A Community SRD?
- Thread starter Ry
- Start date
rycanada said:
If you have such fear, uncertainty, and doubt, that means you've not researched the implications of the license sufficiently to be mucking about with it. Using a license is entering into a legal agreement - doing so without full understanding is asking for trouble.
Ergo - the community project needs people who thoroughly understand the license before it can proceed.
BryonD
Hero
Heh.philreed said:
I got pretty well jumped all over for saying that in an old OGC-wiki thread a while back
I'd suggest that not doing it artificially enhances the value of the work.
Though that is a very marginalized claim on my part because the reality remains that no one has ever come close to really being willing to put in the effort (read: value added) of actually compiling the data in a free depository.
As an aside, would it be less bad to only distribute OGL from publishers who have stopped doing OGL? Certainly the threat that they wouldn't make any more is moot.
WINNER!!!!
Troll Wizard
First Post
FWIW, I always interpreted WOTC design/intent of the OGL to be:
Designer A creates "OGL Chariot Ruleset", which includes rules for types of chariots, movement rules, weapons/armor of chariots, attack rules, feats and even PrC for chariot drivers/warriors.... and sells it within a HC book or just a $2-$4 PDF.
Designer B takes some of those rules uses them in a module of chariot racing adventures... and points to Designer A's PDF to get the full "Chariot Ruleset"
Designer C takes some of those rules and creates an adventure where the PC's must defeat bandits using chariots to raid and pillage; and he points to Designer A's PDF to get the full "Chariot Ruleset"
Neither Designer B or C reprint the whole OGL CHariot Ruleset, just the necessary elements to run their adventure/module.
Designer A creates "OGL Chariot Ruleset", which includes rules for types of chariots, movement rules, weapons/armor of chariots, attack rules, feats and even PrC for chariot drivers/warriors.... and sells it within a HC book or just a $2-$4 PDF.
Designer B takes some of those rules uses them in a module of chariot racing adventures... and points to Designer A's PDF to get the full "Chariot Ruleset"
Designer C takes some of those rules and creates an adventure where the PC's must defeat bandits using chariots to raid and pillage; and he points to Designer A's PDF to get the full "Chariot Ruleset"
Neither Designer B or C reprint the whole OGL CHariot Ruleset, just the necessary elements to run their adventure/module.
Lonely Tylenol
First Post
I envision something like Unearthed Arcana: a collection of options, add-ons, and miscellany. I doubt that we'll get publishers willing to put their major works into a freely-available collection, but I do think we could get them to throw interesting bits of stuff into the pot if there's a reasonable expectation of something decent being produced. We'd also probably get a lot of submissions from the ENWorld community. I'd throw my Bruiser into such a collection.rycanada said:
Assuming that the editorial panel was up to snuff, it could totally work. But they'd have to understand that the work was being done on a volunteer basis, and would be extensive. But given the number of in-depth reviews, ENnies judging, and other community efforts that are done essentially for free, it's not that far-fetched. I think what it needs, more than anything, is someone who wants to get it done enough to organize people.
Nellisir
Hero
Byrons_Ghost said:
I've thought about this (OGC repositories), and come to the same conclusion. Right now, it just won't work as a public-dependant process. You can't guarantee quality, accuracy, or honesty. You can't be sure Bob the Submitter really understands the OGC declaration, which may include some names but not others, or descriptive paragraphs or rules-only paragraphs. And without a popular working model, you won't win a propaganda war with the publishers.
Fact is, no one's created a free OGC repository, so no one really knows what the effects will be. The only well-known publisher to make a (largely) OGC product AND have it be made freely available on the net is WotC - and as the other publishers are quick to point out, the normal rules don't apply to WotC.
(It's sad, but I feel the "new publishers" have really drawn away from the general public to a greater degree now than at any time since the OGL came out. Their interests have diverged and become protective and conservative, to the detriment of the common good.)
Your best bet is to get a select group of editor-contributors - 6-10 people that are experienced, share a common vision, and can put in the effort - and run with that. Decide what's fair game and what isn't, and just do it. Get a really solid, impressive amount -done-, and then go public.
A small group will also give you a better chance of actually deciding on a "better" swashbuckler; as others have pointed out, the public at large will never totally agree on one.
Nellisir
Hero
Kerrick said:
This is only a problem if you're dealing with 1-6 page pdfs. Online, it's not an issue. For larger pdf products, it's not that big an issue. I've got the largest S.15 I've ever seen (because I list everything I -might- ever use, just in case - and I'm not done) and it comes out to 3 pages of text. 8-point text, admittedly.
The larger your S.15 gets, the slower it'll increase as you get more and more repeating sources. The exception might be if you start mining all the little tiny pdfs that are out there, but frankly, I don't think most of them are worth the effort. You'd want to focus on products that minimize your S.15 and maximize your content.
Just repeating that, all the material on my D&D page is free for you to fold, spindle and mutilate as you see fit, as long as I get my name printed somewhere.
That URL again: Hong's D&D page
Thank you, thank you. And before you ask, I'm working on the steak knives!
That URL again: Hong's D&D page
Thank you, thank you. And before you ask, I'm working on the steak knives!
Drawmack
First Post
Hmmm, this thread has piqued my interest. I'll throw my hat in to program and setup the technical aspects of the repository.
From what I've seen three people here are interested in helping with the content portion. Maybe we should start with the SRD first.
A little aside about how I'm envisioning the repository would work:
A user comes to the site and can browse through the material there picking interesting things, full detials viewable on-line, and placing them into a "shopping cart". When they are done browsing around they can "checkout". (the quotes are because no money changes hands) Upon checkout the program will create a pdf book the user can download.
The repository would be searchable. So if you come in wanting rules for chariots you search for the keyword chariot and select the areas to search (classes, skills, feats, spells, etc.). You then get a list, sorted by section, of all the items that involve chariots. This way a GM, publisher, freelance writter, etc. can quickly build a little pdf on a specific topic and download it.
If the project works then we could even build in user features, where the user logs on and can save books they create so others can download the same book. So a GM could make a pdf of all the non-core rules he'll be using in a given game and the players can come download it. Almost like a custom PHB just for your game.
Now remember that baring the 100% OGC products, most of the time the cruch of the OGC comes through but all the flavor is ripped out. So you can build a rulebook on chariots, but if you want the neat names and sidebars about size and utilization and all that then you would still need to buy the original product.
As for what whizbang had to say about being rubbed the wrong way. If a publisher did not want their content to be open then they should not have opened it. If OGC is going to be a long term thing and not a flash in the pan then it will require and industry wide paradigm shift just as the open software movement is garnering in the I.T. world. In an Open Content economy people are paid in a slightly different manor. With OGC what happens is rules loose a real monetary value, but the value of fluff increases. Since most rules writters are also fluff writters and vice versa they really do not loose or gain anything. However, while the rules themselves have very little monetary value people with a deep knowledge of those rules and the ability to pull them together into co-hesive sets begin to have value. Basically a venue is created where rules-lawyering is not only a good thing, but a profitable thing.
Just my $0.02, YMMV and all that stuff.
From what I've seen three people here are interested in helping with the content portion. Maybe we should start with the SRD first.
A little aside about how I'm envisioning the repository would work:
A user comes to the site and can browse through the material there picking interesting things, full detials viewable on-line, and placing them into a "shopping cart". When they are done browsing around they can "checkout". (the quotes are because no money changes hands) Upon checkout the program will create a pdf book the user can download.
The repository would be searchable. So if you come in wanting rules for chariots you search for the keyword chariot and select the areas to search (classes, skills, feats, spells, etc.). You then get a list, sorted by section, of all the items that involve chariots. This way a GM, publisher, freelance writter, etc. can quickly build a little pdf on a specific topic and download it.
If the project works then we could even build in user features, where the user logs on and can save books they create so others can download the same book. So a GM could make a pdf of all the non-core rules he'll be using in a given game and the players can come download it. Almost like a custom PHB just for your game.
Now remember that baring the 100% OGC products, most of the time the cruch of the OGC comes through but all the flavor is ripped out. So you can build a rulebook on chariots, but if you want the neat names and sidebars about size and utilization and all that then you would still need to buy the original product.
As for what whizbang had to say about being rubbed the wrong way. If a publisher did not want their content to be open then they should not have opened it. If OGC is going to be a long term thing and not a flash in the pan then it will require and industry wide paradigm shift just as the open software movement is garnering in the I.T. world. In an Open Content economy people are paid in a slightly different manor. With OGC what happens is rules loose a real monetary value, but the value of fluff increases. Since most rules writters are also fluff writters and vice versa they really do not loose or gain anything. However, while the rules themselves have very little monetary value people with a deep knowledge of those rules and the ability to pull them together into co-hesive sets begin to have value. Basically a venue is created where rules-lawyering is not only a good thing, but a profitable thing.
Just my $0.02, YMMV and all that stuff.
