Ema's RPG Sheet Website down...

[Irda Ranger]

This is really annoying. The Core value of D&D is the rulebooks. There should be competition in accessories like character sheets & generators. I feel bad for Ema too, since his efforts were clearly ones of love not profit.

 

[xechnao]

This is really annoying. The Core value of D&D is the rulebooks. There should be competition in accessories like character sheets & generators.

Why? Why are you saying there should there be competition for game accessories and not for rulebooks?
D&D is not a game or your game. D&D is a protected brand. These accessories you are talking about officially make part of D&D. This is Wotc's policy for what D&D comes to be.
Whether you like it or not. And since you do not seem to really like it, the question is do you really know what you do not like here? Is it the understanding that D&D becomes a game of rigid and marketable pieces or is it the fact that the brand is protected?

 

[SteveC]

Unfortunately none of us really know the details of this situation, but on the surface it seems really bush league by WotC. I don't know what Ema had up for 4E, but his 3X site was a godsend to me: it let me put together all of the spells for my characters in one place. I used it all the time to find out about spells that were in books that I had purchased, but didn't want to go through all the time.

I have no idea who is making these decisions, but they're making public relations for the brand very difficult. It seems like we get some decision that riles up the fanbase just about at the point where WotC seems to be turning the corner on public relations. The new character builder is fantastic, and people have been saying good things about it as it relates to the DDI. That's the perfect time to take a fan site offline with a cease and desist.

--Steve

 

[thecasualoblivion]

Unfortunately none of us really know the details of this situation, but on the surface it seems really bush league by WotC. I don't know what Ema had up for 4E, but his 3X site was a godsend to me: it let me put together all of the spells for my characters in one place. I used it all the time to find out about spells that were in books that I had purchased, but didn't want to go through all the time.

I have no idea who is making these decisions, but they're making public relations for the brand very difficult. It seems like we get some decision that riles up the fanbase just about at the point where WotC seems to be turning the corner on public relations. The new character builder is fantastic, and people have been saying good things about it as it relates to the DDI. That's the perfect time to take a fan site offline with a cease and desist.

--Steve

Ema's site used copyrighted WotC material that was not released under the OGL for both 3.5E and 4E, and charged money to use features of the site. I never used the 3.5E part of things, but I paid for and used the 4E section, which had full power descriptions from the PHB, Martial Power, and the Dragon magazines. At the time, I couldn't believe they hadn't already recieved a cease and desist. I'm surprised it took this long.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Unfortunately none of us really know the details of this situation, but on the surface it seems really bush league by WotC. I don't know what Ema had up for 4E, but his 3X site was a godsend to me: it let me put together all of the spells for my characters in one place. I used it all the time to find out about spells that were in books that I had purchased, but didn't want to go through all the time.

I have no idea who is making these decisions, but they're making public relations for the brand very difficult. It seems like we get some decision that riles up the fanbase just about at the point where WotC seems to be turning the corner on public relations. The new character builder is fantastic, and people have been saying good things about it as it relates to the DDI. That's the perfect time to take a fan site offline with a cease and desist.

--Steve

See this is the thing, you say no one knows the details but you have still made a semi-judgment. You say you don't know what Ema had up for 4E but I think you'll find this is where the problem was (that led to the C&D). Ema moved on from just doing "character sheets". You call Ema's a fan site (because that was what it used to be) but again, what he then started doing was a commercial venture. As soon as you do that, you have to play on WotC's turf.

I'm getting the feeling that quite a few people on this thread have jumped to a conclusion based upon what Ema's site used to offer (all those wonderful character sheets), rather than what was being offered just before Ema closed it.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Xyxox]

see this is the thing, you say no one knows the details but you have still made a semi-judgment. You say you don't know what ema had up for 4e but i think you'll find this is where the problem was (that led to the c&d). Ema moved on from just doing "character sheets". You call ema's a fan site (because that was what it used to be) but again, what he then started doing was a commercial venture. As soon as you do that, you have to play on wotc's turf.

I'm getting the feeling that quite a few people on this thread have jumped to a conclusion based upon what ema's site used to offer (all those wonderful character sheets), rather than what was being offered just before ema closed it.

Best regards
herremann the wise

qft

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Ema's site used copyrighted WotC material that was not released under the OGL for both 3.5E and 4E, and charged money to use features of the site. I never used the 3.5E part of things, but I paid for and used the 4E section, which had full power descriptions from the PHB, Martial Power, and the Dragon magazines. At the time, I couldn't believe they hadn't already recieved a cease and desist. I'm surprised it took this long.

The timing is the interesting thing. As I said before, it could have made marketing sense to leave it until it became a direct competitor. WotC needed as much 4E exposure as they could get and perhaps leaving it untouched was the best thing initially. If this is the case, is this unfair on WotC? Ema "used" their copyright material to advantage so I suppose they could have "used" his site until it no longer provided advantage to them. Even this would seem fair enough if this was the case.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Xyxox]

The timing is the interesting thing. As I said before, it could have made marketing sense to leave it until it became a direct competitor. WotC needed as much 4E exposure as they could get and perhaps leaving it untouched was the best thing initially. If this is the case, is this unfair on WotC? Ema "used" their copyright material to advantage so I suppose they could have "used" his site until it no longer provided advantage to them. Even this would seem fair enough if this was the case.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

It would seem to me that WotC most likely considered the site a competitor that was using IP wholly owned by WotC to compete.

Any time in business when a competitor is using your property to compete against you, you have no choice but to shut that competitor down.

 

[frankthedm]

You call Ema's a fan site (because that was what it used to be) but again, what he then started doing was a commercial venture. As soon as you do that, you have to play on WotC's turf.

I'm getting the feeling that quite a few people on this thread have jumped to a conclusion based upon what Ema's site used to offer (all those wonderful character sheets), rather than what was being offered just before Ema closed it.

Agreed. I retract my previous statement on this in regards to wotc. Indeed my baseless suspicions now turn towards Ema closing up shop so quickly. Could not Ema only removed the 4e material? Since there is money involved, are refunds going to be issued for undelivered services?

I think anyone who payed for any services on the now defunct website should be communicating with Ema and Paypal to ensure prompt refund of any remaining funds owed.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

It would seem to me that WotC most likely considered the site a competitor that was using IP wholly owned by WotC to compete.

Any time in business when a competitor is using your property to compete against you, you have no choice but to shut that competitor down.

Until the full release of the Character Builder, Ema's technically wasn't competing with WotC, since WotCs competing product wasn't out yet. So it does make sense on some levels that Ema's was allowed to exist as it did until the Character Builder was released.

As I've said several times, I'm surprised it got away with it for as long as it did. While I used Ema's and happily paid for my subscription, I always felt it was a C&D waiting to happen.