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Valar D20 BoEF license terminated.
- Thread starter tburdett
- Start date
The Sigil
Mr. 3000 (Words per post)
If it's an argument you're looking for, you won't find one here. I won't blame AV directly for the changes to the d20STL, but every step the Valar Project has taken has seemed to be staged for maximum hype, and maximum nose-tweakage not only of WotC, but also for enraging of the sensibilities of other publishers. I could care less about the BoEF's content, and no I haven't seen the preview, but everything I've seen surrounding the BoEF and the Valar Project thus far has struck me as unprofessional, staged, and 100% hype-driven. At this point, the BoEF could be the greatest thing since sliced bread - but because of all of the seeming unprofessionalism from those involved, I wouldn't buy it anyway. Again, this is not a statement on the CONTENT of the book (not wanting to open up THAT can of worms again) but a statement on the lack of professional conduct and demeanor on the part of the Valar Product with regard to their presentation of themselves and their product.philreed said:
And I'm not talking about the grievous typographical errors ("your gaming past time"? I wasn't aware RPGs were timed events), clear factual errors or half-misrepresentations (the BoEF is NOW being released as OGL? Wasn't it OGL before? If not, how could it be d20? For a company headed by someone formerly charged with understanding and enforcement of the OGL and d20STL, Valar has shown less understanding of those documents - and perhaps deliberately so - than most newbie publishers) and dubious veracity of legal interpretation of the d20STL in the press release above, either.
I'm sure AV is a nice guy, but his company, Valar, sure seems to be burning bridges in the d20 publishing community at an astonishing rate.
These really do seem like "calculated blunders" designed entirely to build a recognition of Valar's "name" - nobody could be so clumsy as to simultaneously break every rule of publishing decorum, not to mention exploit every potential loophole in the OGL and d20 licenses on their first product accidentally, could they? I know on my part, they're already right up there with Buckshot00 Productions in publishing legitimacy and prestige based on their actions thus far. Which is sad - while I don't want the BoEF myself, I might have interest in future products they do - clearly they have people there who are familiar with the d20 system. It just seems like they're trying to trivialize themselves. Maybe that's a bit on the harsh side, but it's how I feel. Regardless of what the content of their first product was, their shenanigans on the business side of things have already marginalized and trivialized them in my eyes. I wish it were otherwise.
--The Sigil
The Sigil
Mr. 3000 (Words per post)
A quote from Anthony in the above article...Alzrius said:
"...It's personal, because I know what the d20 logo was supposed to mean and they've changed that."
Perhaps this is part of the problem (see my previous post). Anthony is apparently taking things personally and seems to be "lashing out" at WotC in response, trying to make things as personal as possible. But mixing personal emotion with business is rarely a wise strategy.
Personally, I think he's right that recent changes to the d20 license deviate from the meaning of the license --- like it or not, the d20 logo was (as I understood it) originally supposed to be about "mechanical" compatibility, not "moral" compatibility (because WotC didn't want to bother with that - from the beginning, there has been talk of the d20 system's potential for association with elements some may deem less-than-desirable). I agree with him that these are in fact significant and possibly undesirable changes to the spirit of the license. But I don't agree with the way he has handled things... he's taken it too personally, IMO.
--The Sigil
Last edited:
Dark Psion
First Post
tburdett said:
Doesn't anyone have a problem with WoC telling your FLGS to not only pull a product, but destroy it?
Who need the Spanish Inquisition or Angry Mothers From Heck if we are burning our own books?
If the Valar Project had any other D20 books out, under the new guidlines, those books would all have to be burned also, no matter what their content was, even D20 Cute Animals.
JoeCrow
Explorer
Them's the d20 breaks, man.
Their license, their ball, their court, their rules. That's one of the reasons so many people are freaking out about the new content restrictions. One screwup, and all your product goes in the shredder, not just the product that's in violation.
That's also why we at the FGA are working on the Prometheus license, an OGL system compatability logo for folks to use if they feel their product might make WotC's jimmy tingle, or if they're not comfortable with content restrictions, or if they want to include chargen or experience rules, or if they just like our pretty logo. Check us out at http://pgs.freegamingassociation.org/
Dark Psion said:
Their license, their ball, their court, their rules. That's one of the reasons so many people are freaking out about the new content restrictions. One screwup, and all your product goes in the shredder, not just the product that's in violation.
That's also why we at the FGA are working on the Prometheus license, an OGL system compatability logo for folks to use if they feel their product might make WotC's jimmy tingle, or if they're not comfortable with content restrictions, or if they want to include chargen or experience rules, or if they just like our pretty logo. Check us out at http://pgs.freegamingassociation.org/
JoeCrow
Explorer
Them's the d20 breaks, man.
Their license, their ball, their court, their rules. That's one of the reasons so many people are freaking out about the new content restrictions. One screwup, and all your product goes in the shredder, not just the product that's in violation.
That's also why we at the FGA are working on the Prometheus license, an OGL system compatability logo for folks to use if they feel their product might make WotC's jimmy tingle, or if they're not comfortable with content restrictions, or if they want to include chargen or experience rules, or if they just like our pretty logo. Check us out at http://pgs.freegamingassociation.org/
Dark Psion said:
Their license, their ball, their court, their rules. That's one of the reasons so many people are freaking out about the new content restrictions. One screwup, and all your product goes in the shredder, not just the product that's in violation.
That's also why we at the FGA are working on the Prometheus license, an OGL system compatability logo for folks to use if they feel their product might make WotC's jimmy tingle, or if they're not comfortable with content restrictions, or if they want to include chargen or experience rules, or if they just like our pretty logo. Check us out at http://pgs.freegamingassociation.org/
Planesdragon
First Post
Site Correction
We're seeking public comment about the PCL draft 0.4, as well as opinions on what exactly to do with the OpenDie logo (the flip-top d6 with the universal poison compartment open).
Actually, our site's http://www.theFGA.com/JoeCrow said:
We're seeking public comment about the PCL draft 0.4, as well as opinions on what exactly to do with the OpenDie logo (the flip-top d6 with the universal poison compartment open).
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