Mike Mearls On the OGL

[cdrcjsn]

How many times would you like to re-purchase it?

Do you see yourself as the kind of person who'll be buying 7e in 20 years' time?

I've been playing for over 25 years and bought every edition released, so yeah probably.

I know that the current 4e set is the best rule set for me. Yeah, it plays similar to 3e, but as a DM, the changes behind the rules are immense and pretty much what sold me on it and it fixed the problem areas in 3.5 that I had issues with.

So those 3e/3.5e books and accessories that I spent a couple of thousand dollars on? Yeah, their utility has lessened (note that I did not say disappear), but I've gotten the use I wanted out of them. The only thing that's different now is that instead of buying a 3.5e WotC/3rd party supplement every other month or so, I'll be buying a 4e WotC/3rd party supplement every other month instead.

 

[mearls]

Mike,

Will your next post provide a blueprint for future open-source RPG development?

In some ways, yes.

Right now, I'm not sure of the methods, but I'm developing some ideas on the realities of RPGs and how an approach inspired by open source software might take shape.

 

[philreed]

We'll be posting guidelines of how to use a Pathfinder RPG compatibility logo soon, but it will basically amount to inclusion of a couple lines of legal text that pretty much say "This logo is used with permission, but Paizo bears no legal responsibility for the contents of this product and hasn't even read it." That sort of thing.

Which sounds perfectly reasonable.

 

[Korgoth]

How many times would you like to re-purchase it?

Do you see yourself as the kind of person who'll be buying 7e in 20 years' time?

It's funny, isn't it? Someone else described 4E as WOTC selling you permissions to your own imagination.

Between OD&D, Classic and 1E (not even counting the moderate amount of 2E and the small amount of 3E stuff I own) I definitely don't need any more sets of rules for D&D. I can run any of those 3 systems 'til my heart is content and never missing having other rules. If there's a rules widget that I wish I had, I can just make it up. And those 3 games don't explode when you trim or add rules. They are remarkably mod-able.

When I think about my best 3E purchase, it was definitely Lords of Madness. It had some cool ideas that I can use in any version of D&D. In fact, I'm modifying some of the background material to go in my far future "Dying Earth"-style OD&D campaign.

If a company produce something that has cool ideas then they actually have something to sell me. If all they have is a slightly different way to handle Armor Class then what good is it to me? Why should I buy a new set of hardbacks that basically convey the same information that I've already purchased like 5 or 6 times, only this time with less information and an approach that invalidates the huge pile of legacy products that I own and that propel my continued interest in the game?

 

[Nellisir]

And my opinion is that if you want OGL to be sure to succeed as a movement eventually you will have to understand that it will have to be a different thing than D&D's expansion as a principle. So far it's priority had been to expand on D20-D&D. This as a primary goal or rather as principle has to change.

::blink::
OK, that actually made sense.

Yes, in the very, very, very long term, the OGL will have to move beyond the d20 corner of the RPG market. Note that this has begun, however - Mutants & Masterminds is sufficiently different from core d20 (and occupies a completely different niche) to count as a different type of game, and Runequest and Traveller are or are going OGL, plus Action! and the other lesser ones.

What's only now become evident, however, is the "cycle length" of the OGL. I suspect it will speed up with time, and we may see another shift in the open/rpg landscape in 4 or 5 years instead of 6-8, but it's hard to tell. Changes take time to communicate through the system; you can't just upgrade your (hardcopy) books or your (mostly human) rules lawyer with a 30-second download.

 

[Nellisir]

So the real creative work--the value added that designers can really give their customers--lies in campaign worlds and adventures and fluff. I mean, you show me a long-term D&D player, and I'll show you someone who knows who Acererak is. Or Eclavdra, or King Snurre. Someone who remembers all those goblins shouting "Bree-Yark!"...

... so that should be the way games companies look for profit.

Amen. I always run my own campaign world, but I still love reading other campaign settings. Erik might know the figures better, but I think most people bought Dungeon "just to read it" - not to run an adventure.

 

[xechnao]

In some ways, yes.

Right now, I'm not sure of the methods, but I'm developing some ideas on the realities of RPGs and how an approach inspired by open source software might take shape.

Sounds very interesting. What I want to ask you though is if you (OGL-adopters past and present) are really interested in this kind of open source movement what has happened that made you lose faith in OGL? What were OGL's specific faults that were not visible in the past and are visible now and why were not visible according to you?

 

[Kez Darksun]

Just a quick note on the whole OGL/GSL situation as far as it concerns me as a consumer. What the revelation of the GSL has done for me is to make me once again excited about the various 3rd party publishers and their products. I'm still interested in seeing what more 4th edition has to offer in the coming months, and I know I'll get products for 4th edition, but what I realized is that one of the things I really value about 3.x D&D is the OGL and all the material people have come up with to support it.

I had heard about Pathfinder when the Alpha first came out, but I hadn't payed much attention to it. Once I saw the GSL and remembered all the cool products I purchased from OGL publishers, I went out and signed up on Paizo's boards so I could download the Alpha and see what it was all about, then I went out and picked up pretty much everything from Dreamscarred Press since I really enjoy Psionics and I wanted to see what they had developed for Psionics.

It will be interesting to see what people come up with for 4th edition products in the coming months, and while I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of their creativity for 4th edition, I'm glad there will also be work continuing to be done under the OGL also by some of the same creators.




Hrm...probably more suited to the how does the GSL affect me thread, but was in here when I wanted to post my thoughts and hadn't seen/read that thread yet. If a mod wants to move my post there, thats fine. Don't want to cross post.

 

[Treebore]

Which sounds perfectly reasonable.

No kidding! WOTC should have done that! They should do it with 4E too, since they are apparently going to make no effort to control quality until after the fact.