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.

 

[CleverNickName]

According to the article cancellations caused the delay:

"...the message was widely shared, and a stream of subscribers turning off their payment to D&D Beyond appeared to temporarily shut down the landing page for subscription cancellations because of server errors."

Yowch.

Well, I'm not surprised they got quiet. The backlash is obviously a lot more severe than they anticipated, and a lot more people are listening than they expected, so they decided they should put a lot more effort into their response. (shrug) As predictable as a clock.

 

[Parmandur]

@Parmandur is someone I specifically enjoy interacting with on this forum, but man - as they themselves once said, that dude has an autocorrect that likes to party.

It's true, though. I still haven't gotten used to switching from Motorola to Samsung.

 

[Jer]

The thing is, when I hear about the 4e schism today, and what I remember of it at the time, is about the game systems. What we’re discussing now is about licensing and the broader RPG publishing community. There is, from my perspective, a very different character to this debacle than there was to that one.

There was big time discussion about licensing and the broader RPG publishing community because it was the first time that Wizards decided that the OGL was a "mistake" and that people were "stealing their stuff and making money on it" and so they rolled a new license (the GSL) and told people if they wanted to make D&D compatible stuff for 4e they had to use it instead of the OGL. Some folks did but overall it was a pita and it turned out supporting 3e was less difficult and had a big enough market to make it worthwhile.

Tellingly they didn't try to retract the OGL at the time because they all thought that "perpetual" meant "irrevocable" then too. If "perpetual doesn't mean irrevocable" was a glimmer in an attorney's eye back in 2008 they would have done it because that was the stated purpose of the GSL - to get rid of the OGL because Wizards thought 3rd party devs were getting a free lunch and eating into their profits.

 

[Lidgar]

Here:

I find it incredibly ironic (and somewhat depressing) that just a few months ago that same gif was being used over and over again in the NuTSR thread. A thread where WotC was doing the right thing...and now all this.

It's just more than a little surreal.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So the other obvious thing here is this one was possibly an intentional leak. Info passed around to out the leaker. Give different times to different people and see which one hits the net.

Again, please see this post before leaking anything.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I find it incredibly ironic (and somewhat depressing) that just a few months ago that same gif was being used over and over again in the NuTSR thread. A thread where WotC was doing the right thing...and now all this.

It's just more than a little surreal.

IT's why all nuance is lost on the internet... you are either the hero or the villain wotc is doing the best it can and is messing up sometimes and coming through others.

 

[bedir than]

"ChatGPT please rewrite this license so that everyone likes us again"

I'm asking Canva Magic Write to do this

Spoiler: the answer

Write an Open Gaming License for role-playing games so that both the original creator and third parties are able to create and profit from the game
This Open Gaming License (OGL) is designed to ensure that role-playing games remain open and free for everyone, while protecting the rights of the original creators. It allows for both the original creator and third parties to create and profit from the game.
Under this license, the original creator of a role-playing game is allowed to keep all the rights to their original game, including all copyright, trademark, patent, and other intellectual property rights. They may also choose to release some of these rights to third parties, such as allowing them to create sequels or other derivative works, as long as they are properly credited.
Third parties are allowed to use the original game’s settings, rules, and mechanics to create their own games and expansions, as long as they properly credit the original creator and any other authors of the original game. They are also allowed to sell their creations, as long as they do not claim to be the original creator or infringe on any of the original creator’s rights.
We hope that this Open Gaming License will help to promote the growth and creativity of role-playing games, while protecting the rights of the original game creators.

 

[Charlaquin]

IIRC, the original leaked 1.1(a) OGL stated that it would be effective etc. on January 13, 2023- tomorrow (Friday). I think that's why they were planning the announcement then.

I see. That makes some sense, though I had kind of assumed they would make a statement before it went into effect.

 

[Micah Sweet]

IT's why all nuance is lost on the internet... you are either the hero or the villain wotc is doing the best it can and is messing up sometimes and coming through others.

Burning the entire 3pp industry to line their wallets is the best they could do?

 

[Charlaquin]

IT's why all nuance is lost on the internet... you are either the hero or the villain wotc is doing the best it can and is messing up sometimes and coming through others.

I mean... Internert or no, 3SR's behavior was very much a dumpster fire then, and while I agree the creatives at WotC are probably just tying to do the best they can with what the higher-ups have handed them, it sure looks like they've been handed a flaming dumpster.