Wizards of the Coast post a fansite Kit, include license, pretends its a policy

[Sir T]

http://www.wizards.com/fankit/fantoolkitdnd.html

Basically they gives a number of licensed pics and logos Etc for your fan site, but to get them you have to agree to a fan site "policy" which, when you read it, is actually a license or contract. Among other things, using this stuff means you agree not to publish any non WOTC original content That contains their stuff, and any links you provide have to be to Wizards sites. oh and you have to slap a long copyright thingie on every page. Etc etc...

I don't really know what to think about this. I mean the obvious answer is blow it out their ass but if one of the 38 or so images they give you in this zip file winds up on your fan site they could probably sue you. Also since you have to link to copies of documents on Wizards sites that means they have a way of tracking sites. And all so you can use the pics included in the zip file, which is the only right it gives you, apparently.

{edit} oh look what I just spotted...

However, we cannot allow Wizards Materials be used on any Fan Site that promotes sexually explicit materials, violence, discrimination or illegal activities, or makes disparaging, libelous or dishonest statements about Wizards and/or its products, employees and agents.

So aside from swearing, you cannot say one of their products sucks.

Also there is this gem

Also, we reserve the right to revoke this limited use license at any time, for any reason, and at the sole discretion of Wizards.

Not only do they say they can pull the "policy" for now reason whatsoever, they slip and reveal its a license rather than a policy.

[rattran]

I can't get past your thread title. 

'Spelling is HARD'

[Sir T]

Thread title spelling fixed.

[Samwise]

I'm not terribly shocked.  Their logic is probably that use of their official logo on fan sites constitutes some level of endorsement from them, and so they want to make sure that sites which have that endorsement don't do anything that might embarrass them.

Whether it's a "policy" or a "license" I'd probably try to avoid using any images that come with any kind of strings attached.

[TheWalrus]

mspaint for logos.

[NiX]

Make a website using the fankit that's dedicated to slandering everything they've ever made.

[IainC]

Make a website using the fankit that's dedicated to slandering everything they've ever made.

But Robo Rally was good.

[Nebu]

But Robo Rally was good.

There was an online beta version of this game that was mildly entertaining.  Unfortunately the AI made me stabby. 

The robo rally boardgame is great with a good group.

[Merusk]

My god the pictures in that fan kit are awful.

[schild]

You should post them, this isn't a fan site. I'm not clicking that agreement.

[Merusk]

It should be noted they are awful AND huge.  I'm not going to resize them to post them.  I will, however, spoiler them.

 The smallest is 900x654 and is also the least awful.
Everyone complains there's too much brown in modern fantasy.  This artist wanted to compensate by adding as much green as possible.
This guy looks suspiciously like WUA's Baldur's Gate avatar.  This scene must be the part where Lilacor talks about wanting to be inside him.
Beware of Orcs on flying boogers.
There's more but, really, there's nothing better in there.  I should probably have renamed them so Schild doesn't get a C&D letter when the google alert lets Wizard's legal department know the image names are popping up.  Despite not clicking the agreement they ARE showing up on his site.

ed: Ok so they're large but not huge.  Still, where are you going to use an image THAT BIG on a fansite?    The rest are all logos and box/ book art for 4e stuff you can find anywhere.  Like, oh, Amazon.  Guess they'd better get to work on taking down all those disparaging comments.

[schild]

holy shit look at that jpg compression

Edit: Don't worry, I'll do my part in making sure to tell you to take those things down. 

[Endie]

The only way they could get those godawful things widely circulated was to tell people not to use them.  They control your posting.

[HaemishM]

holy shit look at that jpg compression

Yeah, not only was the art subpar at best, apparently whoever made the fan site kit is a fuckhead.

[naum]

/shudders

Have to wonder exactly about the conversations, discussions and planning that results in such a fiasco…

1999? OK. 2004? Perhaps. 2009? I don't understand… …guess that's what happens when you let the lawyers run the business…

[NiX]

Maybe the hired the original MTGO team to do this.

[Trippy]

WotC has never understood the Intertubes.

[Ingmar]

From day 1 there has been a rather large internal conflict at WotC between the "let people stuff do things" side and the "OUR IP IS SACRED" side. The latter side usually wins, since that's where Hasbro and the lawyers are.

Something is seriously messed with the art files, too. Some of it I've never even seen before, so it apparently wasn't good enough to make it into a book. Others (the thing with the flying goblins attacking an air ship or whatever) has been mangled during a conversion process somewhere.

[Murgos]

Others (the thing with the flying goblins attacking an air ship or whatever) has been mangled during a conversion process somewhere.

Like when the artist converted it from an idea into an image?

[Ingmar]

You can see a non (or at least less) mangled version of the original in this gallery: http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4art/20090720

Just to give an idea of how much whatever process they ran it through mangled it.

[HaemishM]

You can see a non (or at least less) mangled version of the original in this gallery: http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4art/20090720

Just to give an idea of how much whatever process they ran it through mangled it.

Wowie, shit. There is no way you can fuck up compression that badly without intentionally trying to fuck it up. That's some seriously bad conversion.

[schild]

Fuck you guys. If you're mean to WotC, you can't be in our new guild.

[Ingmar]

 

[Nonentity]

Comic sans or bust

[NiX]

Schild just won life. Or at least the internet.

[schild]

Comic sans or bust

Comic Sans isn't half as horrifying as Kristen. Which is my favorite font EVER.

[Hindenburg]

Needs more horns.

[schild]

Needs more horns.

It's a unicorn, not a quadrahorn or octohorn.

Also, that wouldn't have been funny.

[Hindenburg]

Also, that wouldn't have been funny.

Was going for awesome, actually.

[schild]

Also, that wouldn't have been funny.

Was going for awesome, actually.

Yea, no.

[Lantyssa]

You can see a non (or at least less) mangled version of the original in this gallery: http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4art/20090720

I'll bet they took that picture, enlarged it with the worst algorithm they could find and used jpeg compression at quality 2.

[Khaldun]

WoTC is almost hilariously incapable of dealing with the Internet in any respect. It's almost a hidden talent.

[Ard]

WoTC is almost hilariously incapable of dealing with the Internet in any respect. It's almost a hidden talent.

Following straight in the footsteps of TSR!  They're keeping the dnd experience authentic for the masses!