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<blockquote data-quote="Lizard" data-source="post: 4142362" data-attributes="member: 1054">I have very little -- almost no -- doubt that any public statements made by people WRT to the OGL/GSL were believed by the people making them when they made them. I also strongly doubt anyone deliberately deceived employees as to the future of the OGL.I do believe people changed their minds -- or that management itself changed.I also believe that there were errors in people's beliefs about how flexible the OGL was and how it could be 'modified' with ease. Being wrong is not the same thing as lying.I think a combination of misunderstanding of the OGL and changes in both policy and personnel led WOTC to their current state of indecisiveness. I also think that no matter what policy they put worth, they've burned a LOT of goodwill. WOTC earned tremendous trust with the 'gentleman's agreement' back in 2000; it became a sign that companies could work with them and not get screwed. While no one paid money for the GSL yet, I know of companies which made plans and committed resources based on WOTCs timeline, which has cost them; I know of at least two companies which might have been planning to make 4e supplements but which, due to the delays, have reallocated resources towards other, competing, products. How all this translates into the 'bottom line' is very uncertain, but it's a clumsy misstep in public and corporate relations.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lizard, post: 4142362, member: 1054"] I have very little -- almost no -- doubt that any public statements made by people WRT to the OGL/GSL were believed by the people making them when they made them. I also strongly doubt anyone deliberately deceived employees as to the future of the OGL. I do believe people changed their minds -- or that management itself changed. I also believe that there were errors in people's beliefs about how flexible the OGL was and how it could be 'modified' with ease. Being wrong is not the same thing as lying. I think a combination of misunderstanding of the OGL and changes in both policy and personnel led WOTC to their current state of indecisiveness. I also think that no matter what policy they put worth, they've burned a LOT of goodwill. WOTC earned tremendous trust with the 'gentleman's agreement' back in 2000; it became a sign that companies could work with them and not get screwed. While no one paid money for the GSL yet, I know of companies which made plans and committed resources based on WOTCs timeline, which has cost them; I know of at least two companies which might have been planning to make 4e supplements but which, due to the delays, have reallocated resources towards other, competing, products. How all this translates into the 'bottom line' is very uncertain, but it's a clumsy misstep in public and corporate relations. [/QUOTE]

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