D&D Beyond Twitter Account says OGL will be addressed soon

[dbolack]

2. Spell out that Wizards has the power to create new authorized versions of the OGL, but not to de-authorize old versions.

Or if not, define how they can. Suboptimal, but clarification is a good thing.

 

[deganawida]

"When will then be now?"
"Soon!"

/still waiting
EDIT: Yeah, I'm aware of what time it is in Pacific. My boss is in Cali, so, being an East Coaster, I automatically track Pacific time mentally. But I had been sitting on that since the first post, and couldn't avoid making the dig any longer.

 

[Parmandur]

Best case: WotC make a fulsome apology, issue an OGL1.1 that is that same as 1.0 but tightens the language guaranteeing that it is irrevocable, and over the next few months things revert to the status quo ante. I don't expect this to happen.

Realistic case: The damage is already done, and it doesn't actually matter what happens with the OGL.

WotC has burned a huge amount of goodwill, the enthusiasm for OneD&D has been seriously dented, they've lost an awful lot of their third-party support, and they've lost a relatively small but relatively vocal chunk of their customer base. The movie fails (not necessarily because of this - there was a good chance it was going to anyway). OneD&D is dogged with a low level of backlash throughout development, and releases to a collective "meh" as the bubble deflates. And we go from there.

Meanwhile, for the 3pp the outlook is pretty dire. A lot of the smaller providers shut up shop. The mid-level providers generally shift away from OGL, as it is no longer the safe harbour they thought. We get a number of competing "D&D substitute" games, but none really gets traction. Some companies go bust, a lot go on but with much lower sales generally (but the overall market share probably remains about the same - 95%+ WotC-D&D, 5% other - just a much smaller pie).

Worst case: WotC double down on OGL1.1, have Kickstarter block any campaign that tries to use OGL1.0, and have OneBookShelf remove all OGL1.0 product from their servers (in the worst case, including already-sold items). Paizo choose to fight, and lose heavily, being bankrupted as a consequence. Emboldened by their win, WotC then sue EN Publishing over Level Up, and ENWorld goes dark as a consequence.

The former 3pp attempt to pivot away from OGL, but suddenly deprived of a market or funding they mostly fail.

And because of the backlash that results from all of this, the D&D movie crashes and burns, D&D sees a huge drop off in subscriptions, OneD&D releases and sells about as well as late 2nd Edition adventures, and D&D is stuffed in the Hasbro Vault of Dead IP.

Gaming as we know it comes to an end, and dogs and cats start living together. Oh, and it turns out that his weekly D&D fix was the one thing stopping Putin launching Armageddon.

I'll just note, I didn't say it was a likely case.

I think your realistic case is nuat about what will happen.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Wasn't he the guy that started that last round of "D&D is going to be sold" rumors?

His ratio of face-palming screencaps to otherwise, even before the OGL thing, was pretty high. He also claims that finding a posting on Amazon is him "reporting leaks."

He's kind of full of himself for a random dude streaming from a closet.

That's the unfortunate thing if this turns out to be false - it won't matter all that much, as this has rapidly become a PR nightmare that's already having industry repercussions. And I think that's one of the things that bothers me the most. If it's real, Wizards absolutely deserves to be excoriated. Both for the draconian measures of it, and the sloppy execution. But because many people have decided it's real, it's like the truth won't matter when it does arrive. The narrative is already being written, with or without verification of the alleged leaked document.

The people who don't want to forgive them will take years before they come around (if they ever do).
The statement itself will change nothing.

 

[eyeheartawk]

How funny would it be if the statement they told us to wait on is just OGL 1.1 going live on Friday?

 

[Dausuul]

"When will then be now?"
"Soon!"

/still waiting
EDIT: Yeah, I'm aware of what time it is in Pacific. My boss is in Cali, so, being an East Coaster, I automatically track Pacific time mentally. But I had been sitting on that since the first post, and couldn't avoid making the dig any longer.

"Prepare game for GSL 2.0!"

"No, no, no, the GSL is too generous."

"GSL too generous?"

"We're gonna have to go right to... revoking the OGL!"

(gasps all around)

"Sir, we've never gone that far before. I don't know if the lawyers can take it!"

"What's the matter, Ms. Williams*? Chicken?"

(panicked squeak) "Prepare game..." (pause, normal voice) "Prepare game for revoking the OGL! Send out NDAs! Lock down all social media accounts! Make a side deal with Critical Role! Secure all content in the DM's Guild..."

"Give me that, you petty excuse for an executive! NOW HEAR THIS--"

"Sir, hadn't you better check with public relations?"

"Aah, PR this. REVOKING THE OGL! GO!"

*I needed a name to fill in for Colonel Sandurz. In reality, it's quite possible that Cynthia Williams is playing Dark Helmet.

 

[ReshiIRE]

But because many people have decided it's real, it's like the truth won't matter when it does arrive. The narrative is already being written, with or without verification of the alleged leaked document.

If this is somehow not real, that would require:

a) a ton of third parties to either decide to lie together, or be duped by oen very well done leak
b) for Kickstarter to change terms of D&D kickstarters for no apparent reasons
c) for WoTC to decide to wait a week to say "this is entirely fake"
d) for Gizmodo and a respected journalist to either lie or be duped

Can you maybe see that that being sceptical about how real it is, at this stage, not really a relevant thing and putting way too much faith in WoTC?

 

[Dausuul]

If this is somehow not real, that would require:

a) a ton of third parties to either decide to lie together, or be duped by oen very well done leak
b) for Kickstarter to change terms of D&D kickstarters for no apparent reasons
c) for WoTC to decide to wait a week to say "this is entirely fake"
d) for Gizmodo and a respected journalist to either lie or be duped

Can you maybe see that that being sceptical about how real it is, at this stage, not really a relevant thing and putting way too much faith in WoTC?

Yeah, this is not just a leak any more, it's a torrent.

I was skeptical too when it first came out, but that is no longer a rational or defensible position. This is happening.

 

[delericho]

How funny would it be if the statement they told us to wait on is just OGL 1.1 going live on Friday?

That's probably still better than continued silence - even if it is the worst case, at least 3pps know for sure and can plan in earnest.

 

[SteveC]

The amount it reeks of:

Is very high. Or "fellow gamers". Stuff like the "Your brother does the chores for you" is actual "Boomer Cringe" of a type rarely found on today's internet outside the most Facebook of Facebook memes.

I just wanted to thank you for posting this meme, since it's what I've been thinking about for a while now on this issue. I thought about it, but you went and did it!