Ask Your TAS Question Here

dmccoy1693

Cosmic Mongoose
Please post your questions in bold. If you need to expand on it, make that normal.

Can anything from the OTU be used, even things not published by Mongoose? So if I wanted to publish something from The Beyond sector (just as an example), even though it was originally published by FASA and Mongoose has not yet covered that sector, can I work with that material?

Can I publish my own non-OTU setting with TAS? If I create my own setting with the Travellers' Aid Society, will it still be mine or no one but me can publish for it?
 
dmccoy1693 said:
Please post your questions in bold. If you need to expand on it, make that normal.

Can anything from the OTU be used, even things not published by Mongoose? So if I wanted to publish something from The Beyond sector (just as an example), even though it was originally published by FASA and Mongoose has not yet covered that sector, can I work with that material?

Can I publish my own non-OTU setting with TAS? If I create my own setting with the Travellers' Aid Society, will it still be mine or no one but me can publish for it?
These are two questions that I too will like to see answered.
 
dmccoy1693 said:
Can I publish my own non-OTU setting with TAS? If I create my own setting with the Travellers' Aid Society, will it still be mine or no one but me can publish for it?

So far, the answer to this one appears to be that you can post your own setting, but that you relinquish control of your IP and it becomes property of anyone who wishes to use it.

From the terms and conditions that pop up when you go to upload something: "“User Generated Content” shall be defined as the copyrightable elements included in your Work, such as original characters, scenes, locations and events. User Generated content shall not include the illustrations and cartographic artwork included in your work. Per the terms of this Agreement, you expressly agree that your User Generated Content, once submitted to the Program will become Program IP and useable by other members of the Program as well as the Owner as described in this Agreement."

In addition, you had better be sure that you want to post something there. Because if you decide to take it off TAS, that doesn't mean that you get control of your IP back:

No Reversion. Due to our licensing arrangement with the Owner and the collaborative nature of the Program, you are granting us broad licenses in your Work and your User Generated Content included in your Work, and the rights to your Work will not be reverted once it is published in the Program. You will have the ability through online tools at OBS websites to stop public display and sale of your Work on OBS marketplaces, but not to stop the sale of works of other authors in the Program even when such works use your User Generated Content that you originally created in your Work and thereby became part of the Program IP for other authors to use.

So make sure you are aware of this BEFORE you upload anything.
 
So this means that anything I publish through TAS (rather than the OGL) is essentially public domain (or owned by Mongoose)? Does that include rules or only setting material?

Becuase I am working on a non-OTU (that is, original) "big" setting for Traveller, and when published, I would like to have at least a certain degree of control over its IP. And I would prefer to publish it for MGT2 through TAS - and not as OGL.
 
Golan2072 said:
So this means that anything I publish through TAS (rather than the OGL) is essentially public domain (or owned by Mongoose)? Does that include rules or only setting material?

Becuase I am working on a non-OTU (that is, original) "big" setting for Traveller, and when published, I would like to have at least a certain degree of control over its IP. And I would prefer to publish it for MGT2 through TAS - and not as OGL.

I'm not sure about rules but it definitely applies to setting material. If you upload your setting to TAS, you will lose control over what can be done with it and by whom.
 
Sigtrygg said:
Doesn't this mean Marc W Miller loses control over the OTU too?

Only if it's published under the TAS, wouldn't apply to anything published that doesn't fall under TAS.
 
AndrewW said:
Sigtrygg said:
Doesn't this mean Marc W Miller loses control over the OTU too?

Only if it's published under the TAS, wouldn't apply to anything published that doesn't fall under TAS.

And technically - I wouldnt think so.

Just because you and I publish something under TAS, does not in any way mean it is Canon.

So if I publish the Beyond Sector tomorrow, and meanwhile Mongoose published their Beyond Sector for 3I a week later, It'd be clear which is canon.
 
There appears to be more to the "rules" of the TAS than was posted by Matt. Especially related to the ownership of the IP and what DTRPG takes above their normal 25% of the sale.

Can we get this information posted here? I would think that Mongoose would want everyone to know what they are getting into before they spend time formatting and getting ready to publish only to find that they are uncomfortable with details of the agreement.

It sounds like it might be worth doing for some products, but that for others, using the OGL will be the right choice. It could vary between products or between publishers. BUT, we need to know all the rules so we can make an informed decision.

PLEASE? :)
 
Rikki Tikki Traveller said:
There appears to be more to the "rules" of the TAS than was posted by Matt. Especially related to the ownership of the IP and what DTRPG takes above their normal 25% of the sale.

Can we get this information posted here? I would think that Mongoose would want everyone to know what they are getting into before they spend time formatting and getting ready to publish only to find that they are uncomfortable with details of the agreement.

It sounds like it might be worth doing for some products, but that for others, using the OGL will be the right choice. It could vary between products or between publishers. BUT, we need to know all the rules so we can make an informed decision.

PLEASE? :)

I second this. Publishers and prospective publishers need this information. While raising the profile of Traveller is a good thing, if we hurt the products while trying to raise the profile we all lose.

William
 
Rikki Tikki Traveller said:
There appears to be more to the "rules" of the TAS than was posted by Matt. Especially related to the ownership of the IP and what DTRPG takes above their normal 25% of the sale.

Can we get this information posted here? I would think that Mongoose would want everyone to know what they are getting into before they spend time formatting and getting ready to publish only to find that they are uncomfortable with details of the agreement.

It sounds like it might be worth doing for some products, but that for others, using the OGL will be the right choice. It could vary between products or between publishers. BUT, we need to know all the rules so we can make an informed decision.

PLEASE? :)

Well, I believe I can help. This is the "terms and conditions" text which caused me to balk.

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Honestly, if you view TAS as the equivalent of being able to publish a magazine article in JTAS or Challenge, then TAS makes perfect sense and is a good place for someone to post something.

If you are expecting it to be a replacement for the Third Party Publisher system which existed with the 1e/OGL, then I fear you will be sadly disappointed. Unfortunately, that's how it was sold to the 3PP who have been in business with Mongoose and many of us are now stuck with months and months of work which really has no place on TAS.
 
May I publish ships created with 1st edtion / 1st edition High Guard? It says "current edition", but for ship building, the current edition is 1st.
 
It would appear that TAS is a boon to the person who likes to create game stuff and share/give it away. Now they have an opportunity to make a little (I think that's probably more of a truism than you think...) money along the way.

But for full-time publishers it's kind of a raw deal. The terms are pretty one-sided - 50% royalties to Drivethrough, irrevocable terms, etc. Basically once you are in, you are in for life with that content. I don't see why any of them would ever want to participate in TAS, especially since the terms are horrible in relation to IP ownership. And let's hope that OBS doesn't turn out to be as crappy of a publishing "house" as Ellora's Cave turned out to be. They screwed hundreds, if not thousands of authors out of their royalties for many years until they finally collapsed.

I feel sorry for 3rd party people who have put out, arguably, superior works to MGT in terms of artwork or storylines. For the casual person it's probably better to simply provide content for game-supporting ezines like Freelance Traveller - you'll still get it out to the core Traveller audience and you still retain all control. On the flip side, if you really don't care about any of that, the TAS will work for you. Then you can tell all your friends you are a published game material author.
 
So, TAS is a bit like the hardcopy JTAS of old? A digital magazine for the non-entrepreneur (and maybe some entrepreneurs) to submit articles pertaining to Traveller and adding to the universe? I've missed those sources for the small additions from short adventures to a new weapon, beasty or instrument and new ideas that people can plug in to their games.
 
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