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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 100471" data-attributes="member: 158">I myself am hopping mad about this (no offense to Nemmerle). I have been an avid user of the conversion documents and see about as much threat from them to Wizards' intellectual property as from the seafood industry. In my opinion, this has very little to do with Intellectual property protection, as it has to do with enforcing tighter controls over small yet popular niche of hobby gaming.I can certainly understand that wizards would not want full text of an adventure in a conversion, but their heavy mention and focus on ESD's in this document makes it clear to me that:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The ESD's are making enough such that theft of the adventures is a money-losing deal for them, and</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They have taken a new interest in conversions, which suggests an expansion of side-line business of conversions.</li> </ul>At first, there was confusion on official policy because, as in standard business practices, things that make the least money or are expected to make the least money are pushed to the bottom of the priority lists. I honestly believe that  no one at WotC expected there to be a nominal interest in conversions.It now upsets me greatly that two years' worth of work is either required to be revised, or in some cases is lost completely.Between this and the layoffs, I am beginning to imagine the cold, icy grip of old TSR management come over WotC in a big way.First we have Three layoffs, this being the third since Mid-2001, involving (I believe) about 260 people total? Just how many people actually work(ed) at WotC, and how many are actually left?Second, we have the departure of many former stellar WotC figures, including messr's Cook, Dancey, Cordell, Adkinson, etc.Third, we have the gradual extension of the OGL into other areas, particularly into the realms of miniatures (after the Chainmail game was realized as a large success) and now conversions.I merely hope that we do not see a reduction of the OGL and d20 permissions to the extent that 3rd party products are almost unusable. I think it was Ryan who said that the OGL could not be revoked once the contract was in place? If he actually did say that, I begin to doubt the veracity of it, with the changes in the license. If they start making d20 Software restricted, and start enforcing IPS laws against other Software makers, then even the programs we use to prepare for P&P games may dry out. I support WotC, but I also do not wish to use a product (such as the release version of Mastertools) that does ABSOUTELY NOTHING for me or my game.In my view, there has of late been a degredation the quality of sourcebook products, and as this tendency increases and WotC runs out of the products produced by Monte and Bruce and others, I will likely stop buying WotC products and gravitate my spending towards d20 products from people like Monte, Chris Pramas, and Bruce Cordell, as well as Fiery Dragon, Sword & Sorcery, and so forth. I wish White Wolf had a Corporate IPO - I would be buying stock in them like mad right about now.As Morrus said, it's a bad news day for WotC - and for employees and conversion fans , as well.</blockquote>

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