Free software license(not what you think)
Picture from Four-color basic system, role-playing system. Is this an example of a truly “free and open software license”… where a new user can change/alter/improve? Software freedom.. really?
Here’s a couple of more reasoned, and a couple of more radical ideas of the “freedom” of software, after the jump..
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.html (Why software should be free… definitely a fringe, but to some appealing, idea)
(Free software) running MMOs
An Enterprise software licensees bill of rights
A software lawyer’s take on Forresters software licensee bill of rights
Interesting examples: Open game license from Wizards of the Coast; D20 games and such (Y’know you’ve got those 20-sided die lying around… I know I do)….. My favorite quote: “Q: I want to distribute computer software using the OGL. Is that possible? A: Yes, it’s certainly possible. The most significant thing that will impact your effort is that you have to give all the recipients the right to extract and use any Open Game Content you’ve included in your application, and you have to clearly identify what part of the software is Open Game Content.”
Follow-up: an anecdotal look at it’s impact explained by an insider (Monte Cook, writer of D&D Third Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide, among other things.)
More followup: The changes in the original Open Game License, from Chris Parmas.
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Personal commentary: there’s a lot of things to consider here. First of all, open game licenses are very anti-corporate-philosophy and therefore rare. However, there is a lot of customer goodwill built up and many creative games have creative players and player-creators. You should read some of the followup stories I’ve listed to see if you, as a potential game-creator, can use this type of license. Is the fandom worth the monetary gain given up? Are there other streams of income you can leverage with your (hopefully) buzz-building from “giving” the rules/strategy/system away instead of copyrighted?
Most of these are board games, or card games. Coincidence? Hardly. These require a much smaller budget and thus much smaller gross income is required to turn a profit. Does that mean more do? Not from what I read. And there’s thousand of videogames put out each decade, dwarfing the smaller RPGs and board/card games as a genre. But how many people still play D&D variants, or Vampire: Bloodlines pen-and paper… can you say the same for Mario Brothers? (OK, bad example). But generally once a platform passes, so do all the games. It’s like writing a book… are you in this for profit or for becoming a legend? Your personal goals dictate whether as a solo entrepreneur you wish to utilize a free-based model or a for-profit model. Just something to think about.
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Jay Moffitt is a Tennessee attorney. This blog is for entertainment and educational purposes only and does not consitute legal advice or create an attorney/client relationship. Jay Moffitt is not certified as a specialist in this area by Tennessee and Tennessee does not certify specialists in this practice area. All comments will be answered promptly and courteously as long as they are germane to the discussion and do not contain specific game names or incidents.
Tags: board games, card games, Dungeons and Dragons, Forresters software licensee bill of rights, free software, free software restrictions, Open Game License
The OGL was really interesting. On one hand, I think it really did bring D&D back into the limelight. There was a lot of excitement about the new system, and I remember there being quite a few computer games being developed to capitalize on that excitement. Compare this to 4th edition, where it seems D&D became a bit too much like MMOs, so I haven’t heard of anyone using it.
On the other hand, it’s been interesting watching the business side of things. OGL pretty much dominated RPG development as everyone was developing for the d20 system. I went to a few panels at Dragon*Con where some indie RPG developers said that we’re just now starting to see people do their own, original game systems because d20 already peaked and 4th edition is a lot more restricted. So, we’re starting to see people get back into that.
Definitely interesting, though, to see what different people think. A risky move, and one that I think sort of paid off for WotC/Hasbro, but it kinda feels like an opportunity squandered now.