Vocenoctum
First Post
Green Ronin was formed in early 2000 and our first product Ork! the Roleplaying Game was released in June of that year. We shortly thereafter decided to dabble in this "d20 thing" by planning out a couple adventures, adventures that went on to become the Freeport Trilogy, but when we made that decision the OGL and the d20 STL were completely untested. Make no mistake, we certainly benefited from the license and will never deny the impact that d20 had on the direction of our company but I think it's quite overstating the case to claim that we "wouldn't exist if not for the OGL."
There's no way to judge whether Ork! would have propelled the company this way or that, so I can't debate anything here.
We've always had our fingers in things other than d20 products.
I think OGL/D20 probably gave enough breathing room to do some of that stuff, along with the rep to back it up, but again I can't/ won't debate GR's financial status/ alternate histories. There's just no way to know.
My feeling is that WotC's expectation that unrestricted numbers of third party support companies could continue to endlessly support straight-up D&D in the face of the product glut and unending direct competition was unrealistic. The market was demanding more and WotC themselves were not filling those holes; it's utterly predictable that companies would expand out to fill those niches and strive to create products to meet fan demand (as well as differentiate themselves from their competition). That was no more a "betrayal" than WotC designing a new edition of D&D... it's the natural course of business.
I agree completely. I think the "problem" happened when WotC decided to shift to printing 1-2 books a month, rather than a lazier approach. When they wanted to make the money and noticed the 3rd parties were in their path and not "in their place" with adventures, suddenly the OGL became a hindrance.
My point is simply that the GSL is a natural extension of WotC's actions and the 3rd parties actions. It was predictable (and, even predicted!) that it would go this way. Publishers should be aware of their role in it too though...
We helped manufacture support for WotC's business according to the plan they offered and by doing so we received exposure for our company; it was a mutually beneficial relationship.
It has always been my opinion that 3e would have done fine without the OGL/SRD and that 3rd party stuff didn't play a role in their success. It definetly would have been better overall if there was a higher barrier of entry early on.
BUT, the main issue here for me, is that since 3.5, Pramas' statements and posts have come off as very hostile towards WotC. His comments regarding 3.5 ruining things, his constant 4e pressure for the last couple years, he seems to me to be overly critical of WotC and "mad" at them in a way that colors everything his company announces for me.