Academic Studies Recent Edition Wars

[Rechan]

At least one peices of artwork in Book of Exalted Deeds, for example, showed bare nipples on women.

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Rechan]

Nice! But you can get those in the 3e Monster Manual.

3e had nipples in the MM?! Man. 3e did have rules for everything.

 

[S'mon]

No it didn't, it revised the d20 STL, which is a different license altogether from the OGL.

There's no point revising the OGL, since one of the OGL's terms is "You may use any edition of this license" - the OGL is a beautiful poison pill vs future shenanigans by whoever owns D&D.

 

[AngryMojo]

Pics or it didn't happen.

Ask and ye shall receive

.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

There's no point revising the OGL, since one of the OGL's terms is "You may use any edition of this license" - the OGL is a beautiful poison pill vs future shenanigans by whoever owns D&D.

That's right. I'd agree that the OGL is beautiful, but I woudn't characterize it as a poison pill, even versus shenanigans (or tomfoolery).

 

[AngryMojo]

There's no point revising the OGL, since one of the OGL's terms is "You may use any edition of this license" - the OGL is a beautiful poison pill vs future shenanigans by whoever owns D&D.

As I said, it wound up being you can only use the d20 logo if you follow the criteria. You can still do whatever the hell you want, and that's how Pathfinder is even being published right now. It just lacks the logo.

 

[roguerouge]

Lolwut? I assume this isn't a serious journal in any way right?

No, it's a serious journal, albeit a very, very new one. I've met Kristina Busse, one of the editors, probably at Slayage. She's got a good head on her shoulders.

I think the symposium is the academic version of the op-ed piece, so perhaps saying "studies" was a bit strong in my title. Note that the word limit is 2500 words, whereas the Theory or Praxis articles can range to 8000.

 

[Fifth Element]

As I said, it wound up being you can only use the d20 logo if you follow the criteria. You can still do whatever the hell you want, and that's how Pathfinder is even being published right now. It just lacks the logo.

But the article claims this:

[3.3] But it didn't last long. Perhaps threatened by the upsurge in competition, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast attempted to recall the open license and revoke the rights of third-party publishers

Changing the d20 STL, which was not an open license, does not constitute WotC having "attempted to recall the open license." This implies they tried to revoke the OGL, which they didn't. Language in the OGL, which WotC wrote, prevents revocation of the license.

The OGL and the d20 STL are (were) very different beasts. This section of the article reads as if the author does not know the difference between the OGL and the d20 STL, or at least glossing over the distinction. This is common enough, but certainly hurts your credibility when writing a "serious" article.


As for the article as a whole, it's good for a laugh, if you enjoy that sort of thing. To me, it reads like a "Wot$ is EEEEEVIILLLLLL, 3PPs RULE!" post, but written in a pretentious manner. I find the conclusion in 4.4 that with 4E, WotC may have "created their own competition" rather strange. You could argue that was a result of the OGL in 3E, where publishers published self-contained RPGs using the license, and that's one reason they wanted to move away from that degree of openness. It's also strange considering the admission in the next paragraph that the 3PPs have a "tiny market".

Edit: Wow, paragraphs 3.4 and 3.5 read exactly like an anti-4E post on any message board, but once again couched in academic-sounding language (to a degree). It hits on many empty buzzwords.

 

[Rechan]

You could argue that was a result of the OGL in 3E, where publishers published self-contained RPGs using the license, and that's one reason they wanted to move away from that degree of openness. It's also strange considering the admission in the next paragraph that the 3PPs have a "tiny market".

From what I got from someone I talked to, one of the big reasons for the change was 3PPs taking the 3e rules wholecloth and reprinting them (like Mongoose's pocket player guide). WotC's view was that "Hey, we spent millions of dollars and countless hours working on that, and you turn around and publish it without any effort on your part."

 

[Fifth Element]

From what I got from someone I talked to, one of the big reasons for the change was 3PPs taking the 3e rules wholecloth and reprinting them (like Mongoose's pocket player guide). WotC's view was that "Hey, we spent millions of dollars and countless hours working on that, and you turn around and publish it without any effort on your part."

Precisely. That was a (presumably unforeseen) consequence of having a license as the OGL. The OGL was intended, I believe, to allow third parties to publish material compatible with 3E, not reprint 3E itself.