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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 6663316" data-attributes="member: 18182">WotC, to my knowledge, has never shut down fans posting their personal D&D stuff to blogs, forums, etc. (TSR did back in the day, of course) The only exception (again, to my knowledge), is fans who have created electronic gaming aids that went beyond "fair use" regarding WotC's IP. To worry seems premature.Having your work professional published, through EN5sider or other venues is of course different than posting it as fan work on your blog. But the legality is Morrus' problem, the publisher, not yours. I can understand not wanting to spend the time creating work that won't get published, or if published, might get retracted, but if you trust your publisher to be aware of the legal issues, you should be good. I trust Morrus, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, seems aware of the legality issues, and has a good track record publishing material for D&D 5E, without getting C&Ds. And he isn't alone in publishing D&D 5E material without getting hit with C&Ds. And if Morrus does get a C&D in regards to your work, then it's not that bad, you just, well, Cease and Desist.However, if you are uncomfortable posting your work without clear guidelines, as fan work or professionally published . . . then don't do it. I might love to create and professionally publish my own Star Trek roleplaying game, but knowing that without a license from Paramount I'd get shut down, I simply won't bother doing it. And I'm not upset with Paramount for not having some sort of open license. D&D of course has a history of including some sort of open license for the game, and it's become part of the "culture" around the game . . . but they do not owe us an OGL for 5E. Sure waiting sucks, but . . .I didn't mean to be condescending, so I apologize that I came across that way (and worse yet, if I still am). But this is an attitude I have a hard time wrapping my brain around.Sure, they certainly *could* give us more information, but they fact that they *haven't* isn't insulting or anything really. Would I prefer they be more open with their current progress and future plans? You bet! But I can hardly blame them for becoming progressively more close-mouthed over the years and it's certainly no skin off my back.I would argue that you DO owe WotC kindness and respect, the same as you owe all of your fellow humans. WotC has not been unkind or disrespectful to you, why should you be in turn? Sure, WotC isn't a person, but it is an organization comprised of people who most certainly deserve a lot more respect and kindness than they get from our community.But do you owe them your loyalty? Do you owe them purchases of their products? Of course not, who's arguing otherwise? I'm personally fairly loyal to WotC because they consistently make products that I enjoy. I love Magic, and I love D&D, and I have been very happy with most of what WotC has produced for those brands. I certainly haven't liked all of their products, and I certainly haven't agreed with all of their business decisions . . . but they have a GREAT track record with me, probably because I don't take their business decisions that I disagree with or that I am disappointed with as personal attacks.No, WotC did not alienate the fanbase. At least, not from my perspective. Certain elements of the fanbase have alienated themselves with unrealistic expectations and too much willingness to take offense at things that were not offenses. And the majority of the fanbase just chugs along, enjoying D&D without being fully drawn into the (mostly) online drama.</blockquote>

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