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<blockquote data-quote="Alphastream" data-source="post: 6211778" data-attributes="member: 11365">There is no doubt that the lack of a 4E OGL stopped 3rd parties from writing 4E material. That was likely the point. While an OGL is great for a 3rd party that wants to make money off of another's system, that isn't necessarily good for the industry (due to an over-emphasis/glut on a single game, in turn decreasing innovation) nor is it necessarily good for the game/brand and owning company (WotC and DnD don't seem to have significantly gained from the OGL, especially when one considers the net effect of competition from Paizo). I have no doubt that many freelancers wanted to transition directly from OGL 3E to the same for 4E. I believe in most respects that they and the hobby are now better off (presuming they are working on the many other exciting systems now finally seeing some attention thanks to Kickstarter and the lull while D&amp;D Next goes through playtesting). Put another way: I would rather see an ex-Wizards or ex-d20 designer work on a Fiasco playset, Numenera project, Legend of the Five Rings sourcebook, new game on Kickstarter, etc. than to see that designer write yet another d20 OGL-based product that very few will see and which does so little for the hobby. I would certainly not want to see a bunch of OGL freelancers put together another DnD (3.90 or 4.50) instead of writing their own game... we don't need more of that. We already have spectacular DnD options.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Alphastream, post: 6211778, member: 11365"] There is no doubt that the lack of a 4E OGL stopped 3rd parties from writing 4E material. That was likely the point. While an OGL is great for a 3rd party that wants to make money off of another's system, that isn't necessarily good for the industry (due to an over-emphasis/glut on a single game, in turn decreasing innovation) nor is it necessarily good for the game/brand and owning company (WotC and DnD don't seem to have significantly gained from the OGL, especially when one considers the net effect of competition from Paizo). I have no doubt that many freelancers wanted to transition directly from OGL 3E to the same for 4E. I believe in most respects that they and the hobby are now better off (presuming they are working on the many other exciting systems now finally seeing some attention thanks to Kickstarter and the lull while D&D Next goes through playtesting). Put another way: I would rather see an ex-Wizards or ex-d20 designer work on a Fiasco playset, Numenera project, Legend of the Five Rings sourcebook, new game on Kickstarter, etc. than to see that designer write yet another d20 OGL-based product that very few will see and which does so little for the hobby. I would certainly not want to see a bunch of OGL freelancers put together another DnD (3.90 or 4.50) instead of writing their own game... we don't need more of that. We already have spectacular DnD options. [/QUOTE]

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