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Paizo Copyright Issues at Obsidian Portal?
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<blockquote data-quote="Aberzanzorax" data-source="post: 5614176" data-attributes="member: 64209"><p>Mayhaps I'm one of these hypocrites.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>I was upset with WotC for their C&D pattern across a few different individuals....some of which I found totally reasonable, some of which seemed VERY oddly timed (crystalkeep's 3e summary pdfs long after 4e had been started), some seemed odd/inappropriate (I don't remember the person's name, but some very nice character sheets).</p><p> </p><p>I'm not upset at Paizo here.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I'll be happy to say that straight out. "I was outraged at WotC for (some of) their behavior and I'm not outraged or even upset at Paizo here." To some that may make me seem to be a hypocrite (or, less labeling, hypocritical). I don't believe it does, personally.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The things I was upset about were third edition items while WotC was promoting (and it was in print) 4e. They were "protecting" prior edition IP to some, and to others it appeared as if they were attempting to kill 3e as best they could to "encourage" a switch to 4e. In essence, the situation was different. (Yes, a company does have a right to protect out of print IP, but the reaction from fans due to context might well be different due to situation rather than being fanbois of one company or another).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Also, I'll point out the "elephant in the room". Why are people angry when Paizo "gets away with" things that WotC "gets called on" or "gets yelled at for"? I think there are a number of reasons for this. </p><p> </p><p>First and foremost, WotC has stepped on toes. That's somewhat inevitable, even if they were the gawshdang nicest company you ever could meet. Due to sharing of some items (licensing Dungeon and Dragon, licensing Ravenloft, Dragonlance, etc) and the eventual need or desire to take back those properties when the licenses were up, people's toes got stepped on (WotC was not wrong here, at all, but to take away a license from Margaret Weiss, creator of Dragonlance so that she can no longer produce for the setting, and then not do anything with it might just wrankle some Dragonlance fans --full disclosure, I don't really pay much attention to Dragonlance). WotC can be totally right and still generate ill will for these reasons. Paizo is becoming large enough that they may eventually fall into this trap as well.</p><p> </p><p>Second. WotC is quiet. The folks at Paizo interact with us. We see them as people. They try to give explanations when they do something that people see as distasteful, and we often, whether we like the reasoning or not, come to understand the reasoning. The folks at WotC tend to be very hush hush, resulting in people jumping to conclusions (which we do for Paizo as well, until someone from Paizo clears things up...or which we DON'T do for Paizo, because we can actually ASK THEM why and expect a reasonable chance for an answer.)</p><p> </p><p>Third, WotC seems less invested in the fans and other supporters of the game (3pps) at this point than does Paizo. I'll point at the GSL and the "fan website policy" of WotC versus the OGL and "fan website policy" of Paizo as the official markers of this, but also there's the aforementioned interaction with fans, as well as apparent utilization of fan feedback and relationship building with other publishers (sometimes not even Pathfinder/d20 publishers, e.g Chaosium).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In essence, Paizo and WotC are different animals, are percieved differently, and most importantly, have different relationships and levels of support with/for the fans (and with fan websites). (edit) Here I don't mean their own fans necessarily, but all fans of D&D.</p><p> </p><p>Decrying one while not the other is not hypocritical. In my mind, it makes good sense.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aberzanzorax, post: 5614176, member: 64209"] Mayhaps I'm one of these hypocrites. I was upset with WotC for their C&D pattern across a few different individuals....some of which I found totally reasonable, some of which seemed VERY oddly timed (crystalkeep's 3e summary pdfs long after 4e had been started), some seemed odd/inappropriate (I don't remember the person's name, but some very nice character sheets). I'm not upset at Paizo here. I'll be happy to say that straight out. "I was outraged at WotC for (some of) their behavior and I'm not outraged or even upset at Paizo here." To some that may make me seem to be a hypocrite (or, less labeling, hypocritical). I don't believe it does, personally. The things I was upset about were third edition items while WotC was promoting (and it was in print) 4e. They were "protecting" prior edition IP to some, and to others it appeared as if they were attempting to kill 3e as best they could to "encourage" a switch to 4e. In essence, the situation was different. (Yes, a company does have a right to protect out of print IP, but the reaction from fans due to context might well be different due to situation rather than being fanbois of one company or another). Also, I'll point out the "elephant in the room". Why are people angry when Paizo "gets away with" things that WotC "gets called on" or "gets yelled at for"? I think there are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost, WotC has stepped on toes. That's somewhat inevitable, even if they were the gawshdang nicest company you ever could meet. Due to sharing of some items (licensing Dungeon and Dragon, licensing Ravenloft, Dragonlance, etc) and the eventual need or desire to take back those properties when the licenses were up, people's toes got stepped on (WotC was not wrong here, at all, but to take away a license from Margaret Weiss, creator of Dragonlance so that she can no longer produce for the setting, and then not do anything with it might just wrankle some Dragonlance fans --full disclosure, I don't really pay much attention to Dragonlance). WotC can be totally right and still generate ill will for these reasons. Paizo is becoming large enough that they may eventually fall into this trap as well. Second. WotC is quiet. The folks at Paizo interact with us. We see them as people. They try to give explanations when they do something that people see as distasteful, and we often, whether we like the reasoning or not, come to understand the reasoning. The folks at WotC tend to be very hush hush, resulting in people jumping to conclusions (which we do for Paizo as well, until someone from Paizo clears things up...or which we DON'T do for Paizo, because we can actually ASK THEM why and expect a reasonable chance for an answer.) Third, WotC seems less invested in the fans and other supporters of the game (3pps) at this point than does Paizo. I'll point at the GSL and the "fan website policy" of WotC versus the OGL and "fan website policy" of Paizo as the official markers of this, but also there's the aforementioned interaction with fans, as well as apparent utilization of fan feedback and relationship building with other publishers (sometimes not even Pathfinder/d20 publishers, e.g Chaosium). In essence, Paizo and WotC are different animals, are percieved differently, and most importantly, have different relationships and levels of support with/for the fans (and with fan websites). (edit) Here I don't mean their own fans necessarily, but all fans of D&D. Decrying one while not the other is not hypocritical. In my mind, it makes good sense. [/QUOTE]
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