WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

Hundreds of game publishers sigh in relief as, after extensive pressure exerted by the entire open gaming community, WotC has agreed to leave the original Open Gaming License untouched and put the whole of the 5E rules into Creative Commons.

So, what's happened?

• The Open Gaming Licence v1.0a which most of the D&D third party industry relies on, will be left untouched for now.
• The whole of the D&D 5E SRD (ie the rules of the game less the fluff text) has been released under a Creative Commons license.

OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons

Over the past few weeks you, the community, have made your voices heard. And we’ve listened. OGL 1.0a will remain untouched AND the entire SRD 5.1...

www.dndbeyond.com

WotC has a history of 'disappearing' inconvenient FAQs and stuff, such as those where they themselves state that the OGL is irrevocable, so I'll copy this here for posterity.

When you give us playtest feedback, we take it seriously.

Already more than 15,000 of you have filled out the survey. Here's what you said:

• 88% do not want to publish TTRPG content under OGL 1.2.
• 90% would have to change some aspect of their business to accommodate OGL 1.2.
• 89% are dissatisfied with deauthorizing OGL 1.0a.
• 86% are dissatisfied with the draft VTT policy.
• 62% are satisfied with including Systems Reference Document (SRD) content in Creative Commons, and the majority of those who were dissatisfied asked for more SRD content in Creative Commons.

These live survey results are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. You want irrevocability. You like Creative Commons.
The feedback is in such high volume and its direction is so plain that we're acting now.

1. We are leaving OGL 1.0a in place, as is. Untouched.
2. We are also making the entire SRD 5.1 available under a Creative Commons license.
3. You choose which you prefer to use.

This Creative Commons license makes the content freely available for any use. We don't control that license and cannot alter or revoke it. It's open and irrevocable in a way that doesn't require you to take our word for it. And its openness means there's no need for a VTT policy. Placing the SRD under a Creative Commons license is a one-way door. There's no going back.

Our goal here is to deliver on what you wanted.

So, what about the goals that drove us when we started this process?

We wanted to protect the D&D play experience into the future. We still want to do that with your help. We're grateful that this community is passionate and active because we'll need your help protecting the game's inclusive and welcoming nature.

We wanted to limit the OGL to TTRPGs. With this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play.
Here's a PDF of SRD 5.1 with the Creative Commons license. By simply publishing it, we place it under an irrevocable Creative Commons license. We'll get it hosted in a more convenient place next week. It was important that we take this step now, so there's no question.

• SRD 5.1-CC

We'll be closing the OGL 1.2 survey now.

We'll keep talking with you about how we can better support our players and creators. Thanks as always for continuing to share your thoughts.

Kyle Brink
Executive Producer, Dungeons & Dragons

What does this mean?

The original OGL sounds safe for now, but WotC has not admitted that they cannot revoke it. That's less of an issue now the 5E System Reference Document is now released to Creative Commons (although those using the 3E SRD or any third party SRDs still have issues as WotC still hasn't revoked the incorrect claim that they can revoke access to those at-will).

At this point, if WotC wants anybody to use whatever their new OGL v1.x turns out to be, there needs to be one heck of a carrot. What that might be remains to be seen.

Pathfinder publlsher Paizo has also commented on the latest developments.

We welcome today’s news from Wizards of the Coast regarding their intention not to de-authorize OGL 1.0a. We still believe there is a powerful need for an irrevocable, perpetual independent system-neutral open license that will serve the tabletop community via nonprofit stewardship. Work on the ORC license will continue, with an expected first draft to release for comment to participating publishers in February.

Over 1,500 Publishers Support Paizo's Upcoming Open RPG Creator's License

Paizo has revealed some of the 1,500+ tabletop RPG publishers who have expressed an interest in their new Open RPG Creator's License (ORC), describing the group as the 'ORC Alliance'. The license itself is still being worked on, so these 1,500 publishers have not actually seen it or signed...

www.enworld.org

 

[Jer]

If I understand it correctly, I like it even better, because if you use CC, you have to share your own stuff too. And it is not owned by wotc, so everyone is on the same level.

Not with CC-BY. With CC-BY you are free to use the material and not share your own material if you want. You just have to attribute it. CC-BY is almost like using public domain works (CC0 is as close to public domain as you can get because it doesn't even require attribution).

CC-BY-SA is a license like the OGL that requires you to share your own material if you use it. But unlike the OGL there's no carve out for Product Identity, so it would probably actually hamper the uptake of material put under it for publication since you couldn't use it in works where you're not allowed to or don't want to share everything - like works that include story elements and trademarkes and game mechanics together (which is why the Product Identity carve out is there for the OGL).

 

[MNblockhead]

3. There are a number of stuffed and satisfied mind-flayers that are leaving the c-suite right now.

That was my explanation for how they got themselves into this mess in the first place.

 

[dave2008]

Well, the 4E SRDs aren't really worth releasing; they were just a list of references that could be made to the 4E Core Rules and a few templates for powers, skill challenges, etc. You can't make much of anything with it.

OK, I didn't remember what was in it.

 

[Reynard]

Unless the substantially change 1D&D, which was not their plan, it wouldn't matter to much for 5e.

Prepare for 4E 2: Electric Boogaloo

 

[Scribe]

That is possible I doubt it. I expect them to release more SRDs to CC.

If there was a fully united push, perhaps.

As of this morning, we couldnt even get that out of some. I'm not going to hold my breath for 3.5 being freed.

 

[Umbran]

Nah. There's still 23 years of stuff published under the OGL 1.0a that you need the OGL to build upon.

I will not be surprised if, after a while, they also release the 3.x SRD to CC as well, covering that gap.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

They could do it again next month. They really needed to make OGL 1.0b(or whatever numbering) and include true irrevocability language. I don't know that this is going to be enough for the creators. We will have to see how they respond.

Yeah. Or not. There are people who would still boycot people just for the b, although it would be strictly better...

AND i am not that cynical.

 

[Justice and Rule]

I think the damage will be minor. This was a short period of time and they reversed course in time. Third-party publishers will still be looking at the various open license options but I expect things will be back to normal soon. Most of the never-WotC folks were already in that camp or close to it. For most of us who enjoy and are invested in 5e AND the community of 3rd party publishers who have created content for 5e, we can breathe a sigh of relief.

Maybe, but I'm not sure things are ever returning to normal now. You can only take the mask off once. Even if everything is available under CC, now the risk is that people just don't move over to the next edition. While it won't be the biggest hit it could be, I suspect it'll still be something.

 

[Umbran]

I don't think 3e was every any sort of intended target. This was about 5e and going forward. They're not going to do anything to people using the older SRDs.

I expect you are correct. 3.x and the OSR weren't the issue.

 

[Maxperson]

Same goes for the people who swore that they never buy anything D&D and Hasbro ever again, because they are all evil.

Well, I for one said I wouldn't be buying anything else unless they gave us 1.0a in a form that makes 3PP safe. It seems that they did, so the only barrier from me now is the quality of the individual products. I'll probably buy some, but not others as I always have.