Technohol 13's Content Sharing Policy
For over thirty years, I've readily shared the vast majority of my work on various super-hero role-playing games with the world. I never charged anyone for any of this effort, even the bits that I probably could get away with asking money for, because the whole idea of throwing all this material onto the Internets was to propagate it to as many people as possible, with a minimum of silliness getting in the way.
That's why I kitbashed this site together, after all! Before I created technohol.com, I mainly used a Marvel Super Heroes Role-Playing Game (MSH RPG) email list to disseminate my many and various gaming works. I used to think the Internets were forever, after all, but as it turns out when a mailing list goes belly up, you're out of luck if you haven't archived everything you wanted from it.
Thus, I began featuring my litany of creations for super-heroic gaming here. And since that point, I've worked hard on this material over the last couple decades (since what, 1998?), and made great pains to ensure anyone can grab my work for use in their games at any time. I've even gone so far as to build a text file archive of literally everything written here, so it can be grabbed in the event that the 13 goes down forever.
The vast, vast majority of everything featured here on the 13 has been written by myself. Over the years, however, I have collaborated on a few character descriptions with prolific writers who focus their efforts on the MSH RPG, including Ty R. States and Keith Kilburn. They and several others have contributed to what the 13 is today, and everywhere they have made said contributions, they're properly credited.
If only the inverse were true. You see, being that I tend to focus my writing research on obscure areas, I tend to become something of an expert in them. I'm not sure many people know as much about the New Universe line of comics as I do, for instance, so I get referenced a lot. I even have folks ask me if they can grab bits of my writing for use on their own projects, whatever they happen to be.
And I'm cool with that, for the most part. I can only think of one or two instances where someone asking me for permission to use my content in their own works blew up in my face. That's probably why you can find a litany of my writing all over the Internets, because I'm all about sharing what I've created with the community. That's sort of the whole point, after all, of me leaving the site wide open!
Being that 99.99% (best guess) of the site is written by myself, though, I am awfully protective of the thing. The sole stipulation I make when people ask me if I'm cool with them making use of my work is that they credit me for its creation. And I don't even mean on every single page. Just a note in the table of contents, or the index, or whatever. Just say what you lifted from me, and maybe link back to the 13.
This is just too hard for some people, however. And that's why, if you stumble across something I've written elsewhere, you're as likely as not to see my name attached as its author. Someone even went as far as lifting entire sections of the 13, as .pdf files, for placement on his own janky web site. He didn't ask permission, lied about that when I called him on it, and then only barely credited me before his enterprise crumbled.
This last straw was why, for a time, you saw a snarky notice on the bottom of every single document served here at the 13 - text files aside, of course. For reference, it read 'If you're not seeing this content within the technohol.com domain, it's been stolen by someone who doesn't respect others' work.' And that's after I made myself cut the profane language from the mix. If only I could've kept the original. Sigh.
But since about half the people who make use of Technoholic content in their own projects do, in fact, credit me for my efforts, I'm trying to be a lot more diplomatic. Thus, the former snarky disclaimer now leads here, where I explain why I'm so adamant about being credited when I write something. I at least felt that this would be less of a disservice to those who didn't just swipe my work like a jerk.
So I'll spell my sharing policy out officially here, in case the previous was 'tldr' and all that. If you've got a project you're trying to build, and my efforts would aid in the creation of such, just ask. Most likely, I'll play along and give my blessing. All I ask in return is acknowledgement of my contribution to your work, as well as a link to the 13. You know, the site that you're hopefully reading this at.
That's it! And if you do give me said credit, I won't call you out on my Atomic Links page as a filthy thief. You know, like I do the Classic Marvel Forever clowns, or that aforementioned guy who lifted whole swathes of the 13 just so he could pad out his own content. My Infinity Gems material in particular is a favorite target of people who can't be bothered to do the work. You can find it just about everywhere.
The easiest way to contact me is via my electronc mail, which is DashApostrophe@gmail.com. I am in a few groups relating to the 13's content, however, both on Facebook and Discord, so either of those will also do if you simply can't wait. I know I am often slow in getting back to emails, so keep that in mind if I'm being a slug and not bothering to keep up with my digital correspondence.
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Interested in using Technoholic content in your own project? Please read this beforehand!