Yeah, the bait and switch with the
OGL/
SRD/
GSL over a year was annoying. We released our product after two years of development on April 4th for crying out loud. We knew we were screwed, and after two months of impressive numbers, it fell off sharply with the release of 4ED. People are soaking up 4ED in numbers nearly unheard of. Sure,
OGL has a large pool to play in...but could all of us reasonably fit in without crushing most of the swimmers...and there are a handful of
3PP companies that are mighty big sumo wrestlers wading around with their ham hands in that pool. The first to feel the flabby flesh against porcelain will be us smaller ones.
How
WOTC handled 4.0ED is downright unforgivable, worse given the nonchalance and positive spin they throw on all their announcements. But its here...and we have to make do. Paizo and Green Ronin and a few others might have developed a large enough base to survive with
OGL but many of us smaller ones may not be so lucky.
I do also fully predict that those from
WOTC reading these posts knew very well how the
GSL was going to be received. They knew very well and didn't care. There will be a proper FAQ that explains everything in time and by then, we'll receive some clarification that may help or hurt the industry further.