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<blockquote data-quote="kenmarable" data-source="post: 3772355" data-attributes="member: 40359">I did have a big long-winded reply, but in the end I realized it was pretty rambling. Basically I&nbsp; had a couple points. First off, I probably misunderstood your first message as saying legally WotC can prevent companies from publishing 3.5 material, and my answer was &quot;No, they can't.&quot;However, I think I see your point being more of the practical issue of &quot;How to say a product is 3.5 and not 4e&quot;. You are right, that is a very troubling issue, but there are potential ways around it from:&nbsp;- Publishers creating a new logo if the current d20 logo is pulled (WotC hasn't said if they will yet, but my Magic 8-Ball is saying &quot;All signs point to yes&quot; when I ask it.) This is probably quite likely, seeing as about once a year there's a discussion among publishers about creating an alternative logo to d20 anyway.&nbsp;- Using the &quot;compatible with the revised edition of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game&quot;. That's into a gray legal area, but if WotC thought it was infringing, and if they thought it was worth their time and possible bad PR to send nastigrams, and if someone stood up to them and threatened to fight it into court, then there are several years, dozens of publishers, and hundreds of products and ads that already use that sort of statement and WotC did not nastigram them. So a court decision for WotC isn't guaranteed (Hasbro is already losing ground with a to-some-extent similar case involving Monopoly add-ons).&nbsp;- Unlikely, but possible, is for someone to publish the 3.5 SRD as a newly branded game that companies can claim compatibility with.&nbsp;- Rely on consumers knowing about their company. If Highmoon (just to use an example from this thread) just announced they were going to be 3.5 forever, then you as a consumer know that anything they put out is 3.5 compatible regardless of any logos or statements on the product. Not very reliable, but word of mouth can work.But, bottom line, 3.5 fans will have to vote with their wallets to encourage publishers to stick to 3.5 or dual-stat. WotC can't prevent publishers from doing that, just create some marketing hurdles. But if there is still money to be made, companies will find ways to overcome those hurdles.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kenmarable, post: 3772355, member: 40359"] I did have a big long-winded reply, but in the end I realized it was pretty rambling. Basically I had a couple points. First off, I probably misunderstood your first message as saying [b]legally[/b] WotC can prevent companies from publishing 3.5 material, and my answer was "No, they can't." However, I think I see your point being more of the practical issue of "How to say a product is 3.5 and not 4e". You are right, that is a very troubling issue, but there are potential ways around it from: - Publishers creating a new logo [b]if[/b] the current d20 logo is pulled (WotC hasn't said if they will yet, but my Magic 8-Ball is saying "All signs point to yes" when I ask it.) This is probably quite likely, seeing as about once a year there's a discussion among publishers about creating an alternative logo to d20 anyway. - Using the "compatible with the revised edition of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game". That's into a gray legal area, but [b]if[/b] WotC thought it was infringing, and [b]if[/b] they thought it was worth their time and possible bad PR to send nastigrams, and [b]if[/b] someone stood up to them and threatened to fight it into court, then there are several years, dozens of publishers, and hundreds of products and ads that already use that sort of statement and WotC did not nastigram them. So a court decision for WotC isn't guaranteed (Hasbro is already losing ground with a to-some-extent similar case involving Monopoly add-ons). - Unlikely, but possible, is for someone to publish the 3.5 SRD as a newly branded game that companies can claim compatibility with. - Rely on consumers knowing about their company. If Highmoon (just to use an example from this thread) just announced they were going to be 3.5 forever, then you as a consumer know that anything they put out is 3.5 compatible regardless of any logos or statements on the product. Not very reliable, but word of mouth can work. But, bottom line, 3.5 fans will have to vote with their wallets to encourage publishers to stick to 3.5 or dual-stat. WotC can't prevent publishers from doing that, just create some marketing hurdles. But if there is still money to be made, companies will find ways to overcome those hurdles. [/QUOTE]

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