Statement on OGL from WotC

Wizards of the Coast has made a short statement regarding the ongoing rumors surrounding OneD&D and the Open Gaming License. In a short response to Comicbook.com, the company said "We will continue to support the thousands of creators making third-party D&D content with the release of One D&D in 2024. While it is certain our Open Game License (OGL) will continue to evolve, just as it has since its inception, we're too early in the development of One D&D to give more specifics on the OGL or System Reference Document (SRD) at this time."

Dungeons & Dragons Clarifies Support for Third-Party Material as New Edition Draws Near

Wizards of the Coast has responded to rumors of changes to the Open Game License and System [...]

comicbook.com

It's not clear what WotC means when they say that the OGL will 'continue to evolve' -- while there have been two versions of the license released over the years, each is non-rescindible so people are free to use whichever version of the license they wish. Indeed, that is written into the license itself -- "Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License."

During the D&D 4th Edition era, WotC published a new, separate license called the Game System Licence (GSL). While it was used by third party publishers, it was generally upopular.

 

[humble minion]

Honestly, they really emphasised their roots in the fandom, I suspect profits we're never their only goal, they just had to couch things in those terms to sway other investors, as fans I think they weren't happy with the direction of WotC.

Or else they were deliberately trying to astroturf themselves as 'true fans' to manufacture support from the fanbase for their profit-motivated corporate maneuvering. But we'll never know one way or the other.

 

[Irlo]

Honestly, they really emphasised their roots in the fandom, I suspect profits we're never their only goal, they just had to couch things in those terms to sway other investors, as fans I think they weren't happy with the direction of WotC.

I’ve been called cynical.

 

[Dausuul]

Honestly, they really emphasised their roots in the fandom, I suspect profits we're never their only goal, they just had to couch things in those terms to sway other investors, as fans I think they weren't happy with the direction of WotC.

Generally I'm inclined not to think people's motivations are more noble than their public statements let on.

 

[Bohandas]

They are obviously trying to monetise D&D, but depending on how this plays out they may end up doing the opposite of "protecting" the investment. The story of the goose that laid the golden egg springs to mind. EDIT: To be clear, I am not saying this will kill D&D (unlike the poor goose). But it might end up making quite a dent in it.

If this actually happens I hope it does kill D&D. I still think that nobody should habe switched back to D&D from Pathfinder

 

[UngainlyTitan]

If this actually happens I hope it does kill D&D. I still think that nobody should habe switched back to D&D from Pathfinder

You can like what you like but I really like 5e, I even like the proposed changes to 5e. This makes me sad.

 

[Remathilis]

Comment coming

@Morrus

 

[Stalker0]

Comment coming

@Morrus

The big elephant in the room is the leaked document. There are really only 3 scenarios:

1) the document is fake, or an unreleased draft, aka unofficial. If that was the case, seems weird for WOTC to not say that.

2) the document is real but only for the few companies it was sent to, and the more general OGL will be “kinder”. Sucks for those poor sods but ok for the rest of us. Wotc might stay quiet to get them to sign… i mean they are obviously going to find out once the general doc is released, so it’s not like hiding that fact is going to hold us long term.

3) the document is a true representation of wotcs plan. In this case the releases statement is just standard corporate bs.

 

[bedir than]

The big elephant in the room is the leaked document. There are really only 3 scenarios:

1) the document is fake, or an unreleased draft, aka unofficial. If that was the case, seems weird for WOTC to not say that.

2) the document is real but only for the few companies it was sent to, and the more general OGL will be “kinder”. Sucks for those poor sods but ok for the rest of us. Wotc might stay quiet to get them to sign… i mean they are obviously going to find out once the general doc is released, so it’s not like hiding that fact is going to hold us long term.

3) the document is a true representation of wotcs plan. In this case the releases statement is just standard corporate bs.

4) the document was real. They've changed their mind now.


Losing their largest 3pp partner may have changed things

 

[UngeheuerLich]

If this actually happens I hope it does kill D&D. I still think that nobody should habe switched back to D&D from Pathfinder

Bad attitude.

Very bad. There are people who never liked Pathfinder and do actually like D&D.

I don't go around saying: I hope that kills Pathfinder.

 

[Wasteland Knight]

4) the document was real. They've changed their mind now.


Losing their largest 3pp partner may have changed things

Who did they lose?