GSL FAQ up

[Mistwell]

Thats not what Linae said. She said it was the same doc. Which doesn't mean the wording wasn't changed.

Yes, it does.

People who continue to make the accusation, subtly though the accusation may be, that Linae is either lying or being deceptive through clever use of subtext, are not meeting the pretty high burden they are under. People calling out a WOTC employee directly in that manner should offer a level of evidence for that "speculation" that is fairly substantial. This is not a theoretical claim about a game rule you are making - it's an accusation against the reputation of an actual person.

I wish folks would stop these unsubstantiated claims against a person, unless they have the proof to back it up. It's unfair, and rude, at best.

 

[Jack99]

The question (aka context) specifically was "Is it the same GSL as two weeks ago, or has it been rewritten?" She said it's the same one, which states that it hasn't been rewritten. Last I checked, changing the wording of something would qualify as rewriting it.

Respectfully I disagree.

The question was "Is it the same GSL as two weeks ago, or has it been rewritten?"
Linae answers: It's the same doc.

It's a classic example of answering so that you think, that you get the answer you want/need/expect, while in fact, she is saying something else. (Sorry, I can't recall if there is an English expression for this).

I just want to point out, that either way, I personally don't care. They could have written all of it just the other night, as far as I care. At the end, we now have a GSL that will allow my favorite 3PPs to produce some more content for me to spend my hard-earned money on, after I have bought WoTC's books. That's all I wanted.

Cheers

 

[AllisterH]

While it is never fun to lose a license, do you really think Paizo would have the position they have today, if it were not for the license they had? I feel that it would be more than fair to say that Paizo has benefited A LOT from that license, even if it was taken away from them, with (too little?) warning.

Cheers

So, do people believe Paizo would be were they were WITHOUT the license?

 

[The Little Raven]

It's a classic example of answering so that you think, that you get the answer you want/need/expect, while in fact, she is saying something else. (Sorry, I can't recall if there is an English expression for this).

This is an example of people applying a subtext to her words based on their own personal interpretation. She was direct and meant what she wrote at face value. The fact that people read some kind of deception into those statements speaks volumes more about their character than Linae's. As Mistwell so eloquently stated, this is simply a case of people accusing her of dishonesty (whether by omission or intentionally misleading statements) with absolutely no evidence to support such a claim... and that's just rude.

 

[Yair]

Thats not what Linae said. She said it was the same doc. Which doesn't mean the wording wasn't changed. Subtext FTW.

Hah. Good joke.

.... it's a joke, right?


....right?


In other news...

I'd note that since I have no intention of registering with WotC, the GSL has no impact on my fan sites - unlike the OGL, which had when I wanted it to. I'm rather disappointed with this provision, but I suppose this isn't such a huge barrier to entry. Just... irritating.

 

[The Little Raven]

I'd note that since I have no intention of registering with WotC, the GSL has no impact on my fan sites - unlike the OGL, which had when I wanted it to. I'm rather disappointed with this provision, but I suppose this isn't such a huge barrier to entry. Just... irritating.

Do we have any direct, official confirmation that fan sites will be required to register with WotC? And if so, a link please.

 

[Shades of Green]

Anything WotC gives is morally and legally pure charity. They've got no special obligation to loan their IP out for someone else to sell on, and this new contract makes clear up-front that it exists at WotC's pleasure. If you think it's a good deal, you take it, and if you don't, you keep with OGL.

IMHO morality, legality and charity have nothing to do with this. This is pure business sense. 3PPs don't exist on the expense of WotC - they actually increase WotC sales. OGL/GSL means that even if you aren't initially interested in any given WotC product, but rather in a niche product, you will still get exposed to WotC's D20 system, and, in many cases, the 3PP product would require you to own one of the WotC core books. Also, it means that the WotC core-books are supported by 3PP splat-books and settings which WotC benefit from (it increases the sales of their core books and even of their splat books) while the 3PP pays the people working on these splat books and settings.

In regard to fan material and fan discussion this is even more important. The community is the market. Treat the community well, and they'll provide you with free advertisement, as well as keep the market alive for you; the community is also a great pool of quality fans to recruit new employees from. Treat the community badly, and they'll run away, and your market will shrink and wither away. TSR didn't understand this, and it killed them. WotC understand this, and they flourish.

OGL was the best business decision ever made by WotC.

 

[xechnao]

And Linae stated that nothing was actually changed. So your assumption is factually incorrect, unless now you want to start calling people liars.

No, she did not say "nothing" the way you put it (after all it is obvious things have changed: they gave an official faq now while two weeks ago it was just rumors). She just said that the GSL we are now receiving the faq about was not actually rewritten in the last couple of weeks.

 

[ruemere]

That didn't stop the d20 System License either. (What stopped it was that it didn't provide any value for customer or publisher, since the logo didn't stand for high quality or compatibility with D&D, as it was implied to do...)

Respectfully, comparing both situations may be wrong.

D20 SL filled the void and, for those whose were worried about their products, provided escape route (OGL).
GSL aims to replace D20 SL without allowing to use OGL as an escape mechanism.


GSL will probably come with definitions of "product line" and "fantasy game".


Finally, given experiences till now, GSL will be probably revoked around 2014. New version of the license may provide several changes, which may or may be not to the liking of those who make GSL products.
However, by that time, each third party publisher who ventures GSL path, will have its products clearly labelled as "GSL product line" and because of this, it will be much harder to make indepedent decision with regard to following (or rejecting) GSL successor.


It's not charity. It's business. Just like OGL was.
There is no reason to panic or to celebrate. It's just an attempt to improve control over the market by WotC.


Regards,
Ruemere

 

[ruemere]

[...]
The question was "Is it the same GSL as two weeks ago, or has it been rewritten?"
Linae answers: It's the same doc.[...]

Subject to interpretation. She could have meant the same filename or that the file's content is unchanged and so on.

I don't think we should discuss this - it's not polite to assume that the other party is attempting to use half-truths.

With all due respect, let's go back to the topic.

Regards,
Ruemere