Woodelf wrote:
"it is a license for anyone to give away anything they
jolly well want to"
You are only looking at one side of the equation. It
is a license for anyone to give away what they want
to, true. It is also a license for anyone to use that
content as long as they leave it open. With NO
obligation to add more content or do anything else.
Sorry but you dont just get to pick the side you like
best and ignore the other, which is what you are
doing.
In addition, the fact they didnt open all of D&D
doesnt make the description of it as an open game
misleading. Quit making silly semantic arguments and
step back. Here is the big picture truth: You can make
D&D products because of this license. You could not do
so before. D&D is now "open." Besides, they may well
add all the content to the SRD in the future.
Plus, dont forget, the SRD doesnt contain any PI
designations really. PI is being designated by
subsequent users of the license. Your gripe is that
mechanism shouldnt be there. But I say it is
necessary.
Did you ever stop to think that d20 applies to more
than just D&D (or will)? WOTC cant give away all of
Star Wars, for example. They need a mechanism to
release that content as OGC (presuming they will in
the future) that allows them to reserve content that
they dont have the right to give away.
Then you wrote:
"if you're comfortable with something that will cost
you $12.95 being described as "free" then we simply
have a difference of opinion."
Wow...where did that come from? I'll pretend you didnt
even mention that because that example has nothing to
do with any of this. And please refrain from
recharacterizing my statements and putting a stupid
spin on them and then mocking the stupid spin YOU put
on them as if I had said them.
No one has used the word "free." We are talking about
"open" and "game." Not "free."
Again, like I said, it is your preconceived
notions of what an open game should be that is the
problem. Your preconcieved notion is wrong.
You wrote:
"therefore, i think it is a perfectly reasonable
assumption that it would not have mechanisms for
keeping portions of your work closed."
Even if your assumption was reasonable (which frankly
it isnt, since it doesnt follow from the simple title
"open game license"), now you know the truth. Your
assumption was incorrect.
But back to the last email, to say that someone using
the license as it is designed is being dishonest or is
using false advertising is a very strong criticism
that is both untrue and a little severe. I happen to
have met most of the people who have released content
under the license. Everyone is a totally geeked gamer
who loves the idea that people can use D&D as they
want to now. There are no conspiracies (I mention this
even though Faust is gone, mostly because I thought
woodelf might in fact be a new handle for Faust),
there are no evil plans, there are just a bunch of
people trying to use this license for something that
is their hobby in a way that doesnt lead them to lose
their house. The PI provision lets you do that. That
is a good thing. Without the safe harbor provided by
the license, of which PI is a part, many gamers
(myself included) might never have made anything in
the first place because the legal risk isnt worth it.
Case in point, since TSR cracked down on third party
producers, there have been only a handful of
supplements. WOTC opens up D&D and in the six months
before the license is even finalized there is a flood
of stuff. The proof is in the pudding. D&D is open.
I have in the past been criticized for being taken to
have said that only producers can have an opinion on
this matter. That is not my position. I do, however,
believe that it is a useful experience that expands
your understanding of the license and its purposes to
actually work with the license and release some
content. Give it a try. I submit that you will
encounter situations where you will say you are glad
that PI exists, though it might have at first offended
your sensibilities.
Clark
=====
http://www.necromancergames.com
"3rd Edition Rules, 1st Edition Feel"
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