D&D 4E Does the OGL/D20 liscense hurt 4e? Should 4e be open?

[Asmor]

Call me a cynic, but I honestly think that there's at least a fair chance, if not better than even, that it won't be OGL for one simple reason; Hasbro.

I don't think Hasbro cares about D&D at all, and any major decision like releasing it under the OGL will ultimately be decided by a suit who only knows that an RPG isn't that cash cow known as a "CCG," and has a kneejerk reaction of not letting other companies touch his stuff.

If it were just Wizards, yeah, I think they'd publish it under the OGL, but ever since Hasbro acquired them I've just been waiting for them to screw over D&D because it doesn't make as much money as Magic.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Call me a cynic, but I honestly think that there's at least a fair chance, if not better than even, that it won't be OGL for one simple reason; Hasbro.

I don't think Hasbro cares about D&D at all, and any major decision like releasing it under the OGL will ultimately be decided by a suit who only knows that an RPG isn't that cash cow known as a "CCG," and has a kneejerk reaction of not letting other companies touch his stuff.

If it were just Wizards, yeah, I think they'd publish it under the OGL, but ever since Hasbro acquired them I've just been waiting for them to screw over D&D because it doesn't make as much money as Magic.

I was (and am still) under the impression that Hasbro really doesn't have much to do with Wizards of the Coast, directly - particularly when it comes to the RPG department. WotC do their thing, and Hasbro rakes in the profits, or (worst case) foots the bill.

Perhaps I've been misled, however.

 

[Asmor]

I don't know if that's the case or not, but ultimately WotC is owned by Hasbro, and Hasbro isn't a gaming company run by gamers, they're a toy company run by business people. Whether they afford WotC autonomy now is no indicator of whether they will continue to do so in the future.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

OGL, yes.

d20STL, no.

The real failure of the experiment, in my opinion, has been the d20 STL. The best games don't use it, the best companies don't need it, and the dregs hurt it or abuse it.

They'll pull the publicly available d20 STL and offer it much more circumspectly to publishers who have proven themselves.

Agreed, I believe the d20 license is gone with 4E, and if it stays it will be an invite only/buy-in system. As far as OGL, the genie is out of the bottle on that one, and unless they do away with HPs, AC, the six attributes, etc., it will be easy for third party publishers to support 4E.

 

[teitan]

I could care less if 4e is OGL. Heck, I could care less about the OGL. Has it brought some good products like Mutants & Masterminds, sure. But I hate when I see threads about an OGL or D20 system book and fans are complaining about the lack of OGC in the book etc. If you are a gamer what the heck does it matter if a book has OGC? Can you use it? Back when the D20STL was new I knew people who were OGC snobs... they weren't publishers etc. JUst fans. So basically, at this point who CARES if 4e is OGL? The OGL's time is essentially over, the D20 license time is essentially over. It was much like Image comics, right time, right place but now that time and place are in the past.

 

[Nifft]

If anyone from WotC has been on line recently (and they have), they would know what a boon the OGL has been for the whole community. Bigger & more engaged community = more sales.

I don't think they're stupid. I think they'll keep 4e as open as possible.

Cheers, -- N

 

[rgard]

Missing one selection for the poll:

+ I'm not voting in 4E polls nor am I wasting any time (beyond this post) speculating on something I have zero control over.

I know this is a partial threadcrap, but the the 4E discussion is getting a bit old for me.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[rgard]

Najo, please don't take my above post as dismissive. I know it sounds that way. Your poll/post is relevant for others.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[jgbrowning]

I don't believe 4th Edition will be OGL.

joe b.

 

[Nifft]

I don't believe 4th Edition will be OGL.

Is there a thread somewhere where you explain why, or would you like to do so here perhaps?

Thanks, -- N