GURPS Lite and a Open gaming license?

[RGTraynor]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I think the main point is "$750k isn't as much as it sounds like", though I think people also don't realize how shoestring most RPG operations actually are.

Pretty much. The revenue streams in RPG-dom would be considered laughable, abject failure by most of the business world.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

Pretty much. The revenue streams in RPG-dom would be considered laughable, abject failure by most of the business world.

My boss' boss, who plays RPGs - I was in a scenario he ran on Sunday - was shocked to discover a few years ago that the part of the business he's in charge of has more turnover than the whole world's RPG industry.

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I think the main point is "$750k isn't as much as it sounds like", though I think people also don't realize how shoestring most RPG operations actually are.

Bingo and that is the 'floor' for the 'top tier', as I stated I believe the floor for the bottom tier is $50k. Gross.

[dcarson]

I remember a discussion here years ago about a problem of losing writers when they got to the point of reliably turning in good stuff on time. They'd start writing genre fiction where an average successful writer almost makes minimum wage which is a step up from gaming.

[warellis]

Originally Posted by Witchking

Bingo and that is the 'floor' for the 'top tier', as I stated I believe the floor for the bottom tier is $50k. Gross.

In Wizards' case, they are attempting to use OGL 1.1 to prevent would-be-competitors from growing any bigger than a certain point, by skimming off anything above $750,000.

It's genuinely awful.

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by warellis

In Wizards' case, they are attempting to use OGL 1.1 to prevent would-be-competitors from growing any bigger than a certain point, by skimming off anything above $750,000.

It's genuinely awful.

TBH from what I have read/heard of the OGL 1.1 I am unsure that anyone working under said license can make any profit at all. Unless they value their own labor at $0.00/hr.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Witchking

TBH from what I have read/heard of the OGL 1.1 I am unsure that anyone working under said license can make any profit at all. Unless they value their own labor at $0.00/hr.

I suspect that that's the point.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by warellis

In Wizards' case, they are attempting to use OGL 1.1 to prevent would-be-competitors from growing any bigger than a certain point, by skimming off anything above $750,000.

It's genuinely awful.

I suspect the OGL wasn't meant to create competitors - rather, it was meant to allow them to essentially offload some content creation to the community, expanding the interest base to include niches that they didn't want to dedicate the time and resources catering to - basically, the community creates content that increases the interest in the system (earning some money for their efforts, as they can sell what they create), which in turn results in more people purchasing the mainline system and various supplements. It was a win-win situation - up until the community started competing for market share with the main system (I think Pathfinder is the big one here - picking up the fans that fell out when 4e was released - but there are probably others by now).

Of course, there were probably those involved in the creation of the OGL who absolutely did intend for it to create competitors. Competition drives innovation, and to a certain degree forces those involved to strive further toward excellence, so I could absolutely see an idealist pushing for the OGL in hopes that the competition would force WotC to better itself to keep ahead of the game. I haven't really paid much attention to DnD after I discovered GURPS (not long after the release of DnD 4e - but by happenstance, not because I hated the edition change), but from what I understand it has indeed markedly improved over the years, and it's possible the OGL-generated competition was a big part of that.

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

SJG will (usually) ignore fanprojects that are available for free to everyone, as long as those projects make sure to inform people that they aren't official.

Originally Posted by Refplace

Also it needs to not violate copyright, trademarks, Image Use guidelines, and apply to the ToS.
And copyrighted text needs to follow the rules in the online policy and be kept to an approved minimum.
http://www.sjgames.com/general/online_policy.html
Anyone wanting to write any fan material should read that last link and the additional links and material it points to.

I don't know if it is included in the above, but I believe SJG also doesn't want you to imitate their "trade dress", i.e. make your product look too much like theirs visually. I recall this from back when they got irked when someone made a fake cover for "GURPS Zero Wing" back when (That's the "All your base are belong to us." video game.)

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

I don't know if it is included in the above, but I believe SJG also doesn't want you to imitate their "trade dress", i.e. make your product look too much like theirs visually. I recall this from back when they got irked when someone made a fake cover for "GURPS Zero Wing" back when (That's the "All your base are belong to us." video game.)

I think they also were very concerned and/or angry when someone created a 'GURPS Ghostbusters' fanbook in PDF that looked very much like an official product - in both cases, this is largely because it could have gotten them sued, although it probably wasn't the only reason.