> Otto Hammersmith
>
> What's the bad scenario that's prevented by the clause? (Non
> rhetorical, serious question. :)
You write a killer module, and spread it around the net under OGL. I turn
it into a game and it becomes the next Baldur's Gate. You get nothing
except a mention in the credits. More importantly, you no longer have
access to your own material - it is buried in the source code of the work,
which is owned by someone else. The only way around this would be to
require the source material to be included with every copy of the binary
code.
As true as all that may be, the real reason is that this prevents a
commercial publishing house from building d20 software without permission
from Hasbro Interactive.
If I were a commercial publishing house this would probably bother me a lot.
Something to keep in mind is that software these days is modular. If you
put all the OGL material into a DLL, OCX, shared library, or plug-in, then
all you would need to release is the source code for that particular object.
The rest of your program could be your own.
I personally think Hasbro should instruct Fluid to create an COM control for
their character generator rulebase, and sell it to gamers for $20 a pop
without any redistribution rights. Then they get all the revenue from the
software, but gamers can still create 'hobby' tools without needing to
release the source code. It would be easy to use version control to force
gamers to re-buy the game component periodically (as new games used new
features). Even professional houses could write d20 software, and Hasbro
would get a cut. Of course, they would need to strike their own
redistribution agreement with Hasbro to do that.
> > No. The D&D books are not OGL. They are D20 because D20 is a WotC
> > trademark, so WotC is the only company who can choose to use the D20
> > logo without using OGL.
>
> See my other post from today, for my thoughts on that subject. :)
The trouble is that d20 IS a WotC Trademark, and it is going to stay that
way.
>From your earlier post:
> It makes sense. On the surface.
You're pretty much on target here, except that WotC will remain in control
of the d20 Trademark.
> If you think about it for a minute, it doesn't really stop a whole lot.
> I can still publish a verbatim copy of the D20 reference document and
> sell it at a profit. I just can't specifically say it's D20. I can
> call it "a D20 workalike" without any trouble (IANAL, but the UNIX
> trademark works this way).
Actually, you can publish a verbatim copy of the d20 SRD WITH the d20 Logo.
You can only call it 'a d20 workalike' if you make it clear that d20 is a
trademark of WotC.
> So, what about the unintended (given the above assumptions) side
> effects? Well, I can't publish a new class in a D20 module. I can't
> even publish a new kit for an existing class. It really limits the
> scope of what can be published under the D20 trademark to simple
> adventures and some setting information.
You've made a few misinterpretations here. "Character Creation" covers the
ACT of creating a character, not the classes, skills, feats, and such that
go into a character. What it means is that you can't say "roll 4d6 for each
stat, then pick a race, a class, a kit (if you want one), and then your
feats, skills and spells (if any)."
As for level advancement, you can't say anything about experience points
causing characters to gain levels. You can't say anything about the process
involved with gaining levels.
That's all. Everything else is fair game.
> Here's the part that hurts WotC...
>
> In August, the PHB comes out and it has the D20 logo on it. It's the
> only book of it's kind that can legally do that. All's good and fine
> for WotC. But, what happens when D20 starts to change? When the
> community starts adding their house rules to the defacto standard?
> Tweaking things here and there.
>
> ****The second revision of the PHB can't include those changes and still
> be called D20.****
Not so. WotC gets to say what D20 is, not the Open Gaming Foundation.
That's why WotC has to remain in control of the d20 Trademarks. Also, since
they own the IP that built the D20 SRD, they can use all of that IP without
invoking the OGL.
-Brad
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