In a message dated 1/22/02 7:54:31 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< My point is that everyone has to start somewhere. In no way should people get all of their advice here... >> We agree on that. <<...but there is no reason why people should be discouraged from asking questions on this list. >> We agree on that, as well. << Nor should list members be condemned for taking the time to answer them, even when their answers are wrong. >> On that, we disagree. People who don't know what they are talking about and can post only "guesses" or "uneducated opinions" should keep those opinions to themselves. Speculation, guessing and excessive "noise" from those who just want to hear themselves is distracting at best and dangerous and irresponsible at worst. of course, those that heed the bad advice are just as culpable. I agree that intelligent discussion is a good thing. There's no reason that folks shouldn't share their common experiences in order to assist each other (and saver on extraneous legal fees). But ultimately the definitive legal advice should come ONLY from an attroney. Anyone who makes their decisions based solely on feeback from this list are foolish. It can't be said any plainer than that. << If I had to bet I would say that most confusion is aimed at the legal language of the OGL, however, what really gets people in a bind is their lack of experience which, in turn, leads to a false perspective through which they filter all of their information.>> ...and spread that false information as "fact" via their "opinions," which are slung and too often adhered to quite carelessly, IMO. << I suspect that no matter how you craft your Action! license you are still going to be flooded with ignorant questions. >> This happens daily, and not just about Action! (depsite our having a FAQ). It happens in all aspects of consumer relations and marketing. It happens with rules questions, marketing info, product appearance, or any other kind of policy or announcement any company makes. You wil always have those who refuse to read, who refuse to do any amount of "work" to learn something, who just want their question (no matter how inane or silly) answered from "the source." << And unless you have a list as genuinely supportive as this one, or unless you plan on taking the time to personally hold everyone's hand, then you will probably lose a lot of potential license users because they will be new to the industry (or unused to using an attorney) and they will not even begin to know what questions to ask an attorney, let alone have the foresight to go out and hire one. >> <LOL> I would rather have fewer people using Action! who know what they are doing than have a thousand of them out there violating the license six ways from Sunday. I fail to see your point here at all, except perhaps to see the benefit. Of course we want as many folks to use Action! as possible, but NOT at the expense of having excessive violations (intentional or otherwise) of the licensing agreement. << Another point I want to make is that the last Gen Con proved that even people in the industry were not willing to get legal advice on the d20stl and OGL. >> And they were foolish, as well. Perhaps moreso because they are so-called professionals. << That has NOTHING to do with a fault in the language of the OGL or the d20stl.>> I never said it did. << So, I sincerely hope you don't think that Action! is going to be able to attract a more business-savy user base than the OGL. >> I never said I did. Why are you all in a twist? <LOL> I don't think you're reading all of my posts. You've inferred some strange stuff ehre, and all I can do is say "Not what I said." << I'm not trying to slam Action! it's just that the cautious and business minded in the gaming industry seem to be the exception, not the rule.>> That's true, unfortunately. What this industry needs are more companies run by people who are cautious and business minded. << Maybe the newbies were never met to make it under licenses such as the OGL, or perhaps silence is some form of industry natural selection, but I find it odd that you, as the leader of a separate open gaming license, would not see the importance of a "place" where new people (ie.. new ideas) can come to _start_ to face their ignorance. >> Is that was this list is? Perhaps I have a completely wrong impression of what this list is for. Forgive me if that is the case. The last thing I want to do is to be responsible for tossing off-topic posts onto the list. << Most posts here are written as "this is not intended to replace legal counseling..." In addition, I think that most people are wise enough to know that they should not depend on advice from any one single person, _including_ their attorney. So, please do not discourage discussion of legal matters on this list. If that is how you want to run Action, go for it, but I wanted to voice my contrary opinion to Ryan and the rest of this list. >> I NEVER, ever, ever said that I discouraged discussion of legal matters on this list. Not once. << Informal discussion of legal matters on the OGF lists are what, IMO, makes them so invaluable. I know for a fact that my goals never would have been achieved if it weren't for the people here and I would hate to see others even slightly discouraged from partaking of this incredible resource. (Besides, the experienced people probably learn a thing or two, as well, while helping the newbies) >> Asking questions is one thing. Answering questions when one has no idea what one is talking about is what I complained about. If you're going to go off on a tangent and try to paint me as some kind of bad guy for asking people to get a clue, at least know what it is that I am complaining about. ;) Discussion good. Uneducated "opinions" bad. Speculation worse. Mark Arsenault President, Gold Rush Games | http://www.goldrushgames.com Executive Director, Game Publishers Association | http://www.thegpa.org ------------------------------------------------------- Action! System Beta rules! - http://www.action-system.com _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
