An Unexpected Victory, Unconditional Surrender, and Unfinished Business.

[Enrahim2]

Advocating, "everyone should be on one license, and that should be ORC" before even seeing the ORC license seems more about the ORC brand than anything about the game business.

Let creators choose license based on their needs and goals, not our desire to see ORC succeed.

Let me explain a bit better my background for encouraging the use of a single license: OGL1.0a managed something GPL aspired to, but didn't manage. It became a share alike licence dominating commercial creation for an entire industry.

As a software developer, and RPG entusiast, it is striking to see the contrast between the stance of most of the commercial actors with regard to willingness, or even eagerness to provide open source back to the community to build on. And I believe the success of the OGL as a SA license is essential for this mindset.

If the RPG community fractures into a many license situation I forsee the same thing will happen as in software. OGL like GPL will actively avoided by all commercial actors unless they absolutely need something only available there. No other SA initiative will gain significant traction, as there are other alternatives to everything added into any of those schemes. Non SA open licensed content will be provided by non-commercial entusiasts and the biggest players seeking to build a community around their platform. Medium sized commercial actors will exclusively consume content, rather than provide anything back.

The only way I can see us avoid this future is if almost everyone in the industry rally around a single SA scheme, and fill it with valuable content, before the amount of content under non-SA licenses grow to the point that the SA license can no longer compete.

ORC appear to be exactly the kind of rallying cry that might have this potential. Hence I promote ORC. Of course if ORC turn out to be a bad license, my hope for a bright future where the entire hobby balloons due to the effect of such a community license not centered around a single system is lost. I think this is the one shot we have.

 

[Umbran]

As a software developer, and RPG entusiast, it is striking to see the contrast between the stance of most of the commercial actors with regard to willingness, or even eagerness to provide open source back to the community to build on. And I believe the success of the OGL as a SA license is essential for this mindset.

Ah, but RPGs are not software, and don't really need the same level sharing in order to operate well.

In code, when one person finds a way to solve a database injection flaw, it is excellent and essential to share that around to as many as possible. In RPGs, nobody has a data breech because two games solve a problem in different ways.

Indeed, I probably want to see the same problem solved in different ways. Some sharing is good, but go to far and it becomes homogenization, which isn't one of my hopes.

 

[Saracenus]

Ah, but RPGs are not software, and don't really need the same level sharing in order to operate well.

In code, when one person finds a way to solve a database injection flaw, it is excellent and essential to share that around to as many as possible. In RPGs, nobody has a data breech because two games solve a problem in different ways.

Indeed, I probably want to see the same problem solved in different ways. Some sharing is good, but go to far and it becomes homogenization, which isn't one of my hopes.

I, for one, welcome the day our A.I. Lawyer Overlords(tm) deliver us from the madness of reconciling multiple OGC licenses. They can deal with the resulting complexity and we can continue in the Matrix as their batteries... Now what fantasy rpg Matrix simulation am I going to live in...

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I, for one, welcome the day our A.I. Lawyer Overlords(tm) deliver us from the madness of reconciling multiple OGC licenses. They can deal with the resulting complexity and we can continue in the Matrix as their batteries... Now what fantasy rpg Matrix simulation am I going to live in...

Reconcile license?

I want out Chatbot AI overlords to write and DM the games for us!

....preferably in a holodeck. That's still a thing, right?

 

[robconley]

Indeed, I probably want to see the same problem solved in different ways. Some sharing is good, but go to far and it becomes homogenization, which isn't one of my hopes.

There wasn't homogenization after the late 2000s. Since then has been a second golden age for RPGs. This is not a subjective opinion either, just looked at what being offered on DriveThruRPG.

What did happen is a D&D related system remained the most popular system with the widest audience. But it doesn't matter what is most popular. We are no longer competing over scarce resources like shelf space, warehouse storage, and the distribution system. If the publisher is smart and handles things well then you get Savage Worlds, Mork Borg, and Fate. If you don't then you get GURPS and Hero System along with dozens of other systems. But even those systems are limping along with new periodic release of new content.

If folks think there is homogenization then they are not looking hard enough. Something I had personal experience with for over 15 years as a OSR publisher (Bat in the Attic Games.

Ah, but RPGs are not software, and don't really need the same level sharing in order to operate well.

In code, when one person finds a way to solve a database injection flaw, it is excellent and essential to share that around to as many as possible. In RPGs, nobody has a data breech because two games solve a problem in different ways.

Not everybody who has something to contribute can write systems. They rather focus on adventures, settings, and other supplemental materials. This is why systems that are open content under open licenses are a benefit. Multiple licenses create friction in trying to support multiple systems as the foundational content needed by an adventure, setting, or supplement may not be available in a given system.

However, with the dominance of a single license like the OGL 1.0a, it is possible to pull together disparate sources to use to cover the gaps and move to one what the author really wants to focus on.

For a great example of this in actions look at Cepheus and its community of creators. Cepheus was welded together by Jason Kemp by using the open content from Mongoose Traveller, Traveller 20, and D20 Modern. Alone each of the three didn't have everything needed to fully suppose a system similar to MgT 1e. Together they did.

 

[Enrahim2]

Ah, but RPGs are not software, and don't really need the same level sharing in order to operate well.

In code, when one person finds a way to solve a database injection flaw, it is excellent and essential to share that around to as many as possible. In RPGs, nobody has a data breech because two games solve a problem in different ways.

Indeed, I probably want to see the same problem solved in different ways. Some sharing is good, but go to far and it becomes homogenization, which isn't one of my hopes.

A single license do not need to mean homogenization in terms of content. OGL did draw a bit in that direction, as D20 got a solid head start with it. But it still had room for wildly different systems like fate and traveler. If ORC is good enough that several publishers are willing to put their wildly different systems in it from the start, I hardly see how the single license should work as a homogenization factor at all.

 

[Saracenus]

Reconcile license?

I want out Chatbot AI overlords to write and DM the games for us!

....preferably in a holodeck. That's still a thing, right?

Didn't know of a short hand way to say, sort out the intricacies of multiple OGC licenses... <shrug> I am not a lawyer... Anyway...

Holodecks are for dabblers, true gamers invest their mind, body, and soul into The Matrix.