GSL news.

[vagabundo]

Hmm, thanks for the update Lizard.

I'm hoping, as you say, that Wizards will not put an unnecessary restriction on companies that want to support their OGL lines and yet contribute to 4e. But, I can see how this concession might have had to be made to assure Hasbro, but I doubt that WOTC supported it if it is so.

Obviously it is not in WOTCs interest to have dual-licensed stuff or a slightly updated GSL release of OGL content.

It does not effect me greatly, but I would prefer to see a healthy 3rd party DND industry.

 

[Scribble]

You should read the GSL thread in the OGL forum. If you publish a 4e book, you cannot use the OGL. If someone like Green Ronin wants to publish a 4e book, for example, then they cannot publish any new M&M or True20 books. You either publish 4e or OGL. You cannot do both.

This is Wizards poison pill for the OGL.

If this is the case, then companies should simply do what every other industry does when faced with a similar matter... Start a new child company.

Call it like Green Ronin 4e or something. All it does is produce the 4e version of the green ronin stuff.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/21/1215234

Look its CONFIRMED!!!!!!

(No it isn't, but watch the rumor mill fly.)

All because Orcus keeps jumping at the shadows. I hope I'm right and he is wrong. I'm not THAT certain if they are normal shadows or D&D shadows yet.

 

[La Bete]

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/21/1215234

Look its CONFIRMED!!!!!!

Hmmmph. I know he can't reply to this, but that wasn't very cool.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Hmmmph. I know he can't reply to this, but that wasn't very cool.

Your statement has too many unclear pronouns. He, This, That.

Huh?

 

[ChaosShard]

Hmmmph. I know he can't reply to this, but that wasn't very cool.

If you mean the blogger jumping on a rumor? Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, but it's not a major-big deal anyway, the author has his/her opinion, and is welcome to it. Of course treating rumor as fact is bad form.

If you mean Gene's posting of that link here, you need to turn up your humor radar

If you mean the mind flayer tossing the gnome into the gelatinous cube, well, yeah, that wasn't too cool at all...

 

[Mistwell]

JohnRTroy; I would like to pose a question to you.

If open gaming has had no impact and is not important (is "miniscule" to quote you) then why is WoTC now risking serious fan-alienation by designing a GSL document whose sole stated aim is to make all 3rd parties jump into supporting 4E. This suggests to me that WoTC don't see the open gaming movement as a miniscule concern.

I am not JohnRTroy, but I will take a stab at your question.

I see an inherent contradiction in your question. If open gaming is minuscule, then WOTC does not risk serious fan-alienation. They only risk such alienation if is not minuscule, because otherwise the overwhelming majority of fans will not care one way or the other about something so tiny.

And frankly, I think that is what fan polls on this very board (which in general I suspect is much more aware of these issues than the greater population of players and DMs out there). Most folks, when it came down to it, didn't really care one way or the other about open gaming all that much.

Indeed, that points to the fact that WOTC does indeed view it as a minuscule portion of the market and thus does not risk serious fan-alienation.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

If my blaming Orcus... maybe. I've learned more since some of my Orcus bashing and he doesn't really seem like he is speculating, just saying fairly clearly what he was told.

 

[withak]

If you mean the blogger jumping on a rumor? Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, but it's not a major-big deal anyway, the author has his/her opinion, and is welcome to it. Of course treating rumor as fact is bad form.

If you mean Gene's posting of that link here, you need to turn up your humor radar

If you mean the mind flayer tossing the gnome into the gelatinous cube, well, yeah, that wasn't too cool at all...

No, I think he means the submission of a rumor-based story to Slashdot, thus solidifying it as "fact" instead of rumor.

 

[Mistwell]

The Two Company Scenario

This is what I suspect will happen:

Company ACME has a 3e-type product called ADVENTURERS that is successful. They want to continue to publish expansions to ADVENTURERS, and they also want to do a 4e-type version.

The owners of ACME form a new company, called EMCA. ACME licenses ADVENTURERS to EMCA. EMCA stays with 3e, and publishes expansions to ADVENTURERS.

ACME creates a new product, which is similar to ADVENTURERS but not the same. It takes advantage of the new 4e system to go in a different direction, though at heart it has most of the feel of ADVENTURERS and is written by some of the same people and is marketed as "From the makers of ADVENTURERS". ACME calls this new product EXPLORERS.

From there on out, ACME goes with 4e, and continues to only publish products for 4e, while EMCA handles all 3e products, and continues to only publish products for 3e. The two companies do not call their products the same thing, or make them too similar, but similar enough to offer much of the same feel and the goodwill that comes with having some of the same writers and owners behind both companies.

I do not see why this would not work, given what we know right now. It is a bit of a pain, because you have to use two companies instead of one, and two administrative costs instead of one, and two marketing and promotional routes instead of one, and two settings instead of one, etc.. But ultimately, I think it could work. It might even get some people to buy both the 3e and 4e "versions" of the products since they are not identical and will have some significant differences. It might appeal to people who like the general feel and the quality of the writing but who might have two different gaming groups, or groups that might want to switch off between games depending on the type they are interested in playing at that time, or people who want to pillage new stuff from one game to use in their other game.