State of Mongoose and RuneQuest

[vistikos]

The Glorantha Book previews will be very interesting...

 

[TrippyHippy]

all this does is mean that 3rd party can still provide compatible material via the other brands, as you say.

Ultimately, what is the difference?

Something called brand recognition, perhaps?

Please remember that all this debate, and the whole RuneQuest line, stems from the fact that Issaries redeemed the trademark for the name RuneQuest and eventually licensed it to a publisher that had adequate resources to support it. The trademark only, no rules. If Greg Stafford, who is now the Great Old One of RPGs after Gygax and Arneson left the world of mortals, thinks that brand recognition is something worth having, I tend to believe him.

I was really stating this from the perspective of a gamer, rather than a game publisher - although I take your point. However, I would have been quite happy playing Merrie England with BRP rules rather than RQ, and vice versa with BRP Rome. To me, as a consumer, the differences in terms of which system to use is pretty minor.

 

[Vile]

I have a question or two relating to the old MRQ SRD:

Will previosly published games using the old SRD and RQ logo have to cease publication?

Will it still be possible to produce new products based on the old SRD?

If yes to the above, can they feature the RuneQuest logo? I would guess not.

 

[RosenMcStern]

The answer should be yes, instead. Once you have released something under an open license, you cannot "pull" it unless the licensee breaks the license somehow. The OGL clearly states its benefits are "Irrevocable".

WotC tried to make the terms for 4e license revocable with a prior notice, and third party publishers literally rioted until they made it irrevocable again.

 

[Vile]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear - my last point was, would one be able to publish a new product under the old license, and put the RuneQuest logo on the cover?

 

[RosenMcStern]

These are the terms for using the RuneQuest logo (not the SRD).

Mongoose Publishing also reserves the right to order cessation of sales and the destruction of any remaining stock under this circumstance. It should be noted that Mongoose Publishing is committed to a strong relationship with third parties using the RuneQuest logo and that this instruction will only be given under extreme circumstances that threaten to bring the RuneQuest (TM) trademark into disrepute.

Which means that either Mongoose will not use the option to revoke the rights to use the logo (the OLD logo, mind me!) or you are authorized to call them liars.

Since I received no email notice, and in any case my current stock of RQ products for direct sales is about thirty copies among the two books, I am still sleeping at night.