Or Warhammer Fantasy . Or even Rolemaster . Or Diablo or Everquest . Patents are great. They can lock a game mechanic away behind a legal wall very effectively.
Trademarks are great.
They can stop a lot of commercial products dead by refusing to allow those terms to be used. One of my fundamental arguments is that by pursuing the Open Gaming concept, Wizards can establish a clear policy on what it will, and will not allow people to do with its copyrighted materials. Q. This initiative doesn't appear to be in its final form yet, or necessarily approved. We'll probably show it to people who sign an NDA and who commit to trying to have something ready for Gen Con , but that will all be on a case by case basis. Inc. All rights reserved.