Brad Thompson wrote:
I think you're being too simplistic. Consider what is missing from the SRD.A lot of what's not in the SRD could be in there without any real loss. The _only_ tricky parts would be the sections that explain the rules--which could very easily be released post-production. Or not released at all, considering that WotC has no interest in helping others replace the PH.
Everything that is not in the SRD (or rather, everything that is present)
would need some form of indication. A broad statement at the end could not
possibly give them the fine control they have stated they desire, which
means they must devise some method of marking everything that is in the SRD
while excluding everything that is not. If you were to use a highlighter on
your PHB, you would begin to see the magnitude of this task. You would also
see what a mess it would make of the work from an artistic perspective.
A well-done blanket statement could very easily get all of the crunchy bits that everyone wants as OGC, while leaving the bulk of the setup and description closed. For example, for the PH: "the name and 'game rule' sections of all races and classes; the full text of all individual skills, feats, magical items, and spells; the alingment and vital statistics sections of Chapter 6:description; the full text of chapter 7: equipment; the carrying capacity, movement, and exploration sections of Chapter 9:adventuring; and the spell lists in chapter eleven are open gaming content. No text in chapters 1, 8, or 10, nor any text outside of the sections and items hereby identieid are open gaming content." Throw in a PI delclaration and release the current SRD'd versions of the combat, magic, and skill-use chapters, and you've got yourself a PH that everyone will buy and use.
This makes even _more_ sense for splat books and cap-system books. Currently the sub-network of books outside of the core (i.e., d20 products that encourage players to buy the Epic Level Handbook or Tome and Blood) is nonexistent. Add in d20 support, and these books could sell more over the course of their lifetime due to the increased advertising and network effects.
I won't dispute that doing it all at once might be easier, but that isn'tThe OGL / D20STL isn't a charity effort on the part of WotC. It's a cold-blooded money making ploy, and every bit of profit they can squeese from the effort--especially when they'd simply be following the norm for the rest of their sub-industry and have an almost zero chance of negative feedback--should be attempted.
the only consideration. Every week the book spends in editing is a week that
Wizards/Hasbro has to cover the cost of their investment. If that work can
be done after the work starts making money, perhaps in between projects,
then it is MUCH easier to squeeze into the bottom line. It might not make
much difference to small print runs, but once you start talking about the
volumes of product that make the OGL a smart move on Wizards part it becomes
a significant figure.
Not much of a benefit considering that anyone who wants a copy of the bookThere's a big difference betweeen a music download and a print-book distribution. While the common man might not care one bit if the copy they get is legal or not, the rare folks who "pirate" books very well might. There's not as much ego-feedback and goodwill bought from ripping apart and scanning your roleplaying books as there is from making a CHM file with the OGC from the book. Plus, there's a distinct chance that "bad" copies of the books would be drowned out by "good and legal" copies of the book's OGC.
now can download a PDF of it for free regardless of the law. Perhaps I'm a
bit jaded, but given the 'Napster Phenomena' I don't think that there is a
very big population that would respect the difference between a legal free
download and an illegal free download.
DM
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