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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Saracenus" data-source="post: 4326539" data-attributes="member: 47839">Mourn,You have hit the proud nail on the head. WotC has been signaling all along during the run up to 4e that they want to capture as much of the existing D&D market that they can and in six months start expanding that market to those that haven't come over to it.The 3e/OGL was a great tool for getting people excited about D&D again and did a great job of bringing people back into the fold (it brought me back after I abandoned the brand during the years of 2e suck). Add the fact the 3e/OGL was a good proving ground for a whole new passel of designer (Merles made the case for this in a recent blog) and reinvigorated the brand. On the downside it was not a simple game to learn and the barriers to entry for brand new players meant that 3e was not optimal at capturing new players outside the normal channels bringing new blood to the hobby. Add the fact that RPGs are huge in the electronic gaming side of the business (where a whole generation of players have never heard table top gaming) and WotC had to start thinking about the future of the hobby and their own business survival. To wit, capture that young market that will drive the sales of their books for decades to come.So the GSL (something I think sucks for us old-timey gamers) is actually a good business move for them because it keeps their brand coherent and gives them lots of control over it. Because as Mourn has stated lots of people that don't know the term RPG or OGL know that something called D&D is out there... and that is a powerful place to start bringing them in.Anyway, that is my two coppers...</blockquote>

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