Re: [Ogf-l] "Shared-Source"

[Rob Lowry]

I would have to disagree with your statement below Maggie.. Microsoft's 'Shared Source' movement is not a sign of trouble, at least not viewed as one by the many folks who work there in some capacity or another (I have been contracting as a test at MS for 4+ years) Rather, MS is changing its business model as it realizes the certainty of change in the software market. MS is making the Xbox SDK (Developer Kit) available to just about every game company in the world, either for free or at low, low, low cost.. To encourage people to make games for the Xbox. MS knows the money for the gaming market comes from licenses down the road, not from the hardware they are releasing.. But folks will have to buy the hardware to use the games. Same plan as WotC, requiring the use of PHB. Admittedly, the chances are very high that someone will kludge together an Xbox emulator and be able to play the games without the hardware, just as folks are starting to look at releasing d20 material that is stand alone.. Still, in a marketing viewpoint, both companies will still benefit. In the case of MS, folks who pirate the games and use the emulator will show the game to friends, some of which who will buy the system, etc.  Same with the RPG world.. if someone isn't interested in D&D, but plays Cloak and Dagger, then discovers they like the d20 system, they may be willing to try Star Wars, or CoC, etc..   Again, I don't see the software industry, or specifically Microsoft, moving to Shared Source as a problem or sign of trouble.. rather, MS has found other ways to make money that will not draw scrutiny to them.. such as the Passport system they have developed, or the .Net crap they are pushing.. They are simply trying to make sure that the Windows OS remains the top choice, and by making sure all the good dev guys write code for it, even if they steal some of the mystical pie, they still get dominance in the market and still pull in more money from other apps they release.   -Just my thoughts, as I am a minion of the Dark Empire -Rob ----- Original Message ----- In my mind, my points are relevant to the RPG industry and have everything to do with Microsoft's attempt to initiate "shared-source".  Shared-source tells me that Microsoft is in trouble and if I were an RPG company I would want to 1) figure out if they are and 2) figure out what I have to do to make sure I am not in their shoes 20 years from now.