The Business: Roll For Combat Isn't Stupid

This past week, Roll For Combat talked OGL Scandal.

Derik remains the Voice Of Sanity: WOTC Cannot Lose.

Yes, a pile of irrelevant nobodies got ephemeral attention, but--as Josh Strife Hayes explained for MMOs--everyone came back to The Game That Matters as soon as Objective Data told them to do so. As noted, Indie Darling Shadowdark benefited from a Black Swan event that cannot be repeated and several others released at that time have either fizzled or retreated into their own ghetto and thus Do Not Matter.

But the real consequence is the ending of the promise that Ryan Dancey made with the OGL: the ability for Everyone to benefit from Everyone Else publishing material with no friction.

Smug fuck as he is, Derik consistently is correct about everything: Only D&D Matters. Not-D&Ds are not played; they are bought, they are read, they are talked about, but No One Plays Them. D&D--all editions--gets played, gets played everywhere, and gets played consistently. This is why Derik can afford to be a smug prick; he's right, and he brings the receipts.

Derik talks in terms of Network Effects. He explains why D&D matters and nothing else does in those terms. He will also find that Delulu Soup Aisle Suckers will not listen especially when those folks have a monetary incentive to not listen (as Mark does).

And this is why nothing within Tabletop can unseat WOTC. Only something outside of Tabletop, and only if it's bigger than Tabletop. Only a bigger Network Effect can defeat a Network Effect.