5E Product Walkthrough Playlist
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  1. #61
    Quote Originally Posted by ddavison View Post
    FG's future ability to deliver 5E or 6E content depends upon our contract auto-renewing each year in March (but with a 60-day notice requirement). We pay them 60% royalties on all products we sell for them, and it costs them almost nothing to support us. They don't perform quality control on our products, customer support, hosting, distribution, or development. Any costs they paid for the original writing and imagery would have already been paid when they created the print product and the version for D&D Beyond. The revenue that we provide them goes directly to the bottom line for Wizards of the Coast as profit. When you contrast this versus book sales where they have production fees and distribution fees, then I think we are much better for their business. If you compare us with sales on D&D Beyond, you could argue that they would get 100% of the revenue if they sold it on D&D Beyond instead of Fantasy Grounds. That would be true; however, we know that a fair percentage of our users purchased it on D&D Beyond and on Fantasy Grounds and then you are comparing 160% revenue to 60% revenue for those sales. The balance of which is probably demonstrably greater than the 100% by itself. They can decide not to renew our contract for an upcoming year. I don't think that it is in their best interest financially. If you pair this up with the negative backlash they would receive from our community (and similarly from Roll20's larger community), then I think a cancellation is very unlikely to happen.

    We would still be able to keep all existing copies on our system for customers to use, reinstall, etc. even if the worst-case scenario happens, and they did cancel our license to produce and sell D&D content. We would just be unable to sell any of those going forward. What we are allowed to do with OGL based content matters a lot more to us at this point. That is why it is important for us to weigh in now. Aside from this, we currently include SRD content with our demo for free.

    I would love for the whole OGL update to be dropped. I just don't realistically think that is going to happen. I want to at least help steer Wizards of the Coast towards an update that is as fair as it can be.
    Thank you for some insight into your operations and your arrangement with WotC. It really wouldn't make much sense if they severed ties (contract) with FG (or Roll20) for that matter. TBH, I'm glad I joined FG b/c I feel more secure with my purchases given FG's license with WotC that allows use of already-purchased content.

    I'm intrigued if they've reached out with a new version of your licensing agreement - b/c the sense I get from OGL 1.2 is they're trying to stifle VTT innovation at a certain point (animation, more like video games). Plus, several publishers are jumping aboard Open RPG (referring to ORC and Pinnacle is developing their own creator universe IIRC). I would think FG should be open to all publishers?

  2. #62
    ddavison's Avatar
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    We signed on to support ORC as well. We have always tried to be a platform that supports all games.

  3. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by ddavison View Post
    6.f No Hateful Content or Conduct
    I have concerns about this provision and I think it is unnecessary. Remember that you will now be able to include a badge that appears to link it to D&D's Ampersand, though. Is that enough reason to allow this provision?

    The biggest problem I see here is that it gives WOTC sole authority to make that decision and that is a power that could be abused. An independent body that was able to make the determination would be better here, but I doubt that would be easy to set up. I'm very anti-censorship personally. I think the market should be able to decide what is acceptable and what is not, so I will provide feedback that I think this section should be stricken from the license entirely.

    Barring that, I think I would push to change the wording so that WOTC can force you to remove any of the allowed badges from your product if they determine that your content is hateful. That would allow them to protect their brand from affiliating with hateful content but would still allow people to publish content without requiring WOTC's approval of their content.
    Standard "not a lawyer, so take this opinion as, well, an opinion" disclaimer...

    I share the same concerns voiced repeatedly about WOTC putting itself in the position of subjective decider whether content is hateful, obscene, etc. In my opinion, WOTC's current language is a complete non-starter, but wanting to be able to protect their brand image isn't an unreasonable position on it's face. If WOTC won't strike this section, then I agree that Doug's proposed solution of making badges or similar kinds of "WOTC approved" markings issuable/revocable at WOTC's discretion is a reasonable way for WOTC to protect their brand/image and it should largely address the community's censorship concern. That could include WOTC instituting a formal submission/review process (possibly even monetized) in order for creators to receive permission to include formal "WOTC approved/endorsed/ect." badges or markings indicating content is compliant with WOTC's stated community standards. Again, this would just be to receive some kind of voluntarily sought out WOTC badge/endorsement - not something that would be required to release 3rd party content. As long as it is optional for those who could care less about WOTC's stamp of approval, then I'd be ok with it - a WOTC badge is not something that would sway me when making a purchase but I could see some publishers attaching value to it. Where I would draw the line is restricting language or markings indicating that the included content is "5e/5x/6x Compatible" - system compatibility should not be reasonably taken as any kind of endorsement of content.

    I'm not particularly a fan of the idea, but would also consider a compromise to require that 3rd party content include language that their content has not been reviewed, approved, or anyway endorsed by WOTC - depending on the specific language, of course. Would much rather see a process that interested content creators seek out a voluntary badge etc. as opposed to forcing all to include mandatory legalese language but a standard disclaimer doesn't seem overly onerous.

    Would prefer to see this section completely tossed out but if some combination of WOTC approved badging and/or disclaimer isn't enough for them, then yup - it sure does look like WOTC is more interested in the ability to censor potential competitors, as opposed to just trying to protect their brand...

  4. #64
    SmiteWorks broad support of a range of games, not just in terms of character sheet/rulesets but also in terms of actual full rulebooks with all data entered, plus adventures and supplements for lots of different game systems, is very much appreciated. I'm very grateful not just to the developer team but also to the community developers who work very hard of getting this stuff all available and released on the store. It goes a long way towards encouraging take-up of these other games to have the leg-work done already!

  5. #65
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    (As I've said earlier, 6f is a non starter for me as written, but..)
    Folks should know that WotC is currently engaged with TSR LLC / aka TSR Hobbies / aka NuTSR in a lawsuit that in part is about preventing hateful speech. So it's understandable to some degree that they would want to prevent having to take legal action against a company to protect their branding. There is a great deal more to the issue than hateful speech, but that is one aspect that is specifically listed in the legal case.

    To me, 6f is a knee jerk reaction to that, but is poorly thought out and even more poorly written.

    Problems? See; How to Report Issues, Bugs & Problems
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    Note, I am not a SmiteWorks employee or representative, I'm just a user like you.

  6. #66

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    That was my impression as well - WotC with a poorly thought out knee jerk reaction - maybe after being prodded by Hasbro over the lawsuit.

  7. #67
    No, that lawsuit is about trademarks. That Justin Lanasa is (IMO from all his posts online) a horrible person is tangential to the case.

  8. #68
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nylanfs View Post
    No, that lawsuit is about trademarks. That Justin Lanasa is (IMO from all his posts online) a horrible person is tangential to the case.
    It is about trademarks, but... part of the trademark issue as outlined in court documents filed by WotC is that through bigotry and hate speech, NuTSR is damaging the Star Frontiers brand.

    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.

  9. #69
    Dear members of the Fantasy Grounds community,

    We understand that there has been a lot of discussion and concern recently about the Open Game License (OGL) and its potential impact on the RPG community. We want to assure you that the Fantasy Grounds Academy is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or even directly affiliated with Smiteworks LLC, and our primary focus is on providing support, education, inspiration, and a positive community for users of the Fantasy Grounds Unity platform.

    While it is true that many of the FG users enjoy using the platform for playing Dungeons and Dragons, there are also many other rulesets and games that can be played on Fantasy Grounds Unity. We encourage you and others to also explore these options and consider branching out into other games, such as Shadow of the Demon Lord, Alien, or Pathfinder 2e. There are so many exciting and diverse games available on the FGU platform, and we want to hopefully inspire and help empower you to discover new systems and experiences. Additionally, there are many licensed adventures and other content available through Smiteworks that can be used on the platform, regardless of the status of the OGL.

    It is important to remember that the Fantasy Grounds Unity platform and our community of users, volunteers and GMs that surrounds it are bigger than any one game or ruleset. We are here to support and help each other, no matter what changes or challenges may come our way. Let's continue to be a positive and supportive community, and stay focused on what we can control: our own enjoyment of the platform and our efforts to help others learn and use it effectively.

    No matter what changes or challenges come our way, we have each other and the incredible resources of the Fantasy Grounds Unity platform to help us navigate them. Let's continue to be a positive and supportive community, and to inspire and empower each other to make the most of the platform and all it has to offer.

    Sincerely,
    FG Academy Community
    FGA Founder
    FGU teacher and student!
    Ultimate License Holder
    Discord Alias: Laerun#6969

    https://www.fantasygroundsacademy.com

  10. #70

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