White Wolf Withdraws Pay-To-Play Policy

WorselWorsel writes "After almost two weeks of fan outrage White Wolf has canceled plans to implement their Pay-to-Play policy. In a forum post, Philippe R. Boulle writes 'Based on all your feedback, it's obvious that the policy as currently worded is not going to accomplish these goals. So, we are pulling it off the table as a blanket policy. I realize that the proverbial genie can't be shoved back in the bottle, but the guidelines I handed to a few people at ORIGINS and posted here last week clearly need to be reworked and rethought, so please consider them withdrawn.' The withdrawal of the policy can be read in full on the forums."

Re:Like candy from a baby.

[WorselWorsel]

The whole costume thing is something I never understood. One of the big in-character rules for Vampires in all editions is keep the whole the vampire thing a secret. Despite this, most of these Vampire players wear the most obvious costumes. It's kind of hard to keep your subculture secret when everyone of your kind dresses in some obvious style and really stands out from normal people.

Re:Ha... interesting

[FLEB]

I actually think that is fair, if people are using White Wolf IP to make a profit, White Wolf deserves the right to ask for a cut. Whether they will make some cash or not is a different question.

They got their profit. People buy the books... the product they chose to produce and sell... in order to run the game. They got what is rightfully theirs.

If White Wolf wants to profit from running games, they have the full right to go ahead and start running their own games. They choose to profit from selling books, and that's what profit they get and should be happy with.

Should Igloo get a buck for every cold can of soda I might sell out of one of their coolers? Should Mack get mileage payments from people who haul with their trucks? Should Gateway or Dell get residuals from the graphics I create on my computer? Craftsman get royalties from repair shops? White Wolf *sells* *tools*. By paying for that tool at the asking price of the seller, I am buying the right to use that tool for whatever uses I may need it for.

Re:They're still in business?

[MrResistor]

I have to agree. I wasn't planning on buying any of the new stuff anyway, but now I have an additional reason. The last thing I want to do at this point is put any more money in the pockets of a gaming company that would even consider that they actually have the right to try and enforce such a license.

It's a shame, I like their old games. Too bad they apparantly don't want me as a customer anymore.

Re:Ha... interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

White Wolf own the IP that you're borrowing, and they want to change their marketing model slightly.

What possible legal theory would give an author the right to retroactively raise the price of books he's already sold?

The restrictions WW asked for were far beyond the scope of copyright law. The only way they could legally force obedience is to get signed contracts before every sale- and with the number of rulebooks out already, it's too late for that.