Third Party Character Creation iOS App Removed

The d20 Fight Club for D&D 5th Edition iOS app has been removed from the Apple App Store by its creator at the request of WotC. The creator reports that he received a Cease & Desist demand (although it's worth noting that some supposed recent C&Ds appear to have turned out to be amicable requests). This follows on from the removal of the D&D Tools website and the more recent online character generator.

The creator reports that "I received a cease and desist order from Wizards of the Coast. All D&D apps will be removed from the App Store as they weren't compliant with WotC's copyrights and trademarks. Hopefully they'll be back in some form someday. Til then, thanks for all the support."

Nobody has actually shared one of these C&Ds yet, and others have indicated that what they actually received was simply a friendly email asking that they respect WotC's trademarks, so it's not entirely clear what is happening. Hopefully somebody will share one soon!

It does look like this particular app contained text and stat blocks copied directly from the D&D books. Below is the DM version of the app (the companion to the character creation app).

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[painted_klown]

My guess would be that Trapdoor showed WotC the story sharing feature and WotC could not work out how to charge for people sharing their own information with each other.

I'll play along and say that you are 100% correct. You could very well be spot on with that point, I'm not saying that you're not.

If that is correct, it further proves that the product delivered to WoTC did not meet the standards they had set forth. It doesn't matter "what" standard it didn't meet (be it a quality issue or a functionality issue), the bottom line is that WoTC was not happy with what was presented to them. They cut ties with Trapdoor. This is self explanatory. If Trapdoor HAD delivered what WoTC wanted, there would be software available today.

This point should not be difficult to understand.

 

[Kramodlog]

Normally such plugs are keyed to certain conditions (e.g. unable to reach certain milestones in time) or they had a very weak contract which allowed Wotc to just end the relationship at any time with no fault of Trapdoor. That would mean they had a very bad legal deparment and also were very venturesome to put money and hours working on such thin ice

My guess is that WotC deals with such small compagnies because WotC wouldn't have the upper hand when dealing with large compagnies like Ubisoft and Blizzard. D&D has little brand recognition and no movie in the pipes. What can it actually offer to large designers? With small compagnies they can have anything they want in the contracts. No more Sweetpea or Atari deals. It pissed off Obsidien Entertainment though. For better or worse.

It is a bit like when Marvel was going bankrupt in the 90s and made the very bad deals with 20th century Fox and Sony for the movie rights of X-Men, FF and Spider-Man. Marvel wasn't in a position to ask a lof when negociating.

Still, this doesn't answer my question. Did Trapdoor get a license from WotC or were they just doing work they were contracted for?

 

[Jacob Marley]

Just a quick perusal through the iPhone App Store shows dozens of third-party apps related to Magic: the Gathering. Many of those apps include not just the card text but the card art as well. Many of those apps are $0.99 or more. Given that Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons are owned by the same company, it seems pretty clear that Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro are perfectly accepting of third-party apps. Given that the creator of d20 Fight Club for D&D 5th Edition said "Hopefully [D&D apps will] be back in some form someday." leads me to believe that this is nothing more than establishing a proper agreement between the two parties. There is nothing nefarious or morally outrageous about what is going on. This is pretty standard business.

 

[Shasarak]

Well, whatever they had for iOS, evidently the Pathfinder fans didn't think it was all that, either. Their Kickstarter to convert it to Pathfinder rules only met 17% of their funding goal.

Yeah, the Kickstarter did not go so well.

 

[DaveMage]

Well, whatever they had for iOS, evidently the Pathfinder fans didn't think it was all that, either. Their Kickstarter to convert it to Pathfinder rules only met 17% of their funding goal.

As a Pathfinder fan, the Kickstarter utterly failed to convince me that they were providing anything I didn't already have from Hero Lab and Realm Works. (Their software indeed may have provided other benefits, but they were unable to communicate clearly what those benefits were to my satisfaction.)

And I didn't like their leader's communication style either.

 

[Dannager]

D&D has little brand recognition

What gave you that impression? There are some pretty famous (in these parts, at least) market research reports from some years ago that noted a brand recognition for D&D of above 90%, which is phenomenal.

 

[Mistwell]

Guys all I'm saying is that this stuff is making it's rounds outside the internet.

In one place, one time, according to one guy who admits he is very biased in that direction to begin with. Which proves...one place at one time, according to one biased source. So yeah, I am saying it only matters to someone who goes to message boards. I can say that. I am saying that.

 

[Icon_Charlie]

Except that the 4e tools were an epic disaster involving one individual that no reasonable person could blame on either WotC or that particular software provider.

I presume that you are aware of the real story?

Not many are.

 

[Evenglare]

In one place, one time, according to one guy who admits he is very biased in that direction to begin with. Which proves...one place at one time, according to one biased source. So yeah, I am saying it only matters to someone who goes to message boards. I can say that. I am saying that.

Just so long as you admit it happened and very much -IS- happening and -IS- a reality that people outside the internet ARE paying attention and getting exposed to this! That's all I ever wanted....Thanks!

 

[Icon_Charlie]

My guess is that WotC deals with such small compagnies because WotC wouldn't have the upper hand when dealing with large compagnies like Ubisoft and Blizzard. D&D has little brand recognition and no movie in the pipes. What can it actually offer to large designers? With small compagnies they can have anything they want in the contracts. No more Sweetpea or Atari deals. It pissed off Obsidien Entertainment though. For better or worse.

It is a bit like when Marvel was going bankrupt in the 90s and made the very bad deals with 20th century Fox and Sony for the movie rights of X-Men, FF and Spider-Man. Marvel wasn't in a position to ask a lof when negociating.

Still, this doesn't answer my question. Did Trapdoor get a license from WotC or were they just doing work they were contracted for?

You are the first person that made an correlation with Marvel Comics except they did file for bankruptcy in late December 1996.
Oh I could tell you the horror stories about what really happened back then but that is irrelevant for this topic as well as I do not betray my friends who are in the entertainment industry, past nor present.

Thanks for the posting.