Battlezoo Shares The OGL v1.1

Battlezoo, the YouTube channel which shared the initial leak of the new Open Game License, has shared the PDF of the OGL v1.1 draft which is currently circulating. This draft is, presumably, the same document obtained by Gizmodo last week. It's not currently known if this is the final version of the license.

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[SteveC]

I just want to point out that Lorraine Williams dislike comes from what she did to the company, which all but ruined it. Again, as someone who was there, she spent huge money on the Buck Rodgers game/novels and created a huge backlog of D&D books that could be returned by bookstores and were, for a huge loss.

I am not saying there wasn't sexism involved somewhere, but there are perfectly cromulent reasons to dislike her. As to who is responsible for the current decisions? We don't know, but I suspect it will all come out eventually. Perhaps someone will be leaving to pursue other opportunities shortly. Or perhaps they'll just ride it all out.

 

[Myrdin Potter]

I mean, I know everyone always loves to blame a woman if a woman is within a miles of an event, but let's not pretend that Chris Cocks isn't Cynthia Williams' boss, and that Dan Rawson isn't VP of D&D. Pulling her out of the middle of that chain of command is pure sexism, frankly.

If you want to line all three of them up, sure. Otherwise, maybe don't spread really obviously sexist memes? Just a thought.

Cynthia Williams is the BU head of WoTC (president, Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming,), I believe a direct report to the CEO and is high enough up that she was with CEO on the UBS webcast when she was directly quoted about monetizing D&D more. I think it is a fair comparison to the previous Williams.

No idea if she drinks at all and I don’t get the Chardonnay reference. But she should be the one calling the shots on OGL 1.1 with the obvious agreement of her CEO.

Dragging in a line VP is a stretch to complain about the meme as well.

It is not sexist to take a shot at a woman in power who is messing up. There is no magic pass based on gender.

Now, I actually think the first Williams got over blamed and Gygax’s mismanagement glossed over, but she did still finish running the company into the ground. That is where the comparison fails - WoTC is booking record profits and D&D is doing really well. Most of which happened when Cocks, the current CEO, was running the business unit.

 

[darjr]

According to rumour (screenshots of tweets I saw this morning somewhere, I can't find them right now), WoTC are currently in full Fuhrer Bunker mode. No one wants to speak up for fear of getting fired. It sounds as if they're paralysed. Sane people at WoTC know they ought to be issuing a conciliatory press release, but the boss is in Evil Emperor mode and they don't dare tell her. That's the rumour anyway.

Just to note I’m not confirming this. Something is going on but this bit may be just rumor.

Sharing for completeness and the source.

 

[darjr]

Remember when Lorraine Williams was canonized as the savior of D&D in the aftermath of Gygax's complete mismanagement on these boards, just a few months ago when Slaying the Dragon was all the rage?

Pepperidge Farms remembers.

This is utter malarkey. Stop it.

 

[billd91]

No idea if she drinks at all and I don’t get the Chardonnay reference. But she should be the one calling the shots on OGL 1.1 with the obvious agreement of her CEO.

<snip>

It is not sexist to take a shot at a woman in power who is messing up. There is no magic pass based on gender.

It's not sexist to take a shot at women in power, true. But how you do it might be.
"Hold my beer" moments have been widespread in meme culture. So why replace beer with Chardonnay? Because one's coded masculine, the other feminine (and I won't even get into the social class coding - that's more of an exercise for another day).

 

[Micah Sweet]

which.....is the goal. I mean the whole point of this is for WOTC to get people off of 1.0 and on to 1.1. So yes, you absolutely want other vendors to start figuring out how to work with the liscene.

So again, why haven't they released it so people can start doing that?

I'm pretty sure the whole goal is to get everyone making D&D stuff who isn't WotC to stop.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I'm pretty sure the whole goal is to get everyone making D&D stuff who isn't WotC to stop.

And to be even more specific - it feels like the goal is for people making digital tools for D&D to stop

 

[Riley]

According to rumour (screenshots of tweets I saw this morning somewhere, I can't find them right now), WoTC are currently in full Fuhrer Bunker mode. No one wants to speak up for fear of getting fired. It sounds as if they're paralysed. Sane people at WoTC know they ought to be issuing a conciliatory press release, but the boss is in Evil Emperor mode and they don't dare tell her. That's the rumour anyway.

Just to note I’m not confirming any of this. Something is going on but this bit is just rumor.

I wonder if Wizards will dare post a Dragon Talk this week?
The last one was before Christmas, and they may hope to avoid review bombing right now.
Also, which community member would want to be interviewed?

 

[SteveC]

One thing that I find really interesting is how small the game designing community is. Everyone knows everyone else. I think there are a lot of interesting conversations between the game designer folks happening right now. I wonder how much involvement with enjoying or participating in the product WotC management has. It would not surprise me if that's little to none.

 

[darjr]

I wonder if Wizards will dare post a Dragon Talk this week?
The last one was before Christmas, and they may hope to avoid review bombing right now.
Also, which community member would want to be interviewed?

I hope they do. They do have news to share regardless.

Also Teos, a frequent guest, had a frank discussion about the OGL 1.1 on the Baldman Games OneD&D stream and Baldman Games is a close partner to WotC and runs their D&D weekends, GenCon play rooms, PAX tables, and Winter Fantasy.

He would be an excellent guest.

 

[overgeeked]

Also Teos, a frequent guest, had a frank discussion about the OGL 1.1 on the Baldman Games OneD&D stream and Baldman Games is a close partner to WotC and runs their D&D weekends, GenCon play rooms, PAX tables, and Winter Fantasy.

Oh, I bet. What did Teos say? Any link?

 

[darjr]

Oh, I bet. What did Teos say? Any link?

I have a time stamped one, just need to find it.

This has generated so many many many notes

 

[Alzrius]

Cynthia Williams is the BU head of WoTC (president, Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming,), I believe a direct report to the CEO and is high enough up that she was with CEO on the UBS webcast when she was directly quoted about monetizing D&D more. I think it is a fair comparison to the previous Williams.

What often gets overlooked in discussing Cynthia Williams is that she spent over a decade at Altria Group as an Associate Finance Director, which at the time was the parent company of Philip Morris, one of the world's largest tobacco companies.

In other words, she was making sure that using tobacco products remained profitable.

That's not something that I can personally countenance, as there's no way she didn't know she was working in an industry that profited off of human suffering and death. To me, that's far and away worse than any charges that can be thrown at any previous executives of TSR/WotC.

 

[Riley]

I'd really like a link to that interview, if it exists on the web.

 

[Ghost2020]

The movie is called: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

HOLY CRAP....it's like they just told us how the OGL thing was going to go! They think the 3rd parties were stealing, and now they're stealing it back....whoah...forshadowing.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

It's not sexist to take a shot at women in power, true. But how you do it might be.
"Hold my beer" moments have been widespread in meme culture. So why replace beer with Chardonnay? Because one's coded masculine, the other feminine (and I won't even get into the social class coding - that's more of an exercise for another day).

They should have made it "hold my champagne" instead. The favorite drink of upper class twits of both genders!

 

[Nikosandros]

They should have made it "hold my champagne" instead. The favorite drink of upper class twits of both genders!

I love champagne! I might be a twit, but I'm certainly not upper class...

 

[Zardnaar]

They should have made it "hold my champagne" instead. The favorite drink of upper class twits of both genders!

If they said hold my wine I would have taken it as sexist.

Chardonnay or champagne comes across as more classist.

That's the first meme I've seen about here can't really print the ones about Chris Cocks here who has a very unfortunate last name for mockery purposes. He probably got beaten up at school.

Cynthia worked for big tobacco as well. Chris might be a smeghead but don't think he's done anything that scummy.

 

[Zardnaar]

I love champagne! I might be a twit, but I'm certainly not upper class...

Proper champagne or the off brand knockoffs?

 

[Cadence]

Proper champagne or the off brand knockoffs?

It makes me sad that no one seems to be growing and marketing sparkling wine from Champaign, Illinois - where the University of Illinois is.

(One article makes it sound like it, but its in Peru, IL and not using the name).