beholdsa
January 08, 2008 12:30:10
So apparently the verdict is in about 4e and d20's new licensing. To make a long story short, 3rd part publishers (like us) will be divided into one of two classifications: Grade A publishers and Grade B publishers.
Grade A publishers have to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement and fork over a one-time fee of $5000 to Wizards of the Coast. For this they will get advance copies of 4e (Next Month) and the ability to publish 4e materials starting in August of this year.
Grade B publishers pay nothing, but still have to register with Wizards of the Coast. They won't get access to the 4e SRD until June, and cannot publish any 4e material until January of next year.
Apparently the new SRD won't be a pretty-much-complete system like it is now. It will just be a set of rules guidelines. So you can kiss goodbye rules reference sites like
d20srd.org. The new license will include that all published materials require the D&D player's handbook (so no complete standalone games) and a “decency” clause (no pr0n or other stuff that might offend Wizards).
There currently are no plans to halt publishing on the old d20 license (for 3.5 material) but that possibility remains open for the future.