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<blockquote data-quote="Redrobes" data-source="post: 5087293" data-attributes="member: 40793">I see what your saying. I think that WotC have some issues in that I believe that there has been some agreements made w.r.t video game type programs that have been assigned and that they are tied up for a while. Us external devs are limited in that we cant use their IP without a license and the free licenses all bar the use of programs determining actions based on their rules - at least as I read it a long time ago.So we have to rely on their tools to do that bit and as you say if they abandon those projects then it takes someone else to stump cash for a license to do it on their behalf. Of the closed source VTT options that have the graphical clout to do it justice, I dont think any are tremendously popular to the point of making it worth while to stump us license fees. MapTool is non profit and as Azrei says nobody is going to spend huge cash piles on a free product. It is true that WotC could take the MapTool code but they could not prevent the other side of the fork from being developed. Thats what I was saying in that they cannot create a MapTool product exclusively and I think we all accept that and they need a dev team capable of taking it further faster than the current set - an unlikely. If they supported the main app then it would still be free and therefore why would anyone buy a PH ?So as with many things in life but especially business - its all about the money. I wasn't in the least surprised that they pulled the plug on DDI as I never thought it was a good idea to start one in the first place. Whatever solution they come up with has to cope with good free competition.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Redrobes, post: 5087293, member: 40793"] I see what your saying. I think that WotC have some issues in that I believe that there has been some agreements made w.r.t video game type programs that have been assigned and that they are tied up for a while. Us external devs are limited in that we cant use their IP without a license and the free licenses all bar the use of programs determining actions based on their rules - at least as I read it a long time ago. So we have to rely on their tools to do that bit and as you say if they abandon those projects then it takes someone else to stump cash for a license to do it on their behalf. Of the closed source VTT options that have the graphical clout to do it justice, I dont think any are tremendously popular to the point of making it worth while to stump us license fees. MapTool is non profit and as Azrei says nobody is going to spend huge cash piles on a free product. It is true that WotC could take the MapTool code but they could not prevent the other side of the fork from being developed. Thats what I was saying in that they cannot create a MapTool product exclusively and I think we all accept that and they need a dev team capable of taking it further faster than the current set - an unlikely. If they supported the main app then it would still be free and therefore why would anyone buy a PH ? So as with many things in life but especially business - its all about the money. I wasn't in the least surprised that they pulled the plug on DDI as I never thought it was a good idea to start one in the first place. Whatever solution they come up with has to cope with good free competition. [/QUOTE]

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