New GSL Announcement

[Dark Mistress]

I meant the you are with us or against us in a none hostile way. Just saying they are requiring you either support 4e and nothing else or you can't support 4e.

 

[Goobermunch]

Which is why this doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

The big problems everyone grinched about with the OGL were that it created direct competition for D&D's core books and flooded the market with poor product.

By basically forcing Paizo, Green Ronin, Sinister Adventures, Adamant, etc. to focus on their OGL product, WotC appears to have created more, not less, competition for 4e.

In addition, outside of Necromancer Games and anyone else willing to jettison their OGL products, the publishers of third-party support materials for 4e are going to be neophytes, unused to the rigors of the printing process. Without the experience to juggle editing, layout, art direction, and dealing with print runs, it's guaranteed that, once again, the majority of third-party support will be sub-par.

That's certainly better than no GSL at all, but I really have to wonder at this apparent disconnect between strategy and goals.

- Brian

But the difference here is that WotC isn't helping them cannibalize its business. Unlike the OGL (and especially the SRD), the GSL is apparently designed to force players to purchase a copy of the PHB at the very least.

Admittedly, I think WotC's made a poor choice. They've taken some of the most skilled players and kicked them out of the sandbox. I wish there was a provision that would allow companies with separate game lines to continue to act as 3pps. The Green Ronins and Paizos of the gaming world add value to 4e.

But maybe it's time for them to strike out on their own.

Another random thought. Maybe I should start a studio to hire freelance designers. We won't publish anything. We'll just provide the skilled workers (operating under independent contractor agreements with the publishers) the 3pps need to create great product for whatever edition they're working on.

Just a thought.

--G

 

[kalanijasmine]

I don't have the new GSL yet, but I don't think you need to worry about your own system. As long as the system you've designed is not based on the OGL, the "poison pill" provision of the GSL won't trigger. From what we've read, the kill switch is publication under the OGL.
--G

Its not... For one thing, its a d12-based engine, and for another, its 80% skill driven. I went with a d12 system because of all the polyhedrons in my dice bag, its the one that is sorely under-utilized.

Your comment is somewhat comforting, but I would prefer to hear something from Clark or Linea on the issue, as my only intrepidation over supporting 4e is the possible damage it might do to my own game system, and I have spent too much effort and time on its development (10 years) to allow it to be compromised.

Otherwise, I am 100% onboard, since over the last several years, I have published a variety of 3.5 material over on the wizards forums, having spent an average of 3-8 hours on a single class/race posting in most cases, in order to make certain it was to my exacting standards - even for a simple web-based post which I made purely for fun.

Given the amount of effort I put into writing a simple forum post (even this post I have spent the better part of an hour editing and re-editing), I am very confident in my ability to put together a high quality product for 4e.

In fact, the biggest road-block I will be facing will be acquiring high quality artwork for my products. While I myself am a capable artist, I do not consider my art to be of the standard I would expect in a third party product.

Even finding a publisher is a non-issue, as I already have a print-to-order publishing company lined up.....

 

[olshanski]

I frequent (and sometimes moderate) a forum that has a monthly D20 fantasy contest, often with prizes. http://www.dndarchive.com/phpbb/index.php

The other moderators at the forum tell me that the goal is to put together downloads of past winning entries and give them away for free. Presumably they'll have to be OGL compliant since they are all based on the 3.x SRD.

If that forum starts having contests with the 4.0 ruleset, it sounds like they might not be able to offer PDFs of the 4.0 winning entries? Does that sound correct?

 

[Vigilance]

Bryon, please dont bash on Scott. He has done way too much for us. I dont know for sure, but my guess is that the GSL was a battle. Just look at the time it took. And he got it done. He and Linae got us the ability to support 4E. Is it exactly like we want it. No. But for goodness sake we need to respect the man that accomplished what a few weeks ago I thought was impossible--4E can be supported by third parties. That is a huge accomplishment.

I agree that it's nice that it got done, but if it really is a company choice, this totally sucks for me.

I write for RPGObjects, and we have TONS of d20 Modern books that still sell, every day, to the tune of thousands of dollars a month.

I can't walk away from that, and it sucks that I have to even think about.

I'm not saying Wizards should necessarily care, but supporting 4e was a no brainer to me until about 5 minutes ago.

 

[Tim Gray]

I find it interesting that several pages have gone by without anyone from WotC explicitly confirming the whole-company idea. Perhaps they would like to do so?

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

deleted

 

[Zaister]

I find it interesting that several pages have gone by without anyone from WotC explicitly confirming the whole-company idea. Perhaps they would like to do so?

Maybe because it's a) the middle of the night and b) week-end where they live...

 

[brianm]

But the difference here is that WotC isn't helping them cannibalize its business. Unlike the OGL (and especially the SRD), the GSL is apparently designed to force players to purchase a copy of the PHB at the very least.

Eh, I'm not convinced. They could have not published a comprehensive SRD that could almost double for a PHB, require new 4e-compatible material work only if you have an official 4e PHB, and still let people straddle the 3e/4e fence.

Another random thought. Maybe I should start a studio to hire freelance designers. We won't publish anything. We'll just provide the skilled workers (operating under independent contractor agreements with the publishers) the 3pps need to create great product for whatever edition they're working on.

That doesn't sound like a bad thought at all. The challenge would be keeping your services affordable for the small-time publisher, but if enough of them signed on, it could be a nice little business for someone.

- Brian

 

[brianm]

If that forum starts having contests with the 4.0 ruleset, it sounds like they might not be able to offer PDFs of the 4.0 winning entries? Does that sound correct?

I think the answer is, wait for the SRD. However, at the very least, you may have to stop offering 3.5 PDFs if you want to publish 4.0 PDFs.

Assuming we understand what's being said here.

Which, as has been pointed out many times, we might not.

And WotC doesn't change things again.

- Brian