BOEF no longer D20! Now it's OGL!

[Claude Raines]

When Valar Projects started the Book of Erotic Fantasy, I signed up to get its newsletter just because I was curious to what they were doing. The latest one contains some interesting news that they are no longer able to publish under the D20 license. They specifically stated:

As stated in the September 23, 2003 press release: Due to the recent addition of "community standards of decency" provisions in the D20 System License, Valar Project, Inc.'s D20 license has been revoked for use with Book of Erotic Fantasy, affective immediately. The company announces today that Book of Erotic Fantasy will no longer be published as a D20 product, instead applying the Open Gaming License (OGL) to the game.

"We strongly believe in the quality and integrity of the Book of Erotic Fantasy," says Valar Project, CEO Anthony Valterra. "Switching the product to OGL allows us the creative freedom to publish an adult product, without changing the game mechanics, that adds value and depth to your fantasy roleplaying game."

I'm not sure how I feel about the new "community standards of decency" in the D20 System License. Of course, I don't really know what it states or where to find it. It does, however, seem to be a direct result of the BOEF. At the risk of starting a rather excited discussion, I'm wondering what the community at large here feels about this change.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

When Valar Projects started the Book of Erotic Fantasy, I signed up to get its newsletter just because I was curious to what they were doing. The latest one contains some interesting news that they are no longer able to publish under the D20 license. They specifically stated:



I'm not sure how I feel about the new "community standards of decency" in the D20 System License. Of course, I don't really know what it states or where to find it. It does, however, seem to be a direct result of the BOEF. At the risk of starting a rather excited discussion, I'm wondering what the community at large here feels about this change.

*Sigh*

Ok....here goes.
As a playtester of the BOEF and an involved member of the www.valarproject.com community I feel its almost my responsiblity to respond before this gets outa hand.

Anthony Valterra has explicitly commented that the current changes to the STL were his primary reason for leaving. The changes have been planned for over a year and AV left and tried to get the BOEF out before the change was done. However it didnt happen. The Change is not a direct result of the BOEF, in fact the BOEF is a direct result of the change.

Please do not blame Anthony for something he worked hard to prevent before his departure from WOTC.

The BOEF will go on, yes as OGL, but it will remain the same book otherwise.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

BTW I invite anyone who wants to discuss this to Valar Projects Forums where Anthony and Lupa can answer your questions directly.

Thankyou.

 

[Ranger REG]

I'm wondering what the community at large here feels about this change.

Disappointed but not surprised. To me, the d20 label is akin to DIVX or MP3. If the people responsible for these formats decided to take a decency stance, the adult industry (most of which are mass-producing on DVD) will crumble. In fact, they can decide for us that certain R-rated films cannot be sold in DIVX format. Or you can't purchase rap music online.

That's what d20 means to me: a codec, nothing more.

 

[Morrus]

BTW I invite anyone who wants to discuss this to Valar Projects Forums where Anthony and Lupa can answer your questions directly.

Thankyou.

Oh, I'm sure that as a publisher, AV & co. will be more than happy to go wherever the fans and the discussions are. Even WotC used to come here...

 

[Henry]

This should be no surprise to any reading the release of the d20 STL revision; given that Anthony specifically tried to beat the changes to press, it was little issue that all traces of the d20 license would be removed before publication.

I still wish him and Valar good fortune in their venture.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Would beating the deadline have served any purpose for Valar? Couldn't WOTC simply retroactively revoke the license and force destruction/recall of current stock? Seems like it would have been riskier and more potentially much more expensive to attempt publication under the d20STL, given AV's knowledge of the changes that were coming. Or am I wrong about how retroactive changes work?

 

[d4]

The BOEF will go on, yes as OGL, but it will remain the same book otherwise.

that's good to hear.

it will be interesting to see if the lack of the d20 logo will have any effect on the book after publication.

there have been other games and books that have gone the just-OGL route (AU and M&M spring immediately to mind), and their lack of the d20 logo has not seemed to hurt them in the least. at least at my FLGS, they are both selling briskly, and stocked on the same shelves as all the other d20 products. even without the logo, everyone knows what they are.

 

[Leopold]

to be blunt: "So?"

 

[Bagpuss]

If the changes were planned before BoEF thus it was not the sole target of the change, and WotC have shown a willingness to use them to recall the previews of BoEF and stop it being produced under D20 license, what other products do you think they will ask publishers to recall?

I imagine "Rapture" falls under their the religion aspect of the new license, Macho Women with Guns strikes me as flying close to the wind. Will Mongoose have to stop selling the Encyclopaedia Arcane: Nymphology at RPGNow?