Alex:
<< By your responses I can see I botched my explanations. >>
Not necessarily. I understood what you said, I think. But I suspect we're
coming from irreconcilable philosophical differences.
<< First, the OGL and OGC exist because WotC created them to profit
themselves
in various ways. That is not in dispute and is an underlying assumption for
their other decisions. >>
That is only part of the reason. Another part is that Ryan personally is a
strong adherent of the Theory of Open Development, and further believes that
theory carries with it moral obligations beyond profit. Had a different
person been in Ryan's position, we would see an entirely different
profit-making mechanism. This PARTICULAR profit-making mechanism exists for
reasons besides profit.
<< Second, WotC developed the OGC and PI provisions using protecting
themselves
as the primary criterion. People were going to create "D&D" material no
matter what WotC did. Assuming that expanding the compatible knowledge base
is a desirable and inevitable thing, how does a company protect their assets
without alienating customers? How does one avoid expensive court wranglings?
How can one deal with this and protect their ability to profit from their
assets? These are the questions the OGL answers, but they were answered for
WotC's needs first and foremost. >>
I'm sorry, but I must disagree. I saw very clear statements by Ryan that
they were crafting the IP and PI elements of license to protect the rights
and opportunities of OGC developers besides themselves. This was not
protecting themselves, but promoting themselves: they did not expect
significant participation by the commercial producers they desired without
adequate protection of commercial rights.
<< Perhaps it is only a fine distinction but I think that commercial benefit
(to
others than WotC) is not the primary reason the OGL was created, but it is
an
important tool for spreading it. >>
Yes. It is a secondary reason. And if it fails, the primary reason is on
shaky ground.
<< Profit "sharing" is a good tool to
spread the word with. But is it necessary for overall success? >>
And here we must agree to disagree. My answer is "Yes", if success is to
mean affecting a significant chunk of the market.
<< You also said:
>The Creature Collection and Death
>in Freeport and Three Days to Kill, stocked in major stores right next to
>the DMG and PHB, have expanded knowledge of Open Gaming far more than any
>non-profit work ever will.
They have for now, but such an absolutist statement is unlikely to hold over
time. >>
Time will tell. I think we'll see that, when commercial OGC disappears from
the game shelves, the significance of OGC will be drastically diminished.
<< Note, I refer only to OGC efforts. >>
I understand this. I think you have been very clear on this: you believe
commercial producers will add significant value and gain themselves
significant profit with a "small OGC/large PI" model. If everyone were in
agreement with you on this, your arguments would make more sense to me.
Frankly, I think what you propose here is an excellent business model, and a
win-win all the way around.
But there are other prominent voices who are arguing that anything less than
fully open is not open. And there are less extreme voices who argue that
given the choice between open and profit, open should always be preferred.
And when you couple their ideas with yours, the picture becomes: "Please
publish quality books with quality art so folks can buy a few copies and
post them on the Web. Heck, since they'll do it anyway, let us do it RIGHT.
And you can save us the trouble and just publish them on the Web yourself,
so we can publish copies. Don't worry, we won't publish the PI; but you
shouldn't have a lot of that, right? OK, now that we've published all the
stuff designers and most gamers need, you're free to find some way to make a
profit." That splashing sound you hear is all the commercial producers
abandoning what they believe is a sinking ship.
Martin L. Shoemaker
Emerald Software, Inc. -- Custom Software and UML Training
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.EmeraldSoftwareInc.com
www.UMLBootCamp.com
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