Okay, I am feeling like I have actually made some significant progress lately. Strange how that happens sometimes. Basically, more and more puzzle pieces are coming together and things are looking very good.
4e Rumors/Speculations: Wow, the internet is rife with rumor and speculation about 4e and the "GSL." I find it, well, interesting. I think that the main thing(s) you can say are (1) WotC STILL has not delivered the GSL to 3rd party companies, (2) WotC has a new CEO, (3) people like Scott Rouse and Linae Foster fully support open gaming and want to get a license out. Now, these have been put together in various ways to create an interesting set of, um, ideas. Now, I have pretty reliable information that Bill Slavicsek does not like open gaming, but I think even he has to admit that it doesn't really hurt WotC and negative PR does (okay, maybe he doesn't). A number of posts on several message boards talk about how much the OGL and d20 benefitted WotC. Frankly, I sort-of cry "foul" on that claim. NOBODY has anything to back-up that idea. I really don't think you can claim that WotC had a financial benefit with any degree of certainty. I DO think that the OGL/d20 helped reinvigorate RPGs in general, but I don't have any proof of that either. I like the idea of a license to publish material for the "world's most popular role-playing game" but I don't think anyone has a right to demand a free license. It'll all get sorted out one way or the other sometime (hopefully sooner rather than later).
4e good or bad? I posted before that 4e exit polling indicated that approximately 30% of those that played 4e DnD at "DnD Experience" said they a) weren't going to buy the books or b) were going to wait to buy the books. I was told that I got that wrong and that those weren't the exact questions/answers asked/given. Whatever the exact poll wording was, something close to 30% said they aren't going to change systems right away. Either way, this sounds like a potential problem for WotC in terms of predicted sales. Of the people that I have spoken to personally that have played 4e (either as a playtester or at the convention), it sounds like 80-90% like it and are planning to switch immediately. Truthfully, one person didn't really like it, and another thought it was "okay" and will probably switch because he expects his gaming group to.
Other stuff: Final Four in San Antonio. Yes, folks, we are a tourist destination. The weather this morning wasn't great, but it looks like the weekend is going to be absolutely stunning. Hooray for San Antonio and those tourist dollars. Hmm, wait, I am not in the tourism industry, oh well.
School Questions: yes, we are thinking about putting our kids back into the public school system. We love the school they are in, but it has had a few problems lately and, perhaps more importantly, the public schools have a lot more money and offer a much broader range of opportunities. We are looking into it anyway. not sure what the final decision will be. I don't think anyone is going to the public high school we feed into (academically pretty good school, but the "other" problems are pretty severe) but the middle school and elementary school are pretty good. Anyway, this is a long story for another time.
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