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

[Margaret Vining]

John wrote: "The game industry has long been inhabited by a certain group of folks who essentially create and publish as charity, sometimes unintentionally. " This is a great point, one I did not consider, and shows that the game industry might be better prepared for an open movement than I thought.  Rob wrote: "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" They might not be in trouble as I assumed, but I think we all agree that the open movement has made an impact.  Though clearly not the impact I thought.  I knew there was a reasonable reality somewhere in all of this. : ) Dave wrote: "TSR certainly did not ignore the fan market - they might have over-reacted, but they viewed it as a very big threat. WotC is also not ignoring it at all - they are systematically guiding it and using it very skillfully to sell more of their products. Second, Maggie I really think you are way WAY overestimating the tiny little impact that the open source movement is actually having on the software industry. Sure it's causing some small changes in marketing and in how the big companies target their products, but the impact - in terms of real sales and market share - is fundamentally minimal." I don't agree that WotC is systematically guiding or using the fans through the open movement.  If that was their goal then they have an odd way of reaching out to them.  But you made a good point.  I think the line between fan and producer is much thinner than I assumed and probably exists more in the minds of fans than it does for the producers.  I know I'm still geeked and I will probably never be able to get rid of the urge to worship anyone with their name on an RPG product. Anyway, your comments combined with the others force me to agree that I was over-reacting.  However, my guess is that some elements of my theories have truth in them, but for now I yield to the voices of reason. : ), Maggie Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com