To Scott and Linae

[Dias Ex Machina]

I think that Linae had and has the best intentions for this project and isn't the sort of person to just give up in the face of opposition. I'm sure she's heard your complaints and concerns and has made every effort to present them clearly and rationally to the rest of the team making decisions about the GSL. You may disagree with the GSL and what she has to say about its current incarnation, but she is not your enemy. Please treat her with courtesy and kindness.

I am...

....Coffee...

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Just throwing this into the ring ....
I don't know how much influence Scott and Linae had over the GSL (and I doubt anyone outside the company will really ever know).
But I've been a person who's been in the bad position of enforcing an unpopular policy while working like mad to change that policy to something more acceptable.
I don't know Scott. At all.
But I do know Linae. She's smart, kind, and funny. And I think she is a really good person.

I think that Linae had and has the best intentions for this project and isn't the sort of person to just give up in the face of opposition. I'm sure she's heard your complaints and concerns and has made every effort to present them clearly and rationally to the rest of the team making decisions about the GSL. You may disagree with the GSL and what she has to say about its current incarnation, but she is not your enemy. Please treat her with courtesy and kindness.

From everything I've read she does seem like a very nice person. I've realized for awhile, and I am sure others have too that she doesn't seem to be in a policy making position on this issue and is only there to conduct and enforce policy made by others.

Scott on the other hand is Brand Manager. I am not sure how much of a say he has but his position seems like it would have some policy making authority. He of course reports to others who can of course overrule him. How much authority he truly has on the GSL I don't know either but Clark seems to trust him so I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt. As a result I don't blame him personally for this, rather blaming the Hasbro hierarchy.

Scott and Linae however are the ones that interact with the public and the policy is not being well received by the public so they are the ones we get tho bitch to. I hope they don't take it personally but they need to know the extent of dissatisfaction so that they can go to their superiors and let them know.

 

[Entropi]

I hope they don't take it personally but they need to know the extent of dissatisfaction so that they can go to their superiors and let them know.

And by dissatisfaction you mean the incessant bleating of the forum flock. The license has not been out long enough for those who it will actually affect to have adequate time to review it, digest it, and run it by their lawyers, let alone come to any kind of consensus of dissatisfaction.

The overwhelming amount of negative reaction so far has been knee-jerk reaction from forumites who, quite simply, have no idea what they are talking about. The amount of ignorance being perpetuated on the official forums is staggering - so many people weighing in on something they know nothing about. One guy, for example, has been arguing non-stop that the GSL is a way for WotC to steal your IP. His notions have been contradicted several times, but instead of addressing his detractors he simply comes up with more bile to spew.

If you discount the posts of...
a) people who are not publishers and will not be using the license
b) people who don't understand what they are reading, but feel obliged to offer their 'expertise' to anyone who will listen
c) people who take any opportunity they can get to smear WotC

...I don't believe there exists the amount of dissatisfaction that you claim.

I'm inclined to believe that thoughtful, reasonable people interested in using the license - the ones whose opinion WotC should care about - are not spouting off knee-jerk reactions as fast as their fingers can type on these forums.

 

[Imban]

And by dissatisfaction you mean the incessant bleating of the forum flock. The license has not been out long enough for those who it will actually affect to have adequate time to review it, digest it, and run it by their lawyers, let alone come to any kind of consensus of dissatisfaction.

Perhaps Orcus is just by necessity unusually quick at running things by his lawyers, but I've noticed a good deal of dissatisfaction since the first posting of the license by people who I *know* ran or worked for third-party publishers in the 3e era.

There are a bunch of questions (mostly with regard to the scope of "4e references" which you cannot modify) which I imagine the third-party publishers are waiting for more than just a strict legal reading of the license.

 

[Jack99]

And by dissatisfaction you mean the incessant bleating of the forum flock. The license has not been out long enough for those who it will actually affect to have adequate time to review it, digest it, and run it by their lawyers, let alone come to any kind of consensus of dissatisfaction.

The overwhelming amount of negative reaction so far has been knee-jerk reaction from forumites who, quite simply, have no idea what they are talking about. The amount of ignorance being perpetuated on the official forums is staggering - so many people weighing in on something they know nothing about. One guy, for example, has been arguing non-stop that the GSL is a way for WotC to steal your IP. His notions have been contradicted several times, but instead of addressing his detractors he simply comes up with more bile to spew.

If you discount the posts of...
a) people who are not publishers and will not be using the license
b) people who don't understand what they are reading, but feel obliged to offer their 'expertise' to anyone who will listen
c) people who take any opportunity they can get to smear WotC

...I don't believe there exists the amount of dissatisfaction that you claim.

I'm inclined to believe that thoughtful, reasonable people interested in using the license - the ones whose opinion WotC should care about - are not spouting off knee-jerk reactions as fast as their fingers can type on these forums.

Look, first of all, you need to understand that I am without doubt in my mind one of the bigger WotC and 4e fans around. So believe me, when I say this, it has nothing to do with hate. I played almost 20 years w/o 3rd party products, and my game was just fine without them. The fact that I have bought a lot the last 2 years doesn't change that. I play DnD by WotC, and use 3PP's as a bonus, as inspiration if you will. Nothing more. You might not believe me, but I am sure someone else around here can verify my raging fanboiism by now.

But your argument just doesn't hold up. A lot of the 3pp's who post here have posted negatively about the GSL. So, maybe they have posted without consulting their lawyer or without thinking things through, but when they say: Argh, doom, this sucks, I will never use this (okay, so no one actually said that ad verbatim, but I am sure you get my point - they weren't one bit happy about it), what on earth do you want a regular customer with no clue about licenses (that would be me) to think? That the 3rd party publishers are happy and looking forward to making lots of great 4e products?

Well, I would love to do just that, but it is getting awfully hard when Clark, who by far has been the most enthusiastic of the lot and happens to be a lawyer who by his own admission knows a lot about licenses, is sounding as if he has had a severe constipation when he speaks about the GSL.

Now, as I said somewhere else, I still hope this turns out to be not as bad as it sounds. That companies like Necro and Goodman can make great settings, fluff and most of all adventures that I can buy to be inspired for my 4e games.

I would also love stuff like the Advanced Player's Guide, but it is less important than the other stuff, at least to me.

Cheers

 

[Entropi]

But your argument just doesn't hold up.

Ok. How so?

A lot of the 3pp's who post here have posted negatively about the GSL. So, maybe they have posted without consulting their lawyer or without thinking things through...

That's not knee-jerk?

but when they say: Argh, doom, this sucks, I will never use this (okay, so no one actually said that ad verbatim, but I am sure you get my point - they weren't one bit happy about it), what on earth do you want a regular customer with no clue about licenses (that would be me) to think?

You're right - they didn't ever say 'Argh, doom, this sucks, I will never use this!'

In fact, here is Clark's reply to a reactionary fanboy who claimed that the license was insulting and nobody that walks upright would consider using it...

Insulting to who? I plan on using the license. Maybe not for everything. But I sure intend to use it.

Sounds to me like you are exaggerating his comments quite a bit - to the point of misrepresenting his stance even. IOW, you are engaging in typical reactionary behavior. And by your own admission, you know nothing about the topic.

You are doing a good job of proving my point.

EDIT: Jack, I am adding this edit because I want to be clear I am not trying to pick on you. My point is simply that the negative reactions on the forums are to be expected. They are, by and large, much sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Give it a couple weeks. Wait for the 3PP to digest the license and form their strategies. There will be a much higher signal-to-noise ratio at that time.

 

[Yair]

If you discount the posts of...
a) people who are not publishers and will not be using the license
b) people who don't understand what they are reading, but feel obliged to offer their 'expertise' to anyone who will listen
c) people who take any opportunity they can get to smear WotC

Dear man, if you do that there won't be virtually anyone left. Where is the fun in that?

 

[Entropi]

Dear man, if you do that there won't be virtually anyone left. Where is the fun in that?

Indeed.

 

[Jack99]

EDIT: Jack, I am adding this edit because I want to be clear I am not trying to pick on you. My point is simply that the negative reactions on the forums are to be expected. They are, by and large, much sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Give it a couple weeks. Wait for the 3PP to digest the license and form their strategies. There will be a much higher signal-to-noise ratio at that time.

No worries, didn't take it as if you were singling me out. I am not just no longer so sure as you are - mostly based on some of Clark's other 40 posts the last couple of days. Either way, I really really hope you are right about this.

Cheers

 

[jmucchiello]

Argh, doom, this sucks, I will never use this

I concur.