Potential Positive Outcomes of the OGL Fiasco (+)

[aco175]

There is another thread about this same thing floating around. I wrote that I hope Wizards will start to put out books that I am interested in again. I cannot remember one in the last few years I was excited about with the exception of the box sets. Maybe Saltmarsh and Yawning Portal I can do a lot of work and make them play, but lately I find the brand moving away from what I want. I am hopeful for the new Phandalin book this year.

 

[Xyxox]

Looking forward to checking out Pathfinder 2E. Played Pathfinder 1E for years.

 

[Alzrius]

We may find out, after a lengthy court battle (complete with appeals up the judicial chain), that the OGL v1.0a really is irrevocable, confirming that it truly is the safe harbor it was always presented as being.

 

[mamba]

That other RPGs might get a chance to shine, instead of D&D dominating everything. I have a bunch of RPGs I plan to look into, and look forward to that.

That what can and cannot be copyrighted might be a lot clearer a few years down the line

 

[Steampunkette]

Level Up becomes a dominant force in the "5e Replacement" sense, as Critical Role and its fanbase look for something new, but familiar, in the same way 3rd Ed players went to Pathfinder instead of 4e.

... pie in the sky, sure. But I'd be ecstatic.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Biggest positive for me... a whole swathe of people who go ballistic every time WotC releases a UA due to their hatred of the rules changes will hopefully no longer be following the game's development because they are boycotting WotC and OneD&D.

Fingers crossed that will cut down on the amount of hyperbolic posts with two people screaming at each other back and forth every 30 seconds for 60 pages worth of thread, letting cooler heads actually discuss things moderately.

 

[Art Waring]

I had been designing games under the original OGL since its release in 2000, I had honestly thought that it was the best system (3e) for a long time. Designing for 5e was much easier, but it also had a lot of expectations that you are supposed to follow (formatting, "natural language," and design traps like class archetypes).

Stepping away from dnd altogether, and making my own new game system has been truly liberating. My decades of experience allow me to custom tailor my game to the kinds of games I want to run, rather than what has become the norm.

Dnd has become an overarching standard that has kept designers from branching out and finding new forms of innovation within the field of game design. There are still countless methods and mechanics that haven't been discovered yet because we are comfortable living inside the dnd box.

Maybe its time to step outside the box.

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not. possible.” – Frank Zappa.

 

[Arilyn]

ORC becomes a reality and is a stronger license that is widely adopted. We see a wider selection of games flourish. Majority of players discover new favourites outside of D&D.

 

[treps]

ORC becomes a reality and is a stronger license that is widely adopted. We see a wider selection of games flourish. Majority of players discover new favourites outside of D&D.

Even if ORC seems a good initiative that could partially solve the problem of WOTC de-authorizing the OGL 1.0a you totally underestimate the volume of OGC published during the last 22 years by independent authors and 3PP ! The 3, 3.5 and 5 SRD are just the visible part of the iceberg on which WOTC and everyone is focusing on !
All this content, designed to be shared and freely available to be reused without even needing to ask permissions to their authors (rules, adventures, campaigns, universes, complete games derived from a D&D SRD, complete games not even based on any D&D SRD, etc.) will not be available anymore to use in new publications unless relicensed by their authors or 3PP under ORC or other open license, many of them are not even existing anymore now !

 

[Umbran]

I am not so sure a diaspora to other games will be as positive a development for the community as folks may think, in the long term.

One positive thing that may come out of this (many will be skeptical, and that's fine) is that Hasbro may learn that they don't know what they are doing with high-engagement, fan-driven business. They may learn too late, but better late than never.

I think we might also see a positive development in secondary market for RPGs. Folks who don't want to give WotC more money may start selling, trading and passing books around. Folks who want to at least read more games with less financial investment may also start moving around items in their collections they didn't like or no longer use.