Tuesday 1 September 2015

OneBookShelf to stop stocking Indie RPGs?

OneBookShelf (who run DriveThruRPG, RPGNow, among others) recently announced a new policy on rejecting "Offensive Content".  Here's the core of the policy:


It's been pointed out that this will not end controversy and James Raggi (Lamentations of the Flame Princess) threatened to break with OBS as a result.

I've also seen claims that the policy is an attack on free speech, which it is not.  OBS has no obligation to give anyone a platform.  However, they do claim to be a source for "Indie RPGs" - or in other words, they stock work produced independently of another organisation.  By instituting this policy and taking responsibility for the content of what he's stocking, Steve Wieck is appointing himself as editor for every RPG product carried by OBS - which means that anyone selling through them isn't independent.

It's not for me to predict the future course of the RPG industry, but I see troubled waters ahead.

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