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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1113167" data-attributes="member: 2013">Bingo!  Thank you, Alan!  I can't believe it took so long for someone to point out the obvious.From my observation (as a publisher), WotC has only made "nasty changes" to the d20STL when someone starts trying to push the boundaries.  The first major change I can recall was the prohibition of using the words, "Core Rulebook" on the cover of a work - done because certain publishers were producing hardbacks that looked very much like the PHB, DMG, et al, and slapping "Core Rulebook" on the front - obviously hoping to get a few more sales from customers who saw the phrase and thought it was a WotC book.They also changed the license from "you MAY use the 'requires the PHB' phrase" to the "you MUST use the 'requires the PHB' phrase."  I can see why they wanted to do that - it's a free advert and most people were doing it anyway.Now, Valar comes along and in their very first press release plays fast and loose with the OGL's advertising clause, claiming that "press releases aren't advertising."  As Valar continues to beat the marketing drum, WotC realizes that this may not be a fringe product after all - though the firestorm of controversy tells them that this is not necessarily a product they want associated with their trademarks - and they react to someone pushing the boundaries of taste by drawing a clear line in the sand (female nipples, et al) and also pointing out that they may club someone if that someone even gets close to the line (sole discretion).Why?  Because, as Psion said, Valar is peeing in the pool.Now granted, I'm not a fan of WotC and their "selective enforcement" policy... but basically, every time the license has changed, it's been in response to someone taking the letter of the license and running as far as they think they can from the spirit of it.Me, I'd much rather see them crack down on the "Clear Designation of OGC" clause in the OGL, or maybe even releasing another version of the OGL that clears a lot of the ambiguity in the current version (such as the whole PI brouhaha on the opengamingfoundation's ogf-l list)... but I know that probably won't happen.But the capricious changes to the d20STL have made me, as a publisher, decide to sidestep the whole issue.  I will be revising my current electronic d20 offerings as soon as possible to be OGL only and will not be releasing under the d20STL again... because it makes my life simpler.  I can release my products and stop worrying about what boneheaded stunt some other publisher may decide to pull that will cause yet ANOTHER change in the d20STL.However, I'll take this a step further.  A lot of people have been talking about boycotting WotC and deliberately buying the BoEF.  While I was not planning on even looking at the BoEF, I would suggest that had I been thinking of buying the BoEF, I would NOT do so now... because my thoughts on the matter are, "thanks, Valar, for being stubborn fools and peeing in the pool and making my life more difficult" (the "thanks" is with heavy sarcasm, in case you can't tell).  This isn't an issue of WotC trying to quash someone's freedom of speech so much as it is someone being obnoxious.The best analogy I can draw is that of someone "trying to exercise their freedom of expression" by playing a trumpet as loudly as they can in my ear wherever I go, then getting offended when I tell them to stop, claiming I'm impinging on their "right to freedom of artistic expression."  You're not being musical, you're being a donkey's rear end and trying to annoy the heck out of me - you know it, and I know it, and hiding behind "freedom of expression" because you're using a musical instrument - or any other creative medium (such as, say, text and photographs) is a weak play at best.So even if Valar puts out the greatest thing since sliced bread, they're not getting any of my business either.It's one of my gripes to fellow publishers... while I know you want to 'push the envelope' (and that is to be commended), there's a big difference between wanting to push the envelope and trying to push things as far as humanly possible.  Remember, if you're hellbent on pushing the envelope as far as you can at a single point and you push too hard in a single direction, you're liable to break through it and that makes problems for everyone.--The Sigil</blockquote>

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