NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 851924" data-attributes="member: 2013">And now, my offer of a solution...Here is my humble offering as a solution for the four points above...I will take it!  I will take the ring... though... I do not know the way...I have done enough "prototyping" of a model that could include Section 15s through ASP includes in both the Netbook of Creatures and (hopefully soon-to-be-posted) a master spell list from the SRD that I know how to logistically handle it.  I know just enough asp code to get it across on a webpage... it won't be pretty, but I can make it work.  I will even offer to pay for a server from which the content will be served - though again, it will be simple, plain-textish to keep bandwidth costs low.  If I get enough support (see below), "I will take the ring," or, I will volunteer to do the "hard work" involved for the project.  But I WILL need help bearing this burden - and I'll need it on certain conditions (see below).And at some point, we know SOMEBODY's going to make an attempt.  This peril belongs to all of the d20 Publishers.  You will unite or you will fall. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />True.  There's nothing that can be done about that on its surface.  But this is only an issue insomuch as it affects #3, IMO.We need to balance the publisher's need for a return on their initial investment in a book with the desirability of an OGC databank.  We also need to be careful with how we handle this so we don't drive everyone to "clam up" on their OGC declarations.I am told that life cycles for products are very short in the d20 industry - on the order of a few months.My proposal:  Introduce content into the "OGC databank" 12 to 24 months after its initial release (it would probably products over 24 months old initially and might stay there for a good long while, since there would be a year's worth of products that are over 24 months old just to catch up on).  The exact point in time can be discussed by publishers at large or even done on a case-by-case basis... but the general idea is that by the time 12 to 24 months rolls around, 90+% of sales on a product have been made, so there is no need to worry about cutting into income - there's not really much income left to cut into.Help bearing my burden: I don't want to do an "end-around" around d20 companies.  I also don't want to have to review every "submission" that somebody sends me to make sure they didn't mix non-OGC with OGC.  I don't have time for that.  This means that I would want to get an electronic copy of the OGC directly from the d20 company that published the work itself... with an OGL, OGC declaration ("everything in this document"), and proper S15.  If I get it directly from them, it mitigates the OGC concerns.  Of course, that DOES put a bit of a burden on them to sift the OGC from the non-OGC.  Solution?  I'm even willing to try to extract the OGC myself and run it back for approval if I get a "full" electronic copy (basically a PDF of the product, including artwork) from a company (this is how companies that don't want to dedicate time to sifting the OGC can get around that problem).  Print copy isn't practical, as that requires me to re-type everything (blah) - it would have to be electronic.More on the help: I don't want to start this alone, or even with just a company or two.  I'll throw the Enchiridion of Mystic Music in the hopper to get us started, but it won't be enough.  Even if one or two companies decide to jump on board, it won't be enough.  I will need most (not all) of the major OGC-producing players in the market - which in my mind includes (in no particular order) SSS/Malhavoc, Mystic Eye Games, Mongoose Publishing, FFG, AEG, Bastion Press, Green Ronin Publishing, E.N. Publishing, and (yes) Fast Forward Entertainment.  I wouldn't need all of their support, but I would need at least a majority of them to support this or it really won't work.  (Sorry if I missed anyone - it wasn't intentional - just going off the top of my head)To return to the LotR analogy, I need Istari and Dunedain and men of Gondor and elves and dwarves and hobbits to make it work... I need a Fellowship of the d20 Publishers.What's in it for me?  I guess all the "electronic copies" of the OGC (and in those cases where I'm expected to extract it and run it by the companies, the "full product").  That's it... I won't ask for financial support (though I won't turn it away LOL) for the site or anything else.  I think it would be a great contribution to the community.So there you have it.  There's my offer.  If I can get a majority of d20 Publishers behind it, I'll do it.  And on terms that I think are considerate (the 24-month-ish "waiting period" before something is added), given the utility such a work will offer.  If not, I won't waste the energy.So that puts the ball into the publishers' collective court... are any of the publishers out there willing to commit to supporting such a project?  And do you have any suggestions for improving the plan I have laid out?  Let's hear from you.  The offer is on the table.  Please don't ignore it (again). <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" />--The Sigil</blockquote>

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