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Old 08-23-2018, 04:57 AM   #31
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Future support for TFT

Agreed; the core rules of the game line should not be opened up for a bunch of monkeying around in the semi-official, semi-regulated world of W23 publications.

Every group will have a few house rules at their table, so I don't see why the restriction on the license would bother anyone who was just interested in playing. And it is hard to imagine we won't see some of those house rules drift around on the internet (just like they used to drift around in gaming periodicals), so people can share them. But there is a big difference between that sort of marginalia and the chaos of 50 million (mostly bad designed) published rules modifications.
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Old 08-23-2018, 05:06 AM   #32
zot
 
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Default Re: Future support for TFT

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Originally Posted by larsdangly View Post
Agreed; the core rules of the game line should not be opened up for a bunch of monkeying around in the semi-official, semi-regulated world of W23 publications.

Every group will have a few house rules at their table, so I don't see why the restriction on the license would bother anyone who was just interested in playing. And it is hard to imagine we won't see some of those house rules drift around on the internet (just like they used to drift around in gaming periodicals), so people can share them. But there is a big difference between that sort of marginalia and the chaos of 50 million (mostly bad designed) published rules modifications.
There's a huge difference between official rules and third party rules. Third party rules will be published, they're not illegal and there's no legal way to prevent someone from publishing them. The question is whether SJG wants to have influence over them by making a way to "bless" certain third party products. It's just a business decision for them.
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Old 08-23-2018, 05:08 AM   #33
philreed
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Default Re: Future support for TFT

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There's a huge difference between official rules and third party rules.
http://www.sjgames.com/general/online_policy.html
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Old 08-23-2018, 05:33 AM   #34
zot
 
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It's a nice policy and the most relevant part for authors of third-party material is where it talks about fair use protections under copyright and trademark law. There's not any practical (legal) way that SJG can _prevent_ someone from publishing third-party rules, as long as those rules themselves are actually legal. Fair use will allow a third party author to make reference to things in TFT, which ought to be enough for most expansions. People can publish a document that contains new rules, talents, whatever.

What SJG _can_ do (and I think _should_ do) is to influence third-party authors by providing a way to put something like a "Powered by TFT" logo on their material or, "this product approved by Steve Jackson Games". This would be a _legal_ way for SJG to have a say in third-party material. It would also be a way to help customers decide what and what not to buy.

I was hoping the announced license would serve this purpose but apparently it won't.

I'm still hoping there will eventually be something like this, so that 1) SJG can get a cut of third-party rules (published through Warehouse 23) and 2) customers can get a little guidance from SJG directly about third-party products. #1 is actually more significant than #2, in my opinion, because product reviews, rating systems, and "sell me on" threads already offer guidance to potential customers.
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Old 08-23-2018, 05:36 AM   #35
philreed
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Default Re: Future support for TFT

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It's a nice policy and the most relevant part for authors of third-party material is where it talks about fair use protections under copyright and trademark law.
This is not the place for legal discussions, and we will not be offering legal advice. When we post the limited agreement, individuals will have to decide whether or not they choose to sign the license and work with us.

We will release the license in 2019.
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Old 08-23-2018, 05:37 AM   #36
zot
 
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This is not the place for legal discussions, and we will not be offering legal advice. When we post the limited agreement, individuals will have to decide whether or not they choose to sign the license and work with us.

We will release the license in 2019.
I look forward to reading the actual agreement :).
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Old 08-23-2018, 11:58 AM   #37
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Future support for TFT

A technical question about the W23 publishing format: Will talents be considered 'rules' or 'other stuff' (like spells, monsters and magic items)? I can understand the case both ways. Similarly, how about mundane gear, like an expanded set of weapons, armor, farm animals, etc.?
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Old 08-23-2018, 01:24 PM   #38
Rick_Smith
 
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Default Re: Future support for TFT

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It seems to me that "rules toolkits" are just as easy to say "no" to. Historically there have been plenty of D&D DMs who excluded psionics from their tables, so it was perfectly "safe" for psionics rules to exist.
Hi Zot, everyone.
I agree. Interplay magazine had lots of new rules which I simply ignored. And how is a new spell, new talent, new weird monster or new magic item not new rules?

I think that a powerful new spell could do far more harm than (for example), some metallurgy rules on breaking weapons, that comes up rarely.

Warm regards, Rick.
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Old 08-23-2018, 01:43 PM   #39
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Future support for TFT

Some of the rules from the old magazines were just bat-$%&# crazy! Have you seen the one for 'dueling dragons'? It says something or another about dragons fighting each other in TFT and then proceeds to present a new combat system involving scripted choices of actions, target areas, some sort of table where all that gets cross indexed...

The modern version of this kind of thing is sure to get written and probably some of it will be distributed by internet in the coming months, because that is how today's gaming community operates. But I think it is totally valid for SJG to exert some editorial control over how this works in the part of the universe that conforms to licensing agreements.
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Old 08-24-2018, 12:44 AM   #40
philreed
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Default Re: Future support for TFT

For those questioning support, there's a little info here:

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/A...tarter_Project
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