Ema's RPG Sheet Website down...

[davethegame]

- It's not the DDI Character Creator that pushed WotC to send the C&D but their upcoming release of Power Card packs. No one's going to buy this product if some one is letting you print them off for a small one time fee.

There are multiple sites that allow you to print out power cards (copyrighted text and all) but none others that I know of that charge. So if those start to go down, you'll be proven right, but my feeling is that the charging are what summoned the lawyers.

 

[avin]

I hear alcohol can wash that away, if applied internally.

Nice idea, we're having some brazilian barbecue and beer tonight, hooray for my sins

 

[Mark]

Nice idea, we're having some brazilian barbecue and beer tonight, hooray for my sins

Sounds delicious!


Well, with that post from Scott it seems simple enough. Respect the IP of WotC and all is good. On a lighter note, as in less voluminous, please respect the IP of all publishers, big and small.

 

[Shemeska]

Nice idea, we're having some brazilian barbecue and beer tonight, hooray for my sins

Sounds like a plan to me. I'll be having sushi tonight, but the sinning won't commence till Saturday.

 

[catsclaw227]

Thanks for popping in Scott. I appreciate the post.

- The Character Manager had a one-time payment for lifetime access.
- This payment was to help Ema cover the extra expense of the increased server cost.
- Ema was most certainly running at a loss so calling it a business is absurd as it certainly wasn't for profit.

Well... asking to pay for something, in this case WOTC IP, is still not right. And if a business doesn't make profit, but still collects funds, it is STILL a business. Profit is a preferable byproduct.

Also, if what people are saying is true, it was a pretty blatant violation of the GSL (if one was ever even signed).

Sounds like there were two different issues. Illegal use of 4e content and use of non-OGL WOTC 3.5 content. I would expect a C&D to be sent.

Also, Ema clearly states on the new homepage that it was the right thing to do.

The only "bad blood" appears to come from the posters that don't have all the facts and are jumping to conclusions about what really happened.

 

[Wormwood]

Respect the IP of WotC and all is good. On a lighter note, as in less voluminous, please respect the IP of all publishers, big and small.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

 

[chriton227]

The only "bad blood" appears to come from the posters that don't have all the facts and are jumping to conclusions about what really happened.

My bad blood comes from losing access without notice to about a dozen characters that I don't know if I can find hardcopies of. I gladly would have used a similar service if WotC had provided it, but WotC didn't for almost 8 months after launch even though they advertised (falsely) that it was already available in the core 4e books. I know legally they had every right to ask Ema to shut down, but I stand by my view that Ema was fulfilling a need, and that WotC promised to fulfill that same need and broke their promise.

I feel that their primary commitment is to their legal team, not their product or their customers. Perfect evidence of this was the prohibition on copying the character sheets in KotS, and then the delay in getting printable versions posted (this should have taken no more than 24 hours, especially given that this was their first launch product for 4e). There were many people who were distributing Word or PDF versions of those sheets because once again WotC failed to keep their commitments in a timely manner. Or the lack of a dungeon builder, when they already had a perfectly functional one (that they didn't bother to keep updated with the current dungeon tile sets despite saying right on the page that it will be updated with future sets) they could post as part of DDI until the new one is ready.

There is a sign on the wall where I work that says "If we don't serve our customers, someone else will". That is 100% true, and when WotC failed to serve their customers, Ema was there to be the someone else. If they continue to fail to serve their customers, next time that someone else may be a game company willing and able to serve those customers with a different game instead of a fan using WotC's IP.

WotC has repeatedly misled their customers and failed to deliver on their promises since the 3.0 launch (if not before), they shouldn't be at all surprised if they've just about used up their customers' good will. Once that good will is gone, even reasonable and justifiable actions will be looked on with suspicion.

 

[Khairn]

Also, we are still working on our fan site policy which will provide guidelines for the use of Wizards’ IPs moving forward.

Scott, thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts. I do understand some of the legalities involved in a C&D, and why you can't discuss how that impacted Ema's shutting down. Its a tough situation and probably can't help but leave some negative feelings for many gamers.

But as for WotC's new "fan site guidelines", I hope you can understand that given the current state of the GSL, (restrictive and long overdue) why I'm not going to hold my breath in anticipation of something open, supportive or easy to understand & implement.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

POST REMOVED BY MODERATOR

I made it very clear that this kind of thing wasn't going to be tolerated in here. You're banned for a week.

 

[scruffygrognard]

I stand by my view that Ema was fulfilling a need, and that WotC promised to fulfill that same need and broke their promise.

I feel that their primary commitment is to their legal team, not their product or their customers. Perfect evidence of this was the prohibition on copying the character sheets in KotS, and then the delay in getting printable versions posted (this should have taken no more than 24 hours, especially given that this was their first launch product for 4e). There were many people who were distributing Word or PDF versions of those sheets because once again WotC failed to keep their commitments in a timely manner. Or the lack of a dungeon builder, when they already had a perfectly functional one (that they didn't bother to keep updated with the current dungeon tile sets despite saying right on the page that it will be updated with future sets) they could post as part of DDI until the new one is ready.

There is a sign on the wall where I work that says "If we don't serve our customers, someone else will". That is 100% true, and when WotC failed to serve their customers, Ema was there to be the someone else. If they continue to fail to serve their customers, next time that someone else may be a game company willing and able to serve those customers with a different game instead of a fan using WotC's IP.

WotC has repeatedly misled their customers and failed to deliver on their promises since the 3.0 launch (if not before), they shouldn't be at all surprised if they've just about used up their customers' good will. Once that good will is gone, even reasonable and justifiable actions will be looked on with suspicion.

Well said! I agree with you 100%.