Again, Death Cult Corporate Skinsuit thinks it owns what it does not. The Pundit explains.
This is rampant stupidity prompting an unforced error.
You cannot erase the continuity of any D&D IP. It's entire corpus is online, mostly in PDF format, and therefore floating around replcating itself perfectly. The novels are increasingly available in ePub and Kindle also. Ask around and you'll be able to get what you want, for free, thanks to Captain Harlock--friend to all free people--and his men.
The same applies to D&D itself. The older editions--the good ones--are also available online, and physical product isn't that hard to get.
What does this add up to? Let me lay this out for you.
- There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any money.
- There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any time.
- There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any love.
- There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any hate.
Give them nothing; I am indifferent to this delusional notion of "Year Zero" because it cannot be done, and it cannot be done because the audience--the hobbyists--have the final say over what is and is not so.
The hobbyists know that they don't need Muh Officialdum. The Old School Renaisance's first and biggest win was making good on the promise to ensure that D&D would be forever free no matter who held the trademark; if you need a rulebook, you can get a clean one and you can get it free or dirt cheap in the ruleset of your liking.
Or make your own. WOTC can't stop you.
And thanks to Jeffro having shown us the way, using a commercial setting is a waste of time; learn to think that you're playing (X Campaign) and not "D&D" just as the old timers played Tekumel, Greyhawk, and Blackmoor and not D&D.
Not only is this a non-threat, it's a non-starter of an issue.
I can't even be bothered to feel anyting other than apathy about this; this is very much a "Don't look at the man behind the curtain!" moment because Muh Officialdum in D&D is fucking retarded. It matters only for exploitation in the form of non-gaming media in other forms, where D&D is always an also-ran at best and a punching bag most of the time, and no Death Cult skinjob is going to change that.
If you have to offer something to consume, again I'll point to Chris Gonnerman's Basic Fantasy; PDFs for free, and print-on-demand at-cost. Doesn't get easier, while remaining legal, than that.
Precisely!
ReplyDelete"What does this add up to? Let me lay this out for you.
There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any money.
There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any time.
There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any love.
There is no need to give Wizards of the Coast any hate.
Give them nothing; I am indifferent to this delusional notion of "Year Zero" because it cannot be done, and it cannot be done because the audience--the hobbyists--have the final say over what is and is not so."
So the rule book that was published in the 1980's will STILL work today? Wow, what a concept!
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