D&D 4E A couple of things that suck about the 4e SRD/OGL

[Raven Crowking]

As an aside, based on this thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3983921#post3983921

If WotC would really like to see sites like EN World disappear, wouldn't it make sense to target small companies, so that they can't produce compatable products for, say, 6 months after release, as a means of shrinking advertising revenue? I don't know how much of EN World is supported by banner ads, but the 4e announcement certainly dried up new 3e product, and new product drives ad purchases. By preventing small companies from producing compatable product, WotC can maintain that "drought" a little longer, and blamelessly take a potentially huge chunk of maintenance revenue away from places like EN World.

If we want this place to last, we might have to dig a bit deeper in our pockets as the 3rd-party product "drought" continues.

Just a thought.

RC

 

[Flynn]

No. The SRD *and* the OGL (or whatever they're going to call it, because, really, it isn't the OGL, and Bill Slavisek copped to that when I pointed it out in the conference call) are both going to be public on June 6th.

As per the press release on the WOTC site :

January 1st is only the "Go Live" date -- the date when publishing under the License is allowed for all. I suspect the date will be mentioned specifically within the text of the license, as a term of the license.

Thanks, GMSkarka, for the clarification. I stand corrected. I don't think it changes much of my previous statement, but it does remove some ambiguities on my part.

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[Horacio]

As an aside, based on this thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3983921#post3983921

If WotC would really like to see sites like EN World disappear, wouldn't it make sense to target small companies, so that they can't produce compatable products for, say, 6 months after release, as a means of shrinking advertising revenue? I don't know how much of EN World is supported by banner ads, but the 4e announcement certainly dried up new 3e product, and new product drives ad purchases. By preventing small companies from producing compatable product, WotC can maintain that "drought" a little longer, and blamelessly take a potentially huge chunk of maintenance revenue away from places like EN World.

If we want this place to last, we might have to dig a bit deeper in our pockets as the 3rd-party product "drought" continues.

Just a thought.

RC

So you think really that all this new OGL is a maneouver by WotC to sink fan forums by cutting their revenue source and make all fans go to the official ones ?

Truth is out there, and all that, but it seems a bit too conspirational to me...

 

[Henry]

So you think really that all this new OGL is a maneouver by WotC to sink fan forums by cutting their revenue source and make all fans go to the official ones ?

Truth is out there, and all that, but it seems a bit too conspirational to me...

Plus it assumes those new phase 1 people won't be advertizing on ENWorld and other places in the wake of the new edition - I'm willing to bet they will, if so much of their customer base is online. This is an opportunity for them to reach non-online customers as well, not to abandon their primary stream in preference to another.

 

[Raven Crowking]

So you think really that all this new OGL is a maneouver by WotC to sink fan forums by cutting their revenue source and make all fans go to the official ones ?

"All this new OGL"? No. Potentially something considered when formulating the STL-called-OGL? Quite possibly.

A "conspiracy" is just two or more people coming up with a way to make a profit (or meet a goal) that, were it completely out in the open would tend to cause it to fail (or provoke outrage). Conspiracies happen all the time. They are common throughout human history. Saying, "hey, couldn't this be a possible motive?" isn't the same as claiming that the Daleks landed on your front lawn last night, no matter how some might wish to pretend otherwise.

That there is a NDA on the STL-called-OGL is an indication that, for some reason, WotC believes that revealing the full terms of the STL-called-OGL too early will impact their sales and/or some other goal(s).

RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

Plus it assumes those new phase 1 people won't be advertizing on ENWorld and other places in the wake of the new edition - I'm willing to bet they will, if so much of their customer base is online. This is an opportunity for them to reach non-online customers as well, not to abandon their primary stream in preference to another.

What if Gleemax offers them a special rate to draw advertising dollars their way?

What percentage of EN World banner ads has WotC purchased? Is purchasing now?

What percentage of EN World banner ads come from smaller companies, vs. the percentage that come through larger companies?

I am just looking at the representative sample of what ads I've seen here, but I'd say that losing 6-9 months of small company ads is going to hit EN World where it hurts. EN World already has a sale going on banner ads to generate some new revenue. I'd like a plan in place to preserve EN World against an "ad drought".


RC

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

The 3e OGL did nothing to stop that, and yet no-one bothered. The closest were the Pocket guides to the game, but those didn't exactly set the world on fire. I don't think such a thing should really have been a concern.

No one bothered because it wasn't necessary, because the SRD was there.

 

[BLACKDIRGE]

Really? You feel that it's perfectly acceptable for a company to use the material that you came up with and stick it on a femdom lesbian S&M porn game, fully illustrated? I'm thinking if I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing something, and then made it available for the public to fiddle with, I might want to be able to have some say in what's being done.

I see your point here, however, there are people that do want a more adult-oriented product. For instance, I publish a line of vile products (None so Vile), and while I understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea, I have customers that really dig that kind of stuff. Under the new OGL, I will likely not be able to publish None so Vile for 4E.

I think it's kind of unfair for WoTC to publish and endorse such material (BoVD), and then not allow 3rd party publishers to do the same.

But, hey, in this industry you have to roll with the punches, and in the end, it's only one line I won't be able to convert to 4E.

BD

 

[Nellisir]

It was Ryan Dancey's idea originally. And I think it was a good idea. I haven't see the 4e OGL, but if its similar to the 3e OGL there is no reason innovative products like Iron Heroes can't be made. But there was no reason that Iron Heroes or Arcana Evolved had to be standalone games. They could easily have been made without reprinting half the SRD.

Except that they want to keep people from "slightly changing pre-existing rules". So, no Cleave in Iron Heros. IT'd be hard to play IH with the basic feats split between two books.

 

[Nellisir]

I don't know about you, but for me Conan, Arcana Evolved, Iron Heroes, etc., have all gone into the grist mill to improve my D&D game. I imagine that I am not alone there.

Nope. All those, plus Black Company, Thieves' World, World of Warcraft RPG (quite a few good ideas there), Warlords of the Accordlands, and Rokugan. For a start.

I love me a variant player's handbook.