About Living Campaigns and Living Dragonlance

[Adso]

On the front page I noticed this on the Sunday news items attributed to Jamie Chambers from the Mortality Radio interview.

Chambers says that there are plans for a Living Dragonlance campaign with the RPGA. That should start next year. A Living Sovereign Stone campaign is just about to start.

To be frank, I was very shocked to see this, as right now the RPGA has no plans to do either campaign. I am not sure where Jamie is getting this information, but it is not from the RPGA or from what I can tell, from Wizards of the Coast. In order for a campaign to truly be called Living (which is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast), it must be approved by Wizards of the Coast via the RPGA.

I am still looking into this, but I just wanted the fine folks at EN World to know that while Dragonlance and Sovereign Stone desire to have RPGA support for their campaigns, they have yet to obtain it.

 

[TalonComics]

Any word on a Living Arcana Unearthed?

~D

 

[Adso]

Any word on a Living Arcana Unearthed?

~D

The RPGA is not planning on adding new Living campaigns for the forseeable future.

 

[Creamsteak]

Maybe the editor added the 'With the RPGA' line. Mayhaps they are just going to make their own living game.

 

[Zogg]

Uh, I'm not really familiar with "living" type games, but it sounds like you are pretty angry about the implication that there would or could be other "living" game settings in the future, Adso.

What's up with that?

 

[Nightfall]

While my expertise lies elsewhere Zogg, I think I can explain. Living Campaigns are world wide campaigns that are all set in the same place and time period. Example: Living Greyhawk, everyone plays in Greyhawk at this particular point in it's history. Each part of the world and even in the USA, each area of the world is then corrollated into a region in that setting. Example: Every DM that lives in New Jersey wants to use and play this type of game, must set their games in Irongate. (Note to the Living people, I'm just giving an example folks! I will admit I'm not an expert! )
Now why do this? Simple, it means that whenever a person goes to a Con, or visits a gaming store in another part of the world (that is OUR world), they can then use that character in that game without making substantive changes.

So you understand this now Zogg?

 

[Zogg]

Thanks Nightfall. I understand the idea behind "living" campaigns (obviously never played in one), I just don't understand why Adso sounds so upset that there might be new ones popping up. Should there only be one living game setting - Greyhawk - or is it that RPGA has no intention of sponsering a new one (thus, the person in question is lying)? I'm just curious as to what's the point.

 

[vrykyl]

Good afternoon, everyone!

Let me clear up some confusion. My previous statements have not helped anyone understand the true situation. I'll break everything down so everyone knows exactly what's going on.

(1) Sovereign Press has been developing a "continuous player campaign" for Sovereign Stone, that we plan to implement even if we cannot get the official RPGA sanctioning of a "Living" style campaign.

(2) There has been tremendous interest from the fans for a "Living"-style Dragonlance campaign. We are interested in the idea as well, though we have not directly pursued this as we are only now getting the first products out the door.

(3) An RPGA staff member (and I apologize for not remembering the name) approached me at our booth at GenCon and asked our interest in creating a sanctioned Living campaign for Dragonlance. I gave him my business card and asked him to call me sometime after the show.

The RPGA and Sovereign Press have no current agreement to create any official "Living" campaigns. If my previous statements seemed to indicate that was the case, then I hope everyone involved will please accept my apologies. It was never my intention to speak for another company or organization.

Sorry for the confusion!

Jamie Chambers
Sovereign Press, Inc.

On the front page I noticed this on the Sunday news items attributed to Jamie Chambers from the Mortality Radio interview.

To be frank, I was very shocked to see this, as right now the RPGA has no plans to do either campaign. I am not sure where Jamie is getting this information, but it is not from the RPGA or from what I can tell, from Wizards of the Coast. In order for a campaign to truly be called Living (which is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast), it must be approved by Wizards of the Coast via the RPGA.

I am still looking into this, but I just wanted the fine folks at EN World to know that while Dragonlance and Sovereign Stone desire to have RPGA support for their campaigns, they have yet to obtain it.

 

[buzzard]

Uh, I'm not really familiar with "living" type games, but it sounds like you are pretty angry about the implication that there would or could be other "living" game settings in the future, Adso.

What's up with that?

Because the use of "Living" in the context of such a campaign is a copyright violation if it is not sanctioned by the RPGA.

Copyrights have to be protected, or they will be lost. Hence RPGA has to be a touch anal about it.

Honestly I expect a number of "living" style campaigns to be out there, but they just can't be called "living".

buzzard

 

[DanMcS]

Because the use of "Living" in the context of such a campaign is a copyright violation if it is not sanctioned by the RPGA.

Copyrights have to be protected, or they will be lost. Hence RPGA has to be a touch anal about it.

No they won't. Copyrights are perpetual (for their lifetime), and even if you've never defended it before, you can always go back and do so. But "Living" isn't a copyright.

Trademarks can be lost if they enter common usage as a generic term, and are not defended. "Living" is a trademark, I believe, because copyrights apply to written or created works. Things like Kleenex, Scotch Tape, and Living $game are trademarks, brand names basically.