Mark Clover said, I'm going to point out that there are different WotC
people in charge of whether or not it matters than there were then and
there likely will be different people in charge at some point in the
future than there are now.
I'm as willing as the next guy to engage in wild paranoia (to a fault
g), but it's worth pointing out that contract law is contract law and
the terms of the OGL don't change based on who the CEO of WotC is. And
if it did, then we should all run for the hills and adopt a new system
on which to base our respective publishing companies.
Mark Clover said, I'm going to point out that you are, by your own
admission, looking for a compatibility indicator and I'm going to posit
that you mean compatibility with the d20 System, a compatibility
indicator to be an alternative to the d20 system logo.
The Prometheus license indicates compatibility with the Prometheus
Reference Documents. It is a purposeful by-product of the terms of the
OGL and the d20 SRD that the Prometheus Reference Documents are
compatible with the Revised Third Edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Neither the license nor references documents say that.
Before people go too far in engaging in speculation about the Prometheus
license and game system, I encourage all of you to review what it claims
to do and what it does:
http://www.PrometheusGaming.com
I understand the confusion. There have been some wild claims about the
Prometheus project from the very beginning. It appears that the project
often promotes extreme reactions from industry folk. Some love the
idea, some hate. Judging by the comments on this list, very few are
truly indifferent. Claims to the contrary notwithstanding, the feedback
here speaks for itself in that regard.
Mark Clover asked, This doesn't seem to have made much, if any, headway
in the last five/six(?) years. Is there a reason you can think of why
this hasn't been adopted by all potential adopters in that time?
I think there is a clear reason: Bigger publishers are comfortable with
the status quo (perhaps rightly so) and small publishers aren't always
aware of the options and also often try to emulate the bigger
publishers. The Prometheus Logo and License are a sort of air bag for
the industry. If WotC chooses to close up 4E, and revoke the d20STL for
3E and Revised 3E, Prometheus will still be around offering
alternatives. Until WotC does that, there are some who think they
won't. Not saying they will, but I tend to err on the side of distrust
when it comes to large corporations. If you trust Hasbro, then you are
correct in saying you don't /need/ the Prometheus project.
Mark Clover said, I think I might be able to understand things much
better if I could hear someone as familiar with the licensing you
champion detail why it has not been as successful as it could be.
I agree that any option has shortcomings. the d20STL has shortcomings
as well. The question is really a matter of whose shortcomings you want
to accept. For me (and I'm biased on the subject---see my signature at
the bottom), I prefer the shortcomings of the Prometheus project over
those of the d20STL. I love the work Ryan Dancey did on the OGL. I am
not a big fan of the d20STL, however. Any license that I would base a
company on cannot be a license that can be altered and or revoked on the
whim of the licensor. That causes me to worry more than I'd like. :)
Tom Caudron
Administrator for the Prometheus Project
http://www.PrometheusGaming.com
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