D&D 5E Dear WotC: D&D 5, Hero Lab, and the OGL

[Wrathamon]

You're supposed to say "and counting." Don't make Thaumaturge angry.

Edit: For tyops.

sorry

it could be 37 years and counting ... not sure the exact date as I was 5,

I remember playing a human cleric, killing a fire beetle and getting a gland.

 

[Bugleyman]

Thank you Wrathamon for the assist.

Bugleyman, I don't think WOTC needs the game to be OGL in terms of electronic support. Even 3e was not fully OGL in terms of electronic support, and much of electronic support was carved out of the OGL. I would much prefer Project Mornstar turns out to be awesome and the primary source for people to go for their electronic support of D&D 5e. I don't care about Hero Lab at all.

D&D Player
37 years and counting.

Understood. I was more using Hero Lab as an example of the type of problem that can occur. I don't necessarily need to use Hero Lab specifically, either.

 

[Emerikol]

Folks!

Relax. Six months after 5e is released if there is no OGL then a clone will appear that all these third parties will use. That clone will use the 3e OGL and pretty much provide everything needed for any third party to use.

5e isn't different enough from 3e to be all that protected. So Hero Labs may have to call the names of some things you choose for your character a different name but that's about as bad as it will get. Hang tough though, as Hero Labs is privately extensable. Third parties will be toss around a file for that purpose soon enough too.

 

[KarinsDad]

Thank you Wrathamon for the assist.

Bugleyman, I don't think WOTC needs the game to be OGL in terms of electronic support. Even 3e was not fully OGL in terms of electronic support, and much of electronic support was carved out of the OGL. I would much prefer Project Mornstar turns out to be awesome and the primary source for people to go for their electronic support of D&D 5e. I don't care about Hero Lab at all.

D&D Player
37 years and counting.

Ditto.

Now, am I saying ditto to the comments, or to the D&D Player 37 years and counting? Too old to remember.

 

[Tony Vargas]

No offense taken, and no ultimatum implied. I'm buying 5E no matter what, and just want to see it succeed.

And going OGL would probably help with that.

We've already seen that they're not repeating the 2008 mistake of banking on on-line subscription revenue, and presumably haven't promised Hasbro impossible revenues, so the bar for 'success' this time around should be an order of magnitude lower. They might figure they can manage that without getting back on the OGL bandwagon.

 

[dd.stevenson]

No offense meant to you, Bugleyman... But I wish these ultimatum threads would die in a fire.

I don't disagree, except that I'm having trouble spotting any kind of ultimatum in the OP.

 

[Lalato]

I don't disagree, except that I'm having trouble spotting any kind of ultimatum in the OP.

You're right. Ultimatum was the wrong word. I meant the absolutist doomsaying that has been prevalent in other threads. Apologies to [MENTION=62949]Bugleyman[/MENTION] for suggesting he was ragequitting.

As for the discussion at hand. I don't think WotC needs the OGL for 5e to be successful. I wouldn't complain if it happened, but I think the success of 5e has more to do with the rules WotC produces than it does with the splatbooks and software that 3PPs produce for it. In short, if the rules are good, people will flock to it.

 

[Hussar]

I was under the understanding that OGL only applied to print products. It doesn't cover electronic products. After all, I cannot produce an OGL video game can I? Use all the rules from the SRD to reproduce a D20 game a la Baldur's Gate. I'm not sure how the OGL actually applies to things like Hero Lab.

 

[Bugleyman]

You're right. Ultimatum was the wrong word. I meant the absolutist doomsaying that has been prevalent in other threads. Apologies to @Bugleyman for suggesting he was ragequitting.

As for the discussion at hand. I don't think WotC needs the OGL for 5e to be successful. I wouldn't complain if it happened, but I think the success of 5e has more to do with the rules WotC produces than it does with the splatbooks and software that 3PPs produce for it. In short, if the rules are good, people will flock to it.

No worries. I can understand hyperbole fatigue, especially on the Internets.

...and thanks for the apology.

 

[Mark CMG]

I'd love to see 5e under the OGL

Me, too.


A D&D fan
40 years and counting.