> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Ryan S. Dancey > Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 8:12 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: QUESTION [was RE: [Ogf-l] Cant use Mind Flayers] > > As a part of preparing for 3rd Edition, we took a hard look at some of > the core monsters in the D&D beastiary, and selected several of them to > undergo a substantial visual reconcepting. The effort was made to end > up with illustrations of the creatures that could not easily be > duplicated without referencing WotC's illustrations; so that in turn we > could generate licensing fees from selling the rights to those images to > action figure manufacturers, computer game companies, etc. That list > includes most of the popular and common monsters. Having done that > work, WotC is unwilling to simply give it all away for free. > > My standpoint is that illustrations are not game rules, or material that > uses those rules, and therefore the control of derivative works for the > illustrations of D&D falls outside the scope I perceive to be critical > for the success of the Open Gaming movement. That viewpoint, combined > with the strategy of leveraging the "new look" D&D monsters (that I > helped craft) guided my choices when redacting the Monster Manual into > SRD format.
Thank you. These behind-the-scenes glimpses are fascinating, AND they clarify things, too. 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://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
