In this interesting interview on KERA Think, with the author of a new book on Dungeons and Dragons, the author observes that in the early years of D&D, the publisher was aggressive in suing fans who published modified versions of the D&D rules (presumably using either copyright or trademark law as the weapon of choice), but that in the early 1990s, under new ownership, following the lead of the open software movement, D&D made the rules “open source” and permitted fans to publish variations, which ended up making the game flourish and spread, and helped sustain and keep it alive (approx. 27:30-29:40). Yet another example of how the open approach (and lack of IP enforcement) is better even for the creator.
Of Dice And Men
August 21, 2013
Hour 2: Where did Dungeons and Dragons come from, and how did it spawn a generation of gamers? We’ll track the rise of fantasy role-playing this hour with Forbes writer and D&D player David Ewalt, who explains why people love the game in his new book “Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It” (Scribner, 2013).
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