From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thursday, October 19, 2000 12:50 PM
Subject: Re: [Open_Gaming] Non-D20 Reference Documents
>"Gee, the guys in Turkey are gonna go ahead and pirate Windows and sell it
>for $5, so lets just post the whole CD on the web to make it easier for
them."
>
>See, it doesn't make sense that way, either...
Sure, misrepresent the intent of my message. I'm talking Open Content, not
entire products as you suggest.
>I don't believe Clark wants to prevent legitimate use of OGC, as I don't
want
>to prevent it either. What he wants to do is prevent people from getting
>something for free rather than buying the book.
And I am not saying that me is. Clark's been one of the pioneers of OGC and
I have nothing but respect for him, but that doesn't mean I agree with all
of his opinions. My point is that no one can regulate how people get access
to or use OGC once it is released. There is no stipulation that requires an
OGL developer, or anyone else for that matter, from using OGC without
purchasing the product that the it originally appeared in.
>He's not doing that. If you can type, you can use the OGC in any book that
>has it.
Any if you can known HTML you can also create a website that displays that
OGC so long as you abide by the rules of the OGL.
><<You seem to be saying that the entirety of the value of an OGL product is
>the OGC.>>
>
>No, buts it is one of the many hooks intended to drag people over to buy
the
>books in the first place.
I thought that the D20 logo was supposed to be the big hook to get people to
purchase a product. I don't mean to bring up old debates but most people
believe that only a small percentage of the people who buy an OGL product
really care about open gaming, therefore it would be a minor hook at best.
><<
>>I'm worried that your repository of stuff will lead to
>>less open content.
>
>I don't buy the "More freely available OGC leads to less OGC" theory. More
>OGC that is available, the more incentive there is for developers to use
it.>>
>
>The more OGC that is available like this for free on the web, the less
>incentive there is for people to buy those products that featured it.
I can see how there might be an incentive for OGL developers not to buy it,
but as has already been established, most people don't care about the OGC.
I personally see every person who buys an OGL product to be a potential OGL
developer, but concede the point that only the smallest fraction of them
actually will be.
><<The value of an OGL product is not the OGC alone. It also gains value
from
>the graphics, layout, production quality, Product Identity and Trademarks
>that make it up>>
>
>True...but that's kind of like arguing that you should charge for the
engine,
>frame, wheels of a car, and only charge for the body panels and the chrome
>since they are the visible parts.
It's nothing of the sort. I'm saying that the cost covers every aspect of
what makes up the product, not just those portions that can't be found
somewhere else. To use your example, it's more like I am saying that just
because you can find the blueprints for free doesn't mean the fully
assembled car will be any less valuable to you.
There are a great many books that have fallen into the public domain and can
be downloaded for free off the internet, but if you go into any bookstore,
you will likely see them in print being sold. The fact that anyone in the
world with internet access could read them for free does not prevent
customers from finding value in a printed and bound copy of the exact text
that they can get for free online.
><<Sure someone can get the basic text of the PHB off the net, but how
useful
>is it to them in a text document with no page numbers to refer to, no
>graphics, no layout and no character creation/advancement rules. Doesn't
>sound very useful to me as a player or as a DM.>>
>
>Actually, the SRD (as I've seen so far) is actually a bit easier to use
than
>the PHB...less fluff lets you find things faster. YMMV
Sure, for OGL development it is, that's what it's designed for. But for
your typical gaming session, it's not so useful in the form it exists on the
OGF site, especially if you don't have access to a computer and an/or an
internet connection. And don't even think about level advancement. ;)
><<Again, I don't think this will happen unless people start producting OGL
>products with no value beyond the open content, in which case they probably
>don't deserve to make any money off of them.>>
>
>Please don't get into who "deserves" what. Publishers of quality product,
>regardless of whether new OGC is included, will be rewarded by the market.
>Publishers of crap, even if its chock full of new (albeit crap) OGC will
not.
Perhaps I should have said "shouldn't expect to make money off of them"
instead. My point is that any producing a product that is 100% open content
is not as likely to live up to the quality of any of the published OGL
products that have been released so far. Anyone doing this would know that
anyone in the world could completely reproduce and distribute the product
without the creator making a dime. So consequentially those people will
likely only do this for free anyway or not put as much effort into the
quality of the production, unless it is just a labor of love for. I don't
think it can't or won't happen, rather I think it will be the exception, not
the norm because most people will want to keep at least some of their
creation as PI.
Chris
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