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Message: <blockquote data-quote="merton_monk" data-source="post: 312888" data-attributes="member: 4361">Why take PCGen to OGL/D20 complianceMr. Valterra was very reasonable - he told us that in order to use the SRD material we need to be OGL compliant.  PCGen has always been very flexible, so we've been slowly removing all hard-coding of formulas/bonii/etc. out and moving them to the data files anyway, so becoming OGL compliant means completing that process, which should require a few more weeks.  The biggest issue was moving the definition and impact of stats to a data file, which I've already done, though there are a couple of bugs that have been created by this which I need to squash.  So I really think that becoming OGL compliant will be a good exercise for us and will make Wotc happy.  Everyone wins. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Why become D20 compliant?  Well, we wanted to know how we could get permission for all the non-SRD material.  Wotc's response was - become D20 compliant and we'll consider it.  Once we're OGL compliant, D20 isn't much further to go.  It largely consists of moving "interactive" elements (like stat rolling and purchasing, hp rolling, etc.) to a data file.  Again, this is actually a good thing from a purely functional standpoint.What are the chances that we can get permission for all their material?  I don't think anyone knows that - not even Anthony Valterra, though I have the impression that if we get to OGL/D20 compliance and our user group acts responsibly (no one starts distributing files which we don't have permission for) I think our chances are decent.  A lot of publishers have told me that users have told them that they would only buy books that are in PCGen.  That has convinced a lot of them to give us permission to get them into PCGen. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Wizards is a publisher as well, so I think they can see the advantages of having their material in PCGen, though they obviously want to protect their rights and property as defined by the licenses they graciously created to spawn this industry.  I think this whole experience will make PCGen better than it was before and I'm quite pleased that we've had the chance to sit down with Anthony and discuss the specifics of what all needs to happen and how we can get there.  Wotc could have easily gotten all mean and nasty - but they didn't.  They've been very helpful and have gone to a lot of trouble to help us figure out what it will specifically take for us to become OGL compliant.  They could have said, "You're not OGL compliant - we don't have time to deal with you, get off the 'net now or we'll see you in court".  Whether or not you like PCGen, knowing that they are willing to deal with people and not railroad them should be very comforting.Bryan McRobertsBenevolent Dictator of PCGen</blockquote>

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