Sigh!....I'm getting desparate, exasperated and all around irritated. For months now I have been trying to build a Legion website for my game system and yet I fail miserably with each try. I have made several attempts using various "free" sites and regardless of what I choose it just doesn't work for me.
I'm currently ATTEMPTING to use this site...
With every site I have tried, the first major snag I hit is making links from one place to another. I've tried using the "help" systems provided by the sites, but none-the-less, I remain helpless.
I really just want to put my information out there so that it can serve as a referance for other Legion Fans (as much of the site will work as an encyclopedia) as well as one that offers the rules of the game. I would like it have it "protected" in the sense that one cannot simply just paste and cut all my hard work and take it and run.
Is there anybody out there who is willing to give me the guidance necessary to make this website happen?
Sigh!....I'm getting desparate, exasperated and all around irritated. For months now I have been trying to build a Legion website for my game system and yet I fail miserably with each try. I have made several attempts using various "free" sites and regardless of what I choose it just doesn't work for me.
I'm currently ATTEMPTING to use this site...
With every site I have tried, the first major snag I hit is making links from one place to another. I've tried using the "help" systems provided by the sites, but none-the-less, I remain helpless.
I really just want to put my information out there so that it can serve as a referance for other Legion Fans (as much of the site will work as an encyclopedia) as well as one that offers the rules of the game. I would like it have it "protected" in the sense that one cannot simply just paste and cut all my hard work and take it and run.
Is there anybody out there who is willing to give me the guidance necessary to make this website happen?
Have you tried Obsidian Portal?
I ask because I use it for two different games I'm running, and the tools are absolutely wonderful. Of course I have an ascendant membership so I have paid for all the upgrades, but the free part of the site is just as nice, the only difference is you're limited in your use of some of the tools, and the amount of data you can upload.
You mentioned privacy being one of your concerns. Obsidian let's you make your campaigns private so that only those people you invite can view any of your material.
It's worth a look, at the least.
Yes that was one of the sites I visited. I know the problem isn't the site as much as its the user. Essentially, I think I need to be talked through some basic functions and then I will be fine for getting data online.
What is the intended purpose of your website? I'm not familiar with the term "Legion Website".
Judging form what you have up already, the title of your system is "The Legion of Super-Heroes Roleplaying Game" which is partly based on the DC Comics Universe series?
Is this site supposed to just be a home for your rules or do you want a blog/discussion/play section as well?
I will assume you have already attempted to use Google Sites? This would seem the easiest way to set different permission levels on access to different parts of your site. I've seen some very inventive work done by d20pfsrd.com on a pathfinder campaign management site which includes both character sheet hosting through Google Docs and discussion through Google Groups.
As to the protection... ya, you and the rest of the publication industry. I do not mean that in a sarcastic way. If there was a good system for both freely displaying information in an easy to access way without opening to copying... who ever came up with it could make a mint off selling it to publishers.
What you're asking for is a bit tricky. Keep in mind that a certain level you are basing your work on the work of the original authors of the Legion comics. The most important part of a copyright on a game system isn't the rules, but the meta (how to play, examples etc.) and "fluff" (the story if you will) around the rules. See Copyright Office FL-108.
I understand the wish to keep one's hard work at collating information for ending up on Wikipedia or a Wikia under some else's name. It comes down to how hard do you want to keep people from copying your collated encyclopedia (which itself I'll guess is being collected from both the comics and other fan sites), and how accessible you want it to be. There are ticks you can do with Flash, PDFs, and to a lesser extent PHP/HTML to display but not allow easy copy of text/images. Another way would be only grant access to know members of the fan-base who join your site, thus limiting the pool of casual web-serfers.
In a separate issue, there is need to protect your game system from being ripped-off. This gets sticky as the story/fluff you are using as a base is already copyrighted. What I'd personally suggest is that you write one completely clean version of the rules and strip as much of the setting/story/fluff of the Legion out of it as you can. Once you've got it more generic and as usable/playable format, mail yourself a certified copy (one you have to sign for) and then leave it sealed in a safe location (safety deposit box would be one if you have one).
I would see about contacting some of the senior project developers over at FFReturners who have one of the longest running fan RPG projects on the Web for what is one of the more popular video game franchises.
A longer ranging option could be to do your collation, then yourself add a portion of it to the existing Wiki entires and link back to your site as the citation. In a way this creates a digital record of "who did it first". Not that will stop people from copying, it never does.
What is the intended purpose of your website? I'm not familiar with the term "Legion Website".
Judging form what you have up already, the title of your system is "The Legion of Super-Heroes Roleplaying Game" which is partly based on the DC Comics Universe series?
Is this site supposed to just be a home for your rules or do you want a blog/discussion/play section as well?
I will assume you have already attempted to use Google Sites? This would seem the easiest way to set different permission levels on access to different parts of your site. I've seen some very inventive work done by d20pfsrd.com on a pathfinder campaign management site which includes both character sheet hosting through Google Docs and discussion through Google Groups.
As to the protection... ya, you and the rest of the publication industry. I do not mean that in a sarcastic way. If there was a good system for both freely displaying information in an easy to access way without opening to copying... who ever came up with it could make a mint off selling it to publishers.
What you're asking for is a bit tricky. Keep in mind that a certain level you are basing your work on the work of the original authors of the Legion comics. The most important part of a copyright on a game system isn't the rules, but the meta (how to play, examples etc.) and "fluff" (the story if you will) around the rules. See Copyright Office FL-108.
I understand the wish to keep one's hard work at collating information for ending up on Wikipedia or a Wikia under some else's name. It comes down to how hard do you want to keep people from copying your collated encyclopedia (which itself I'll guess is being collected from both the comics and other fan sites), and how accessible you want it to be. There are ticks you can do with Flash, PDFs, and to a lesser extent PHP/HTML to display but not allow easy copy of text/images. Another way would be...
Thank you for the wonderful post. No, I wasn't aware of the Google free site you linked. I'm going to take a good look at it and see if I can get the hang of it.
Yes, the game is based off of the DC franchise and my intention was to have a place online to post much of the game in order for it to serve as an Encyclopedia for Legion fans in addition to being used in conjuction with the game. I'm aware of the copyright issue and at this point an interested in PBP games using the site as a "base of operations" for potential players to review things.
In the long term, should I ever consider the game marketable, I would be contacting DC comics (years from now) and inquiring with them as a result of the copyright materials. It is very unlikely that I would ever advance things far enough to reach this point though. Essemtially, I'm trying to build another Legion fan site.
I want to protect the actual rules of the game (not the Legion fluff) because they are my own creation. I think I will use you suggestion of certified mail. I have most of the core rules worked out already and could include them. Would you suggest a written copy of the rules inside the unopened certified mail package or a CD?
Note that preventing others from mimicing the mechanics of a game is very difficult/nigh impossible under U.S. copyright law. See this flyer on copyrighting games, which states "Copyright does not protect the idea for a game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game. Once a game has been made public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another game based on similar principles. Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic, or musical form."