Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in- Marketplace
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in
Funny, even WotC for all of their silly decisions seem to have asked for opinions, including dissenting ones. People who like to demonize us and not let us speak our truth sound suspiciously like someone employed by execs to stifle actual complaints.
In other words, we have a right to be upset AND to explain what upsets us and why. Trying to shut us up with insults and hyperbole smacks of desperation.
I've never been called a bible thumper before. That bit's kinda funny considering people of my age having had to deal with the satanic panic back in the day.
Ah, therein lies the problem; you are coming at this from a place of feelings and emotion rather than looking with your eyes and seeing what WotC actually did. A thing of which is fact, and we have proof, it is not a feeling. We have the writing on the wall to examine and see what they want.
We are not decrying WotC for no reason, they literally showed up and started demanding more than their fair share, more than they've gotten or been entitled to for the last 20 years just out of the blue, and also said that they're allowed to take away 5e from all third party content creators basically just because they want to. If removing rights from people that have enjoyed them for 20 years isn't Draconian in your book, then I think you need to reevaluate your stance or something because it's messed up dude.
Except there is a tiny little terminology setup that makes 1.2 worse in regards to hateful content, which I will emphasis
"No Hateful Content or Conduct. You will not include content in Your Licensed Works that is harmful,
discriminatory, illegal, obscene, or harassing, or engage in conduct that is harmful, discriminatory, illegal,
obscene, or harassing. We have the sole right to decide what conduct or content is hateful, and you
covenant that you will not contest any such determination via any suit or other legal action."
This says they can decide what is considered 'bad'. Additionally, they can punish a creator for simply liking something that Wizards can decide is 'bad'. This includes dropping a like on a NSFW piece of a character the creator owns.This can extend to personal opinions on social or political issues, who such a creator follows, or what they post on social media, even if it's a meme or a joke.
They can say "You like Johnny Depp and follow his Instagram? Well, we think he's a garbage human. Banned, and your content remains with us under our license."
Or "Oh, you drew a nude fanart of your goblin character from Your Content that is under Our License? We don't like that. **** off!".
Once again, this is not some new and unprecedented provision. Whatever site you posted your nude goblin pic on? They'll have a clause just like that in their terms, which you almost certainly scrolled right past before marking the "I accept the terms" box so you could make your account. YouTube, Twitch, any art hosting site; all of these places have similar provisions that they have the right to personally moderate what content is published under their banner. This is a completely boilerplate "don't use our name as a platform for your hate speech" line.
So for sure you are not wrong.
I would contest that there is usually a redress function in moderation though. An appeals process. In this case there is no appeals process, and that is what I do not like at all.
This point is invalid. You cannot expect WotC to see into the future. You are also taking things to the extreme.
VTTeamPlayers (Peter)
I am a DM who believes in fun, roleplay and storytelling. The dice always have a story to tell.
And sorry folks, I no longer run 5 campaigns every month.
Too old now. I'm focusing on making 1 campaign as good as it can be (homebrewed).
So spots are limited. Get on a waiting list if you want to join up!
For my older game videos, visit HERE
Completely fine if you don't care about unilateral decisions that cannot be revised by any means, meaning any 3rd party/ creator using the license would be at the whims of WotC who could always shut them down claiming there was some harm caused by your work, which in a narrow sense is true for every non trivial piece of literature -- it will always offend someone and therefore harm the IP in a very narrow way, that if there is unilateral decision and no revision enough -- leaving aside that without revision it would not matter in the first place.
I will never understand how people can be so hell bent on free speech (usually more than law actually gives you in the U.S. where of course not all speech is protected), but are fine with corporations doing unilateral unchecked censorship to the extend of in this context destroying economic existences.
Plus there is a lot of content I want to see but is pretty certainly obscene by Washington State standards. But that would never even be tested with there not being any way to have WotC arbitrary decisions reviewed.
The truth is, there are a lot of bigots out there. It may not be you, and may not be me, but they are there.
Over the past 6of more years, a culture of hate has taken root in the world. Not just in the US.
WotC is valid in their concerns.
he actions of others are forcing this upon us. It may not be fair, but it is reality.
OGL 1.0a has to be de-authorised...but it can be absorbed into 1.2 in a manner that provides the same options, while still addressing new concerns.
VTTeamPlayers (Peter)
I am a DM who believes in fun, roleplay and storytelling. The dice always have a story to tell.
And sorry folks, I no longer run 5 campaigns every month.
Too old now. I'm focusing on making 1 campaign as good as it can be (homebrewed).
So spots are limited. Get on a waiting list if you want to join up!
For my older game videos, visit HERE
Like who? For TSR it was not necessary. It could be a clause without excluding suing, too. You are not allowed to violate some morality (good concept for a globally played game...), but if you want to appeal WotC's ban you at least can go to court or whatever arbitration. 1.2 has you at WotC's whim, the whim of the Hadozee gold standard.
In the 'Case of the Nude Goblin', WotC does not have control over 'goblins'.
So, as long as that nude goblin does not have a WotC logo or badge, and is not tied to them in any way, they will not care. At. All.
VTTeamPlayers (Peter)
I am a DM who believes in fun, roleplay and storytelling. The dice always have a story to tell.
And sorry folks, I no longer run 5 campaigns every month.
Too old now. I'm focusing on making 1 campaign as good as it can be (homebrewed).
So spots are limited. Get on a waiting list if you want to join up!
For my older game videos, visit HERE
Gee, if only it were possible for the D&D community to make their feelings known if D&D started making those kind of decisions, or even just walk away to an alternative. Oh, wait, we can and we've clearly demonstrated we will. Look, if you really cannot bear to bring yourself to believe WotC has anything but active bad intentions in mind, it's time for you to just walk away from D&D. If they wield the clause as a bludgeon, they'll just destroy their own business. An appeals process largely exists for forums where users can report content and get it pulled automatically; it's a check on report trolling. You're still appealing to the company, who has the final say on what content is acceptable. In this case, as WotC is the one who would be initiating the process, so such an appeal would be redundant.
And, regarding the free speech point, they are not saying you cannot say or do whatever it is you said or did, they're saying they don't want their product/brand associated with it. Free speech protections only exist in relation to the government checking your right to speech.
If you write any horror stuff under 1.2 and WotC decides that it harms their family friendly strategy as a toy company your publication gets mulched, no appeal available, no compensation, you accepted WotC's absolute power over morality and everything.
Those things would not happen...but even if they did? Guess what? You'd still have other options.
VTTeamPlayers (Peter)
I am a DM who believes in fun, roleplay and storytelling. The dice always have a story to tell.
And sorry folks, I no longer run 5 campaigns every month.
Too old now. I'm focusing on making 1 campaign as good as it can be (homebrewed).
So spots are limited. Get on a waiting list if you want to join up!
For my older game videos, visit HERE
For 23 years creators did believe this would not happen. Most of them thought it was a certainty protected by rule of law.
Unless wizards decides the act of posting it constitutes lewd conduct. Remember 6f includes conduct, not just content.
If Matt Colville starts an Onlyfans, wizards could decide to pull his license.
And Matt could not appeal it. Ever. His career is over.
Also, WOTC may be positioned to claim goblins based on something I saw from one of those internet lawyers. Seems far fetched and completely ridiculous, but there is probably an argument for specific expression and usage.
Honestly, I doubt they'll particularly care if it did, unless it was being directly associated with a 3PP's product. The Rule 34 genie has been out of the bottle for a long time. Most likely they're trying to head off the next Ernest Gygax.
The fact that WotC has already produced horror themed content rather undercuts that idea, I'd say.
They didn't actually take those actions.
A draft was privately circulated to get opinions from creators, and some of those creators leaked it to create panic and steal consumers from the company.
WotC had not finalized anything at all, and still haven't.
VTTeamPlayers (Peter)
I am a DM who believes in fun, roleplay and storytelling. The dice always have a story to tell.
And sorry folks, I no longer run 5 campaigns every month.
Too old now. I'm focusing on making 1 campaign as good as it can be (homebrewed).
So spots are limited. Get on a waiting list if you want to join up!
For my older game videos, visit HERE
One or two did sign those deals, but that is fake leaks, right? If you really still buy the "draft" BS there is little that can be done about it. Are you in the bridge buying market? I have some over here in Germany you might be interested in.
Eh, I'm willing to buy they were looking to push a more hardline document as fait accompli before the community got up in arms, but I don't think they're planning to invest the kind of man-hours it would take to constantly monitor all 3PP's in some non-sensical attempt at going all Big Brother on the franchise, particularly after the community has made it pretty clear they're ready to take them to court and/or walk away if WotC pushes too far.