NEWS: OGL and SRD dates/info announced

[Cergorach]

Has anyone any info how the new OGL will interact with the current OGL? Can material that is released under the current OGL be used with material from/under the new OGL? I assume that it's not possible vice-versa.

 

[JohnSnow]

If you really loved the game, you'd sell a kidney to come up with the fee.

Or you could just wait until it's available for free on June 6th.

This time next year, nobody will have to pay any kind of fee - other than to buy the first few books.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Not true. There are small publishers (like me, for example), for whom this is a full-time job.
A very good question, since not paying the $5K means sitting for 5 months with almost no sales, while everybody spends money on "the new hotness" that is 4th Edition.
Think of it this way -- are YOU able to take an entire months' income and pay it up front, on demand? How about 2 months? Leaving nothing else for rent, food, utilities... much less freelancers or production costs?

I think you risk sounding unprofessional coming here and repeatedly bashing WotC's decision. Your time could probably be better spent thinking of a way to partner with other small publishers to reduce the burn of this new investment. It seems to me that you think you would best profit from being in the Phase 1 group and thus the anger that flows into yours posts here. A foundation of small publishers would also benefit from shared resources and contacts, thus giving you more clout with distributors and the industry at large than you could achieve going it alone. If this really is your sole means of livlihood maybe you should look at how to make this investment work for you.

 

[Storminator]

Let's round up 5000 ENW members and have them chip in $1 apiece.

And you and your 4,999 friends get access to... 3 copies of rules. I call dibs on March 12th, from 8:15 AM to 1:30 PM!



PS

 

[Piratecat]

I think you risk sounding unprofessional coming here and repeatedly bashing WotC's decision. Your time could probably be better spent thinking of a way to partner with other small publishers to reduce the burn of this new investment. It seems to me that you think you would best profit from being in the Phase 1 group and thus the anger that flows into yours posts here. A foundation of small publishers would also benefit from shared resources and contacts, thus giving you more clout with distributors and the industry at large than you could achieve going it alone. If this really is your sole means of livlihood maybe you should look at how to make this investment work for you.

Let's not hijack the thread by telling other people what they should or shouldn't be doing, please.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Think of it this way -- are YOU able to take an entire months' income and pay it up front, on demand? How about 2 months? Leaving nothing else for rent, food, utilities... much less freelancers or production costs?

On the other hand - are you willing to pay it in order to get a cleared playing field, in which your company's name is mentioned right alongside the big boys? I think it's a big risk, but someone (I have no idea who) will step up and take the chance and become one of the big boys, in which case that $5000 will be paid back in spades. Several others might crash and burn spectacularly...

 

[tenkar]

So after June, Joe Gamer who wants to see if 4e D&D is worth his time by clicking on the SRD, or Stan Diceroller, D&D gamer online, won't be able to read the fluffless rules online?

That's going to bite. Simply because I run a lot of online games, and having the d20SRD at my fingertips when I need to look up a quick rule is so convenient.

It might bite, but I fail to see why WoTC should distribute what is basically a free version of their rules and IP. I know gamers that never bought 3.5 as the 3.0 and the SRD was all they needed. From a business sense that is lost money.

That being said, I will miss having a 4e online rules set for free (or negligible cost for some of the PDF versions of 3.5 out there) but I can understand why WoTC is avoiding doing so this time around.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

Mulling over the possibility that the SRD will be very bare, not enough to run a game from let's say, I can see a surge in new systems being created. I like indie RPGs, novel mechanics and so forth, so as a consumer, I don't think I'll lose out. WotC might be risking a 'd20 isn't everything' attitude in those first 5 months.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

It might bite, but I fail to see why WoTC should distribute what is basically a free version of their rules and IP. I know gamers that never bought 3.5 as the 3.0 and the SRD was all they needed. From a business sense that is lost money.

That being said, I will miss having a 4e online rules set for free (or negligible cost for some of the PDF versions of 3.5 out there) but I can understand why WoTC is avoiding doing so this time around.

I think one reason they're doing it is to drive those folks looking for an easy, online rules lookup (which I do extensively) to the D&D Insider.

 

[Spatula]

Well this is where D&DI comes in -- if you care to pay the monthly fee (plus a little more for each book you buy? Can't remember if that's the case) you get access to an e-version of your paper product.

But will it be a hyperlinked, searchable e-version? That's what I want to know.

EDIT: to elaborate, http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/home.html has been a godsend to me as a DM, and to a lesser extent as a player, and I am positive I am not alone in that respect. It's fast, easy to read, easy to navigate, and ridiculously convenient even if I happen to have the books nearby. PDF images of a book (even if OCR'd) don't work because (a) text formatted for a printed page is not easily readable on the screen, and (b) all the uneccessary images slow down your ability to navigate.

I hope WOTC does the right thing by the e-versions. Charging money for anything less will not endear me as a customer.