You reap what you sow - GSL.

[jmucchiello]

Publishers don't write games unless they're of the 'one man operation' variety. Designers and authors typically write games, while publishers merely. . . er. . . publish them. That said, yeah, this won't hurt many designers or authors. I think that there is a good chance that it will hurt more than a few publishers in the long run.

Who is hiring the designers and authors if the publishers are not publishing?

 

[jdrakeh]

Who is hiring the designers and authors if the publishers are not publishing?

D'oh! See what three hours of sleep coupled with too much caffeine and five hours of heresy and mutation get me?

 

[Maggan]

five hours of heresy and mutation get me?

WH40kRP?

/M

 

[xechnao]

WH40kRP?

/M

Heh, good catch

 

[MongooseMatt]

Mongoose's "Pocket Player's Handbook" is the cardinal example of the sowing, IMO. The simple existence of that book is pretty much a slap in WotC's face. It's insulting and shows a company that is crass and disrespectful.

I don't get many 3rd party supplements, and generally regard Mongoose as one of the lowest quality, anyway. But, publishing that book pretty well sealed that there's no way I'd buy anything from the company.

When publishers are pulling crap like that, I can't blame WotC for thinking the OGL was a bad idea. If there are people who are more irritated at WotC for the GSL than at Mongoose for the PPH, then.... hmm.... I'm afraid the site rules prohibit the completion of my sentence. How about: I think they have their perspective out of whack.

I am sorry, but I could not disagree more. WotC stated, on their web site, that a publisher could, in effect, reprint the PHB and, if they could find a profitable way of doing so, more power to them (in effect).

We found a way.

On a wider front, I would be _amazed_ if our pocket book had any effect on WotC at all.

 

[MerricB]

"Crippled Content" always seemed more "Ask me first, it's polite" than forbidding anyone from using their content.

That's called coming to a licensing agreement. It's the default with the new GSL.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

On a wider front, I would be _amazed_ if our pocket book had any effect on WotC at all.

I agree.

I'm more interested in examples such as, say, Castles & Crusades.

Correct me if I'm wrong - I've been out of the C&C loop for some time - but this is an OGL game that has, at its heart, the SIEGE engine... which isn't open. So, you can't actually design stuff for C&C without a license.

Cheers!

 

[Grazzt]

This is pretty much how a lot of publishers - including some well-regarded ones - regarded the "Open" part of the OGL: Not for their products. Let's release "Crippled" OGC.

There have been exceptions, with Clark Peterson and his Tome of Horrors being the most shining star in that constellation.

Cheers!

Yep. And I know a couple of the ones you are referring to that released "crippled OGC". As for the Tome, yeah- we released everything 100% OGC (except the artwork, a couple of words, like Lucifer's new plane, etc)...hell, we even released the old 1e conversions as OGC (monster name, text, etc.)

 

[kensanata]

The default is important

Has anyone ACTUALLY been denied?

When Bard's Gate by Necromancer Games came out, I created an empty wiki for it and sent a few mails, but got no reply. So I closed it again.

Getting no reply is not an answer. That's where the default is important: A permissive irrevocable license makes the default open. That's the really important part. Things will stay open even if the copyright holders do not answer, drop of the net, change jobs, etc.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Unfortunately, pretty sure isn't enough to base a business on.

Hyrum.

Especially when we were all "pretty sure" that (1) 4e wasn't coming any time soon, and, when that bubble burst, (2) 4e would be OGL.

There are a few "This opens the door for WotC to...." predictions that haven't surfaced yet, but the majority of them, from the time Dungeon & Dragon were cancelled, have come to pass. Despite the fact that some claimed that doing things like tiered licensing and making 4e a non-OGL game would be "corporate suicide", many of these same folks are still claiming that they are "pretty sure" that WotC won't do X or Y.

I, personally, think it's time to take what WotC has done lately into account when determining what it is likely to do in the future.

Please note also that, from my reading of the GSL, WotC could shut down EN World (at considerable cost to the owners) for containing both 4e and OGL materials. And, if WotC decides that EN World hits their Gleemax bottom line where it hurts, please tell me that you think that WotC will not so.......despite the fact that Hasbro's shareholders can demand that WotC not act in a way that hurts their profits.

Meh.

The only whiff of interest in all of 4e came from Necromancer Games' announcement of planned suppliments, and I have no idea what will actually be produced under the new GSL. IMHO, WotC's policies are turning the D&D brand name into a sinking ship. Luckily, the OGL allows for D&D to survive...albeit without the brand name.


RC