Caerdwyn
Villager
To those telling me to be silent: I rather think I shall not.
We got into this trouble precisely because the OGL was taken on trust for 21 years only to have it used as a tool of betrayal. Prior to late last year, it could have been said with equal validity "I'm not aware of WotC messing with anyone re: the OGL- have they?"
Guess what? They did.
Hasn't the FCP been on the books for years? Yes, five of them. OGL was 21.
Guess what. Longevity didn't stop the attempt.
As a (real) lawyer friend said, "courts uphold contracts, not intentions". And as others have said, you plan for what the enemy is capable of, not what you think their intentions are. They haven't used the FCP (to my knowledge) yet. But given it's all they have left, you know very well they're at least looking at it. Given their demonstrated goals through the past several weeks, they'd be fools not to look at how they can weaponize what's left to them.
Why, then, in the world should we take anything WotC/Hasbro might say about the FCP at face value, unexamined? Or, for that matter, the deafening silence? If you actually read the FCP, it starts with "we ask" but ends with "we can take", "we can silence", and "you must do this". That sounds like someone thinks the FCP has weight and is willing to spend legal fees to test it.
The OGL, though not originally intended as a trap, was factually eventually used as one. No reasonable person doubts that now. Therefore, everything WotC has ever had to say about third parties and fan content needs to be examined with the same scrutiny and lack of trust. The FCP is another such document. They are demonstrated untrustworthy. It would be foolish to leave any avenues of attack open; whether the current people in charge dare think they can try to use the FCP offensively, others in the future might. Just as did the current ones attempted to use the OGL, and continually tried to, one poisoned attempt after another.
And yes, WotC and Hasbro are indeed here. Of course they're watching what's happening on the largest RPG forum in the world. There might not be a "WotC Official" account, but there doesn't need to be one for them to... y'know... read. Or make sockpuppet accounts to try to steer the discussion.
We got into this trouble precisely because the OGL was taken on trust for 21 years only to have it used as a tool of betrayal. Prior to late last year, it could have been said with equal validity "I'm not aware of WotC messing with anyone re: the OGL- have they?"
Guess what? They did.
Hasn't the FCP been on the books for years? Yes, five of them. OGL was 21.
Guess what. Longevity didn't stop the attempt.
As a (real) lawyer friend said, "courts uphold contracts, not intentions". And as others have said, you plan for what the enemy is capable of, not what you think their intentions are. They haven't used the FCP (to my knowledge) yet. But given it's all they have left, you know very well they're at least looking at it. Given their demonstrated goals through the past several weeks, they'd be fools not to look at how they can weaponize what's left to them.
Why, then, in the world should we take anything WotC/Hasbro might say about the FCP at face value, unexamined? Or, for that matter, the deafening silence? If you actually read the FCP, it starts with "we ask" but ends with "we can take", "we can silence", and "you must do this". That sounds like someone thinks the FCP has weight and is willing to spend legal fees to test it.
The OGL, though not originally intended as a trap, was factually eventually used as one. No reasonable person doubts that now. Therefore, everything WotC has ever had to say about third parties and fan content needs to be examined with the same scrutiny and lack of trust. The FCP is another such document. They are demonstrated untrustworthy. It would be foolish to leave any avenues of attack open; whether the current people in charge dare think they can try to use the FCP offensively, others in the future might. Just as did the current ones attempted to use the OGL, and continually tried to, one poisoned attempt after another.
And yes, WotC and Hasbro are indeed here. Of course they're watching what's happening on the largest RPG forum in the world. There might not be a "WotC Official" account, but there doesn't need to be one for them to... y'know... read. Or make sockpuppet accounts to try to steer the discussion.
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