Hi guys,
Anyone getting bored with this yet? Thought it might have run its course by
now. A few observations, however;
1. The most important people in this whole discussion are the end users,
those long suffering guys and gals we call gamers. Rest assured, if you are
an avid gamer, no matter what happens and no matter what publishers end up
doing, you will still get the books you are after. Ignore any posturing
that goes on and keep visiting you local games store - we thank you, one and
all.
2. If you are a freelance writer, I believe there are two main concerns.
First off, you should try to avoid the appearance of _telling_ publishers
what they ought to be doing ('hey guys, I have figured out the thing we must
all do. . .'). This is a more ego-driven industry than most and it is a
truism that few business owners like being told how to run their own
business. Even if you have the best idea in the world with regards
licensing, it is likely to get ignored. Sorry, but that is just the kind of
industry we all work in. What should be of greatest concern is how this
little scuffle affects any projects you are working on. Chat to your
publishers and see what they are thinking - be prepared to wait a few days
before everyone calms down.
3. Small publishers. Always sounds kinda insulting, I thought, especially
if you lump 'PDF' into the title :). One gentleman here pointed out that
we are all small publishers once the likes of WotC is brought in for
comparison, and he is absolutely right. However, even in this tiny corner
of the industry, there are tiers. Without starting a debate, small
publishers know who they are in this context. My advice would be to do your
own thing and bugger what the bigger guys are doing. The bigger guys are
really only going to be looking after the bigger guys, and they will spend
most of their time squabbling anyway. If they even talk to each other.
Just make sure you are compliant with either the d20 licence or the OGL -
make your own choice and don't listen to the knee-jerkers. If you believe
you cannot print _anything_ about, say, the Christian Church, then you just
plain ain't read the licence right. Don't, however, get involved in any
creation of a new logo. It won't happen (or, I should say, won't happen
successfully) without the bigger guys, and I can see some unpleasantness
brewing there anyway. Don't pick sides, stay well out of things and, well,
enjoy the show :) If (if) a clear winner emerges in the Logo Wars, grab it
then - they will still want all the support they can get and you won't have
lost a thing. Basically, carry on doing what you do best, get your books or
PDFs out and be disparaging about the willy waving. If you have any doubts,
for Lord's sake don't ask anyone here. If you are serious about publishing,
talk to WotC instead.
4. Talk to WotC. Greg was absolutely right. In fact, if you consider
yourself anything other then a purely 'hobbiest' publisher and you have yet
to discuss this situation with WotC, then what the hell are you doing?
Running your business on autopilot with the blinds drawn and your fingers in
your ears? Seriously, if you have any concerns, talk to WotC (as you should
have done on, what, Monday?). They are remarkably nice people.
5. For those of you considering making a public list of all past
publications that fall foul of the new licence, go ahead - it is absolutely
the right thing to do if you want to ensure games companies won't touch you
with a barge pole in the future. WotC is not an ogre and if certain titles
are left in the past, it may well be that this is where they will stay.
Once you bring them into the light, it becomes a problem, see? Note: some
publishers have already started something like this to hit their
competitors. This smacks of really having nothing better to do but worry
not - we are pretty sure we know who you are :)
6. We have been bombarded by mails this week from various parties looking
to create a new logo. I would be _amazed_ if any of them worked and
actually took off in the way that existing trademarks have. You see, you
need _all_ the main publishers to agree to go along with it. If every
publisher bar one moves off to a new logo, the one who stays will be
laughing as he enjoys the entirety of the d20 market. Don't kid yourself
that everyone automatically knows now what OGC means. I can tell you it
ain't true - the d20 logo still has tremendous value. Think, for a moment,
of all those gamers who do not know of RPG.net and EN World. There are more
than you might think. Ryan, I believe, mentioned that there are some
irreparable differences between some of the larger publishers. This is
true. Now, some people reading this will laugh out loud, but Mongoose would
be happy to work with pretty much anyone - for all the unpleasantness that
goes on, we do not take things personally and assume it is just business.
However, I am also pretty sure that if we had anything to do with a new
logo, there would be a couple of publishers who would not cross a road to
spit on it if it was on fire. . .
7. That said, I do have one suggestion. No one will want to hear it but I
have one. In October, we release the Mongoose Pocket Player's Handbook.
The complete PHB/SRD (minus examples and artwork, plus a lot of re-writing
and char gen, etc), released as 100% Open Game Content. _If_ a new logo was
agreed upon, how easy it would be to just slide it on that book, giving the
logo not only a start but a Core Rulebook to work upon? We could even make
such a logo Open Content itself, so there would be no silly licence business
(beyond the OGL itself). Could work. However, see previous paragraph about
roads and fire. There is also the fact that we fully intend to go on
supporting d20. . .
8. It belongs to WotC. If you don't like what has happened you can do one
of two things. If you are a gamer, you can boycott WotC books. A little
silly, as you are still going to get cool stuff anyway (whether it is d20 or
OGC) and WotC do release some pretty cool stuff themselves, which you'll be
missing. And, sooner or later, you'll be buying D&D V4. You know it and I
know it :) If you are a publisher and were planning to release content
that is now banned under the licence then you have no choice - move to OGC
or move away from this game system altogether. That is it, game over. You
have been sussed out and reported to matron. Incidentally, WotC has always
had the ability to revoke your d20 licence which, to be fair, is as good as
killing a small business relying on the logo. For some of the bigger guys,
it would be inconvenient but, if they have had their heads screwed on, they
would have made provisions for this in their initial business plan. It is
something that could always have happened in one way or another. On this
note, I find it difficult to credit the surprise of some here - if you
hadn't heard about this whole change a few months ago, you really are out of
the loop. Not that this is my concern. It is not my business, after all.
9. I am going to point out that it belongs to WotC once more. It is their
baby and they are not going to give it up. If they want to break it in the
sand pit, they have a perfect right, and throwing your teddy in the corner
because of it will not help you one jot. Every time something like this
comes down the chain, run your risk analysis once more - it is going to come
up as worthwhile, time and again. If the new rule in V6 is that publishers
have to drop their trousers (pants) whenever a WotC official passes their
stand at Gen Con on pain of licence loss, it is enforceable and I imagine
most of the larger publishers will still do it, because d20 is _worthwhile_.
True, other brands have forged their way into the market and I imagine books
like the Quintessentials or Slayer's Guides would have no problems if we
removed the d20 logo. But what about our brand new Orc Dingbat range? Or
the fact that the new licensed game we do (this comes when Lucasarts finally
see the light and answer our phone calls) is _also_ d20? It has real value
on the shop shelves and just a whiff of officialdom which, incidentally, is
the hardest hurdle for a 3rd party publisher to overcome in this market.
Publishers will stick with d20 because it keeps people employed.
My tuppence :)
Matthew Sprange
Mongoose Publishing
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com
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