> Alexander P. Macris
>
> From what I gleaned from the article, WOTC is not pursuing a
> strategy of �Open Gaming� at all.
That is true for the d20 logo, but not for the d20 content. The d20 SRD is
an OGL work, which means it can be used by anyone to promote any game, not
just WotC games. It does not depend on any WotC products, and a publisher
is not beholden to WotC in any way as long as they don't use the d20
Trademarks. You can even discard and replace portions of the d20 SRD with
your own rules (such as rules for character creation, the effects of
experience, and level advancement. And it's all Free.
> Perhaps you all knew this already but I certainly did not. I
> find this horrifying. I thought the point of open source
> gaming was to be like LINUX: Make the system free and
> modifiable, until a truly superior system emerges, and then
> compete on the basis of value-added applications or support.
It is, but you've got the titles mixed up. D20 is like Red Hat, while Open
Gaming (and the d20 SRD) is like Linux. It isn't exactly accurate because
the way you can link Closed content to the OGL, but it's close.
> Now what does this mean? If the core PHB is the revenue-driver,
> what is the �value of the business� in the D&D trademarks? It
> seems to me they are trying to have their cake and eat it too!
One word: Licensing. D&D is a very valuable trademark, because of it's
million or so active fans and countless thousands more who are familiar with
it.
> If WOTC honestly believes that sales of their core rules are
> their revenue driver, then they should be to be blunt about
> keeping the rules proprietary and instead license out what they
> call the �product identity�the names, characters, places,
> monsters, etc. from all the various D&D product lineswith the
> caveat that if you want to use the source material it has to be
> compatible with D&D.
They took a look at what was profitable and what wasn't. Then they created
a license that kept the valuable stuff in-house and let other people create
the stuff that wasn't profitable for them to produce.
It has a secondary effect of donating a well-playtested game mechanic with a
huge user base into the gaming community. There are already plans afoot for
a D20 Deadlands conversion book, and a D20 Cyberpunk game. They appeal
directly to WotC consumers, giving WotC a more versatile product and the
third-party publishers a ready-made market base.
Their strategy is also related to the legal fact that 'rules' do not enjoy
copyright protection, whereas fictional characters and similar source
material does. A great deal of the material they released would be hard to
defend in an infringement suit, and in the process create groundwork for
what constitutes a 'rule' and what constitutes 'product identity'.
> Fortunately, I think I have figured out a clever loophole using a
> combination of the OGL and the D20STL which we can use to avoid
> the need for PHBs.
That isn't a loophole, it's intentional. You can use all the d20 material
under the OGL without the d20 STL. That includes making your own OGL PHB.
-Brad
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For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
