Kalontas
First Post
This means that probably the OGL is irrelevant for the success of 5e.
No, it only means the pre-orders are irrelevant as an argument towards the summarised success in the end - as 3E didn't have an equal competitor.
This means that probably the OGL is irrelevant for the success of 5e.
No, it only means the pre-orders are irrelevant as an argument towards the summarised success in the end - as 3E didn't have an equal competitor.
It does not ignore any factor. My point was not that pre-orders are important for financial success. My point was that the OGL is not an important thing for financial success as fans do not think it makes the product more valuable for them, since they are equally willing to buy the product if they know that the product is not under OGL. Simply put, the fans do not care whether the product is under OGL or not.This ignore several important factors. First, that preorders are not the only measure of (financial) success. I would place more importance on the number of customers who actually knew what they were buying, later on.
When WotC went to a 'new edition' they decided to aggressively combat the existing game, openly deride its adherents, and radically redefine the design goals. If WotC had stayed OGL and instead revised 3.5e or created a new ruleset based on 3e, they might have maintained their market share. While not without its critics, the 3.0 to 3.5 transition resulted in most people converting to the latter, even though 3.0 was still available. There's no reason to think the same thing couldn't have happened again if handled right.
Would they have been able to satisfy critics of 3e, or attract new business while doing so? That's harder to say. But it's hard for me to see the OGL has a hindrance; its more like a check on the power of the company.
Huh? It means that fans want to buy the game no matter if it is OGL or not (4e was not an OGL game). Now, of course, as you say, fans will stay with the game only if it is good enough, especially if there is some competitor around.
But this is a different matter. To put it another way: it does not mean that if 5e is OGL, that 5e will be a good game.
The third party licensing structure for 5e is an interesting question, but it is closely connected to whether third parties will have access to DDI.
What would 5E rules released under the OGL bring to WotC? In my opinion:
1)Good Will from the Gamer-proselytizers. Those folks who used the OGL to create and publish whatever variant of 5E suited their creative little fancies, allowed them to create the adventure content to share that they wanted, and in general work out issues they have with the game system with no repercussions. With the GSL, there was a feeling of "we don't want you anymore" to the community of tinkerers, who, in my perception of it, where usually those same grass-roots proselytizers.
2) Feeding game design innovations back into 5E. People forget that many of 4E's innovations can be traced to Mearls, and Mearls was an OGL Master before he was a WotC Developer. Who knows who the next Mearls is waiting to be tapped for a future D&D?
Everyone who dislikes the OGL can feel free to tell me how wrong I am and how unnecessary it is.![]()