Rumours: WotC Announcement Today; Insider Email Reveals Plans

There's a couple of rumours going round today. I cannot verify either, but I'm reporting them as most of the recent OGL rumours have proven true.

First -- it is rumoured that today at 3pm ET Wizards of the Coast will make some kind of video statement about the current Open Game License situation. This rumour came from the folks at Roll For Combat who were the first to break the draft OGL scoop.

[[UPDATE -- This didn't happen!]]

Second -- an email has been circulating from an anonymous WotC insider. Again, I must reiterate I cannot myself verify this, so read this with that in mind, but the email says:

Hi,

I'm an employee at WotC currently working on D&Dbeyond (DDB) and with D&D business leaders on the health of the product line. If you want I can provide proof of this.

I'm sending this message because I fear for the health of a community I love, and I know what the leaders at WOTC are looking at:

-They are briefly delaying rollout of OGL changes due to the backlash.
-Their decision making is based entirely on the provable impact to their bottom line.
-Specifically they are looking at DDB subscriptions and cancellations as it is the quickest financial data they currently have.
-They are still hoping the community forgets, moves on, and they can still push this through.

I have decided to reach out because at my time in WotC I have never once heard management refer to customers in a positive manner, their communication gives me the impression they see customers as obstacles between them and their money, the DDB team was first told to prepare to support the new OGL changes and online portal when they got back from the holidays, and leadership doesn't take any responsibility for the pain and stress they cause others. Leadership's first communication to the rank and file on the OGL was 30 minutes on 1/11/23, This was the first time they even tried to communicate their intentions about the OGL to employees, and even in this meeting they blamed the community for over-reacting.

I will repeat, the main thing this leadership is looking at is DDB subscription cancellations.

Hope your day goes well,

P.S. I will be copying and pasting this message to other community leaders.

If both rumours are true, I guess at 3pm ET today we'll find that out.

 

[darjr]

Wizards of the Coast Cancels OGL Announcement After Online Ire

The new Dungeons & Dragons Open Game License was expected on Thursday afternoon, but a fan campaign against changes has caused the company to hesitate.

gizmodo.com

Arg!

Thank you!

@Morrus

 

[Charlaquin]

M:tG might be able to survive on casual fans alone (though that is certainly not their business strategy). It was designed for quick, easy games.

D&D cannot possibly survive on casual fans. A game where you need multiple hardcover tomes to hold the rules? A game which requires one player to do substantial creative work each time you get together to play it? Even with the best VTT in the world, this is still a game which depends massively on its community of players. Most people do not learn D&D on their own, they rely on established groups and especially established DMs to bring them along.

This is the thing Hazbro consistently fails to understand about D&D.

 

[Nikosandros]

I wonder if the video will be, "With the rollout of OGL 1.1, and all the excitement over it, we are pleased to announce that Wizards of the Coast is changing! We are honoring our history, and thus rebranding ourselves as TSR!"

This time, since they also own Avalon Hill, they can synergize the marketing campaign between D&D and Outdoor Survival.

 

[Konrad13]

Welp, now I am sure we won't learn anything more until tomorrow and it will probably be "we hear you, but we're going forward on this."

 

[Oofta]

I do not think that many of us want to give up liking WoTC, I have never like a business in general or WoTC in particular, people yes, I do admit to really enjoying 5e as current and to have some liking for OneD&D as presented.
While I was here for and witnessed the edition war during the 4e period I must say I never really understood it. What does it matter what anyone plays as long as they get to do in peace.
I am disappointed by WoTCs actions but not terribly surprised. Surprised in the sense that something like this was tried? well I did not expect it and I would have expected more competence. It is however, as very understandable move give the ideology that most corporate executives are trained up in these days, that of maximising shareholder value.

I will never understand why people find it shocking that corporations aren't warm and cuddly. Despite commercials that says [insert company here] cares about you, they don't. They care about what money they can get from you and relatively short term profits.

That's not to say that all corporations are evil, although I would call companies are literally willing to sacrifice lives to make more profit evil. In no way does WOTC rise to that level. But virtually every large corporations doesn't have your best interest at heart beyond keeping a revenue stream going. After a company grows past a certain point the people in charge are almost always going to be the people who have a passion for making money above a passion for whatever they produce.

Yet I give money to heartless corporations every day. I think the D&D development team really cares for and love the game. At some point above them? It's just a product that has to contribute to the bottom line. Am I happy with the decisions WOTC is making? No. But saying that WOTC is a evil as some of the corporations that are literally killing people by direct action or charging exorbitant prices for things they need to survive? I think people need to take a step back and put things into perspective. If you want to cancel your DDB subscription, cool. But they are not Evil Inc.

 

[Cruentus]

IME, you are correct, but I can only vouch for a handful of companies first hand, and a few dozen more second hand....

They may be out there, but they’re fewer and farther between. Fortunately for me (or not, depending on perspective), I’m pretty inured to this whole debacle, after going through these types of antics already with Games Workshop. I don’t engage with GW anymore, and won’t with WOTC…

 

[Zaukrie]

I will never understand why people find it shocking that corporations aren't warm and cuddly. Despite commercials that says [insert company here] cares about you, they don't. They care about what money they can get from you and relatively short term profits.

That's not to say that all corporations are evil, although I would call companies are literally willing to sacrifice lives to make more profit evil. In no way does WOTC rise to that level. But virtually every large corporations doesn't have your best interest at heart beyond keeping a revenue stream going. After a company grows past a certain point the people in charge are almost always going to be the people who have a passion for making money above a passion for whatever they produce.

Yet I give money to heartless corporations every day. I think the D&D development team really cares for and love the game. At some point above them? It's just a product that has to contribute to the bottom line. Am I happy with the decisions WOTC is making? No. But saying that WOTC is a evil as some of the corporations that are literally killing people by direct action or charging exorbitant prices for things they need to survive? I think people need to take a step back and put things into perspective. If you want to cancel your DDB subscription, cool. But they are not Evil Inc.

This.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

CEOs (and similar) tend to rate high on psychological tests for psychopathy.

Seriously.

has this ever been cross tested for business training. I have seem reports that people with business/economics training react differently to the norm on certain types of games designed to test prosocial behaviour.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Really? I’m already dreading having to inform my regulars that I’m not going to be buying D&D any more. This move will definitely end play groups, and presumably some friendships.

Yeah but what happens if, at the same time you drop the bad news, you bring A5E to the table and a Frog God Games adventure module… and exclaim: “I’m buying this instead!”

 

[overgeeked]

Count de Money: Sire, the peasants are revolting!

King: You said it. They stink on ice.