Brian Lewis, original legal drafter of the OGL, speaks out

[mamba]

The industry does not seem to be waiting for wizards of the Coast to do something official, rightfully so. Like the guy said, the mere threat of revoking the old licenses is enough. Just look at all the major game companies that have announced drastic course changes in the past week.

that also means they are not expecting much of a change to the license / WotC’s attitude towards them

 

[Nylanfs]

Well WotC already showed the 3pp what they thought and intended to do.

 

[billd91]

I wasn't a fan of 4e (although I've come to appreciate it a bit more since those days) but even to me some of their early objections to 4e as a game system seemed to be based on misconceptions. (I don't blame them at all for not liking the GSL that came with it.)

I'm not sure I'd say it was a misconception as much as it was an early impression. And I'd say that 4e's focus on parallel power structures for all of the classes had the potential to make very polarizing impressions.

The fact that PF2's design shows a lot of 4e influence might suggest that the impression that 4e didn't support the stories they wanted to tell has changed over the years. But it probably took them years to get to that point as well as 4e's influence morphing through Essentials and into 5e's underlying structure.

 

[payn]

I'm not sure I'd say it was a misconception as much as it was an early impression. And I'd say that 4e's focus on parallel power structures for all of the classes had the potential to make very polarizing impressions.

The fact that PF2's design shows a lot of 4e influence might suggest that the impression that 4e didn't support the stories they wanted to tell has changed over the years. But it probably took them years to get to that point as well as 4e's influence morphing through Essentials and into 5e's underlying structure.

Well, the first few PF2 APs are not balanced well because the writers didnt seem to be quite ready for the change (not uncommon in E changes). Also the +1 per level makes a world that comes out much different than 4E or any past D&D really. Mechanically, there are a lot of similarities of 4E, but its not carbon copy.

I think "stories we want to tell" was a general statement. They tossed out Bards as an example and you might say you can mechanically do it different in 4E, but Paizo folks didnt really like the 4E mechanics period. So you can try and swat every mechanical example you can find but if you didnt like the underlining system to begin with, it doesnt matter.

 

[Greg Benage]

that also means they are not expecting much of a change to the license / WotC’s attitude towards them

The threat is enough. And I understand why the 3PP are doing it, but they're basically giving Wizards what they want without Wizards actually having to revoke the license.

Thing is, if it's bad for the 3PP to be forced out of the D&D ecosystem, it's bad for them to be scared out of it too. Either way, they're out. The burst of creative energy and enthusiasm is nice, but these companies aren't going to be as successful publishing fantasy heartbreakers as they were publishing for D&D. I'm still hoping for an explicitly irrevocable 1.0b.

 

[Reynard]

The threat is enough. And I understand why the 3PP are doing it, but they're basically giving Wizards what they want without Wizards actually having to revoke the license.

Thing is, if it's bad for the 3PP to be forced out of the D&D ecosystem, it's bad for them to be scared out of it too. Either way, they're out. The burst of creative energy and enthusiasm is nice, but these companies aren't going to be as successful publishing fantasy heartbreakers as they were publishing for D&D. I'm still hoping for an explicitly irrevocable 1.0b.

It also means it is much less likely this gets tested in court to determine where the line really is.

 

[hduyker]

I assume this came by email? Is there a press release we can link and reference?

It was also posted to the "Defend the OGL" discord (as the only announcement on that server thus far).

(Also, you lot are extremely good at getting distracted. )

 

[Jasperak]

unfunct?

What is, 'What can't WOTC do to themselves?' Alex?