Can WotC be forgiven?

[Psikosis]

I think not, certainly not any time soon.
...Which is a little strange considering WotC still hasn't actually come out and told everyone-- upfront and in their own voice-- what exactly they need to be forgiven for.

This is actually one my concerns about the situation. Had the immediately come out and said this was just a working draft, we're not going to do this, I think their statement would have been more credible. Now it feels very much like they are hoping it'll blow over and any statement is going to feel increasingly calculated and insincere.

 

[see]

Now that ORC has been announced, I feel like just making the OGL 1.0 irrevocable would be too little, too late. Adding the various SRDs to ORC would bring me back though.

Well, we don't have ORC yet; it's just a plan, not a license. It's going to be months before ORC is actually ironed out.

And even if WotC were to re-release their SRDs under ORC, that doesn't re-license all the 3PP released under the OGL over the last 23 years.

A thoroughly-solid OGL 1.0b (guarantees non-revocation, non-deauthorization, and non-withdrawal-of-offer) is, right now, still a better way forward.

 

[MGibster]

WotC maybe. Hasbro no. Having a megacrporation own your hobby is never a good idea.

And that's the problem in a nutshell, D&D shouldn't be "the hobby." No single game should be.

 

[MoonSong]

Well, we don't have ORC yet; it's just a plan, not a license. It's going to be months before ORC is actually ironed out.

And even if WotC were to re-release their SRDs under ORC, that doesn't re-license all the 3PP released under the OGL over the last 23 years.

A thoroughly-solid OGL 1.0b (guarantees non-revocation, non-deauthorization, and non-withdrawal-of-offer) is, right now, still a better way forward.

I'd still need them to handle control of the license to say the open gaming foundation so this doesn't happen again.

 

[billd91]

Yes and no. They’ve been forgiven for license shenanigans before by putting in work. But then they reverted back again. So they’re probably going to cyclically improve/disappoint depending on how their leadership changes.

 

[Seule]

And that's the problem in a nutshell, D&D shouldn't be "the hobby." No single game should be.

It isn't my hobby, my hobby includes other games. For some people however it is.

 

[Remathilis]

I hope so. D&D to me is more than just dice and mechanics any company can create. Its settings, characters, and lore. Its Sigil, Strahd, Baldur's Gate, Eberron, Spelljammers, Vecna, modrons and mindflayers. I would hate to have to give that up because WotC changes its alignment to Stupid Greedy.

 

[Princessmaker]

 

[MGibster]

I've given it some thought, and I still don't care about the OGL debacle. At least not directly. I understand why other people weren't happy about it, and I'm not going to tell you you shouldn't be unhappy about it. But what I'm more bothered by is the idea that WotC views us, their customers, as an obstacle between the company and their money. I haven't always liked the direction 5E has gone, but I've always felt that WotC genuinely wanted to provide us with a good product for a fair price. But now I'm an obstacle. I'm just a resource for them to mine any way they can. A lot of you have talked about the walled garden, but it's not a garden, it's a pen. At this point in time, I'm no longer interested in D&D products at all. I don't think I'll even pick up miniatures with the D&D logo on it.

 

[Clint_L]

Forgive them? They haven't really done anything, yet. Nor is there anything personal - "forgive" is a concept that I relate more to my relationships, not some big corporation. They've also previously gifted my school club small fortune in free resources, so I weigh that, as well. I don't like what appears to be their current strategy, and I also think it is being horribly mishandled, but that's their problem.

But honestly, we are not talking about monsters here. They haven't committed a crime or something. In fact, thus far they haven't actually done anything official.