Check your clock; the time setting is way off. The LE wrote:
> 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. More specifically: the OGL is a copyleft license that grants You the right to use Open Gaming Content, provided that your use of Open Gaming Content and any derivitive work is released as Open Gaming Content under the OGL. There are a few extra restrictions (not using trademarks without written permission, having to include the OGL and update section 15) and a few bits that essentlyaly exist just to allow proper marking of Open Gaming Content (Product Identity, Clear Identification rule, Authority to Contribute clause) > 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 The SRD is the nontrademarked name of an OGL Work published electronically by Wizards of the Coast. It is 100% OGC, and is the only product that WotC has released under the OGL to date. Almost all other current OGL works derive from this SRD, as having a license to use the same rules and rules text as D&D is a powerful marketing tool. > 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. d20 is a graphical trademark created and owned by Wizards, which they intend to mean "the roleplaying game system behind the newest edition of Dungeons and Dragons." Wizards has spent the last two years taking several actions, including using the logo on all of the D&D books and licensing the logo out to third parties for use with the OGL. The d20 System Trademark License, or d20STL, is the licence wherein Wizards gives written permission to use their trademarks to anyone wishing to follow the rules laid out in the d20 system guide. You are correct in your understanding of the d20STL and d20 guide. You must follow all of the rules on not changing the meaning of Restricted Terms, on not including rules for Character Generation, on proper use of Wizards' trademarks, on the minimum ammount of OGC, and anything else that they require. It doesn't matter how much you derive from the OGL or what you take your content from--or even if you write all but the most basic mechanic from scratch. (Not at the moment, but WotC could change the rules at any time.) It's important to remmember that, while the OGL allows You to use any version you want, the d20STL allows you to only use the current version. Wizards can revoke or change the d20STL essentially at will--but that's all just the Hasbro Executives carrying out their fiduciary responsibility to protect the investments of their stockholders. No one should get hung up on this legal out--the SRD is published and only a United States court ruling the OGL invalid and its liceness void can take it away, and that's not likely to happen (or survive the inevitable appeal from Wizards of the Coast if it does.) > Now, riddle me this: What is the purpose of the Open GAming Foundation? Originally, Ryan Dancy was a Vice President at Wizards of the Coast who was the chief architect of the OGL and the current incarnation of the d20 system and open gaming marketing plan. He successfully convinced his co-workers that by allowing other companies to create compatbile products, they could increase the sales of their core products with minimal expense. Ryan coined the name "Open Gaming Foundation," hosted the www.opengamingfoundation.org website at an ISP he owns, and solicited input and aid from the community. This mailing list was where inital drafts of the OGL were discussed before Wizards's overworked lawyers got the license to write it up. Ryan stated his intention to create the OGF as a legal not-for-profit entity, but he never got around to doing the necessary paperwork. Once the Open gaming movement took off the ground, Ryan left Wizards. For reasons nondisclosed, the Open Gaming Foundation was never given more existance than a name, a domain, and a server. The OGL currently hosts the unreleased draft sections of the SRD, and these mailing lists. DM _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
