What About Shareware Fees?

If you'll look in the Blades of Exile Software License (which you
definitely should) you will note that you aren't allowed to charge money
for your scenarios. Why is this? Why are we taking this seemingly (to some)
ungenerous stance towards scenario designers? The answer is, quite simply,
liability. Legal liability is a tricky, dangerous thing, and even a
frivolous lawsuit can cause difficulties and incur great expense.
Suppose a 16 year old releases a Blades scenario as shareware with a $10
fee. When someone pays, he sends them a password which they need to play
the second half of the scenario.

Now suppose this person's family moves. Or suppose that he goes off to
college and people's checks arrive at his home. The parents, not knowing
what to do with them, throw them away. Or, worst of all, suppose he decides
to just keep the money and not bother with sending the keys.
When this happens, people will, naturally, complain to us. And we won't be
able to do anything. We won't be able to help, and we don't have the time,
the ability, or the inclination to mediate in these circumstances. More
importantly, while our legal responsibility if someone uses our product to
swindle others is unclear, there was no way to guarantee we would be safe
from legal action.

If a scenario designer wants to ask for donations and doesn't try to charge
for the ability to complete the scenario, this is all right. The key here
is that the person sending the money must not need to receive anything in
return to finish the scenario (so that, if the designer has moved or just
pockets the money, the buyer won't be swindled). We're sorry that it has to
be this way, but we'd be even sorrier if the Better Business Bureau started
breathing down our necks.

If you absolutely insist on making money from a scenario you design and
neither winnings from the scenario contest or the returns from asking for
donations are sufficient, we can sell high-quality scenarios on a royalty
basis (%33 of gross). We would handle all sales, shipping, and
tech-support. If you want to design a good scenario, it is possible to
arrange a deal like this with us. Note, however, that we make no promises
in advance. A scenario will need to be worth the money ... we have to give
the customers their dollar's worth.

-Jeff Vogel 