>It is possible to be moral, ethical, altruistic, and even idealistic and
>still make a profit in the process. And when you imply otherwise, you
insult
>people who have done a great job in bringing lots of gaming enjoyment to
>gamers everywhere.
I certainly aknowledge the right of anyone to make money off of their
efforts--as long as we're in an society based on money, then to deny someone
the right to make money is to deny them the right to better themselves.
(And I have no plans to change this system anytime soon.)
However, I don't see the collarary between "One needs to be able to make
money from Open Gaming" and "One cannot make an Open Game without spending
money." Currently, this is the bias the OGL has--almost every fan site and
not-for-money endeavor I've seen is entangled in legalistic fear. Thus, they
turn from even bothering with the OGL and simply stick to the "too small to
bother" defense.
The last time someone posted something new for Dunandralis was months ago...
because those of us who really cared were entangled in legal wrangling, and
finally gave up. We had to try and balance creative control with openness,
and in the end lost our way simply because we couldn't afford the lost time.
With some kind of extra, "not for money" add on to the OGL, we can provide
an easy route for these people. As evidenced by every newbie who balks when
told to "go get a lawyer", there is a definite niche for this; not for
professional game producers, but for amatures and fans, for the kind of
person who writes a game for fun and wants to share it, not for some
idealistic cause or for his bottom line.
And you might not believe it, but some of the best minds who roleplay don't
write roleplaying games or modules or adventures for publication, don't want
to gamble on a business, and don't want to bother hiring a lawyer just for
something they do for fun. If we avoid these people, or continually squash
them down, then the OGF (or, to be percise, "the open gaming community") is
no better than what its worst critics call it; a way for corporations to
cash in on the "Open Source" buzz without really sticking to its ideals.
Doug Meerschaert
P.S. And before someone thinks otherwise, I *do* recognize that there have
been tremendous ammounts of time and good will given freely towards those
who are trying to do this, but have no hope of getting money from it. I
only mean to encourage more of this admirable behavior, not belittle what
has already been done.
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