The Power Struggle for Dungeons & Dragons' Soul

[Satyrn]

I'm sympathetic to those wanting to continue fan supporting discontinued (or suspended) campaign settings (for free naturally), I imagine it gets very frustrating waiting for some crumbs to be thrown in that direction. But directly competing with new (or established) products seems to cross a line. What puzzled me about the article was the apparent violation of the OGL via publication on DMs Guild. I thought the OGL only applied to products produced outside of the DMs Guild and that DMs Guild products had a much broader license to everything covered in the current edition published material?

I don't trust that article to get things right - it talks as though WotC runs DDBeyond rather than it just being a licenced product - so I'm not surprised you're puzzled by another of its "facts."

 

[TerraDave]

I don't trust that article to get things right -

Well, and skill points, or that making 1st level 5e characters is hard...

Whats funny is that its the Beyond people that just got a slap on the wrist from Hasbro over their not-an-esports thing.

Thats a story. This, I don't think this amounts to much.

 

[Retreater]

I suppose I’ve always liked Pathfinder’s business model.
Like, their rules are hot garbage. But since Paizo makes all the mechanics free online after a month or two, people make pretty awesome “patches” or “mods” to fix the worst of it.

Giving away "hot garbage" is hardly something worth receiving.

 

[Ymdar]

Yes, indeed. It is called D&D, where the transitory lands of the Lords of the Coast converge.
In venturing north, the pilgrims discovered the truth of the old words:
"The fire fades and the lords go without thrones."
When the link of the fire is threatened, the bell tolls, unearthing the old Lords of the Coast from their graves...

 

[jayoungr]

I think the article is being WAY overdramatic in calling this a struggle for D&D's "soul." The "soul" of D&D isn't about digital tools.