-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>In the system I proposed, the contributions would be even more open than
the
>OGL from the perspective of Dunandralis. To the gaming community we are
just
>another big campaign setting. But to the members of Dunandralis, we are a
>100% open work. We need a type of OGL for _within_ Dunandralis, not for
our
>association with the gaming community. The key is that Dunandralis is
>public, not private.
Please correct me if I am mistaken in my understanding here but it doesn't
sound to me like you have any intention of making Dunandralis Open Source.
It sounds as though you intend to make it Public Domain but by restricting
the ability to alter it and make derivative work from it, Dunandralis falls
outside the definition of Open Source.
>I agree that this system isn't for everyone, but Dunandralis is a _group_
>project and we want to keep it that way. There are plenty of mediums for
>people who want to contribute independent ideas and keep their rights to
>their ideas.
Being a group project, Open Source is not the best solution to take with it,
unless you intend the group to potentially be the entire world without
restriction.
>Why do this? Some of us believe that if an idea is argued over, criticized
>and expanded upon by as many people as possible that it will be far
superior
>than what one person alone could have accomplished.
This is certainly possible, however it isn't necessarily true in all cases.
Sometimes this results in the "Too Many Chefs" syndrome which causes nothing
but problems and nothing gets accomplished. This is something that you need
to be on the lookout for in any group project and need to take steps to end
it as soon as possible (ideally before it ever begins).
>However, it is for logistical reasons that ideas _have_ to go through
>Dunandralis-l and then the Content team and then the Editing team.
As is true of any serious group effort. With the magazine I am involved
with, we follow a similar process before our monthly publication:
brainstorm and debate ideas, write the content, submit it to editorial and
revise.
>Some online world creation projects seem to think quantity is quality and
they
>rush to get everything they can up on their web sites. We want everyone to
>contribute to Dunandralis, but not at the risk of sacrificing continuity,
>quality, legitimacy, and peace.
IMHO, quantity never makes up for quality. This is a good reason not to
include Dunandralis under the blanket of Open Gaming. Were the setting
released under the OGL you would lose the control that you desire to
maintain over its development. This means that anyone could make
derivatives of the setting and take it off in directions that the
Dunandralis list member do not agree with, diluting their creation.
It sounds like your best option it copyright Dunandralis to the list,
committee,community, whatever you decide but provide it as freely available
for use and distribution without modification.
Chris
www.IDrankWhat.org
www.coincidental.net
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