-----Original Message-----
From: Faustus von Goethe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Thank you. At last, a response that is well though out and "somewhat"
>valid.
>
>NOTE: I say "somewhat" only because my original post referred to WotC
>Fan-based material, and this response carries it a couple of steps further.
You're welcome. ;) I do apologize for not reading your message closely
enough to catch that you were referring to WotC Fan-based materials only.
>
>>1) The OGL gives you access to all open material that is released under
the
>>OGL. If you were to use OGL material without following the restrictions
>>set forth in the OGL, you can be sued.
>
>This is valid and I agree to a certain extent, HOWEVER, I believe a "Online
>Policy User" could search the web and WotC's older stuff and come up with
>virtually all of the possible combinations that we as developers will use.
>
>I seriously doubt there will be significant "original" (read - not already
>available on a fan site) content that is released under the OGL. There is
a
>limit to the number of tweaks, and it will very quickly become difficult to
>achieve anything original, at least in the D&D realm.
This is all true for someone who has no intention of persuing deveopment
outside the WotC stable. If anyone wants to do that, more power to them,
but this is just too limiting for my tastes. I think that there is a strong
desire to "cross-pollenate" game systems to create a new (hopefully)
stronger hybrid system. I know I certainly want to do this. As more OGC is
released this becomes more feasible so I have an alterior motive to
encourage people to use the OGL. :)
>>2) Legitimacy. Anyone can produce material and put it up on a website
>>under the "online use policy", but professionals (and I mean the
dictionary
>>definition of professional: "someone who is paid for his work") in the
>>industry are going to be using the OGL. Therefore it will be perceived as
>>being a more legitimate because of the quality of people using. Even
>>amateur work that is released as OGC will benefit from this perception.
>
>A matter of perception, and "fans" will have to decide whether giving up
>access to their favorite settings, characters, and use of the D&D (and
>*ANY*) trademark, in addition to taking on a whole lot of compliance
issues,
>is woth the additional "legitimacy".
If their material is generic enough there's nothing to give up. I agree
that for anything that could not be published under the OGL there is no
reason to do so, only a fool would attempt it. But I also think that if the
material could be published under the OGL and you are giving it away free
anyways, then it should be included as OGC.
>I disagree that this is a valid point, however, because the reality is,
that
>FAN loyalty is BASED on the trademark. NOBODY (with the possible exception
>of us few developers) will ever be a fan of "D20" - and this is the ONLY
>WotC trademark you can use if you adhere to the OGL. If you can't use
"D&D"
>then the fans will NOT have a use for OGL.
Unless those fans want to become professional game designers. I think that
those fans who are interested in game design as a profession will take to
OGL even if they are developing material specifically for D&D. It's not
hard to change names to you don't step on WotC's toes as far as copyrights
go but still be close enough to the original that people get an idea what
you are trying to say. You just don't want things to be so similar that you
get sued for it. Gary Gygax did that with his Gord the Rogue books after
his split with TSR.
D&D is to Champions as D20 is to Hero System. D&D is a genre game of the
D20 system jsut as Champions is a genre game for the Hero System. Champions
and D&D just happen to be the most popular genre games of those systems
because they were the first of each system and existed under their own names
before the universal systems were created form their rules. I know people
who are fans of the Hero System, they create their own rules to use in house
and for other genres; every game they play is done in the Hero System; they
like the system so much they don't want to play anything else. I forsee
this happening with the D20 system in the future, in fact this is the very
thing that WotC is hoping will happen with the OGL. But just as with the
Champions example, there will always be more people who are fans of D&D than
of D20.
>Personally, I think this "reason" boils down into "Because I like to take
on
>additional unnecessary restrictions..."
I have to disagree. I think that the fact that other companies are starting
to develop D20 products is a sign of the legitimacy of OGL works.
>>3) WotC's "online use policy" only applies to WotC. Other companies may
>>not be as forgiving as WotC in their policies. <snip>
>
>This is a valid point and I agree, but it is not valid in light of my
>original statement about "WotC Fan-based Material".
Agreed.
Chris
www.IDrankWhat.org
www.coincidental.net
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