Fractalwave
First Post
bolen said:
Actually, no this was not putting a positive spin on anything of the sort. Though I'm the first person who will admit it's putting a positive spin out there. You don't do press releases or announcements with a negative spin.
We knew some people would think this was the reason. In fact, we discussed putting off any announcement to keep things separate from WotC's recent decisions regarding software. But sometimes you just have to make an announcement at the worst time.
We've always been d20 and OGL compliant, though it's not difficult to find someone who disagrees. Some people won't believe anything short of a public statement from WotC.
One of our goals in this project was to end up with a better definition of the license from WotC as it pertains to software. That goal is going to be met soon.
As mentioned in the announcement, we've always planned to drop the logo so we could expand the product. The question was always when.
We've been debating whether to do this now since before GenCon, in large part because we're about to go retail. I'd rather not go retail as d20 then need to change it midstream. That's logistically difficult. Even more so for software than it is for published books.
When the opportunities came up to pick up data expansions that were not d20 and in fact their separately negotiated licenses conflict with d20, we decided the time was now and we shouldn't debate about it any more. You don't shut the door in the face of opportunity.
This decision has had the effect of re-energizing our team. We were kind of treading water before and now we're forging ahead. So this is good.
We have always worked with WotC regarding the d20 license as it pertains to software, sometimes in theory and sometimes as it pertains directly to us. We've never had a problem with the license. If WotC found anything that needed correcting, we corrected it...including typos and some bugs they've formally reported to us. (Thanks guys!)
If you want to know our personal opinions on the d20 license and software, you're welcome to ask on our forums. I won't use up Morrus' space doing it. Suffice it to say that lately we been suggesting to WotC that d20 and software is actually theoretically impossible just from the semantics of the license in it's current form and we've been advocating a separate license for software as opposed to rewording the current d20 license. Though, to be honest, I think they're going to just reword the current license. I like SJG's license.
(okay, so I'm lobbying...)On a side note...I did predict some months ago that within a year either way of the eTools release there would be a change in the license as it regards software. This was way before I had ever spoken to WotC personally. Chris had, but I hadn't. I do believe that this change is not far off. Yes, I'm gloating because I think I get to say "I told you so" soon...even if it is only to Chris.
Regardless, we will be announcing the first of the non-d20 licenses we've purchased "soon"...so be patient. We are still OGL compliant and have in fact discussed enhancing (read as making them better) the OGL features of the program. The overall effect will be that CS will become a stronger and richer tool. This is something that I firmly believe will be good for everyone, d20 or not.
