Unearthed Arcana 3.5....where besides Kazaa?

[dagger]

You can always do a scan and use some software (heck, the software even makes jpgs text searchable..just can't remember the name of the software at the moment) to remove/export text from the scans. Then make the necessary changes....add the OGL mess, and wa la!.

 

[Henry]

Somehow I can see someone doing this properly (eventually) and calling it "Hidden Esoterica" or some such name evocative of the original work, but the question is, will someone do it before WotC puts it into the SRD?

 

[Golem2176]

Want it cheap? Click on the Overstock link in my signature.

 

[Ranger REG]

It's just a matter of time before somebody goes to the trouble of typing in all the OGC stuff from UA, makes a PDF and puts it on RPGNow for $5.00. As soon as that happens, somebody else will dissect the PDF and post it on the web.

And as I said earlier, somebody will screw them up because they're too STOOPID to think that OGC is not Public Domain, or they're only OGC if used with the OGL. (Without the OGL, they're copyrighted material.)

They're welcome to try. Just make sure you understand the OGL clearly. IOW, get a lawyer before you do something humiliatingly dumb.

Since it's OGC this is, I believe, legal (except maybe the dissecting the PDF part). WotC, of all people, know the consequences of making so much of the content Open. Lots of people will still buy the book for the same reason they buy the PH and DMG: Nice, hardcover books are a lot easier and more pleasant to game with.

Be careful. What you don't see are divided fronts in their office building. There are those that don't give crap about OGL and would rather wish former employee Ryan Dancey had ever brought it up to existence.

If you give Wizards any incentive that this is a BAD thing, they will pull back and NOT release any more OGC.

 

[CRGreathouse]

kenjib, barsoomcore -- I meant just what I said, but you're not really responding to that. I said that if it caused problems, they would be unlikely to produce more OGC. That's reasonable enough -- with WotC so internally divided on OGC, if this deals a blow to them they're unlikely to continue with OGCing material, since it will hurt those who supported it inside WotC.

kenjib: I imagine they wanted publishers to be able to mix and match the rules as they liked for their own games, not to publish it wholesale -- but I can't really speak for WotC. As above, I think that if it causes problems they'll stop.

barsoomcore: While I agree in theory, how would making UA OGC drive sales of the PH vs. keeping UA closed? I think this is a good way to get publishers and wanabe publishers to buy the product, and it's a good way to stay in the good graces of online/in-the-know D&D communities, but anyone who would care that it's OGC already has a PH...

 

[kenjib]

kenjib: I imagine they wanted publishers to be able to mix and match the rules as they liked for their own games, not to publish it wholesale -- but I can't really speak for WotC. As above, I think that if it causes problems they'll stop.

That's a good point, but perhaps they would just modify the license to remove the types of usage that they don't like - just like they did when the Book of Erotic Fantasy came out. So far that's the precedent we have to work with.

 

[Raesene Andu]

Unearthed Arcana is actually only the 6th 3E book I've ever bought... Quite expensive here in Australia, but worth the price IMO.

 

[barsoomcore]

I reckon the thinking is that by making more rules available, more third-party publishers will be willing to publish d20 materials, thereby encouraging more PHB sales.

But I admit I don't know. Just speculatin'.

 

[CRGreathouse]

That's a good point, but perhaps they would just modify the license to remove the types of usage that they don't like - just like they did when the Book of Erotic Fantasy came out. So far that's the precedent we have to work with.

No, not really. They can change the d20 license as often as they like, and companies have to comply or drop the logo. They can't force the use of a new OGL, though; even if they came out with a new verison, the old version would continue. Legal publishing under the OGL is eternal, so I'm not concerned about it from that angle.

I reckon the thinking is that by making more rules available, more third-party publishers will be willing to publish d20 materials, thereby encouraging more PHB sales.

But I admit I don't know. Just speculatin'.

Hey, that's all any of us can do, after all. I imagine that it'll have little effect because of how small d20 is compared to D&D... but what do I know, after all? I'm not Dancey, I don't even own a game store.

 

[Cor Azer]

I'm not a lawyer, but...

Some people don't need excuses. Somewhere downloading is legal

Just because it's not enforced somewhere doesn't make it legal.