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Foundry VTT Author Chimes in on OGL 1.1
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<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 8886263" data-attributes="member: 20741"><p>It was for "political" reasons - though I don't think this is really "politics". [USER=177]@Umbran[/USER] will correct me if necessary, I'm sure.</p><p></p><p>[And I apologize in advance if it is]</p><p></p><p>What happened was last February, Russia invaded Ukraine. Various Western nations announced financial sanctions on Russia and Russians, and in particular, took steps to ensure that it would be <em>really hard</em> to send money to (or get money out of) Russia to and from the West.</p><p></p><p>About 2-3 weeks after the invasion and as sanctions were being discussed in the media and announced by the UK, Canada, the USA and much of the rest of the West, there was an expansion DLC released for <em>Wrath of the Righteous, </em>the PC Game for PF1. The game is written by Owlcat, a Moscow based developer and published by its parent, which is a corporation based in Cyprus. I don't have anything against the devs in Owlcat, but the purpose of our financial sanctions is not to express our outrage to the people of Russia -- it's to make their lives difficult and so make it more difficult for Putin to govern that nation. And Owlcat's finances are based in Cypus. As a lawyer, I know that is a <strong>RED FLAG. </strong></p><p></p><p>If you know anything about international banking, you know that Cyprus has the most corrupt banking system in the West. If you think you can track money that goes into a Cypriot bank? You can't; not really.</p><p></p><p>So as the DLC was announced, Paizo shilled for Owlcat -- as I am sure they were contractually obligated to do on both Twitter, via-email and on Paizo's website.</p><p></p><p>I took exception to this, because in the context at the time -- and at all times since -- sending money in a way that it <strong>certain to reach</strong> ordinary every day Russians just living their lives in Russia has been something that all of us,. collectively, in the West have been morally and legally against doing. Business as usual with Russia and Russians was <em>not okay.</em></p><p></p><p>I posted on this very topic on Paizo's message board to complain about it. Tonya Woldrige <strong>DELETED MY POST</strong> suggesting that I was discussing "politics" and that was not okay on Paizo's boards. <strong>That was a deliberate and convenient lie, imo</strong>.</p><p></p><p>I cancelled my subscriptions the next day (I like to wait and not do things when I am angry). I ceased all development of a PF2 version of RotRL I was doing as a for pay gig for Foundry VTT, ended all work I was doing on the Automated Animations and SND FX for PF2 for Foundry VTT (free project, I was ~half done) and suspended two Pathfinder 2 campaigns indefinitely. Another player of mine, who runs <em>Agents of Edgewatch</em> ended his campaign that same day.</p><p></p><p>This was a difficult decision for me, as many of the top level creative people at Paizo are people I consider to be personal friends. I bear them no ill will -- but this was more than "just business" to me.</p><p></p><p>And just like that, after being a Paizo superfan and literally owning every product they had ever released, in any format, (including some really obscure ones from 2003) I was out.</p><p></p><p>If and when the war In Ukraine comes to an end, I will reconsider my position. If, before that should occur, WotC does something really offensive with the OGL 1.1, I will, perhaps, also reconsider.</p><p></p><p>But for now, that's why I am here, running <em>Rime of the FrostMaiden</em> and <em>Shadow of the Dragon Queen </em>via Foundry VTT, and how it is that WotC recently got a whole lot more of my money.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 8886263, member: 20741"] It was for "political" reasons - though I don't think this is really "politics". [USER=177]@Umbran[/USER] will correct me if necessary, I'm sure. [And I apologize in advance if it is] What happened was last February, Russia invaded Ukraine. Various Western nations announced financial sanctions on Russia and Russians, and in particular, took steps to ensure that it would be [I]really hard[/I] to send money to (or get money out of) Russia to and from the West. About 2-3 weeks after the invasion and as sanctions were being discussed in the media and announced by the UK, Canada, the USA and much of the rest of the West, there was an expansion DLC released for [I]Wrath of the Righteous, [/I]the PC Game for PF1. The game is written by Owlcat, a Moscow based developer and published by its parent, which is a corporation based in Cyprus. I don't have anything against the devs in Owlcat, but the purpose of our financial sanctions is not to express our outrage to the people of Russia -- it's to make their lives difficult and so make it more difficult for Putin to govern that nation. And Owlcat's finances are based in Cypus. As a lawyer, I know that is a [B]RED FLAG. [/B] If you know anything about international banking, you know that Cyprus has the most corrupt banking system in the West. If you think you can track money that goes into a Cypriot bank? You can't; not really. So as the DLC was announced, Paizo shilled for Owlcat -- as I am sure they were contractually obligated to do on both Twitter, via-email and on Paizo's website. I took exception to this, because in the context at the time -- and at all times since -- sending money in a way that it [B]certain to reach[/B] ordinary every day Russians just living their lives in Russia has been something that all of us,. collectively, in the West have been morally and legally against doing. Business as usual with Russia and Russians was [I]not okay.[/I] I posted on this very topic on Paizo's message board to complain about it. Tonya Woldrige [B]DELETED MY POST[/B] suggesting that I was discussing "politics" and that was not okay on Paizo's boards. [B]That was a deliberate and convenient lie, imo[/B]. I cancelled my subscriptions the next day (I like to wait and not do things when I am angry). I ceased all development of a PF2 version of RotRL I was doing as a for pay gig for Foundry VTT, ended all work I was doing on the Automated Animations and SND FX for PF2 for Foundry VTT (free project, I was ~half done) and suspended two Pathfinder 2 campaigns indefinitely. Another player of mine, who runs [I]Agents of Edgewatch[/I] ended his campaign that same day. This was a difficult decision for me, as many of the top level creative people at Paizo are people I consider to be personal friends. I bear them no ill will -- but this was more than "just business" to me. And just like that, after being a Paizo superfan and literally owning every product they had ever released, in any format, (including some really obscure ones from 2003) I was out. If and when the war In Ukraine comes to an end, I will reconsider my position. If, before that should occur, WotC does something really offensive with the OGL 1.1, I will, perhaps, also reconsider. But for now, that's why I am here, running [I]Rime of the FrostMaiden[/I] and [I]Shadow of the Dragon Queen [/I]via Foundry VTT, and how it is that WotC recently got a whole lot more of my money. [/QUOTE]
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