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<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 1113842" data-attributes="member: 5100">Is this what you _really_ think?&nbsp; Because it's pretty much backward from the reality of the &quot;gentleman's agreement&quot;.&nbsp;The &quot;gentleman's agreement&quot; was a good faith act on the part of WotC.&nbsp; They certainly didn't have to put out any portion of the SRD before final review.&nbsp; Instead, they decided that they really wanted 3rd party designers to be able to get the ball rolling.&nbsp; So they went ahead and published their &quot;draft&quot; version, knowing full-well that the exact contents might change upon review.&nbsp;They didn't pull the wool over anyone's eyes.&nbsp; Right from the outset, they said that not everything in there may make the final cut.&nbsp; When it did come down to, though, they let outside projects in motion continue.&nbsp; Seems pretty gentlemanly to me.&nbsp;In fact, most of what WotC has done regarding D&amp;D seems quite gentlemanly.&nbsp; Of course, they are a corporation and are motivated by profit.&nbsp; Of course, when it comes right down to it, they do things for their own best interest, not ours, not the hobby's.&nbsp; Still, they've been cooler about it than TSR ever was since Gary was at the helm.&nbsp;IMHO, this change to the d20 license is rather heavy-handed and ungentlemanly.&nbsp; The fact of the matter is that the can of worms has been openned.&nbsp; Even if they remove the clause now, there is nothing to keep them from including again if something else rubs them wrong, or if they simply cease to care about being &quot;gentlemanly&quot;.&nbsp; I've already stated, in a previous post, what I think the solution to that event is.&nbsp;That all said, I tend to agree with some others that AV and Valar are very much in the wrong.&nbsp; I find the idea of the BoEF to be somewhat repugnant, and really have no interest in owning it.&nbsp; It's one of those things that the only reason I'd even flip through it is because I'm open-minded enough to realize that I might have the wrong idea.&nbsp; I can _fully_ understand why WotC would want to distance themselves from it.&nbsp; I'm not sure if I agree with even the spirit of how they chose to do so, though.&nbsp; They should have just tacked on a required disclaimer rather than open themselves up by reviewing everything.&nbsp;The part that I find most objectionable, though, is the huge font the book uses for &quot;Dungeons and Dragons&quot;.&nbsp; I was completely unaware of this before reading this thread, and haven't actually seen it.&nbsp; I cannot imagine a legitimate reason for making the font that large though.&nbsp; To avoid personal slurs, I'll just say that I really don't hold AV in very high regards at this point.&nbsp; Regardless of how much of a generally nice guy he may be, or how good he is in business, I refuse to take him serious in the gaming arena any more.&nbsp;Either the font trick or releasing the BoEF as his &quot;establishing&quot; freelance project are enough to knock him down to a minor player in my book.&nbsp; Both of them are enough for me to completely discount him.&nbsp; &nbsp;It's been said that enmity is better than apathy -- at least they're still thinking about you with enmity.&nbsp; Well, I really can't say that I have anything more than apathy for his projects anymore.&nbsp; I just hope that he doesn't do something else abominably stupid -- something that really does have a serious backlash.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 1113842, member: 5100"] Is this what you _really_ think? Because it's pretty much backward from the reality of the "gentleman's agreement". The "gentleman's agreement" was a good faith act on the part of WotC. They certainly didn't have to put out any portion of the SRD before final review. Instead, they decided that they really wanted 3rd party designers to be able to get the ball rolling. So they went ahead and published their "draft" version, knowing full-well that the exact contents might change upon review. They didn't pull the wool over anyone's eyes. Right from the outset, they said that not everything in there may make the final cut. When it did come down to, though, they let outside projects in motion continue. Seems pretty gentlemanly to me. In fact, most of what WotC has done regarding D&D seems quite gentlemanly. Of course, they are a corporation and are motivated by profit. Of course, when it comes right down to it, they do things for their own best interest, not ours, not the hobby's. Still, they've been cooler about it than TSR ever was since Gary was at the helm. IMHO, this change to the d20 license is rather heavy-handed and ungentlemanly. The fact of the matter is that the can of worms has been openned. Even if they remove the clause now, there is nothing to keep them from including again if something else rubs them wrong, or if they simply cease to care about being "gentlemanly". I've already stated, in a previous post, what I think the solution to that event is. That all said, I tend to agree with some others that AV and Valar are very much in the wrong. I find the idea of the BoEF to be somewhat repugnant, and really have no interest in owning it. It's one of those things that the only reason I'd even flip through it is because I'm open-minded enough to realize that I might have the wrong idea. I can _fully_ understand why WotC would want to distance themselves from it. I'm not sure if I agree with even the spirit of how they chose to do so, though. They should have just tacked on a required disclaimer rather than open themselves up by reviewing everything. The part that I find most objectionable, though, is the huge font the book uses for "Dungeons and Dragons". I was completely unaware of this before reading this thread, and haven't actually seen it. I cannot imagine a legitimate reason for making the font that large though. To avoid personal slurs, I'll just say that I really don't hold AV in very high regards at this point. Regardless of how much of a generally nice guy he may be, or how good he is in business, I refuse to take him serious in the gaming arena any more. Either the font trick or releasing the BoEF as his "establishing" freelance project are enough to knock him down to a minor player in my book. Both of them are enough for me to completely discount him. It's been said that enmity is better than apathy -- at least they're still thinking about you with enmity. Well, I really can't say that I have anything more than apathy for his projects anymore. I just hope that he doesn't do something else abominably stupid -- something that really does have a serious backlash. [/QUOTE]

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