Quote from: PulpHerb on October 11, 2022, 10:35:01 PM
The big fail here is I cannot think of an easier system to write generic content for without a license.

Exactly. There's zero reason at all to use a license like this.

Anything with Cook's name on it should be given a careful once-over anyways. I haven't taken him seriously since it came out that it was his idea to nerf the living fuck out of martial classes in 3E.

Quote from: Ghostmaker on October 13, 2022, 08:05:48 AM
Anything with Cook's name on it should be given a careful once-over anyways.

That's a good rule. Cook is a pretty interesting idea guy, but works much better with an editor/handler. I think the fact that first edition Numenera had a lot of "what's the point" problems that required the second round to fix is a classic example.

The Cypher genre books including the safety checklists is another example. Yeah, it's wokeness adjacent but it seems more a failure of focus than an ideological crusade. Of course, his handler/editor these days is ideologically committed to the damn things (and thus proves she's an idiot in terms of the community she took them from) so that drives his focus. With a different editor/handler/business partner I think he'd probably make some interesting games.

Quote from: Ghostmaker on October 13, 2022, 08:05:48 AM
Anything with Cook's name on it should be given a careful once-over anyways. I haven't taken him seriously since it came out that it was his idea to nerf the living fuck out of martial classes in 3E.

It doesn't help that when WotC finally tried to fix it, the attempt was scorned as "weeaboo fightan magic."

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on October 13, 2022, 12:46:14 PM

Quote from: Ghostmaker on October 13, 2022, 08:05:48 AM
Anything with Cook's name on it should be given a careful once-over anyways. I haven't taken him seriously since it came out that it was his idea to nerf the living fuck out of martial classes in 3E.

It doesn't help that when WotC finally tried to fix it, the attempt was scorned as "weeaboo fightan magic."

Which was the biggest and still remains the largest load of buckshot from the fanbase who likes magic.

Their favored casters are allowed to do stuff because it's magic stupid. Anyone else is considered to anime or manga fuck that noise. Unfortunately 3.5 spoiled players who like casters because any attempt to tone down what they can do is nerfing them. Boohoo here is an orchestra of the world smallest instruments you can cry with. They won't try any D&D part 3.5/Pathfindef because they can no longer dominant the battlefield.

Okay, so let's read this again carefully...

Quote from: Cypher System Open License: section/paragraph 10
Neither the Work nor any advertising, promotions, press releases, or other documents affiliated with the Work may contain racist, homophobic, discriminatory, or other repugnant views; overt political agendas or views; depictions or descriptions of criminal violence against children; rape or other acts of criminal perversion; or other obscene material.

It doesn't specify that the material cannot glorify "repugnant views," only that it cannot contain them. So no Nazi-esque villians for the heroes to fight against, I guess. The baddies cannot be motivated by zenophobia (real or misplaced).

No "depictions... of criminal violence against children." So you can't use dead women and children as a hook to get the PCs involved. I guess on the plus side this solves the "what do we do with the orc infants" question... you just ignore them. (Oh, wait! Isn't negligence considered "criminal violence against children?" What a conundrum!)

"Other obscene material."
Like what? The middle finger? Boobs? Plumber's crack?
____
Of course I'm mostly taking the piss here. The point is this is so poorly written and vague, I don't see courts honoring a termination in anything but most egregious cases. Federal law (and by extension most state laws) defines "obscene" as pornographic. A legal contract would ostensibly use legal definitions for such terms unless otherwise specified by that contract. Unless MCG clearly indicates what they consider "obscene" or "repugnant," anyone with the time & money to challenge a termination on these terms is likely to win.

Ultimately, though, what is the point of using the licence unless you really want to de facto tie your setting to another Cypher setting? Arguably the best feature of Cypher is the simplicity of the 1-10 Difficulty (3-30 TN) mechanic, but anyone can use that without all the other baggage.

Therein lies the problem. Its a scam clause. And I have a feeling its actually illegal with how it is not defined there.

I know several states take a rather dim view of the old "by using this material/site/etc you absolve us of any wrongdoing and waive the right to sue us if we do anything bad like oh, take your money and fail to deliver.

It seems to me that a lot of classic fantasy and science fiction art (Frank Frazetta comes to mind, or some pics from the LBBs of OD&D) would be deemed as "obscene" or "inappropriate" by the feminist left...and some could be considered "...other acts of criminal perversion" (I mean, having a near-nekked or fully nekked woman using an axe on a horde of lustful-looking Orcs could be considered "criminal" given the backstory).

Quote from: Osman Gazi on October 14, 2022, 10:14:14 AM
It seems to me that a lot of classic fantasy and science fiction art (Frank Frazetta comes to mind, or some pics from the LBBs of OD&D) would be deemed as "obscene" or "inappropriate" by the feminist left...and some could be considered "...other acts of criminal perversion" (I mean, having a near-nekked or fully nekked woman using an axe on a horde of lustful-looking Orcs could be considered "criminal" given the backstory).

Murder is also a "criminal perversion." Guess your game can't feature assassins then...

As others have pointed out, this reads like either a trap or a virtue signal (or both). The vagueries won't hold up in court, but not many small companies will be willing to invest the time and money a legal proceeding would entail. So, effectively, Monty can just shut down anyone who doesn't pass his purity test. Best thing anyone can do is not use the license in the first place.

P.S. - I also noticed the specific wording of no "overt" political agendas or views. So... are COVERT agendas allowed? I guess that explains why all the art in Numenera Destiny is of black- or brown-skinned people; covertly erasing "whiteness" from the setting.