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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 2680254" data-attributes="member: 2013">Oddly enough, I changed my sig (by chance) a couple of days before the new policy came out.  Lucky me. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Just a couple of thoughts here...1. Publishers, in general, very much dislike to be told they can't write/say something.  Remember the brouhaha about the "d20 Standards Clause" or whatever brought on by the Book of Erotic Fantasy a couple of years back, and note how many publishers jumped off the d20 bandwagon and onto OGL-only releases (granted, that may have been playing in the back of their minds already, but if it did not cause it, the addition of the Standards Clause certainly accelerated it).  Why?  Again, because publishers definitely dislike being told "you can't say/write that."2. Businessmen, in general, dislike any perceived attack on their ability to make money.  (Duh.)3. This new rule amounts to telling publishers "you can't say/write that."  Even worse, it specifically states to many that "you can't say/write about a place that earns you money."  That tends to make it a double-whammy to publishers, because it rankles both their artistic side ("censorship, I tell ya!") and their business side ("he's attacking my wallet!").4. Even if this rule has no quantifiable effect on sales, and therefore no logical reason for publishers to frequent ENWorld less frequently, publishers are humans with emotions and not cold logic machines, and rankling them (see #3) makes them less likely to use ENWorld at all (including as an outlet for press releases).  While Morrus may not see this as a loss, I do.  I like being able to see the press releases for new products, and I fear that this may have the effect of alienating publishers.5. Looking at my title bar, I see "ENWorld - Morrus' D&D/d20 News & Reviews Site" - I have to admit, Morrus, that restricting what can be posted in this forum - which has been specifically designated as the place for publishers to post press releases - smacks a little too heavily of self-interest for my taste.  I understand not wanting competition with the new PDF store, but forbidding linking - or even discussion by publishers - about other outlets seems... well... a tad heavy-handed for a "news" site. Is ENWorld a place for news (even if it is vetted by the newshounds) or not?  If it is not, don't tout it as such (take it out of the title bar).  If it is, you really should accept press releases that mention (even if they don't link to) other companies.6. It does to me seem hypocritical to allow mention of a certain site splitting into two pieces - but a couple of weeks later not allow mention of that exact same site as a place to go if you want to buy PDFs.  Allowing publishers to criticize/complain about the site is okay, but other discussion is out of bounds?  If this policy had been in place a month ago, would ENWorld have run the story?  I understand it is (obviously) in the best interests of ENWorld, but doesn't strike me as something a "News" site ought to do.I should point out that none of this will stop me from visiting ENWorld, just wanted to point out a few observations and a few things that troubled me about this announcement.  I see why you're doing it, Morrus, but I agree with some of the other posters that suggest that the publishers forum will soon be all but bereft of press releases not pertaining to ENStore products, which increases ENWorld's utility as an ENStore news site, but diminishes its utility as a "D&D/d20 News" site considerably.--The Sigil</blockquote>

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