D&D 5E Why I Think D&DN is In Trouble

[Desdichado]

No real villains in this scenario the way I see it; just everyone acting in their own interests.

Indeed, I agree. I would never sign an employment contract that included such an obvious IP grab, but then again, I wouldn't necessarily hold it against the company. I just wouldn't sign it. As I said earlier, it's no wonder that talented people showed themselves to the door.

Especially given the previous climate, when many of the most successful third party companies were WotC designers... like Monte Cook himself, and Chris Pramas and others. What about WotC employees who freelanced for other companies? Apparently, that's now out too.

Again, if WotC thought that they could get away with putting those into their employment contracts, that doesn't make them villainous; merely foolish, as it will provide disincentives for anyone with any talent to sign such a contract.

 

[Desdichado]

Yes, it is a conflict of interest. It's a game in the same industry. That's the conflict. It's not even a close call. I run a graduation cap & gown company. If one of my employees sold, for example, gimmick tie-dye caps for graduations on the side, it would be an obvious conflict of interest, even though it's not a specific product we sell.

The difference, though, is would you fire that employee once you discovered it? Or would you attempt to claim all of his inventory as your own and sell it yourself?

 

[Desdichado]

Well, that's as lacking in explanation as any paragraph could be! But it includes keywords which suggest to me it's a political topic, so I'll remain ignorant and we'll not discuss it here. Sorry for erroneously bringing it up!

It is. As someone who grew up in a right-to-work state, quite happily, and moved to an industry that was very nearly killed by union over-reach, needless to say, I'd disagree with the tone of Warunsun's post, and probably everything in it, if I could figure out exactly what he was saying.

But as you say... you're probably better off consulting Wikipedia if you're really that curious and leaving it alone here, as it absolutely is a political topic.

 

[pemerton]

That's one thing 4E failed to do that all other editions had done, and that's to have at least 1 signature setting for the edition.

Huh? It's setting was "the world of D&D" as outlined in Worlds & Monsters, and given voice to in the lore that runs through its books. And I frequently hear these lore changes as one of the major reasons people don't like it, so it's not like the setting went unnoticed.

The Nentir Vale was in the original three core books for 4E so it was there from the beginning. It is actually similar to the situation with Mystara and Basic D&D.

I think this is right - though I think the cosmology and lore is more fundamental to the setting then the map of the Nentir Vale and Fallcrest in the DMG.

 

[pemerton]

Nobody knew who Monte Cook was just before 3E.

Hey, those of us who were Rolemaster players knew him! (And didn't a lot of people like his Planescape work?)

 

[Zardnaar]

Monte also done the 2E Barbarians handbook IIRC. I like a few D&D writers by name like Eric L Boyd for example.

 

[willvr]

Okay yes, some people will pick up an RP book based on who the designer is.
I'll tell you what though; when 3.x came out the only one of the three main designers I'd even vaguely heard of was Skip Williams. Then I looked into the other two and found 'Paladin in Hell' by Monte Cook for example. Still don't know what Jonathan Tweet did though. I'm sure he's done lots though.

For me, very few game designers have the ability to get me to look at something based -purely- on the fact it's their name on the cover. Also, I'm pretty sure there are some big-name designers if you follow 4E working on DnD Next.

 

[pemerton]

when 3.x came out the only one of the three main designers I'd even vaguely heard of was Skip Williams. Then I looked into the other two and found 'Paladin in Hell' by Monte Cook for example. Still don't know what Jonathan Tweet did though. I'm sure he's done lots though.

At the time, I knew Tweet for Ars Magica. He also did Over the Edge and Everway.

 

[Bluenose]

3) scope- how big a geographic area you are prohibited from competing in. (For IP cases, this is virtually ignored, since it is essentially meaningless.

Some of the people I went to uni with (for a geology degree) have worldwide clauses in their "You can't work for our competitors" Agreements. This though is people who went on to work for oil companies doing geological surveys. If you've been surveying for possible oil-bearing strata in Nigeria, keeping the results secret is important to your employers. These surveys cost a lot, so letting people know that you found nothing saves them spending it; and if you found something, then we're talking much larger sums of money.

 

[ccooke]

Heh. Anti-Compete clauses are generally much nastier than the IP-grab ones. I recall one stunningly bad example a friend of mine mocked a prospective employer (and got changed, of course) for that stated he would not work for any competitor or *customer* of the company for a year after the contract terminated.
The company? Unilever.