wingsandsword said:
Remember earlier in this thread, apparently some people are afraid that "Big Bad Hasbro" is going to say "We pull the OGL" and start suing. As the recent lawsuit about the monopoly add-on is showing, Hasbro isn't invincible in court (nobody is) and 3rd party add-ons to games are legal (especially ones created under a "perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive" license like the OGL, to quote it). They're afraid that because they're a big company they'll automatically win and that no other company could afford to try and stand against them, even if they are blatantly in the wrong.
Hmm. Then perhaps for insurance, we should set up a legal defense fund to protect the Open Gaming License. Perhaps that this should be the Open Gaming Foundation's new purpose.
BTW, that lawsuit you mentioned, Hasbro didn't release a royalty-free trademark license for their
Monopoly game, so that should have been ruled in Hasbro's favor.
wingsandsword said:
It's like with the disbelieving Charles Ryan bit, some people just will never, ever trust any big corporation (and assume they are monolithic, invincible oppressors), every word from a WotC employee is a lie (if it says something you disagree with or that might be good, like the person over all RPG's at WotC saying they don't want to mess with a winning formula so it's not coming out for years and we're going to get 1 to 2 years advance notice) and to trust even the most obscure rumors that make them look bad (a WizO once said it's coming out in 2008, even if he would have no way of knowing and even if he did he'd be under a big NDA, and we don't even have the original quote to work with), and act like that in the world of RPG's, Hasbro is the faceless evil bad-guy out to ruin D&D and kick your dog.
Are these the same people who claimed George Lucas ruined their childhood for releasing the Prequel Trilogy?
Regarding the rumor of a certain WizO, I didn't catch his or her name. I'd like to hear straight from this person.
One shouldn't trust anyone in any business, even that mom-n-pop store in your neighborhood. They're trying to make money any way they can, pure and simple.
I personally believe that the fan community might be giving companies mixed signals. While I can only speak for myself, I never asked for 3.5e back in 2002. I never demanded any kind of revision for
D&D Third Edition. Yet WotC must have heard demands for it from their fanbase.
Now, we're getting discussion threads about 4e. Mixed signals? Or is there a growing voice in our community that want yet another edition? They must be financially rich, farting $$$ out of their arse to want to spend $90 again. Is there dissatisfaction over the recent version to warrant such a demand?
Now, I have nothing but contempt for that faction of our community.