D&D General Why a PETITION: Stop Hasbro's hurtful content is a Bad Idea

[JiffyPopTart]

Does it strike folks differently if it’s the authors or artists who want to stop publishing (in print or digitally) their own work — or updating and revising their work — vs. a publisher who holds the rights? Or are individual writers and artists expected to keep selling their work , in its original form, indefinitely?

I don't mind if George Lucas wants to release a SW Special Edition with 1000 minor tweaks, but I still want access to the SW trilogy I grew up watching.

Lapti Nek FTW

 

[LordEntrails]

Does it strike folks differently if it’s the authors or artists who want to stop publishing (in print or digitally) their own work — or updating and revising their work — vs. a publisher who holds the rights? Or are individual writers and artists expected to keep selling their work , in its original form, indefinitely?

I don't think there is an expectation (at least not from me) that the IP holder (author or publisher) is obligated to keep things available (sale or not) indefinitely. The one(s) with the rights gets to decide if its available or not (generally). Not random people on the internet.

 

[Umbran]

When we have a medium like the Internet available and people claiming anything they can think of, it's imho more important then ever to be able to check stuff yourself.

While being able to fact check stuff in general is important, the product we are discussing is about pretending to be elves. "Important" is a bit of a stretch.

 

[MGibster]

Things go out of print all the time. Keeping works available perpetually is a very recent development in the world of publishing. Our feeling of entitlement to old works is not yet supported by history.

It really is a new problem. It's easier for me to get a hold of Oriental Adventures today than it was in 1995. And I suppose we're collectively going to have to figure out how to deal with material that will potentially be available in perpetuity long after it's popularity has waned and sensibilities have changed.

 

[Jahydin]

It really is a new problem. It's easier for me to get a hold of Oriental Adventures today than it was in 1995.

I think when books were printed it made sense there would only be so many.

Now everything is digital, it seems wise to back up all these things somewhere. And as long as their backed up, why not sell them?

Retro video game are treated the same way. Really cool seeing the work being put into FPGA boards to mimic old arcade hardware perfectly in order to preserve them forever.

 

[Cergorach]

While being able to fact check stuff in general is important, the product we are discussing is about pretending to be elves. "Important" is a bit of a stretch.

Now I'm confused...

On one hand it's important enough to do something about it even though it's a product about pretending to be elves.
On the other hand it wouldn't be important enough to preserve because it's a product about pretending to be elves.

Imho the importance here isn't in the product as it relates about pretending to be elves, it's important because it shows how society worked then, what was then acceptable enough in corporate America to print. The history of the RPG hobby and D&D in particular. And maybe a bit more insight into the people writing/making D&D at the time instead of anecdotal evidence we can't actually fact check.

 

[Irlo]

I don't think there is an expectation (at least not from me) that the IP holder (author or publisher) is obligated to keep things available (sale or not) indefinitely. The one(s) with the rights gets to decide if its available or not (generally). Not random people on the internet.

People here* have indicated that the petition is bad in part because if it gained traction WotC would likely pull the PDF from on-line publication, and that pulling the PDF from publication would be undesirable.

Random people on the internet don't have the capabilty to pull PDFs from on-line publication.

*Maybe here on this thread, maybe on another. I might be mixing my streams.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

People here* have indicated that the petition is bad in part because if it gained traction WotC would likely pull the PDF from on-line publication, and that pulling the PDF from publication would be undesirable.

Random people on the internet don't have the capabilty to pull PDFs from on-line publication.

*Maybe here on this thread, maybe on another. I might be mixing my streams.

You might have to back this up with some links or other facts.

I've seen thoughts (like you said, maybe from here, or other threads) that erasing history is a bad idea. I agree with that. See the warts of the past to improve the future. Is that what you are talking about?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

in-canon explanation

Just to point out that WotC have gone on record as saying "there is no canon".

Ergo any "revision" would hold no more weight than the original version. WotC are not standing by to support any version of any setting.

 

[Irlo]

You might have to back this up with some links or other facts.

I've seen thoughts (like you said, maybe from here, or other threads) that erasing history is a bad idea. I agree with that. See the warts of the past to improve the future. Is that what you are talking about?

If I'm wrong and no one here has said or implied that it's good for materials to be perpetually available to consumers, I'm content to be wrong. (No time, energy, or inclination to provide links.)

I was interested in whether people felt that authors' and artists' had more legitimate authority to pull their work from circulation than copyright holders who had no direct role in the creation of the materials. It's a complete tangent to this thread's topic, but I'm starting to get confused about which thread I'm posting in. Carry on!