New GSL Announcement

[Thulcondar]

Yes but it is worth noting that the more 3pp risk on 4e the more 3e will lose its power. So by the passage of time the more power Wotc will gain, the less power 3pp will have in every practical scenario. Unless they manage to make OGL stand its ground from the start up. Can they seriously commit themselves to such a thing?

Which is, of course, precisely why WotC is doing things the way they are. It makes perfect sense from their point of view. They make money by selling 4E Player's Handbooks, not by watching other folks sell books that don't require the possession of a 4E Player's Handbook.

What I'm still stuck on is how WotC managed to convince the majority of the RPG industry that they needed to publish their own game under the OGL in the first place. Are you telling me that the minds that created M&M (to take but one example) couldn't have come up with their own system? Or that players who wanted a superhero game were so mentally lazy that they couldn't be bothered to learn a new "core" system, but were able and willing to learn all the other stuff? If they had, they wouldn't be in this position now.

Joe

 

[xechnao]

What I'm still stuck on is how WotC managed to convince the majority of the RPG industry that they needed to publish their own game under the OGL in the first place. Are you telling me that the minds that created M&M (to take but one example) couldn't have come up with their own system? Or that players who wanted a superhero game were so mentally lazy that they couldn't be bothered to learn a new "core" system, but were able and willing to learn all the other stuff? If they had, they wouldn't be in this position now.

Joe

Yeah, I wish they answer it themselves now.

 

[FalconGK81]

What I'm still stuck on is how WotC managed to convince the majority of the RPG industry that they needed to publish their own game under the OGL in the first place. Are you telling me that the minds that created M&M (to take but one example) couldn't have come up with their own system? Or that players who wanted a superhero game were so mentally lazy that they couldn't be bothered to learn a new "core" system, but were able and willing to learn all the other stuff? If they had, they wouldn't be in this position now.

Joe

The companies must have thought that putting a d20 label on the book and using a system that some gamers were familiar with (as well as saving themselves work) would make it more profitable/successful. Of course they may not feel that way now, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

 

[BryonD]

Which, actually, brings me back to a point I made some pages back. We are currently complaining about the poison pill of giving up our right to do more 4E stuff if we go back to the OGL. But there was a perhaps less hotly contested poison pill in the original d20 STL/Guide--that we not contest Wizards' ownership of certain things.

Yeah, but again, the STL was an optional add-on to the OGL. Big difference.

 

[Morrus]

The companies must have thought that putting a d20 label on the book and using a system that some gamers were familiar with (as well as saving themselves work) would make it more profitable/successful. Of course they may not feel that way now, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

It did for a couple of years. Very well indeed.

 

[Fifth Element]

I disagree. The problem is that lack of clarity from WOTC.
How can we possibly have a productive discussion based on hearsay?

WOTC needs to step up and just release the license for everyone to take a look at. Then we can all move on to dissecting it and figuring out exactly what it means and how each of us can use it.

To be fair, we can "blame" Clark for the hearsay, not WotC. We're not discussing things WotC has released about the license, we're discussing things that Clark says WotC people said to him about the license.

 

[TheLe]

I'm curious about a US legal aspect, can a company legally exclude you from business if you do business with another company or sell a certain product?

Ack. That sounds like a potential anti-trust issue.



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[Klaus]

Where did this "3PP" terminology come from? Up until a couple of days ago, I'd never heard it (and I am one!) - now it seems to be everywhere all of a sudden.

... of course, this begs for the Third Party Publishers forum to be renamed "3 Platinum Pieces".

 

[pawsplay]

What I'm still stuck on is how WotC managed to convince the majority of the RPG industry that they needed to publish their own game under the OGL in the first place. Are you telling me that the minds that created M&M (to take but one example) couldn't have come up with their own system? Or that players who wanted a superhero game were so mentally lazy that they couldn't be bothered to learn a new "core" system, but were able and willing to learn all the other stuff? If they had, they wouldn't be in this position now.

Creativity isn't just amount of effort. At the center of a snowflake is a speck of dust. No speck, no snowflake.

 

[xechnao]

Creativity isn't just amount of effort. At the center of a snowflake is a speck of dust. No speck, no snowflake.

So are you saying that the OGL is the speck they needed? If not, what?