Green Ronin not signing GSL (Forked Thread: Doing the GSL. Who?)

[Vanuslux]

I think of all the publishers out there, this is the most disappointing for me to find out isn't going to be doing anything for 4E.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I think Chris absolutely made the right decision. It isn't worth risking that much effort and money when the company that put out the license can kill your product on a whim. Besides, he can continue focusing his efforts on good games this way.

 

[Agamon]

Not really caring what GR does concerning D&D, as long as M&M and ASOFAI is go.

 

[JohnSnow]

I will miss Green Ronin's products, some of which I liked.

I'll probably still buy system-neutral Freeport stuff, but that's about it. I have no real interest in Blue Rose, True 20, or Mutants & Masterminds. It's disappointing to see GR choose to abandon the majority of their customer base.

I guess supporting their mini-systems is in their best interest, but I would have liked to have seen their efforts at creating interesting subsystems for the GSL akin to the good ones they put out for the d20 STL, like The Black Company Campaign Setting, the Thieves' World stuff, and other similar products.

But I guess they have to do what makes sense to them. I wish them luck. Hopefully the market is big enough to support them.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

It's disappointing to see GR choose to abandon the majority of their customer base.

Oh for goodness sakes. It's not like they had any real choice.

 

[Desdichado]

Maybe I'm the spoilsport here, nitpicking away and meaningless things, but I used to write press releases for a living for a major Fortune 500 company, and it just seems unprofessional to go into detail about why the license doesn't work for you and explain to the public which aspects of WotC's deal you specifically can't support.

Then again, the RPG industry is hardly Fortune 500, and I think as a business decision, they're spot on. Probably more than anyone else (except maybe Privateer) they were a third party publisher who had moved beyond the need for continued D&D related product lines because of successful unrelated lines they had developed over the last few years. Look at the relatively much more drastic lengths the GSL forced Paizo to, for instance.

 

[radferth]

I thought one of the big reasons for the GSL was to prevent third-party mini-systems. That is was a modules-only type of thing.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I agree with the others who have said this is no surprise (both because of the terms of the GSL and because of Green Ronin's recent focus). I'm more surprised when a big-name RPG publisher *uses* the GSL; I know I wouldn't touch it.

 

[Grimstaff]

Oh for goodness sakes. It's not like they had any real choice.

If GR was a small-press, .pdf only company I'd agree with this sentiment.

But they are a reasonably sized RPG company with name recognition and established product lines. GR could certainly have approached WotC for an individualized licensing agreement, and I highly doubt they would have been dismissed out of hand. The fact that Mr. Pramas lists concerns only from the general GSL seems to indicate no such effort was made on GR's part.

His main concern seems to be fear of frivolous lawsuits for perceived infractions that could result in unfair legal expenses. Could a professional company of GRs size not be able to submit products for legal approval before publication, making such fears unnecessary?

Its sad the GSL is so restrictive, but understandable. Its also sad that so few 3P companies are willing to go to bat for their fans and try to work something out, and this I have a harder time understanding.

 

[Cadfan]

"Abandoned" may be a bit harsh, but the general idea that it's not really a suprise is accurate I'd say.

Yeah. I think its the length of their list of successful, non-D&D products that is the real driver here. "Mutants & Masterminds, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, True20 Adventure Roleplaying, and Freeport: The City of Adventure."

Green Ronin, at least as far as I can tell, was a "little guy" who made big publishing D&D related products, then branched off to create their own IP once they were big and important. I'm glad for their success, but I think that it makes doing D&D licensed work into something only worthwhile as side projects.