From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> In a message dated 10/01/2000 4:10:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > The fact that Maggie wants to be able to have Quality control over
> > her setting, as well as having limitations to the distibution of
> > the setting material (you can change any material but you can't
> > distibute your changes to the public, but you can still distribute
> > unmodified content which has been QC approved), already conflicts
> > with the basis of what the OGL is about (The Unlimited ability to
> > copy, modify, and distribute Open Content).
>
> For example, a group of people get together and brainstorm ideas for
> a d20 compatable module. Those ideas belong to everyone in the
> group but only for the usage of that group. Anyone may join that
> group. The d20 game rules stay open to the world, but the Product
> Identity is only open for people who are willing to contribute
> through group effort. Thus, game rules stay open and ideas stay
> open. I think some of you keep thinking that I want to put game
> rules under quality control. I don't. Never did. I want to open
> product identity within a controlled system for the purpose of world
> creation.
>
> IMO, that's even closer to the spirit of open gaming than the OGL
> for _group_ world creation projects.
The spirit of "open" material is to give everyone the unrestricted
right to copy, modify, and distribute that material. Requiring
membership in a group counts as a restriction and so the material is
not open.
In the scenario you describe above, the rules are open, but the world
is not open. Your statement, "I want to open product identity within a
controlled system for the purpose of world creation" is contradictory;
open material can not be controlled. A particular distribution of open
material is controlled by the person or group creating the
distribution, but if the material is open, then anyone can create a
new distribution based on an existing distribution with or without
changes.
If you agree that open material is more valuable than closed, then I
don't see any benefit to keeping your world closed.
-kenan
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For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
