D&D 5E Podcast on the current state of 5e

[Jester David]

No, it absolutely does not. No more than Westeros belongs to Martin's fans, or Middle-Earth to Tolkien's, or Star Trek belongs to all the Trekkies out there.

I already said creative vision stories are an exception.

Star Trek might be different, because it was really Roddenberry's vision. And the fan's views of the world are likely just as valid as "person X" hired by Paramount. There are fan movies that are much more Star Trek than the Abrams films or Voyager.

WotC just owns the rights to D&D. They're the only company that can produce official D&D content. But that doesn't mean everything WotC produces with the D&D name on it is D&D.
As a creative product D&D is as much a part of the community as WotC. Pathfinder and 13th Age are just as much D&D as 5th Edition. Heck, just as much as 2nd and 3rd, which were also not designed by the creator. If WotC cancels the tabletop game it's not like D&D will go away or our games will end. It's not even like people will stop making new D&D products. They'll just be called different things.

 

[the_redbeard]

I'd like to have an OGL so that I would know where I stand with using Lulu to print bound copies of my house rules and players guide for my campaign, not for profit.

And I'd really like an OGL which would facilitate 3rd party electronic tools. I could use the current, expensive option of the ultimate license for Fantasy Grounds, but that would only be for people with PCs, full blown Macs (rather than just iPads) and some software skill and it would only get us a character creation tool (since we play in person). Fantasy Grounds also doesn't have fog of war, lighting or vision which to me is one of the primary benefits of having a digital map.

What I (and I would think many other groups) would benefit from: A browser based character creator that stores characters, allows DMs to create campaigns to view those characters, have unified messaging to the players, and a wiki/adventure blog altogether. I'd pay a monthly fee like DDI for that.

 

[Yaarel]

4e is dead. Because. The 4e GSL was too restrictive, and WotC often sues those who create products to support and continue 4e. Especially electronic products are littered with cease-and-desists from lawyers.

4e never welcomed indy publishers - despite valiant efforts of some to try make 4e work.

4e is dead. Any company that invested in it wasted their time and money.

Few companies would make the same mistake again. If they invest in 5e, they need to know it is a legally safe place to build a business.

The concerns of Jester Canuck and others, refers to the concerns of people who create content for 5e.

 

[Mistwell]

4e is dead. Because. The 4e GSL was too restrictive, and WotC often sues those who create products to support and continue 4e. \.

Who? Who has WOTC sued? Not cease and desist - that's not a lawsuit. Who has WOTC sued, name 5 of them (since you said "often")?

 

[Yaarel]

A cease-and-desist is a threat to sue. It means stop, or get your lawyers together. Hasbro probably has more legal resources than any indy company, making it irrelevant who is in the right. The party that can no longer afford lawyers, tends to be the party that loses the suit.

 

[Mistwell]

A cease-and-desist is a threat to sue. It means stop, or get your lawyers together. Hasbro probably has more legal resources than any indy company, making it irrelevant who is in the right. The party that can no longer afford lawyers, tends to be the party that loses the suit.

Yes I am quite aware of what a C&D is. The statement was "and WotC often sues those who create products to support and continue 4e".

Your answer seems to be, "they often send C&Ds but they don't sue". Is that your (new) position? I'd disagree with the new position as well (it's not often, and in the context that Jester raised the issue being not-for-sale fan creations, it's almost never), but I want to first establish we're not talking about suing people, just C&Ds.

 

[Yaarel]

D&D culture belongs to the fans. Legally so, the 3e OGL makes the fans in the public at large the legal inheritors of the D&D tradition.

You cant have a ‘game of imagination’ - while suing people who employ their imagination.

Only recently, have I come to appreciate the 3e Open Gaming License. It protects WotC and their ownership of creative intellectual property, such as stories, novels, iconic characters, official settings, and so on. At the same time, the OGL protects the intellectual property of D&D fans, along the same lines. The license spells out the D&D tradition that both parties can legally use, the gaming system as well at the rights to the terminology to refer to the system. It even permits parties to legally *modify* the SRD of the 3e OGL - even create stand-alone products. The OGL defines the shared culture, where everyone can succeed.

The OGL is a visionary document. I am not aware of anything quite like it. The people who created it, did so, because they loved D&D, and they wanted fans to have the tools to perpetuate it. The 3e OGL is a landmark in history.

 

[Shasarak]

Who? Who has WOTC sued? Not cease and desist - that's not a lawsuit. Who has WOTC sued, name 5 of them (since you said "often")?

I was under the impression that a common part of settling a lawsuit was that you are not able to discuss the lawsuit or the settlement?

 

[Mistwell]

I was under the impression that a common part of settling a lawsuit was that you are not able to discuss the lawsuit or the settlement?

Lawsuits are public. Settlements might be private, but you can't file a lawsuit without it being part of the public record. So, who has WOTC sued?

 

[Mistwell]

D&D culture belongs to the fans. Legally so, the 3e OGL makes the fans in the public at large the legal inheritors of the D&D tradition.

No, it does not. Legally it grants a limited license in exchange for you doing certain things on behalf of WOTC. It does not make fans inheritors of any tradition.

You cant have a ‘game of imagination’ - while suing people who employ their imagination.

Who has WOTC sued?

The license spells out the D&D tradition that both parties can legally use

It's not about tradition. It's just about a license. You've put all sorts of emotions on top of something that is just about contract rights.