Official vs d20 question

[Ahrimon]

I'm a bit confused here. If a book has the "D20" logo then it's printed under the OGL right? What if it has the "Dungeons & Dragons" logo on it? Does that mean that it's been endorsed by WotC? Does it mean that it can be considered "official" material? If I missed the mark, what does it mean?

Thanks

 

[Umbran]

"Official", for the home user, is an irrelevant term.

Bearing a particular logo merely shows the publisher jumped throught he appropriate licensing hoops. Since WotC isn't known for uniform quality or consistency in their own products, their stamp of approval is no guarantee of quality. Unless you're working in one of the Living Campaigns, that use a standardized ruleset, you can ignore the logos on the cover and look at what is inside the book.

 

[Henry]

I'm a bit confused here. If a book has the "D20" logo then it's printed under the OGL right? What if it has the "Dungeons & Dragons" logo on it? Does that mean that it's been endorsed by WotC? Does it mean that it can be considered "official" material? If I missed the mark, what does it mean?

Thanks

OK -- if a non-WotC book has a d20 logo, it means that it's both OGL AND complies with the d20 System Trademark License. If a WotC product has the d20 logo, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's OGL, NOR STL; as holders of the license, WotC can use the logo or not, as they wish.

If it carries a "D&D" logo, but it's a non-WotC book (like some of Kenzerco's stuff) it's licensed as an "official" product, and doesn't necessarily need to comply to the OGL.

The OGL and STL are royalty-free licenses that ANYONE can use -- but a license direct from WotC to use certain materials doesn't need to even touch them, and stands on its own. It's best to ask a rep from the company in question if in doubt.