Closing Emas was Bad Business - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Closing Emas was Bad Business

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
taigen
Feb 28, 2009 11:46:45 I am not sure of all the details around WotC's decision to force Emas character sheet builder page to shut down, but despite the launch of character builder, this feels like an underhanded and petty decision on the part of the staff at WotC.

I won't dispute possible legal rights WotC had in doing this, as I am sure with the way they have crafted OGL and such, they had the ability to force this site to close, but just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should.

Yes it performs a similar function to character builder, but don't forget, Emas site was functioning way before character builder, and was generateing interest (and therefore sales) in D&D long before 4e even came out. The site offered a very nice layout for a character sheet which I have prefered over the standard layout since I found it, and have many features that made playing the game more fun all around. Most recently the site also had storage capability which helped me keep track of my many characters.

Closing sites that fans enjoy and provide basically free advertisement for your products makes no sense, and the ill will this shows to the community could very well drive fans away. I know myself that since I have lost a rather extensive archive of my PCs, I am rethinking my priorities and may put D&D aside as much of the care and effort I put into these characters is now gone, and will never be able to be remade quite the same way. There are other game systems that don't actively work against their fans that I feel deserve a chance now that I have to 'start over' in a sense.

-Taigen
#2
PinkRose
Feb 28, 2009 15:48:01 Emas was charging money for something that WotC made.
That's bad for business.
And illegal.

You'll notice ENWorld is still up and running just fine.
WotC loves people who have interest in their products.
But it's not legal and not right for people to profit off their hard work.
#3
taigen
Feb 28, 2009 16:07:05 Ema was charging a very small one time fee for server storage space to hold onto character sheets for D&D and several other game systems so that they could be accessed anywhere, something character builder still doesn't do. This is something no different than the dime a dozen similar file storage services all over the internet do, but for much more money (or hassle). Everything that dealt with actually making a character sheet was perfectly free.
#4
areutter
Feb 28, 2009 16:29:18
Everything that dealt with actually making a character sheet was perfectly free.

Thereby making it a free competitor, using WotC's intellectual property, to a product WotC is trying to charge people money for. I may or may not agree with their decision, but if they want to charge for character builder, I can see why they want to be the only game in town.
#5
bob_loblaw
Feb 28, 2009 17:21:45
I am not sure of all the details around WotC's decision to force Emas character sheet builder page to shut down, but despite the launch of character builder, this feels like an underhanded and petty decision on the part of the staff at WotC.

This is not what happened though. WotC asked Ema to remove the offending material and Ema's ISP decided to shut down the entire site. Ema could have kept quite a bit of what was there and even made changes. He could have, for example, had a dynamic character sheet that you would have to fill out completely yourself but it would still be web-based. I don't know what he wanted to do in the end. I do know that he didn't have to shut down.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 taigen Feb 28, 2009 11:46:45	I am not sure of all the details around WotC's decision to force Emas character sheet builder page to shut down, but despite the launch of character builder, this feels like an underhanded and petty decision on the part of the staff at WotC. I won't dispute possible legal rights WotC had in doing this, as I am sure with the way they have crafted OGL and such, they had the ability to force this site to close, but just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should. Yes it performs a similar function to character builder, but don't forget, Emas site was functioning way before character builder, and was generateing interest (and therefore sales) in D&D long before 4e even came out. The site offered a very nice layout for a character sheet which I have prefered over the standard layout since I found it, and have many features that made playing the game more fun all around. Most recently the site also had storage capability which helped me keep track of my many characters. Closing sites that fans enjoy and provide basically free advertisement for your products makes no sense, and the ill will this shows to the community could very well drive fans away. I know myself that since I have lost a rather extensive archive of my PCs, I am rethinking my priorities and may put D&D aside as much of the care and effort I put into these characters is now gone, and will never be able to be remade quite the same way. There are other game systems that don't actively work against their fans that I feel deserve a chance now that I have to 'start over' in a sense. -Taigen
#2 PinkRose Feb 28, 2009 15:48:01	Emas was charging money for something that WotC made. That's bad for business. And illegal. You'll notice ENWorld is still up and running just fine. WotC loves people who have interest in their products. But it's not legal and not right for people to profit off their hard work.
#3 taigen Feb 28, 2009 16:07:05	Ema was charging a very small one time fee for server storage space to hold onto character sheets for D&D and several other game systems so that they could be accessed anywhere, something character builder still doesn't do. This is something no different than the dime a dozen similar file storage services all over the internet do, but for much more money (or hassle). Everything that dealt with actually making a character sheet was perfectly free.
#4 areutter Feb 28, 2009 16:29:18	Everything that dealt with actually making a character sheet was perfectly free. Thereby making it a free competitor, using WotC's intellectual property, to a product WotC is trying to charge people money for. I may or may not agree with their decision, but if they want to charge for character builder, I can see why they want to be the only game in town.
#5 bob_loblaw Feb 28, 2009 17:21:45	I am not sure of all the details around WotC's decision to force Emas character sheet builder page to shut down, but despite the launch of character builder, this feels like an underhanded and petty decision on the part of the staff at WotC. This is not what happened though. WotC asked Ema to remove the offending material and Ema's ISP decided to shut down the entire site. Ema could have kept quite a bit of what was there and even made changes. He could have, for example, had a dynamic character sheet that you would have to fill out completely yourself but it would still be web-based. I don't know what he wanted to do in the end. I do know that he didn't have to shut down.