WotC WotC partners with Start Playing to connect players and DMs and form tables.

[MonsterEnvy]

Like sending goons after a dude and trying to slash an entire industry's throat. Minor mistakes.

I just don't care about the Pinkerton thing as the guy it happened to does not even carry a grudge, and was compensated for his time.

The OGL thing is done, nothing came of it in the end. So it's not even a mistake, it was just an idea that didn't happen.

 

[Burnside]

The OGL thing is done, nothing came of it in the end. So it's not even a mistake, it was just an idea that didn't happen.

It would have 100% happened if the community hadn't prevented it.

"We are sorry. We got it wrong.

Our language and requirements in the draft OGL were disruptive to creators and not in support of our core goals of protecting and cultivating an inclusive play environment and limiting the OGL to TTRPGs. Then we compounded things by being silent for too long. We hurt fans and creators, when more frequent and clear communications could have prevented so much of this." - Kyle Brink, D&D Executive Producer

It's absurd to characterize it as "not even a mistake" when even WotC admits that it was, in fact, a giant mistake.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

It would have 100% happened if the community hadn't prevented it.

"We are sorry. We got it wrong.

Our language and requirements in the draft OGL were disruptive to creators and not in support of our core goals of protecting and cultivating an inclusive play environment and limiting the OGL to TTRPGs. Then we compounded things by being silent for too long. We hurt fans and creators, when more frequent and clear communications could have prevented so much of this." - Kyle Brink, D&D Executive Producer

It's absurd to characterize it as "not even a mistake" when even WotC admits that it was, in fact, a giant mistake.

It still didn't happen. So to me that's the end of it.
I don't care about the reason why it didn't happen.

 

[Hussar]

The group should probably just form a WoW guild then?

Again, it isn't that hard, and there are far more resources today to make it easy than there ever has been.

Don't get me wrong, though: if a group prefers to shell out $100 a session to a paid GM, good for that GM.

That's about what I was getting when I ran for Start Playing. Why not? 4 hours of work, 25 bucks per hour? Still cheap for the entertainment. Never minding the hours I was putting in between sessions.

This idea that there's something wrong with paying a DM to run a game needs to die in a fire.

 

[Vaalingrade]

It still didn't happen.

Attempted murder? Attempted murder? Please. What is that? They don't give out a Nobel Prize for Attempted Chemistry.

 

[Hussar]

How long are people going to keep banging this drum?

They changed the license. Yuppers. It was inevitable that it was going to happen. At some point, every contract is subject to change. The fact that the OGL wasn't worth the paper it was printed on, since a contract is only good so long as it is enforceable, meant that it was always going to be subject to change at some point.

Now, we have a CC license, rock solid and no one needs to worry about it ever again. You can actually rely on the license never changing.

So, some folks who are no longer with WotC anymore, changed a license and, because of the backlash, we now have a better license than we had before. But, we still need to hold WotC's feet to the fire?

 

[Vaalingrade]

But, we still need to hold WotC's feet to the fire?

Until we get the older editions SRDs in the CC, they admit the OGL was never revocable, and they stop 'corp's gonna corp'-ing?

YES.

Edit - Fixed.

 

[Reynard]

Until we get the older editions SRDs in the CC, they admit the OGL was never revocable, and they stop 'corp's gonna corp'-ing?

NO.

Assuming you actually meant "YES" I agree with you.

BUT: we don't actually need WotC for anything. It would be nice if they fulfilled their promises, and it would make it easier if they CC'ed all the SRDs, but the reality is it isn't important. We shouldn't care. If they don't want to officially release three 3.5 SRD to.CC, that sucks but in the same way that SRD led to the retroclones, the 5E SRD in CC clears the way for anything based on the 3.5 SRD. Simply because it is literally all derivative.

So screw WotC. Stop worrying about what they do. If you want to make a game that is 5E plus 4E and 3E, just do it.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Assuming you actually meant "YES" I agree with you.

Fixed.

BUT: we don't actually need WotC for anything. It would be nice if they fulfilled their promises, and it would make it easier if they CC'ed all the SRDs, but the reality is it isn't important. We shouldn't care. If they don't want to officially release three 3.5 SRD to.CC, that sucks but in the same way that SRD led to the retroclones, the 5E SRD in CC clears the way for anything based on the 3.5 SRD. Simply because it is literally all derivative.

So screw WotC. Stop worrying about what they do. If you want to make a game that is 5E plus 4E and 3E, just do it.

The OGL thing was a statement of intent. And that intent was to create a chilling effect. No, they can't win a lawsuit, but as so many powerful people and companies already know, you don't have to win the lawsuit to destroy smaller targets.

That's the problem. Until they openly and directly signal that they are no longer a threat to indie creators in the way they positioned themselves, we can't afford to let off the pressure. Because until it's not possible for them to try again, they will.

Saying we don't need WotC is missing the point. Because we need an absence of WotC's shadow looming over the creative space.

And also, we can't let the other stuff they've done go by saying 'corp's gonna corp', because that means they feel they have free reign to corp--which we should never let any of them get away with.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

1. WotC wants more people to play DnD.

2. More people need more DMs in order to play DnD.

3. WotC points to an online site where people can find DMs easily.

I fail to see the problem here. Except the people who can't go a day without looking for one.