Dragonlance Dragonlance Lawsuit Dismissed Without Prejudice

The recent lawsuit brought against D&D publishers Wizards of the Coast by Dragonlance authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman has been voluntarily dismissed without prejudice.

When a lawsuit is dismissed with prejudice, it means that the plaintiff cannot bring the issue back to court. When -- as in this case -- it is dismissed without prejudice, the plaintiff can try again.

In this case it was voluntarily dismissed by Weis & Hickman. We can only guess why; perhaps a settlement occurred? In any case, Margaret Weis tweeted, thanking people for their support, and hinting at exciting news to come.

"Pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff Margaret Weis, LLC and Tracy Hickman hereby gives notice that the above-captioned action is voluntarily dismissed as to Wizards of the Coast LLC, without prejudice. Defendant Wizards of the Coast LLC has not filed an answer or motion for summary judgment, no proceedings or discovery have been undertaken as to these claims, and this action is not subject to any federal statute which would preclude the dismissal of this action under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i)."

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

After decades of ignoring it, I am finally just getting to Dragons of Summer Flame now. For me, Dragonlance had been fossilized in Amber after the first three trilogies (counting the anthologies as such).

Also, they evolved Krynn so far that it does not resemble the most popular era, anymore. Restoring the most popular elements of it may be hard in a "go forward" approach.

Yeah, in addition to how the Problematic Three Races are written, going back and reading stories where the rest of the world is just okay with treating them like garbage is pretty grating.

There are representations in Dragonlance that would be poorly received by too many people today.

As for that tweet by Hickman, the positioning of the Sony logo looks pretty intentional. Time will tell...

 

[Umbran]

Check the date of print, if it's included on the book page. If the book wasn't printed in the past 10 years, then it's entirely reasonable to say that the books are 'out of print', as the last printing is still being sold in the market and thus there's no reason to issue a new print run.

Brick and mortar bookstores are unlikely to be keeping decade-old paperback printings around on the shelves, though. Maybe back in a warehouse somewhere to fulfill online orders, but shelf space is precious.

 

[Umbran]

And a Harry Potter Chocolate Frog container.

Harry Potter and the Exploding Draconian?!?

 

[Umbran]

And a Harry Potter Chocolate Frog container.

And why hasn't anyone exploded about what looks to be a VR headset powered up on the desk behind his shoulder? Why hasn't anyone deeply enough into that to come out somewhere in the Indian Ocean?!?

Come on people! Details!

 

[darjr]

And why hasn't anyone exploded about what looks to be a VR headset powered up on the desk behind his shoulder? Why hasn't anyone deeply enough into that to come out somewhere in the Indian Ocean?!?

Come on people! Details!

Oh and he’s wearing a Apple Watch! Apple TV D&D cartoon confirmed

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Eberron has from memory advanced slightly with each edition change.

Eberron 5e is the same starting date as Eberron 3.5.

4e moved forward, I think, a year or two.

 

[Voadam]

Sony in the shirt? It can't be casual. Does this mean a Sony picture based in a Hitman's novel?

SONY is a sly acronym for "Soth Opera in New Year" they are going very multi in their 2021 multimedia push.

 

[Blue Orange]

My initial exposure to D&D was the Champions of Krynn video game. I'd love to see what they come up with.

 

[Pauper]

Brick and mortar bookstores are unlikely to be keeping decade-old paperback printings around on the shelves, though. Maybe back in a warehouse somewhere to fulfill online orders, but shelf space is precious.

That might be more true of stores today, but when I was working in bookstores, the SF/Fantasy section was very often scattered with very old printings of books considered 'classics' -- I distinctly remember shelving a 20-year old printing of Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land", as an example. This is more true for hardcovers than for paperbacks, but even well-considered trade paperbacks can be surprisingly old.

The original Dragonlance books would certainly fall into that category; I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a 10+ year old printing of Dragons of Autumn Twilight sitting in the Fantasy section of a Barnes & Noble, especially if it was a hardcover.

--
Pauper

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That might be more true of stores today, but when I was working in bookstores, the SF/Fantasy section was very often scattered with very old printings of books considered 'classics' -- I distinctly remember shelving a 20-year old printing of Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land", as an example. This is more true for hardcovers than for paperbacks, but even well-considered trade paperbacks can be surprisingly old.

The original Dragonlance books would certainly fall into that category; I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a 10+ year old printing of Dragons of Autumn Twilight sitting in the Fantasy section of a Barnes & Noble, especially if it was a hardcover.

--
Pauper

There aren't actually many bricks-and-mortar dedicated bookstores left in the UK. There are still a couple of large ones in London, but those town-sized bookshops that still survive have shrunk down and diversified. There are still a couple of large provincial second hand book sellers around (I know a good one in Rochester), and they are probably the best place to find a print edition of Dragonlance.