Academic Studies Recent Edition Wars

[AngryMojo]

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.

Completely unofficially, I've heard a rumor from a rather reliable source that one of the 3e designers had also paired up with a publishing company and was planning on releasing an annotated PhB. All the rules and text with notes from the designer about basic, unwritten assumptions about the system. WotC gave said designer a gentle "Don't do this if you want to continue working for us" and he dropped the project.
Once again, it's something I may have heard somewhere

 

[malraux]

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.

I'll just say that this article is prima-facie evidence that the journal isn't. Don't get me wrong, there is actually an interesting topic here (the idea of canon in fan fiction and RPGs), but the author never develops that idea and instead goes off on a weird and generic anti-corporation screed. Basic facts are wrong, the main idea is ignored, and the content is unoriginal. Even if this works at the level of Op-Ed, which has looser standards of proof and allows for a more personal tone, you really should want such material to be accurate and insightful.

 

[Umbran]

My only comment is: If that's for an academic publication, then academic standards are so low as to be nigh nonexistent.

Goodness gracious. Rigor, people! Get some rigor!

 

[GregT_314]

Guys! When will you learn not to take the internet at face value? Not everything published in an academic journal is actually an academic article!

This essay is published in the Journal of Transformative Works and Culture's "Symposium" section. The Journal describes this section as follows:

Symposium offers shorter editorially reviewed essays on fan related issues. We especially invite fans to contribute their ideas and viewpoints at Symposium.

That stands in contrast to their Theory and Praxis sections:

Theory and Praxis present peer-reviewed academic essays that analyze fan works and communities within cultural and theoretical frameworks.

In short, it's basically an unsolicited opinion piece from Joe Blog on the street, neither academic nor scientific. Feel free to go back to ignoring it.

 

[malraux]

Guys! When will you learn not to take the internet at face value? Not everything published in an academic journal is actually an academic article!

This essay is published in the Journal of Transformative Works and Culture's "Symposium" section. The Journal describes this section as follows:

Symposium offers shorter editorially reviewed essays on fan related issues. We especially invite fans to contribute their ideas and viewpoints at Symposium.

In short, it's basically an unsolicited opinion piece from Joe Blog on the street, neither academic nor scientific. Feel free to go back to ignoring it.

It is something editorially reviewed, and published under their name. Thus the personal tone and scarcity of references would seem to be acceptable. The inaccuracy and incoherence, on the other hand, would recommend against putting something like this anywhere in a publication that hopes to be taken seriously.

 

[ggroy]

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.

Has the OGL been challenged in a court of law so far, and held up in making a legal precedent of any sort?

 

[jaerdaph]

*shudders* What a ridiculous piece of pseudo-intellectual dribble!

Perhaps she's hoping to get a job at White Wolf some day...

 

[Invisible Stalker]

Feel free to go back to ignoring it.

will do

 

[Obryn]

You know, I could write an edition war essay in APA style, but it wouldn't make it an academic article.

-O

 

[wingsandsword]

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.

The funny thing is, that around the time of the release of 3e, Ryan Dancey pretty much dared 3rd party publishers to do just that: reprint the SRD as a commercial product unto itself (like the Mongoose guides did).

Somebody took them up on that, and now that (in many fans eyes) D&D as we have known it has been unceremoniously killed and an unrecognizable doppleganger has replaced it, we have the DNA of the original to clone it and revive it.

The SRD and OGL has made D&D 3.0 and 3.5 virtually immortal among editions. Long after WotC has moved to a 5e which is completely incompatible with 4e and any prior editions and 4e is completely abandoned in terms of publications, gamers can still print and reprint 3.x and compatible materials thanks to the SRD and OGL.