Hi
I tried accessing the tool from Paizo but it's not working, it sends me back
to the main library page... but what Steve suggests may be a good idea, and
as long as the licenses used are free, I'd agree to it.
But I can't even begin to think how to program a system to design piecepack
games... There are so many possible ways to use the components, and possibly
many that no one has tried yet, that it seems to be an impossible task. I
haven't played with Stonehenge (although I'm interested), but the piecepack
system being a Free system interests me much more, because it has a lot of
potential if it becomes spread.
About the licenses, I could probably give rules to people buying a set and
it wouldn't infringe the non-commercial clause (that doesn't solve the
non-derivative-works), but I want to get other shops to sell piecepack sets.
I have to give them a boxed product with everything inside. It wouldn't
work.
I think that it would benefit us all to change all our games to free
licenses. I'm sorry if some people don't like it, but if someone is not
willing to add a Free license to their game, I think it's totally fair to
"port" and rewrite the rules without using any copyrighted material so that
the games can reach their potential audience around the world. It sounds
strange, porting a piecepack game to the piecepack system, but it might be
the only solution in many cases, not only if the designer doesn't want to
add a free license, but for games where the designers are no longer
available or responding to emails...
I think this "drastic" method would be the equivalent to the "word of mouth"
spreading system that worked so well to popularize most of the classic games
of the past...
Another thought: Maybe what some designers fear is that some big publisher
will take their game and make a stand alone version of it. I could see a
game like Alien City being published as a stand alone game (and I would
probably buy a copy). Maybe a Free license that limits the use of the rules
outside the piecepack set would be a nice option...
-Jorge