Q&A Round Up

[MongooseMatt]

Posted in another thread, but felt it worth highlighting in a new one:

Can anything from the OTU be used, even things not published by Mongoose?[/b] 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?

As yet, no - stick with Mongoose Third Imperium material. This may well change (we have already discussed this with Mr Miller), but we want to make sure TAS is working for everyone first.

Note: At this time, this _does_ include Third Imperium books printed by Mongoose for the previous edition as they have not been outmoded by the new rules.

Can I publish my own non-OTU setting with TAS?[/b] 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?

We are working on this as a priority - we will set up a system whereby you retain ownership of your own work (though if it uses the Traveller rules and, especially, the Third Imperium setting, you can only publish it through TAS).

Doesn't this mean Marc W Miller loses control over the OTU too?

No - and this is really the reason for TAS. Basically, it keeps everything in one place where Mr Miller is able to retain control of his own work - but he is very keen for everyone else to put their own spin on things, in an environment where other players cabn pick and choose what they want to use and there is always a touchstone of 'true canon' if you will, which will be material published by Mongoose and Mr Miller.

Best of both worlds, really!

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.

As mentioned above, this is a priority for us. We want people to be comfortable with TAS, and it is certainly not our intention to use it to hoover up everyone's work and call it our own. Give us a few more days on this and I am sure we can present something far more agreeable to you all!

May I publish ships created with 1st edtion / 1st edition High Guard?[/b] It says "current edition", but for ship building, the current edition is 1st.

Good point However, no. By current, we mean the new range of Traveller books, that have the new style logo (and don't worry, the new High Guard is very close to being published!). The one exception to this is material from our older Third Imperium-branded books. These may be revised in the future but, for now, they are the best source for OTU material so we are happy for you to use them.

 

[Golan2072]

Thanks for the clarifications!

Generally speaking, the points I see as the most important to address in the new version are:

1) A Print on Demand option for books sold on TAS. Not too important for small products, but for bigger ones many customers will want a hardcopy.

2) An option to crowdfund our products then sell them on TAS. This is due to the high cost of art and potentially layout for bigger products; crowdfunding means being able to fund more art without having to pitch in significant sums from the authors' own pockets which might not be fully returned.

3) Control of non-OTU setting IP in the hand of authors - if I understand correctly this is already being taken care of But to be more specific - what I see as important is legacy control, i.e. to be sure that in the unlikely case that TAS gets shut down, I could still take my setting as-is except for the rules, change it to OGL (or other) rules, and publish independently. Also, I'd like to have the option to create material for the same IP (my IP; not the same books; and without MGT2 references, of course) for other rulesets, possibly even wargaming rulesets. All of this is likely to exist already but I'd love to see this officially and legally clarified.

Even without these addressed, Stellagama Publishing (in which I am a partner) will publish smaller products - such as short adventures - through TAS. With all these addressed, there might also be MUCH bigger things available through TAS later this year or early in 2017.