Is All Still Quiet on the SRD Front?

[Geron Raveneye]

I guess I should surrender my law license too?

I suppose it's true: get three lawyers in a conversation and you'll get six opinions on liability.



--G

Nah, you simply uncovered Orcus' secret plan to do exactly as you posted, ruin WotC with the financial claims, buy the whole thing for $1, and get total control of D&D that way. I guess having him on the 4E MM cover is a sign of things coming.

Now where do you hide from a stymied demon prince?

 

[dmccoy1693]

Wacky idea, but I'd still like to hear thoughts on it: What if the WotC boys know that the changes they are making aren't "breath-takingly wonderful." Heck, say they think they had to make so many compromises that they think the whole of the product stinks. I believe WotC_Logan said that 4E is a team effort. My day job is a government contractor; I can tell you how many great ideas came out of a committee. I think I can count them on 1 finger and still have atleast a finger left over. But anways, say that what WotC fears most is the 3rd party companies "killing" 4E by publicly saying, "We have reviewed the rules and we are sticking with 3E," or "we're going to come up with our own game," or etc. So they are going to withhold the rules as long as possible in hopes of minimumizing that effect.

Similar idea to when Hollywood puts out a movie so bad that they don't let the critics see it before opening day, what if WotC would rather have the 3rd party companies say, "We're going to continue supporting 3.5 because we don't have the rules yet and will review the 4E rules once we get them," because its better then saying, "we have reviewed the rules and are choosing to support a different like of products."

thoughts?

 

[Khuxan]

Wacky idea, but I'd still like to hear thoughts on it: What if the WotC boys know that the changes they are making aren't "breath-takingly wonderful." Heck, say they think they had to make so many compromises that they think the whole of the product stinks. I believe WotC_Logan said that 4E is a team effort. My day job is a government contractor; I can tell you how many great ideas came out of a committee. I think I can count them on 1 finger and still have atleast a finger left over. But anways, say that what WotC fears most is the 3rd party companies "killing" 4E by publicly saying, "We have reviewed the rules and we are sticking with 3E," or "we're going to come up with our own game," or etc. So they are going to withhold the rules as long as possible in hopes of minimumizing that effect.

Similar idea to when Hollywood puts out a movie so bad that they don't let the critics see it before opening day, what if WotC would rather have the 3rd party companies say, "We're going to continue supporting 3.5 because we don't have the rules yet and will review the 4E rules once we get them," because its better then saying, "we have reviewed the rules and are choosing to support a different like of products."

thoughts?

I think the enthusiasm and excitement of Wizards for 4E is palpable and given the wide acceptance of SW Saga, ToB and MM5 - 4e's precursors - I doubt your suspicions very much. 4E might be a stinker, but I am 99% sure the design and development teams think it's awesome - and at this point, I do too.

 

[pogre]

I guess I should surrender my law license too?

I suppose it's true: get three lawyers in a conversation and you'll get six opinions on liability.



--G

I think we can all agree the claim would face pretty tough odds at best. Mistwell must face nicer judges than we have around here

I'm always amazed by the volume of attorneys we have around these parts. Although, admittedly, I am a recovering one

 

[JohnRTroy]

Where do you think the term "rules lawyers" comes from.

 

[borc killer]

thoughts?

Yea. I have one. You have never worked in a good team before or you have any clue what a real team is. Just like most of corporate America. Just because you have had bad experiences with this does not mean that every team is the suck.

To use a sports example. The New York Knicks are TECHNICALLY a team but if you watch the games you can easily see their leadership is poor and thus all that talent goes to waist. Compare that to the New England Patriots and look at their record over the past 5 years and you can see that there talent level has not always been that high but there leadership has been immense and thus they have had a great deal of success. (please don’t turn this into a sports thread… just using those as broad examples)

 

[Mistwell]

Mistwell, could pigs fly, hey maybe. I'm not 100% sure pigs cant fly. I mean, maybe somewhere that I dont know about a genetic scientist has modified pigs to give them wings. Or maybe they are about to evolve wings. So I guess you are right that I cant say 100% sure there is no claim. Dont be contrarian just to be contrarian. Sure, maybe you should never say 100%. But that doesnt change the fact that there is no claim here. Now that you posted that people will confuse your criticism of my use of 100% with the fact that there may be some claim, which there isnt. Period.

But with that same lack of certainty in mind, I'll put it this way:

I am as sure that there is no claim as I am that pigs cant fly.

I'm not being contrarian just be contrarian. I genuinely think you have exaggerated the lack of any potential case. Maybe it just comes from a difference in our various litigation experiences and house counsel experiences (or maybe just the state I am in, which is California).

But I know as in-house counsel I would have raised the issue for WOTC. It wouldn't be a high priority item, but I see how it would be a legal problem, and I would mention it. I can see how a third party company could try and make such a claim. I would not say their odds were great, but you factor the odds in (whatever they are) to the economic analysis you make on this kind of issue when you make the decision.

 

[CaptainChaos]

I think the enthusiasm and excitement of Wizards for 4E is palpable...

They call that marketing. If there are folks there that have serious misgivings about 4E, do you really think WotC is going to let them voice that in public? Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure many of them are genuinely excited, but the fact marketing blogs are all rah-rah isn't really proof of anything.