Annoying Conspiricy Thread

[hexgrid]

I thought that the statement meant "The first campaign setting THAT WASN'T CONSIDERED THE DEFAULT SETTING was Realms or Dragonlance"

Greyhawk and Blackmoor [and even Mystara] were considered the "default" world, like the PoL world is today.

Like a lot of the "controversial" passages in the 4e books, it could just as easily be attributed to poor wording as to malice. You could interpret it several different ways.

 

[xechnao]

Like a lot of the "controversial" passages in the 4e books, it could just as easily be attributed to poor wording as to malice. You could interpret it several different ways.

I do not know what is at stake but if there is something, it is most probable that is intentional. Because usually you pay attention to diplomacy when stakes are considered.

 

[Fifth Element]

Like a lot of the "controversial" passages in the 4e books, it could just as easily be attributed to poor wording as to malice. You could interpret it several different ways.

Yes, but if you hate 4E there is only one way to interpret it.

 

[xechnao]

Hi all,

This may have been discussed before, or not. It's not intended as an attack, just an observation. The title of the thread is a little silly, but apropos, as you will soon see....(wait for it)...

Is Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro trying to get out of paying any royalties to the Gygax Estate for Dungeons & Dragons?

I don't even know if they owed him anything in the first place, but this is my evidence/deluded ramblings:

* Advanced D&D (the 1st edition) was created to squeeze Dave Arneson out of the D&D money pie. It was argued that the rules and name were significantly different such that AD&D was not a derivative of Dungeons & Dragons.

* 4E comes out and contains a rules system that is radically different from from any edition that came before it. In other words, it could be argued that it is not a derivative work.

* 4E has completely eliminated any references to the world of Greyhawk. Not only is it not listed as an early campaign setting, but all IP that used to appear in the core rules (i.e., Mordenkainen, Bigby, etc.) has been eliminated. Gary Gygax is known as the creator of the world of Greyhawk.

* In the GSL, section 5.2 (Licensed Products Legal Text), no mention is made of any version of Dungeons & Dragons prior to 4E, nor does it attribute any portion of the rules to Gary Gygax (and Dave Arneson).

I've seen earlier threads that angrily point out that Greyhawk has been dissed by Wizards of the Coast. I think it's worse than that.

My argument: Wizards of the Coast (and by extension Hasbro) intends to cut the Gygax Estate out of any royalties they may have been entitled to for the Dungeons & Dragons brand.

Discuss.

If Wotc has a not ever-lasting license regarding Gygax's IP it makes lots of sense.

 

[Obryn]

I thought that the statement meant "The first campaign setting THAT WASN'T CONSIDERED THE DEFAULT SETTING was Realms or Dragonlance"

Greyhawk and Blackmoor [and even Mystara] were considered the "default" world, like the PoL world is today.

Huh! Yeah, you know - there's a point there.

It's no surprise they wouldn't list Wilderlands, it not being owned by TSR/WotC.

-O

 

[Ruin Explorer]

According to the 4E Player's Handbook, the first campaign settings were Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance.

Yes I noticed that and it is a bit "WTF?" in that it's clearly untrue and there's no possibility that the person writing it believed it. I assumed it was just a bit of Soviet-style "history editing" and to set expectations for what might get released in 4E. I guess the inevitable apology would be that Greyhawk/Oerth wasn't clearly separated from D&D or something.