Ok, isto está ficando ridículo. Até a Necromancer Games, maior e mais otimista defensora da 4ª edição dentre as editoras, decidiu voltar atrás em seus planos de publicação para a nova edição do Dungeons & Dragons em um post do dono da editora, Clark Peterson:
Sorry I have been so quiet. Things are very up in the air right now. And no one is more aggravated with that than me. It has been about a year now that we havent put out a product. The market for 3.5 is all but dried up. Maybe Pathfinder’s release will help, but that is still some time off. I intend to support Pathfinder when it is finalized. I trust and respect the people at Paizo. They are gamers and brilliant designers. They love D&D and have its best interests at heart. Luckily, when Wizards first took over D&D, they put a visionary gentleman named Ryan Dancey at the helm and he was able to convince the powers that be to release D&D 3E as an Open Game, thus essentially assuring that the game we all love could exist in that iteration forever. 3E and the d20 movement was a great time for gaming. A true renaissance, in my view.
Now we have the GSL. Right now, in my view, the GSL needs some major reworking or clarification to be usable. The bottom line, in my view, is that the GSL is a total unmitigated failure. And that is a shame. I have been one of the biggest vocal proponents of Wizards and I love Scott and Linae. I still do, big time. I am hopefull that we can find a way to change or clarify some of the issues with the license so that we can use it and create 4E products. You know that philsophically I believe in supporting the current version of D&D.
Trust me that I am working hard to try to resolve the GSL issues so that we can go forward. I’m optimistic that some changes can be made. Will they be enough to make the GSL usable? I sure hope so.
Please dont take this post as bashing Wizards. I am not doing that. I support Wizards. And if there is one thing that is clear from this process it is that, while I would have done it differently, they have always been great about listening to our comments and revising things based on our comments. That is a credit to them, for sure. And Scott and Linae continue to be amazing and, in my view, working hard to make the license usable.
So what will Necro do? I’ll try to break things down by relevant topic:
So are you doing 4E? Well, right now I dont see 4E products in the immediate future from Necro without some changes or clarifications to the license. My hope is that I will be able to get what I need so that we can do 4E products. But as of today we have not adopted the GSL, we have not sent in our card accepting the license. And, unless there are changes or significant clarification, we won’t be adopting it.
Necro and Paizo? I still very much want to work with them and they very much want to work with me. The problem is the GSL. Necro will definately be supporting Pathfinder when it comes out. If the GSL issues are resolved, Necro and Paizo will be bringing you some amazing products that we already have lined up and in the hopper. Seriously, there are several awesome products literally ready to go just awaiting the fixing of the issues with the GSL.
Tegel Manor? Right now, in my view, in addition to the problems the GSL has in general, it has specific additonal problems for a product like Tegel. I see the risk to Judges Guild, which wants to continue to make OGL versions of JG content and distribute our old Necro/JG products as well, as being too great to jeopardize permenantly, which the GSL does. But, you may say, Judges Guild doesnt have to adopt the GSL! That is true, but the GSL has some problematic provisions that make that partnership very difficult and uncertain.
What about that free adventure, Winter’s Tomb? Can’t you just do a free adventure? Its not happening. There is no way to “just do a free adventure” without adopting the GSL, which we have not yet done and wont do in its current incarnation.
So now will you release all that stuff for 3E? Doubtful. The market for 3E is not there. I expect Pathfinder to revive it, but that isnt going to be a full, public supportable system for some time. 3E remains viable for many publishers. But our plan is to up the production value on our products, which means they cost alot more to make, which means our margins are so small, that the current 3E market makes those products not feasible for lots of reasons I wont get into. I know there are many fans who say they will buy that stuff and would love to have it. Well, in a perfect world, we’d love to deliver it. But this isnt a perfect world and fan demand isnt the only factor–there are distributors and retailers and others who are not so excited about generic 3E now that 4E is out.
So bottom line it for me–what are you going to do? We are working with Wizards to clarify and/or change the license. If that works, we will release 4E material. If there are no changes, I dont see us adopting the GSL (absent some significant official clarification of terms of the GSL). We will support Pathfinder. But we will not just release OGL content from this point forward until Pathfinder is viable and we can support it.
How likely do you think it is that there will be changes? I am very hopeful that some significant changes or clarifications can be accomplished with the GSL.
I hope this helps answer some questions. Sorry for the delay. I havent had anything concrete to report. Heck, I still dont. But I figured I owed everyone an update.
Necro isnt going anywhere. We are trying to work to be able to get a usable GSL or other arrangment with Wizards to bring you the awesome 4E content we have planned. If that wont work, you will see us fully supporting Pathfinder. Our time off before we start cranking out new products may just be a bit longer than planned
Acho que podemos dizer que a Necromancer foi a editora que mais arduamente insistiu com a 4ª edição, mantendo uma aparente proximidade da Wizards e seus funcionários, sempre na defesa da nova edição e de suas qualidades. Mas a real, que o Clark coloca aqui, é que a GSL é pesada demais até para a empresa mais decidida a lançar produtos da 4ª edição. E o mercado da 3ª edição está desaquecido e em decadência veloz lá fora, o que já foi sentido a um tempo nas vendas de livros em formato PDF por uma série de editoras. Então a Necro (e a maioria das editoras) ficou em um beco sem saída, uma situação complicada onde, a partir da qual alguns decidiram investir em suas próprias linhas, e outros em lançarem produtos para a nova edição sem seguir as duras restrições da GSL.
Mas o mais bizarro de tudo é a solução encontrada pelo Clark e sua Necromancer Games: ele não vai investir em um OGL próprio, se voltar para a 3ª edição ou mesmo lançar produtos para a 4ª edição sem usar a GSL. Segundo o post acima, a saída encontrada pela Necro é a de trabalhar junto da Wizards (!) para clarificar ou modificar a Game System License (!!). E se isso falhar, eles vão apoiar o Pathfinder. Eu não sei mesmo se ele vai conseguir mudar alguma coisa na GSL, ou se tem essa proximidade toda com os funcionários da Wizards, a ponto de fazê-los rever algo que obviamente deu muito errado. Mas o fato é que a cada dia a GSL perde mais e mais sua legitimidade, sendo burlada ou ignorada por completo pelas maiores editoras. Eu até já havia questionado a possibilidade dessa reformulação da GSL depois que a Green Ronin abandonou o barco da 4ª edição, e eu acho que depois de Outubro, quando os primeiros produtos usando a licença poderão serem vendidos, teremos a visão real do estrago causado pela rejeição a Game System License. E talvez ai a Wizards se convença que a GSL foi seu maior fracasso em muito tempo.
Loading ...
