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  1. #1

    Things to take into consideration before publishing on DMsG

    Mike Myler articulated my thoughts on this better than I could.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Myler
    DMs Guild, You, and what it means for D&D and RPGS:

    1) You do not retain ownership of your content, when you publish it there it becomes Intellectual Property of the DMsGuild. Review the contract and identify how many rights of ownership you keep (hint: it's 2 very minor parts).

    2) There is no incentive for real publishers to do stuff there because of #1 and because they take 50% of gross instead of 35%. The margins on publishing are already way too tight to give up another 15% especially when it means it can be sold nowhere else at all, which cuts out revenue from places like Open Gaming Store and Paizo.com. It is really hard to make it work for local game stores using the regular model, and this 50% stuff literally makes that mathematically impossible (and btw it's illegal because your friendly local game store is not DMsGuild).

    3) Whatever value being able to use D&D art had, that's evaporated because all of DM's Guild uses it so the "wow" factor has been stripped away.

    4) Because they "take writers from DMs Guild", there's a "notice me senpai!!" attitude that dropped the price floor from out of everything. Not only are your sales hit by that 50% take, you can't sell products for anything approaching a fair price (in this, your only venue).

    5) There's more to this (WotC abandoning major conventions, dropping forums, having FB groups "moderate" the fan community, bumbling Adventurer's League and handing it off to a third party; the list gets upsetting) but basically Hasbro is terrified of another Paizo happening (ie: another company making a better version of D&D then outselling them for 10 years the way Pathfinder did after 4E fell on its face) and they can't NOT address it because the way US law works (you can copyright game text and terminology but not mechanics, and the d20 3.0 & 3.5 System Reference Documents make it theoretically possible to transfer material between editions under the Open Gaming License).

    Their solution to that has been to point everyone to the "official D&D Marketplace" and make that marketplace as hostile as possible to anyone that could become a future competitor. Even WotC's partnering publishers have few if any products on there, I suspect as a gesture made for their work on core line adventure books.

    Raising the industry with one hand and slapping at it with the other.
    I'm posting this because of a logo clarification that they just made earlier today. The ONLY logo you can have on your cover is the DMsG logo.
    https://www.enworld.org/forum/conten...Product-Covers

    Edit: About Fantasy Grounds. "FG logo is allowed on FG titles, we’re going to add a section to the FAQ linking to the FG section of the FAQ and clarifying that."
    Last edited by Nylanfs; January 30th, 2018 at 22:36. Reason: clarification

  2. #2

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    There is currently no effective way for a private guy to publish pathfinder material for beer money.

  3. #3
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    I'm not sure I agree with Mike's attitude towards the DMsG, but I will say there is value in his perspective.

    In short, their are benefits to using the DMsG, but there are also draw backs. I think for most cases of people or companies wanting to become a "professional" in the RPG industry it is only (at best) a temporary stepping stone. And one that should be a short step in your career path and only if you need access to specific IP that can only be used through the DMsG.

    The areas or types of publishing that is the strength of the DMsG;
    1) Fan type content; sure, a few bucks might be nice, but I just want to publish my self more formally than posting on a forum.
    2) Content that relies upon the restricted IP that only is accessible through the Guild (such as my upcoming Undermountain adventures).
    3) Fantasy Grounds modules and tools. You can only publish through the a separate license agreement, FG Store, or the DMsG. A for small independents, SW would rather you publish through the DMsG (I suspect their store is too labor intensive to accommodate small independents or fan level content).

    If you don't fall into one of those three categories, then I would agree that you should consider other outlets.

    Problems? See; How to Report Issues, Bugs & Problems
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    Community Contributions: Gemstones, 5E Quick Ref Decal, Adventure Module Creation, Dungeon Trinkets, Balance Disturbed, Dungeon Room Descriptions
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  4. #4
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bidmaron View Post
    There is currently no effective way for a private guy to publish pathfinder material for beer money.
    Why can't you publish through DriveThru or one of the OBS sites using the OGL?

    Problems? See; How to Report Issues, Bugs & Problems
    On Licensing & Distributing Community Content
    Community Contributions: Gemstones, 5E Quick Ref Decal, Adventure Module Creation, Dungeon Trinkets, Balance Disturbed, Dungeon Room Descriptions
    Note, I am not a SmiteWorks employee or representative, I'm just a user like you.

  5. #5

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    You have to set up your own shingle to do that. Again, I am not looking to do this myself, but just pointing out that SW won’t take individuals, and there is no DMsG for Pathfinder.

  6. #6
    Trenloe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bidmaron View Post
    There is currently no effective way for a private guy to publish pathfinder material for beer money.
    Pathfinder material for Fantasy Grounds, maybe. I know plenty of people that publish OGL Pathfinder RPG material "for beer money" on OBS.
    Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!

  7. #7

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    Sorry, Trenloe but you know I am a rock. OBS?

  8. #8
    Trenloe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bidmaron View Post
    Sorry, Trenloe but you know I am a rock. OBS?
    https://www.onebookshelf.com/
    Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!

  9. #9

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    I guess I just assumed you had to open a shingle unless you were publishing fiction, but maybe I was mistaken. I am a very frequent customer of RPGNOW, and I have never noticed personal publishing there, but I was wrong. It appears anyone can open an account and publish.

  10. #10
    Yep, just make sure you understand the OGL, and what is in the SRD and what other material is OGC and what isn't.

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