D&D 5E I still want D&D and Beyond, but...

[delericho]

I've been really bummed the last week or so with the OGL news. I simply can't get myself up to really do anything D&D / RPG related. I was briefly excited about changing to a new platform, but that soon faded.

I know exactly how you feel.

I was checking DnD Beyond (DDB) this morning to see if there was any OGL news and I realized something. I want to play D&D, not another game, and I want to use DDB.

That's not surprising - they've made a game we love and they've made some fantastic tools. If they hadn't this wouldn't hurt, and there wouldn't be the level of outrage.

Ultimately, you'll have to decide what is most important to you.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I disagree. WOTC the corporation employees designers and artists. There is a difference in WOTC and their employees.

Not a meaningful difference. Cynthia Williams is an employee of WotC. Dan Rawson is an employee of WotC.

The vast majority of people who work at WotC have absolutely no creative role. You're talking about a few dozen people out of many hundreds who are "designers and artists". Hell, last I heard, WotC mostly didn't employ artists, but used freelancers, and a lot of their writing is also done by people who are contracted rather than permanently employed by WotC.

So that's either misleading or a misunderstanding on your part.

 

[aco175]

I have not been affected much. I still plan my weekly game for my group and I just registered for the local convention, even though that was a bit of a mess with the site not letting me pick some tickets. I'm even considering making an adventure to run at the con if they get stuck with more players and no DMs like last time I went (pre-Covid). My big goal would to make those potions of healing in the little vials to give out to the DMs at the con as a thank you.

I come on this site and try to read some of the stuff on what is going on and I find that there are sooo many threads and sooo much talking going on that I cannot keep up. I get the general feel of what is going on and hope things change before the 13th, but I have a wait and see approach.

Edit: There was seven posts on this thread by the time I typed and posted, so that says something about the amount of activity going on.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Really? No Artists in computer programming? Interesting take.

I don't agree.

It's called computer science and is a BsC for a reason buddy.

You're getting into a shenanigans-y sort of place with this argument where literally every human being is an "artist", which serves solely to render the term meaningless.

 

[FrogReaver]

Not a meaningful difference. Cynthia Williams is an employee of WotC. Dan Rawson is an employee of WotC.

The vast majority of people who work at WotC have absolutely no creative role. You're talking about a few dozen people out of many hundreds who are "designers and artists". Hell, last I heard, WotC mostly didn't employ artists, but used freelancers, and a lot of their writing is also done by people who are contracted rather than permanently employed by WotC.

So that's either misleading or a misunderstanding on your part.

Is there no meaningful difference between yourself and the company you work for?

 

[DEFCON 1]

It's called computer science and is a BsC for a reason buddy.

Whatever. If you think there is no artistry at work in D&D Beyond... that's cool. I think you are wrong, but it's no skin off my nose.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Is there no meaningful difference between yourself and the company you work for?

When I'm working and acting for them? Not really.

And you've not answered my point re: the fact that designers, writers, and artists are a small fraction of WotC's employees, nor that an awful lot of them are freelancers and contractors, rather than permanently employed.

 

[Quickleaf]

I've been really bummed the last week or so with the OGL news. I simply can't get myself up to really do anything D&D / RPG related. I was briefly excited about changing to a new platform, but that soon faded. I was checking DnD Beyond (DDB) this morning to see if there was any OGL news and I realized something. I want to play D&D, not another game, and I want to use DDB. There is a lot of interesting content on DDB (a lot of it free) that reminds of Dragon/Dungeon magazine. I want to continue with my 5e homebrew game, it is just about perfect for my group.

I know technically I can continue playing, but this whole OGL debacle has just drained the RPG will out of me. I guess I feel betrayed? I don't know. Even the calls to create a new open system or rally behind another system just feel wrong and a bit like a betrayal as well. I like D&D and I like sharing it with others. I like the shared community. These forums are, in fact, the only social media I really engage in. I like hearing what @Micah Sweet , @Parmandur, @Maxperson , @TheSword, @Ruin Explorer, @Stalker0, @Matrix Sorcica, and many, many others have to say. I doubt I get that if I leave D&D. I am just finding it very hard to have the desire to play or engage in D&D right now.

For me, the best, and possible the only solution, is a new OGL 1.0(b) that adds that is irrevocable and next to nothing else. I don't even think I want a siloed OGL1.1 anymore (which I previously thought would be fine). Otherwise I just might leave the hobby all together.

Hang in there. It's hard finding a game and setup that everyone in your group really enjoys, so it's natural you wanting to maintain that and not rock the boat.

Speaking personally, after signing my name to the Open D&D petition and signing up for Kobold Press' Black Flag, I recognized that I've done what I can.

I've also chosen to reaffirm my connections to and support of 3pp creators who I admire, and commit to supporting them going forward irrespective of what the OGL does. For any anxiety that us as consumers have, I know that it's a hundred times more for publishers operating under the OGL. This is the moment to support them.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Whatever. If you think there is no artistry at work in D&D Beyond... that's cool. I think you are wrong, but it's no skin off my nose.

I think there's some. But it's not very much, given how little the UI, layout, etc. have changed over the years. They haven't got many people working on that. If it was 10% of their employees I'd be utterly shocked. Probably less than 5%.

This is what I'm objecting to - the characterisation of stuff like Beyond, which is 90% just corporate hard work - as "supporting artists". To me that's nonsense that's about making people giving more to a large corporate company feel okay with doing that.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I think there's some. But it's not very much, given how little the UI, layout, etc. have changed over the years. They haven't got many people working on that. If it was 10% of their employees I'd be utterly shocked. Probably less than 5%.

This is what I'm objecting to - the characterisation of stuff like Beyond, which is 90% just corporate hard work - as "supporting artists". To me that's ego-farming nonsense.

You want to characterize it differently, knock yourself out. But the money-people who are making these decisions on the OGL are probably just as small a contingent of WotC as the artists who create for everything Wizards puts out. And it's not likethe WotC HR department, Janitorial, Accounting, and Office Security have anything to do with it either. Anything you do to the corp hits those innocents as well.

So you wanting to chastise the whole corporation for the actions of a few is pretty much on the same level as me doing the opposite.