I think I understand now. Apparantly I have had a horrible misconception about the OGL, SRD, and D20. After reading over all the Liscenses out there, I think I got it.
Lemme see if I get this straight. Please Correct me if I am wrong: 1. The OGL is a liscence that allows for games to be released with Open Content. Therefore if I make a game under OGL, other people can use my content, and vice-versa. I can make a source book defining Character Creation under the OGL, and anyone else can use it. It just so happens that the OGL was created by Wizards. 2. The SRD is a set of documents that fall under Open Gaming Content and Open Gaming Liscence. Anyone can use it and modify and resell it or give it away. Therefore I can make any kind of game I want using the SRDs, since it is Open. I can also use some concepts from the SRD and concepts from other documents that are Open. The SRDs come exclusively from Wizards of the Coast. 3. The D20 [system] is a Gaming system based on a set of rules and gaming concepts, as defined in the D20guide (and it is owned by Wizards). Following these specific rules allows me to stamp the "D20 Logo" on it. I can make a "D20 Logo" book based on ALMOST ANY Open Content out there, incuding the SRDs as long as it conforms to the rules defined in the guide. The guide explicitely says there is some Open Content I cannot use, such as Character Creation guides, even if such guides are Open Content under OGL. (Example: FooBar company releases their own "Release Document" that is under OGL and Open Content. This "RD" defines creating characters. I can use this info for free to make my own game/sourcebook/guide, but doing so violates the D20 rules and therefore I cannot use "D20 Logo" on my book.) Did I get it right? Now, riddle me this: What is the purpose of the Open GAming Foundation? >What you've stumbled upon really is the main reason that the FGA came >together in the first place. A whole lot of games may use the rules from >the >SRD but because there is no officially sanctioned OGL Logo, there is little >to no way for you to know without flipping through the book that they are >compatible with one another. >-Bill > >-----Original Message----- >From: The LE [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] >Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 2:05 PM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [Ogf-l] OGF vs SRD vs D20 vs Wizards? > > >I understand the concept of the OGL vs D20, but what I don't understand is >the future of the OGL. To quote Maggie Vining: > >"The Open Gaming License is a license that requires open content to remain >open regardless of who uses it or modifies it. The d20 license requires >that > >its users adhere to certain rules if (and only if) they want to place the >d20 logo on their products. The System Reference Document is a set of game >rules that have been released under the OGL." > >That makes sense. However, the only SRDs I have seen thus far have been >released by Wizards of the Coast (very sloowwwlly). > >Doesn't this mean that SRDs will ALWAYS be linked to Wizards of the Coast? > >If this is true, won't all SRDs specifically avoid content found in the DMG >and PHB, in order to keep in "D20" compatible? In other words, Wizards >would never release an SRD defining character creation. > >Will the OGF ever release an SRD defining character creation? Using such >an > >SRD means that I cannot put the "D20" logo on my product, but that is not >the point. > >I guess it comes down to this: does the OGF have any SRDs that does not >come from Wizards, and if not then will it in the future? > >~Le > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Join the world's largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. >http://www.hotmail.com > >_______________________________________________ >Ogf-l mailing list >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
