to a certain GP limit, (ie. Minor Wonderous items only), so it could be anything in scale from 50 GP (Feather Token, Anchor) to 200 000 GP (Mirror of Life Trapping) as long as you get it in under 200 words, correct?

Correct.

--Erik

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Rambling Scribe wrote:
RJ Dalton wrote:

I could effortlessly fulfill each and every one of the contest entries, but that creates a problem.

If I do, your rules say that any submissions become property of Paizo. That's not so good for me.
If you are interested in entering, make up a new magic item and send it in. Hang onto your own IP, because that setting is (probably) not what they are after. Part of the open call is also about your ability to create new materail withing the timelines that they give you. If you make it through and win, then you can pitch your stuff to them without surrendering your IP.

Rambling Scribe is right on target.

I'd also like to point out that the primary reason for Paizo taking ownership of submissions is that it protects us in the event that we publish something similar to a submitted entry (for example, your magic item might be a lot like one we'll be putting in a future Pathfinder). Without this clause, you could accuse us of stealing your idea, even though nobody working directly on Pathfinder is looking at these submissions.


Ohhh the sweet agony of what to enter for open call. It's like trying to choose a favorite ice cream flavor. Do I go with Pastachio Almond Wand of Nuttiness or the Bracers of Mint Chocolate Chip. So many flavors to try, so many ideas to try and make work. This is a great idea! Thanks for inviting me along for the ride. Now how do I get the Everflowing Beer Stein of the Dwarvish Lords to mix with Rainbow Sherbert.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

I, for one, cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with. This is really exciting!

Clark

Liberty's Edge

Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Erik Mona wrote:

Yes.

--Erik

Succinct, yet exactly what I wished to hear; thanks for the quick reply, Erik. :D

Paizo Employee CEO

Troy Taylor wrote:
Does Lisa watch much "Design Star" on HGTV? Of all the reality-star competitions out there, this one feels most like that one in how you'll pare down the contestants.

Actually, Vic, Erik and I are all American Idol nuts, and I have to say that I got my inspiration from that show.

-Lisa

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Erik is not an American Idol nut. Erik has seen American Idol in the past and is familiar with the show.

Now that Erik is no longer sleeping with a fan of the show, Erik no longer watches it.

Very simple, very easy. :)

--Erik

Liberty's Edge

Erik Mona wrote:

Erik is not an American Idol nut. Erik has seen American Idol in the past and is familiar with the show.

Now that Erik is no longer sleeping with a fan of the show, Erik no longer watches it.

Very simple, very easy. :)

--Erik

Good call on your part, if you ask me. I've personally developed a loathing for all these cute little shows and their pretenses. Sadly, it seems I'm one of the only people I know with a natural immunity to that particular set of memetic plagues.

..Hmm. Memes. *observes a flickering torch over his head* I think I just had an Idea.

The Exchange Kobold Press

Am I the last person in the United States who hasn't watched a whole episode of Idol?

Man, I need to stay in more. :)

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Locke1520

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Am I the last person in the United States who hasn't watched a whole episode of Idol?

Man, I need to stay in more. :)

Nope, You're not the last neither my wife nor I watch it.


Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Am I the last person in the United States who hasn't watched a whole episode of Idol?

Man, I need to stay in more. :)

No.... I haven't either. Though I confess I sometimes watch America's Next Top Model and Project Runway.

- Ashavan

Sovereign Court

Zootcat has never seen an American Idol episode. Nor does he wish to. And he's a big music collector with thousands of cd's.


Yaar, I be a member of the Pirate Party and I be strongly for copyright reform. Yaar!
What I intend to do with the Gaea project is eventually have it be entirely public domain. What I wish to do will not work if I don't have the ability to make it available to all writers, regardless of who they work for or how they wish to publish and without fear of being sued or of needing to pay me - or any other individual/company - royalties. What I am attempting to do is much the same as Professor Tolkien did, to create a mythology, but on a much grander scale. I wish to create a fictional folklore for the United States, but you see, folklore is shared by all within the folk-community, so if I am to create a folklore for U.S.A. then it must be available to all in the U.S.A. who wish to participate.
But to keep it from becoming like Fearun, which has gone in so many different ways that it no longer has any flavor to it, I need to maintain a certain level of control at first, so that I can firmly establish the themes of Gaea; themes of government oppression vs. freedom of choice, interaction between different cultures, oppression based on gender roles and the growth and potential of people as individuals and as communities.
I do not think my demands are so outragous. After all, Nintendo did the same thing with their first game console; they called it quality assurance and it was what made them the top video game company when all others were collapsing around them.
For this reason, I will not sell my intelectual rights to this project to anyone, though I am willing to make certain other concessions. If worse comes to worse, I could always self-publish and distribute through the internet, but I have absolutely no experience in the field and it will probably never get off the ground if I do.
Guess that throws me out of the contest, but that raises another quesiton. How does one go about contacting publishers with such an idea as this? How likely does it seem that a company would want to pick up some unpublished guy who says "Hey, distribute my work, but I maintain all intelectual control and I am going to eventually make it public domain." On the short-sighted side, there seems no potential to make money, though, in the long run, it has the capacity to make more money than anything else, except that the money will not be conglomerated into one company. I'd be perfectly willing to concede more of the profits than usual to the company in exchange for additional creative control, and would even allow the company to let other writers write for it without paying royalties, provided I am given an outline to review and make comments on before the first draft of book/manual/whatever is written and after it goes public domain, it will be out of my hands forever and none need even send it to me first, but just how attractive is that to publishers? Publishers who are used to buying up everything and lording over all incoming money related to projects, lovingly carressing their glittering prizes like Gollum with his precious?
I have never cared a bit for money (oh, don't get me wrong, money is nice, I kind of need it to live in this world, but I've never wanted much of it), nor am I interested in fame. I have far loftier goals than that. I desire immortality, for my work to still be known and read fifty, one hundred - dare I say - 1000 years after I am dead and gone, for such will mean that I grasped onto an inevitable truth, one in which all cultures and all generations will find meaningful, despite the constant and arbitrary changing of the ages.
Have I overawed and/or bored you yet with my drama? 'Cause I can start quoting Shakespear if you want more.


It does raise a rather interesting question. If we can no longer publish our own submissions because they're owned by Paizo and Paizo isn't going to publish them ("they just want to protect themselves") then the ideas are just going into a hellish copyright void?

I would much rather see an "RPG Superstar: Tome of Wondrous Items" come out with the best 100 ideas and have each person credited. The same thing could be done with the other categories "RPG Superstar: Book of Villains" etc...

Of course this means Paizo is making money off the entries but if gets my name published it would be worth it. It would look good on a resume too. (as long as you're trying to get a job as an rpg writer).

The same concept with American Idol. The kids go out and sing and make the producers millions of dollars by providing their "content" and in return they get a chance to live their dream.

Scarab Sages Marathon Voter Season 7

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Am I the last person in the United States who hasn't watched a whole episode of Idol?

Man, I need to stay in more. :)

I only see American Idol when clips of it are shown on some other show. Other then that - never seen an episode even partially.

Scarab Sages Marathon Voter Season 7

RJ Dalton wrote:


Guess that throws me out of the contest..

It only throws you out of the contest if you can only imagine a single world and the contents therein.

This contest is not about offering a person a chance to publish their own world (c.f. Eberron). As I understand it, its about offering an unknown a chance to publish a single module in Paizo's world.

Liberty's Edge

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Am I the last person in the United States who hasn't watched a whole episode of Idol?

Man, I need to stay in more. :)

Uh, no. It doesn't even require a will save on my part.

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

I know many desginers have grand aspirations, and that is great. I say think big! If you want to create content to rival that of Tolkien, I say go for it! Good for you.

Nothing here requires you to jeopardize that project.

Whatever you submit here, simply use different names for the items. There is nothing about this process that requires you to "give away" stuff that you think is important intellectual property.

Just create a wondrous item. Thats all.

For instance, if you are thinking of creating the world of Gorthinar which is ruled by the dragon-sorcerer Vothina'al in the country of the the Grand Duchy of Zordinar, just use different names when you create whatever it is you submit to us.

You want to create, say, an "Bracers of Vothina'al". Dont do that. Call them the "Bracers of the Dragon-Sorcerer" or something like that.

Dont let fear of losing content prevent you from entering a submission here. You have very easy ways to get around that.

Believe me, this isnt about Paizo trying to take your content.

Clark

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 8

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Am I the last person in the United States who hasn't watched a whole episode of Idol?

Man, I need to stay in more. :)

I honestly have never watched even 1/2 an episode of American Idol, Survivor or any of these so called reality tv shows save for 2 episodes of the 1st season of the Apprentice so that I could be informed when interviewed by the Pensacola News Journal.

I've never understood the fascination with these shows, just seems dumb to me.


Yerger:
"I honestly have never watched even 1/2 an episode of American Idol, Survivor or any of these so called reality tv shows save for 2 episodes of the 1st season of the Apprentice so that I could be informed when interviewed by the Pensacola News Journal."

Ha! I've got you all beat. I haven't watched TV in six years, except to watch the Babylon 5 DVDs I got as birthday present from a friend of mine. I get my pleasure from small, square paper devices full of printed words (they're called books, you should give them a try some time).

Anyway, the problem I have with copywrite laws is that publishers have no reason - nay, no right - to own intellectual property. They don't create, they merely distribute, sell, market. They're most often people who can't come up with their own ideas, so they make a profit by buying and selling others. In the book field, which is where I do my work, we don't have it quite so bad as others, but in the area of RPGs, video games, and most especially music, people are most royaly screwed. A music artist is lucky if he sees two cents of each CD sale - usually its maybe one cent off of every two or three.
We the helmsman of the creative craft have long screwed ourselves by letting publishers have the rights to our works and it has messed up the whole field of literature and art.
For example, you can't use contemporary allusions anymore. Unless it has been seventy years since the official publication (at which point the copywrite expires), you can't even reference published material in passing. What's most sick about it, is it usualy isn't the creators who will sue you, but the distributors; so not only are you getting up the tailpipe, but you're getting it from someone who really doesn't have any right to give it, except through legal technicalities.
Back in the old days, writers used to reference each other's works all the time and you'd get some really great stuff, because it would create a sort of cultural backdrop for literature. Now, that's lost. I decided to publish the Gaea Project as an RPG world instead of just a series of novels because I saw the OGL as being a better chance to achieve what I wanted out of it, then later decided that I wanted it to go public domain entirely, just so that others could reference my work without fear of lawsuit (of course, that's supposing they want to). I have no problem with people using my ideas, even if they make money off of them, provided they don't try to rob me of my right to write my stories and ideas and make some money off of them for myself. It was never about money - in fact, if it wasn't for the fact that I don't want to have to put up with a job like what I have now (working part time in a warehouse handling shiping and receiving), I wouldn't care feel the need to make any money off my work at all.
Now, I'm just fine with distributors as a whole. They make it easier for writers and artists to get the work known and sold, but I don't think they should have the right to actually buy intellectual rights and to sue people over them. That should be specifically left up to the creators.
Still, I suppose I am wailing over nothing as far as the contest goes. I could just make up something unrelated to my Gaea project. I was just a little dissapointed at first. You can imagine, right? Getting your hopes up and then finding out that it isn't the right time.
Still, I don't like selling my intellectual property, because it gives people some measure of legal control over my work. It's easy to say "F*** you, it's my idea" to a company when there isn't a legally binding contract behind them, and it's much much harder to say it when the judge is staring you down over his desk, with beedy little bloodshot eyes, his gavel hanging in the air, just waiting to come crashing down with a sentence.


WOW, it seems like you may have had some bad blood in the past with a publisher...

My advice would be to self publish your work, as I doubt anyone in publishing will grant you complete ownership of the materials, and just "make their cut" so to speak. With ownership comes the ability to do just as you say... tell them to F#%# off, which from a publishers standpoint is unacceptable. They invest dollars in a project expecting a return, the greater the return the better. If suddenly you decide to yank your material, because they dont own it, they loose not only the potential profits from the material, but the investment, and the continued threat of additional losses of a lawsuit from the creator... you.

With the availability of POD, and self publishing, you may have much better results than trying to find a publishing company that will meet your demmands.

Scarab Sages

RJ,

You ought to get in touch with Dave Sim, of Cerebus fame; you'd get on like blood brothers!

Or not, considering you call your work the Gaea Project, and knowing his views on the feminising of modern life...

Still, his Guide to Self-Publishing, and the Creators Bill of Rights that he thrashed out in the mid-90's, with a panel of US/Canadian comic creators, both give much food for thought on the question of creators rights (obviously), and what responsibilities can realistically be expected by a potential publisher in return.

He apologised from the start that it could sound like a vanity project, or preaching to the choir, but in his experience, many young and inexperienced writers gave no thought to losing their various legal rights, since they weren't aware they even had them in the first place. Or didn't grasp the legal ramifications of what they were signing, thinking they were getting a good deal for a one-off print-run, then finding they'd signed away exclusive rights in perpetuity.

I don't have the issues or the dates to hand, but the editorials, articles, essays, speech transcipts, and letter columns in Cerebus usually made interesting reading...often moreso than the strip itself...


Well, I call it Gaea project becaues the planet's name is Gaea. There's a backstory for it (there is for just about everything with me), but I won't bore you right now.
My stance on femenism is quite a bit different from most people, as is my stance on just about everything. While I believe that the way many women are treated in this country is abominable, I don't think the problem stems from gender roles, or even from sex, nor do I believe that we have the widespread female oppression that feminists like to talk about. But that's not the point I'm making.

The point is, as you just said, that people don't think about their rights and thus sign them away. I'm probably going to have to go for self-publication, but then I have a marketing problem on my hands. First of all, how do I get my project known? Secondly, how then do I get it into the hands of others for work? I'd like to get it distributed through other channels - specifically through an RPG company - because that way, I have a base for others to write for it. Folklore is created not by an individual, but by a group and if I am to create a fictional folklore, as is my intention, I need to have the input and creativity of people beyond me and my imediate circle of friends. The problem is that copyright laws make this so close to impossible, because publishers wish to control everything so that they can make more money. That's why I'm a member of the Pirate Party. Copyright laws are supposed to protect intelectual property and the rights of its creators, but they are only helping big busineses steal ideas and work for profit. I should not have to worry about my ideas being stolen by busineses and them preventing me from doing what I want with my ideas.


Fortunately for you, we are now in the information age. You have available to you, the best marketing tool ever implemented: the internet(thanks Mr. Gore!).

Once you are ready to go, jump on some forums and release your work. If it truly is a great system/world, then it will take off. Look at successes such as Slashdot, MySpace, even Google. None of these sites were commercially marketed, yet they are some of the most visited sites around. Why? Because of the content on them.

Understandably, your game system is not exactly the same product as those examples, but the idea is the same. Publish content available for all. If people like it, social networking will expose your product to markets that you wouldn't even dream of, let alone be able to pay to get too.


There's one more problem I hadn't counted on coming up so soon.
My project follows 3.5E rules, with a few modifications to suit the flavor of my world, but now WotC is comming out with a 4E version. I already strongly dislike what I've seen of it so far, although I do like their online tools. That, and I don't want to go through and modify everything I've worked on for the past year and a half just because Wizards decided they needed to make us buy all the core rulebooks again, it took two months to transcribe all the statistical details from my notes to my project rough draft and I'm not overly axious to do that again. If WotC makes it possible to still acquire the 3E books, I don't plan on even switching to 4E (really, there wasn't anything wrong with 3E that you couldn't fix with a few small adaptations, nothing demanded a whole new eddition of the game). So, I guess I need to know, are people still going to be interested in 3E for a while?


No offence or anything, but shouldn't your current discussion (about publishing a home brew campaign world) be continued in another area of the forums? This is, after all, supposed to be where we talk about the RPG Superstar(tm) contest.


D20 is OGL. Sites like D20SRD.org will most likely be around far after Wizards stops printing 3.5 books, giving your potential audience access to mechanics, spell descriptions and lots of other logistical information.

People are still on the fence about 4e. If you're close to being ready to release, go for it. If the project takes off, entertain the idea of updating to 4e. Like most projects now, some sort of community should develop, especially if you have an online presence, with forums. Put the question to the community and see where their interests lie. Heck, you might even get a few of them who are willing to collaborate on making the conversion.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Darkjoy

RJ Dalton wrote:

There's one more problem I hadn't counted on coming up so soon.

My project follows 3.5E rules, with a few modifications to suit the flavor of my world, but now WotC is comming out with a 4E version. I already strongly dislike what I've seen of it so far, although I do like their online tools. That, and I don't want to go through and modify everything I've worked on for the past year and a half just because Wizards decided they needed to make us buy all the core rulebooks again, it took two months to transcribe all the statistical details from my notes to my project rough draft and I'm not overly axious to do that again. If WotC makes it possible to still acquire the 3E books, I don't plan on even switching to 4E (really, there wasn't anything wrong with 3E that you couldn't fix with a few small adaptations, nothing demanded a whole new eddition of the game). So, I guess I need to know, are people still going to be interested in 3E for a while?

I believe that this is the question of the day, every d20 publisher has to answer this question for themselves.

To convert or not?


Darkjoy wrote:

I believe that this is the question of the day, every d20 publisher has to answer this question for themselves.

To convert or not?

There will clearly be a market for 3.5 products -- although a depressed one -- until June of next year. After 4.0 is released to the public, though, I'm guessing the bulk of the gaming public will convert. There will always be a core group who refuse to convert (indeed, there are still people playing 2nd Edition and 1st Edition), but eventually people's current campaigns will end and new campaigns will start.

If you're a publisher, you can either stick with 3.5 and hope to keep enough people from converting, or publish 4.0 material and hope to convince people to switch. I think the latter argument is going to be the easier one. WotC could screw this up by not making 4.0 OGL (forcing publishers to stay 3.5) or by continuing to delay the release of the SRD to their partners (and thus postponing everyone's switch for six months) but I think it's inevitable. As Monty Cook pointed out, Wizards has far, far more of the market than all the other game publishers combined. Tagging along with them is just going to be a better business decision than fighting them.

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Darkjoy

CNB wrote:
As Monty Cook pointed out, Wizards has far, far more of the market than all the other game publishers combined. Tagging along with them is just going to be a better business decision than fighting them.

I've read that piece as well. TSR/WotC/Hasbro has the bigger marketshare and probably will have for a long time (unless ofcourse 4e fails to take off).

Maybe Paizo can be like Apple if WotC is like Microsoft?
(Wishful thinking at it's best)

Legendary Games, Necromancer Games

Shouldnt really matter here. This competition is for 3.5 :) No need to even worry about 4E issues.

Clark

Scarab Sages

RJ Dalton wrote:
Well, I call it Gaea project becaues the planet's name is Gaea.

That's OK; I'm fine with it, I was only joshing with you, about Sim's reputation for taking issue with 'feminist-style creationism'. He can be acerbic, and get peoples backs up, but as the (unwilling) King of Self-Publishing, he has a lot of useful advice for people in your situation, and can back it up with practical examples, having put his money where his mouth is, and 'walked the walk'.

RJ Dalton wrote:
The point is, as you just said, that people don't think about their rights and thus sign them away...The problem is that copyright laws make this so close to impossible, because publishers wish to control everything so that they can make more money. That's why I'm a member of the Pirate Party. Copyright laws are supposed to protect intelectual property and the rights of its creators, but they are only helping big busineses steal ideas and work for profit. I should not have to worry about my ideas being stolen by busineses and them preventing me from doing what I want with my ideas.

I found a link to the Creators' Bill of Rights. Turns out it was 1988! (I feel so old...). It's a diary entry by Scott McCloud, author of 'Understanding Comics', which is an interesting read in itself.

You need to click on the scroll at the top, to open the text of the Bill; from there, you can click on the numbers of the individual points, to get the explanatory text.

The Creators' Bill of Rights

Sorry if this has gone off-topic, but I thought RJ needed a bit of help and moral support (assuming this isn't old news?). Hopefully this should give everyone food for thought and we can go back to the thread.

What was the thread, again? LOL

Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9

Wolfgang Baur wrote:

Am I the last person in the United States who hasn't watched a whole episode of Idol?

Man, I need to stay in more. :)

*shrug* I do not have cable, so I only get 2(.6) channels: PBS, PBS and C...nal...searching for signal...sear...BS.


Whoo.... just submitted. hope the judges like it.

As for Idol, I've never seen it either. My dad is a classical music buff and trained me as an operatic soprano, so I guess that kind of music's just not my thing. I do love the idea for RPG superstar, tho! molto bene!

Liberty's Edge

I've seen American Idol.

And I don't even live in the US.

Scarab Sages

Mothman wrote:
I've seen American Idol...And I don't even live in the US.

But have you seen Billy Idol?

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