Green Ronin not signing GSL (Forked Thread: Doing the GSL. Who?)

[Twowolves]

So a publisher that had abandoned D&D line supplements YEARS ago isn't doing the GSL? WHose next? Palladium?

More like "So the publisher of the first ever 3rd ed adventure who was burned badly by the 3.5 revision saw another edition coming down the pike, rightly curtailed their D&D support to a trickle (but not abandoning it entirely) isn't going to sign away the future of his company to the whims of WotC's legal team? Who's next, the former publisher of Dungeon and Dragon magazines?"

There, fixed it for you.

 

[Treebore]

I will miss Green Ronin's products, some of which I liked.

I'll probably still buy system-neutral Freeport stuff, but that's about it. I have no real interest in Blue Rose, True 20, or Mutants & Masterminds. It's disappointing to see GR choose to abandon the majority of their customer base.

I guess supporting their mini-systems is in their best interest, but I would have liked to have seen their efforts at creating interesting subsystems for the GSL akin to the good ones they put out for the d20 STL, like The Black Company Campaign Setting, the Thieves' World stuff, and other similar products.

But I guess they have to do what makes sense to them. I wish them luck. Hopefully the market is big enough to support them.

Majority of their customer base? They aren't abandoning True 20 or Mutants and Masterminds or Freeport. If anyone is doing any abandoning it is customers.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Bully for GR and Paizo. I know that I continue to support both companies with my wallet. Both continue to garner fan respect if the ENNies are any indication.

I haven't played D&D in a long time which makes me strangely suspicious of those who do not wish such fantastic companies well. What is it that makes folks believe they are abandoning their fan base just because they will no longer be putting out products for your chosen game system? What makes YOU their target audience? Why isn't it their legions of fans, some of whom who buy M&M despite playing Hero? Who buy True20 just to see what they did? Or who eagerly await the Song of Ice and Fire System? How are those folks who buy pretty much everything based on a record of excellence being abandoned?

I buy far less WotC product than I buy GR or Paizo. Heck, I am one of Paizo's ideal customers - I buy the Pathfinder supplements and some but not all of the modules. Us folk who don't do the D&D have nearly always purchased supplements from other systems. Who strait-jacketed the minds of those claiming that they can no longer use a supplement because it remains 3.5 or anything else for that matter? If D&D is so onerous that it cannot be adapted to subject matter why play it? I mean, if you can't adapt the Rise of the Rune Lords to 4E then surely you cannot adapt a great fantasy movie or a book that inspires you, can you? If you cannot use the ideas in Peril at Kings Landing how do you use the ideas inside your own skull? A system is not a rigid boundary to confine; it is a fluid tool allowing you to explore. So explore.

 

[mangamuscle]

Can you prove that with a quote from anybody, or do you have any insider-informatio?

Let me tell you something, even now I have no quote from anybody nor any insider-information about the weapons of mass destruction fiasco. Bottom line, you have to read between the lines to understand how people think, if you are waiting for direct confirmation by word of mouth or press release you better sit down, because if you are standing sooner or later you will grow tired.

 

[Treebore]

No, as in "hey I'll add some conspiracy theory BS, too!"

Unless maybe you have some secret internal WotC documents backing up your claim that WotC "got what they wanted"? If so, my deepest apologies.

So your saying that the peeps at WOTC were too stupid to see how restrictive and controlling the GSL is?

Not only do I think it was very clear to them, I think it was so clear to them that specific reactions from certain OGL companies were very predictable.

I think WOTC was foolish to encourage Green Ronin and Paizo to stay out of 4E and to continue supporting 3e and OGL products.

You don't regain control of your IP by encouraging 3rd party publishers to either become defacto WOTC subsidiaries or to stay clear.

Especially when a company like Goodman is going to show you can join the GSL and still compete for market share with other product lines.

If WOTC really wanted to control their IP they should have done it through leadership, not strong arm tactics.

I am also hopeful to see a proliferation of 3rd party products via copyright. I think the power of the internet will allow such companies to be more successful then ever before. I would love to see a new generation of Flying Buffalo, Judges Guild, etc... be born.

 

[Treebore]

Let me tell you something, even now I have no quote from anybody nor any insider-information about the weapons of mass destruction fiasco. Bottom line, you have to read between the lines to understand how people think, if you are waiting for direct confirmation by word of mouth or press release you better sit down, because if you are standing sooner or later you will grow tired.

Well said.

 

[Grazzt]

I'm totally cool with their decision.

Yep. Same here. Not too surprising considering the GSL actually.

 

[carmachu]

I'm certainly not blaming 3Ps for the situation, or even defending the GSL, for that matter. But the GSL is what it is, a set of rules laid to down to protect WotC's IP in exchange for the use of the D&D logo. If a company of GRs size isn't willing to find some way to work things out, then it speaks to a direct lack of interest in continuing to support the D&D community their business was founded upon.

Its amazing one one sided blind you are. You conceed the GSL protects Wotc's IP, but then complain when 3PP dont make "an effort" to work with the GSL or a side agreement. You seem to show no concern for other people's IP other than Wotc.

 

[Alzrius]

I say good for Green Ronin! They did some great things with bold new interpretations of the d20 system, and they should go with what works!

Now if only they'd produce some 4E products using only copyright law.

 

[Tetsubo]

I was profoundly happy to hear this news. I love Green Ronin books. If they had switched to 4E I wouldn't have been able to enjoy future publications. Now I can look forward too future Green Ronin products.