Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Publishing Business & Licensing
Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 8901280" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p>I'm not even sure the market analysis was bad, per se, but I do think that WotC did not anticipate the <em>emotional</em> valance the OGL had (or has). I think they assumed (perhaps even rightly), that for the vast majority of their customers, the OGL was a non-factor, that the minority who made vanity products with the OGL would be happy with things remaining in 1.1 largely as they are under 1.0, since they royalties clauses wouldn't apply to them, and that for the big 3PPs, they could incentivize them to make individual non-OGL license agreements with WotC that would not be as onerous as the 25% royalty in 1.1, but still allow them a piece of the largest sellers.</p><p></p><p>It was something that occurred to me watching Sly Flourish's video on the topic. He pointed out that even under the terms of 1.1, revenue from royalties would have been peanuts (on the order of $4-5 million) compared to their bottom line. He pointed out that their next closest competitor was about 10% their size. So this wasn't about trying to grab a bigger piece of the pie, or driving out competitors, which has been borne out by the fact that they've walked back royalties, walked back invalidating 1.0 for existing products, and walked back the sub-license on OGC, the three biggest complaints (save for one). </p><p></p><p>One might think that with these problematic provisions gone, the fervor would die down. But yet it hasn't. And the reason is, people see it as a trust issue. People who don't even use the OGL to make product, who would not be personally affected by changes in it, are saying they no longer trust WotC, and don't want to play its D&D anymore, unless WotC clearly makes 1.0 irrevocable. That's amazing. WotC are essentially saying, "It's not personal, it's just business." And its customer base (or at least a significantly large and vocal part of it) is saying, "For us, business <em>is</em> personal."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 8901280, member: 6680772"] I'm not even sure the market analysis was bad, per se, but I do think that WotC did not anticipate the [I]emotional[/I] valance the OGL had (or has). I think they assumed (perhaps even rightly), that for the vast majority of their customers, the OGL was a non-factor, that the minority who made vanity products with the OGL would be happy with things remaining in 1.1 largely as they are under 1.0, since they royalties clauses wouldn't apply to them, and that for the big 3PPs, they could incentivize them to make individual non-OGL license agreements with WotC that would not be as onerous as the 25% royalty in 1.1, but still allow them a piece of the largest sellers. It was something that occurred to me watching Sly Flourish's video on the topic. He pointed out that even under the terms of 1.1, revenue from royalties would have been peanuts (on the order of $4-5 million) compared to their bottom line. He pointed out that their next closest competitor was about 10% their size. So this wasn't about trying to grab a bigger piece of the pie, or driving out competitors, which has been borne out by the fact that they've walked back royalties, walked back invalidating 1.0 for existing products, and walked back the sub-license on OGC, the three biggest complaints (save for one). One might think that with these problematic provisions gone, the fervor would die down. But yet it hasn't. And the reason is, people see it as a trust issue. People who don't even use the OGL to make product, who would not be personally affected by changes in it, are saying they no longer trust WotC, and don't want to play its D&D anymore, unless WotC clearly makes 1.0 irrevocable. That's amazing. WotC are essentially saying, "It's not personal, it's just business." And its customer base (or at least a significantly large and vocal part of it) is saying, "For us, business [I]is[/I] personal." [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Publishing Business & Licensing
Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.
Top