NEWS: OGL and SRD dates/info announced

[Glyfair]

For myself, I want the SRD as a way to avoid carrying around a whole bunch of hardcover books that (a) I have little space to open more than one of at the table, and (b) become rather weighty in aggregate. I can open a half-dozen tabs in Firefox, and flip between them easier than I can flip between a half-dozen places in 3 or more books..

Remember, for a "nominal fee" (probably between $1-$2 per book), you'll have access to electronic copies of the books.

Buy your core books and spend the ~$5 to get the electronic versions. You even get the errata corrections in the book once the errata is released. It may not be quite as convenient as an HTML set of rules, but it will be as portable (IIRC).

 

[JohnSnow]

Remember, for a "nominal fee" (probably between $1-$2 per book), you'll have access to electronic copies of the books.

Buy your core books and spend the ~$5 to get the electronic versions. You even get the errata corrections in the book once the errata is released. It may not be quite as convenient as an HTML set of rules, but it will be as portable (IIRC).

Exactly. For people who want electronic versions, there'll be e-copies of every book WotC sells. That takes care of portability.

The people who are out of luck are those who are unwilling to pay to get a 4 month lead on their competition. So be it. That's a business decision every company has to make for themselves.

Five companies who could afford $1000 each could go in together on a license. The lead company would just have to trust the others not to blow it.

I still don't see it as a significant barrier to entry if people are serious.

 

[pawsplay]

It appears to me that with all the strictures in place, the large early bird fees, and the new restrictions, WotC seems determined to provoke people into publishing unauthorized compatible products. The game rules themselves aren't copyrighted and few of the concepts are patentable at this point; what the license has offered up to this point is the ability to refer to, use, and imitate copyrighted expressions of the text and tables and WotC's trademarks. AFAIK, and IANAL, the courts have come down pretty strongly in the favor of allowing people to produce compatible products and identify them as such, and I can't imagine the pen and paper RPG market would would be judged any differently.

True, someone can always sue, and resisting a determined plaintiff can be expensive, but I don't perceive a lot of actual, real liability in telling WotC to shove off and publishing compatible works without their blessing.

 

[JohnSnow]

It appears to me that with all the strictures in place, the large early bird fees, and the new restrictions, WotC seems determined to provoke people into publishing unauthorized compatible products. The game rules themselves aren't copyrighted and few of the concepts are patentable at this point; what the license has offered up to this point is the ability to refer to, use, and imitate copyrighted expressions of the text and tables and WotC's trademarks. AFAIK, and IANAL, the courts have come down pretty strongly in the favor of allowing people to produce compatible products and identify them as such, and I can't imagine the pen and paper RPG market would would be judged any differently.

True, someone can always sue, and resisting a determined plaintiff can be expensive, but I don't perceive a lot of actual, real liability in telling WotC to shove off and publishing compatible works without their blessing.

True. But then WotC might sue and you'd have to defend your actions in court. Which could get very expensive. I am not a lawyer either, but I have some idea what lawyers cost, and defending your actions in a trial would probably cost a whole lot more than five grand.

It's a much smarter business decision just to wait the 5 months and abide by their very nominal restrictions.

 

[Bacris]

Five companies who could afford $1000 each could go in together on a license. The lead company would just have to trust the others not to blow it.

Actually, that may not be the case and is currently being investigated for its validity.

And simply saying that it's a business decision on whether a company spends 5k is inaccurate. For some, it's not a decision; it's simply not an option. A non-option does not a decision make The decision was made for the company.

Now, I can say that some smaller press publishers are looking into imprinting under larger publishers, but I'm not sure I like that option.

 

[Reynard]

The more I think about this, I think that the $5K for the right to publish early isn't so much to keep the riff raff out or kill the small companies (though it may well do one or both of those things) as it is another marketting maneuver by WotC. Think about these facts for a moment:

1) 4E is contentious, as we can all attest to. Even if the majority of people move on to 4E, any customer attrition in such a niche industry is a bad thing. WotC is going to want to retain as much of their customer base as possible (hence the initial marketting to existing customers, such as posts by designers and developers on this very forum).

2) Any 3rd part company that is in a position to pay the $5K is a successful company, which means that it is a company with an existing, dedicated fanbase.

3) Said 3rd party companies want to remain successful, and they know as well as everyone else that most D&D players are going to be going to 4E, so they are powerfully motivated to publish 4E products.

4) WotC knows this.

Combine all these things and you get a situation where the desire to remain successful by the 3rd part copanies ends up serving as a statement of support for 4E for those fencesitters and anti-4Eers that are fans of those companies. When Necromancer and Goodman and Paizo sign up and announce that they'll be there for roll out, the fans of those companies and then motivated to buy 4E to continue to enjoy the products of the companies that they love. Moreover, they are told, even if tangentially, that 4E is in fact a good thing -- otherwise their favorite company wouldn't be signing on. In every way, it is a win for WotC, even if the costs of providing the 3rd party companies with all the necessary materials and support ends up costing more than $5K.

To use another analogy: the big, popular clubs in NY and LA are always comping celebrities. Why? because they want celebrities in their club, because celebrities draw in the paying crowds -- people want to be seen at the same club as P Diddy, or want a *chance* to see or talk to Paris. By taking the loss of a few bottle of Crystal, the clubs are getting hundreds or thousands in the door.

 

[Reynard]

Now, I can say that some smaller press publishers are looking into imprinting under larger publishers, but I'm not sure I like that option.

Consolidation is pretty much the death of innovation.

 

[Nellisir]

True. But then WotC might sue and you'd have to defend your actions in court. Which could get very expensive. I am not a lawyer either, but I have some idea what lawyers cost, and defending your actions in a trial would probably cost a whole lot more than five grand.

It's a much smarter business decision just to wait the 5 months and abide by their very nominal restrictions.

I'll bet I could match or approximate 70% of the 4e mechanics from OGC sources that already exist, either via mechanics that already exist or logical extensions of mechanics that already exist. At least 70%. And a good chunk of the changes seem to be predicated on game analysis, which anyone can do without a license.

 

[Nellisir]

Or for WotC to want to prevent 30 "variant player's handbooks." This restriction is one that the publishing community brought on itself.

Yeah, that's why Necromancer's #2 product is a "variant player handbook". The Advanced Player's Guide (working title), to be exact.

I love variant player's handbooks.

 

[JohnSnow]

Actually, that may not be the case and is currently being investigated for its validity.

And simply saying that it's a business decision on whether a company spends 5k is inaccurate. For some, it's not a decision; it's simply not an option. A non-option does not a decision make The decision was made for the company.

Now, I can say that some smaller press publishers are looking into imprinting under larger publishers, but I'm not sure I like that option.

I guess I just have a different perspective. I too run a business. I'm in charge of an independent cable television provider, so I've been in the position of having to negotiate with companies MUCH larger than I am.

I know what it means to have a large company put you over a barrel and ask for what you can't possibly deliver. But when I'm negotiating with the Disney corporation, I can't choose to avoid their fee by waiting 6 months to launch the product. So by my standards, WotC's license fee is pretty reasonable.

For a small company that's not making a lot of money, it's not going to be a reasonable investment. But that is a choice you're making. If someone really thought it was worth it, they could probably get a loan to pay for it. Obviously, not everyone is willing to make that kind of commitment.

WotC wants the first publishers for 4e to be people who are.

Think of it this way: when 3e came out, there was no SRD available to the small companies for 6 months. So this is basically the same deal for a small outfit.