GSL questions for Scott Rouse and Mike Lescault

[catsclaw]

Is there an all-you-can-eat Sushi bar in Indy?

Hrm. Apparently there is. The reviews are kind of inconsistent though, and it's 20 miles outside of downtown. So if you're attending Gen Con, effectively, no.

Oh, and Seanchi is coming along.

That's not all bad. I could use the ensuing distraction to slip out without paying the tab.

 

[Filcher]

We need a 3rd party publisher celebration dinner at Gen Con.

And if there isn't an GSL, we can make it a wake.

 

[dmccoy1693]

We need a 3rd party publisher celebration dinner at Gen Con.

And if there isn't an GSL, we can make it a wake.

Or a pathfinder RPG 3rd party networking dinner.

 

[Vigilance]

I happen to agree that the GSL will be as initially advertised and not something totally different.

This delay is a delay.

It's not a conspiracy or anything insidious.

Until proven otherwise, I choose to believe Wizards is not lying that they continue to be committed to open gaming and that they deeply regret the delay.

 

[catsclaw]

Hey Clark -- is that bet still on the table? I've just confirmed my tax refund check, so I'm no longer in danger of risking my mortgage if I lose.

I guess I'd be taking the opposite side--that 4e either doesn't have a public license at all, or the public license doesn't roughly resemble the d20 license. Specifically, that means either 1) it costs money, or 2) it is so restrictive you cannot legally publish all of the following: a campaign setting, a new class, or a new race. Branding limitations, "quality standards" provisions, and the ability to republish content in the PHB, MM, or DMG are all irrelevant.

Is it a bet?

 

[Ydars]

I am now with Clark; after everything I've heard about the GSL coming from people in the know, it seems more and more like there will be one, or at least that WoTC intends there to be one at this point in time.

Just take a look at what Nick Logue said in response to that thread misquoting him and stating that WoTC was not hiring 3.5E writers. He said that WoTC had a few issues with one of his projects that would be cleared up after GSL had been sorted out.

If there was no intention to have a GSL, this is a strange thing to say. Now we can argue about what GSL actually means, but I think it will be like Scott Rouse said; an OGL that does not allow 3rd parties to produce games that don't require the core rulebooks.

I just hope I am right!

 

[mxyzplk]

Well, I hope y'all are right. I'm definitely up for dinner at Gen Con.

I've decided not to worry about it so much. You see, for me, 3e and the OGL were what re-interested me in D&D after me feeling it was pretty much played out and had moved on to other game systems. I guess I was feeling unhappy that both the 4e changes and the reduction/elimination of the OGL are causing me to face that transition again.

My more in depth and ranty thoughts that I'm sure would get modded if I posted them directly:

http://mxyzplk.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/wizards-presents-worlds-and-monsters-review/

In short I think I'm beginning to agree with xechnao. Openness, while good for D&D, has been keeping a lot of writers/designers that can do much better work stuck in the "D&D ghetto." If it weren't so open, then maybe people like Jonathan Tweet, Robin Laws, and Ray Winninger could work on good, groundbreaking games again. The Paizo crew could put together their awesome story-driven adventures for something else. (Well, they kinda are, now.) So even though I believe the OGL to help the role-playing market financially, it's helping it "through" WotC - and obviously as recent events indicate, maybe that's not a healthy approach.

 

[carmachu]

I hear what you are saying.

But consider this: if they were going to have killed open gaming, they could have done it already. All this hair pulling and tooth gnashing that seems to be going on over there suggests to me that the struggle is over HOW to do it, not over WHETHER OR NOT to do it at all.

That is one of the things that keeps me positive.

Clark

Thats one way to look at it. The more pessimistic way is:

Their stringing you along, along with other 3rd party folks so when they do drop the hammer of no OGL/GSL, you'll have nothing for GenCon or summer release, and they have the 4e release free of any distractions of 3.X products to possibly draw folks away. So by the time 4e launch is over and you do get something out.....They've gotten it free of something like Pathfinder or Any Necro product.

Not saying thats what their doing at all. But even you have to admit thats a possibility. It celars the summer deck of any competetion......no matter how slight.

 

[HyrumOWC]

Jonathan Tweet, Robin Laws, and Ray Winninger could work on good, groundbreaking games again.

Um, Jonathan Tweet is an employee of WotC, Robin Laws has been working on his Gumshoe games (including Trail of Cthulhu), and Ray is hip deep in video game work.

Hyrum.

 

[mxyzplk]

Um, Jonathan Tweet is an employee of WotC, Robin Laws has been working on his Gumshoe games (including Trail of Cthulhu), and Ray is hip deep in video game work.

Hyrum.

Yes, I know. So Robin and Ray have escaped, somewhat, though a lot of their work over the last N years have been d20-oriented. And Laws still is, he's working on "some small, unnanounced projects for WotC" according to his blog. Tweet needs to get the heck out of there!