WOTC undecided over OGL/GSL. Why you should care

[xechnao]

One of the things I always considered was that OGL was a simple way of licensing something that people may have already been able to do.

There are only two laws that protect this sort of stuff: copyright and trademark law.

As long as you don't directly reprint material from a book, you can talk all about it, right?

Why couldn't someone make a compatible product without ever even talking about the original?

Considering that the core of d20 is used in 4e, couldn't you just base your material off of the original d20 but using more 4e-style stuff?

As long as I don't reprint material falling under standard copyright law, can't I write something close?

I don't think you can copyright "roll 1d20, add a modifier, match it against a difficulty check".

Maybe I'm wrong. Can someone explain the laws of this to me?

I think this is true. Fact is that it does not make any business sense to do such a thing if it is not licensed. People will not buy something evolutionary from you because they feel the big guy offers a better long term support which is a better condition regarding the need of evolution.
So now you better have to provide something revolutionary than evolutionary. And this is where the hobby mostly needs to focus now IMO.

 

[JVisgaitis]

Wow. I think this post is a bit extreme. Yeah, I haven't seen the license yet, but I'm not worried. I'm VERY confident that 4e will be open to some extent. The way the license was done for 3.5 in stating that everything is always open is just causing a lot of issues that's all.

I work for a huge corporation myself, but I don't see any "corporate spin" here at all. They're just trying to figure it out. There is no need for these the sky is falling posts.

Relax people. Scott and Linae are good people and probably more worried about all of this then you lot are. It'll be fine.

 

[Ydars]

A couple of things;

I am NOT advocating a boycott of 4E AFTER WoTC make an announcement over GSL; I am just saying that if Amazon told them of a sudden cancellation of 1000s of pre-orders then it might give the suits at Hasbro a little bit of a jolt and might make them think about what they have recently done wrong. My hope is now looking forlorn indeed.....................

Also, it has been said that the decision over GSL has already been made; books at the printers etc. However, the books could just say copywright blah blah, subject to GSL. So it doesn't necessarily mean the GSL content has been decided on.

In addition, several people have disputed that OGL was a significant factor in the revival of RPGs. If this is the case, why have several insiders, present at the WoTC takeover of TSR state that the fractured and competing games systems were behind the 50-70% fall in table-top gaming.

Also, if diversity is good for RPGs then why was the 1990s a real low point; there was a greater diversity of games then that at any other time in the industry. Yet this was when gamers were leaving in droves.

I just wish that people on these boards could agree on SOMETHING but sadly, most posts have the sub-text "I am smarter than you; and now I am going to prove it".

 

[dm4hire]

Anyway, I don't know how M&M or Spycraft benefits WOTC business, but oh well...

Every RPG on the market benefits WotC to some extent by being a doorway into role playing. Eventually players start getting curious about the other books on the shelf next to what they buy, taking a close look determining if they might be interested in it. They might talk to friends about it even. Go up to any gamer who has been playing for more than a year and you will be hard pressed to find any who haven't tried at least one other game system than what they currently play. Eventually a small portion will decide to buy the product in question and in this case D&D.

 

[zoroaster100]

For Wizards to go back and reject open gaming licenses will drastically diminish my interest in 4E, and I have been a very strong supporter of 4E on these forums. If Wizards announces they are scrapping the GSL, I will be paying even more close attention to Paizo and will consider going with Pathfinder RPG instead of 4E, because of such decision by Wizards.

 

[Belphanior]

I am NOT advocating a boycott of 4E AFTER WoTC make an announcement over GSL; I am just saying that if Amazon told them of a sudden cancellation of 1000s of pre-orders then it might give the suits at Hasbro a little bit of a jolt and might make them think about what they have recently done wrong. My hope is now looking forlorn indeed.....................

Probem with that theory is if there's suddenly thousands of cancellations it's far more likely people assume Pathfinder is behind it. To prevent another Pathfinder a decade down the road (about 2020 ad., the year where we all will be cyberpunk ) they may decide to squelch any ogl initiative.

It's useless to send signals without a clear and unified message to go along with them. So first set up a small website with a "save the ogl or we boycott" signature, present it to WotC after you have enough support to form a credible player in the field, and hope that by then you wouldn't have wasted your time because the decision has been announced already.

 

[Ydars]

JVisgatis; I would LOVE it if you are right. I have just been following the twists and turns of the GSL announcements since January and I am feeling more and more disquiet.

Perhaps my original post was OTT, but time will tell.

I only ask all of you this;

If I am wrong and we cancel our pre-orders, what do we lose.? WoTC announces GSL and we all re-order.

But if I am right and this is the moment when Hasbro is deciding whether to kill Open Gamng or not then if we do NOTHING then it could be a very dark day for D&D.

And that means a dark day for ALL PnP RPGs because D&D is the lifeblood of the hobby.

 

[Sora Justice]

Every RPG on the market benefits WotC to some extent by being a doorway into role playing. Eventually players start getting curious about the other books on the shelf next to what they buy, taking a close look determining if they might be interested in it. They might talk to friends about it even. Go up to any gamer who has been playing for more than a year and you will be hard pressed to find any who haven't tried at least one other game system than what they currently play. Eventually a small portion will decide to buy the product in question and in this case D&D.

Every RPG on the market hurts WotC to some extent by being a way out of Dungeons & Dragons. Eventually players start getting curious about the other books on the shelf next to what they buy, taking a close look determining if they might be interested in it. They might talk to friends about it even. Go up to any gamer who has been playing for more than a year and you will be hard pressed to find any who haven't tried at least one other game system than what they currently play. Eventually a small portion will decide to buy the product in question and in this case a competitor RPG.

D&D is the only doorway into role playing worth talking about. Open Gaming was designed to make D&D the sum total of role playing. It failed.

 

[Ydars]

Belphanior, Your point is a good one. I was hoping that a forum might create enough support for just such a venture, but it seems we cannot stop arguing over details.

This WILL send a nice message to WoTC; "Carry on as usual guys; we are too busy scoring points off of one another to actually do anything meaningful". I am sure they will appreciate it.

 

[Belphanior]

Open Gaming was designed to make D&D the sum total of role playing. It failed.

The OGL Project was our last, best hope for unity. It failed. In the year of the Pathfinder war it became something greater, our last best hope...for victory.

The year is 2008. The place: D&D 4.