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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Edition Experience - Did/Do you Play 3rd Edtion D&D? How Was/Is it?
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<blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 7963263" data-attributes="member: 14159"><p>I think the OGL was really important for 3 reasons.</p><p></p><p>1. It did a LOT to undo the damage to the D&D fan community that TSR did with their overzealous actions in the mid-to-late 90's. The OGL was a way to legally say that WotC was fine with fans, and 3rd parties, making material that was derived from and compatible with D&D, as long as they stayed within pretty broad lines like not using specific "Product Identity" creatures or using the actual D&D name.</p><p></p><p>2. It made D&D immortal. Those that remember when TSR almost went out of business can appreciate this. There was the very real fear in the D&D fan community in the late 1990's that D&D might simply go away, that it would go out of print, and become a relic.</p><p></p><p>In a very real way, the OGL took the "DNA" of D&D and put it out there in perpetuity. The vast bulk of the core rules is in there, and isn't contingent on being published by any specific company. If D&D went out of print, it would NOT be hard to make new 3e PHB's from the SRD's (as I recall, at one point Mongoose even did exactly that, making their own pocket PHB from SRD materials).</p><p></p><p>3. It gave the d20 system to the gaming community as a whole. Even those that didn't want to make historic roleplaying or medieval fantasy could readily adapt the system (especially with other WotC works that included OGC, like d20 Modern's own SRD, or Unearthed Arcana) to their needs. I've known of WAY too many games that were decently written, but had an utterly awful, poorly written game. . .because designing a good game system and designing a good game setting are two completely different skills. This at least put out a more-or-less universal system that other game authors could use for their own games, liberating them from having to come up with a system for their setting/world concept just because they had to.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="wingsandsword, post: 7963263, member: 14159"] I think the OGL was really important for 3 reasons. 1. It did a LOT to undo the damage to the D&D fan community that TSR did with their overzealous actions in the mid-to-late 90's. The OGL was a way to legally say that WotC was fine with fans, and 3rd parties, making material that was derived from and compatible with D&D, as long as they stayed within pretty broad lines like not using specific "Product Identity" creatures or using the actual D&D name. 2. It made D&D immortal. Those that remember when TSR almost went out of business can appreciate this. There was the very real fear in the D&D fan community in the late 1990's that D&D might simply go away, that it would go out of print, and become a relic. In a very real way, the OGL took the "DNA" of D&D and put it out there in perpetuity. The vast bulk of the core rules is in there, and isn't contingent on being published by any specific company. If D&D went out of print, it would NOT be hard to make new 3e PHB's from the SRD's (as I recall, at one point Mongoose even did exactly that, making their own pocket PHB from SRD materials). 3. It gave the d20 system to the gaming community as a whole. Even those that didn't want to make historic roleplaying or medieval fantasy could readily adapt the system (especially with other WotC works that included OGC, like d20 Modern's own SRD, or Unearthed Arcana) to their needs. I've known of WAY too many games that were decently written, but had an utterly awful, poorly written game. . .because designing a good game system and designing a good game setting are two completely different skills. This at least put out a more-or-less universal system that other game authors could use for their own games, liberating them from having to come up with a system for their setting/world concept just because they had to. [/QUOTE]
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