From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of William Olander Sent: Friday, November 02, 2001 1:11 PM To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: RE: [Ogf-l] Misperception of OGL Copyright
<< Soooooo... Essentially, the D20 magazine thing has absolutely NO Open Content in it then? I must say, if that's the case then I'm really very dissapointed. I'd be cranky if I wasn't riding the high of Open Psionic products coming down the pipeline. >> My condolences and sympathies on your disappointment; but really, this is ENTIRELY consistent with everything we have seen from Wizards. Once again, we see that D20 has NOTHING to do with "open". D20 was designed to mean "uses the same core rules as D&D 3E" and nothing more. Then we add into the mix the D20 STL, a general license which allows third party use of the D20 logo in the absence of any other more specific license. As has been pointed out in another thread, that does not actually require that a third party using the logo will produce a work that uses the same core rules as D&D 3E. The hope is that market forces will prune out works that, while using the logo, veer so far from the core rules as to be unrecognizable. (I suspect this will work as long as the number of outliers is small; but I fear that if a large number of outlier products appeared in a short length of time, the market might get disillusioned, and the value of the D20 mark would be diminished.) And simultaneously, the hope is that this opportunity will encourage rules experimentation in an open marketplace where novel ideas get a chance for feedback from a wide audience (and rapid adoption by that audience if the feedback is favorable). But what the D20 logo DOES require is a minimum percentage of OGC (and a few other things, of course). That requires the OGL, of course. And the OGL also enables the SRD, which is the other side of the equation: along with the OGL, it provides a legally unassailable means for a third party to use the same core rules as D&D 3E without benefit of any other license from Wizards. In other words, as long as you comply with the license PROVIDED BY WIZARDS, Wizards and Hasbro and anyone else in the ownership chain for D&D cannot touch you (without getting a court to rule the contract invalid in some way); and simultaneously, Wizards has set up the structure in such a way that correctly complying with the license makes it practically impossible for you to endanger their trademarks, so there's little reason for them to WANT to touch you. The bad old days of the Dillies (is that the right name?) and all the other folks who gave TSR such a reputation as vicious litigants can be held at bay simply by sticking within a fairly generous license. (In fact, I sometimes wonder if Ryan hasn't pulled a fast one on Wizards, effectively getting them to disarm themselves so that future owners cannot possibly act as stupidly as did past owners. Ryan, as the old joke goes: "Me 'at's off to the Duke!") But that's all about how Wizards lets us play in their D20 sandbox. D20 magazine is about the sandbox itself. And I think the magazine makes clear that in their minds (and, I continue to believe, in the minds of the vast majority of the market), the sandbox means "uses the same core rules as D&D 3E". Except for a small crowd that cares, openness is a footnote at best. If anything, the issue in question makes an effort to make more players aware of what openness is all about, likely enlarging that small crowd. To me, that's cause for thanks, not disappointment. Sorry if this is rambling, redundant, or a bit irate. I'm overworked and tired. But I just feel like D20 magazine has a lot to offer me as a DM and as a player, and Open Gaming has a lot to offer me as a wannabe game designer. It seems like I have more gaming riches before me than I can recall in two decades, and I cannot understand people being disappointed when all I am is awed. Martin L. Shoemaker Martin L. Shoemaker Consulting, Software Design and UML Training [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.MartinLShoemaker.com http://www.UMLBootCamp.com _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
