I really don't think it should be called the "ORC license"

[MNblockhead]

I prefer GOBLIN: Good Open Bestest License Irrevocable Nyah!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I think @Yora raises a good point.

But I'm going to take that good point and raise a collateral point.

ORC is a bad name because the hobby needs to move away from its blinding association and allegiance to fantasy games and tropes.

"Hey kids, we're not playing D&D. WE ARE PLAYING PATHFINDER!"

"Look at us rebels. We refuse to play D&D. We will only play 5e clones."

At a certain point, if the only alternatives you care about are "Like D&D," people will eventually go back to the real thing. Why buy store-brand Coke when you can just get the real thing? Instead, how about switching to something else to drink? There are other alternatives out there.

Using ORC just cements the hegemony of fantasy in the hobby. And we will all end up back where we started.

 

[payn]

I think @Yora raises a good point.

But I'm going to take that good point and raise a collateral point.

ORC is a bad name because the hobby needs to move away from its blinding association and allegiance to fantasy games and tropes.

"Hey kids, we're not playing D&D. WE ARE PLAYING PATHFINDER!"

"Look at us rebels. We refuse to play D&D. We will only play 5e clones."

At a certain point, if the only alternatives you care about are "Like D&D," people will eventually go back to the real thing. Why buy store-brand Coke when you can just get the real thing? Instead, how about switching to something else to drink? There are other alternatives out there.

Using ORC just cements the hegemony of fantasy in the hobby. And we will all end up back where we started.

This is exactly my thoughts on the matter.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Using ORC just cements the hegemony of fantasy in the hobby. And we will all end up back where we started.

Absolutely agree. But I've given up all hope of the hobby moving past fantasy as the default. I think it's seen as the easiest genre to design for and to run (no mucking around with people Googling or space-Googling things, no autofire or similar rules or related weird arguments about how guns work, etc.), especially for GMs who insist on trying to build "balanced" encounters. And fantasy gaming tropes keep getting reinforced by videogames and by all manner of nerd-identity stuff (merch, jokes, etc.). It bums me out that that's the case, but I don't see a way past it.

 

[CleverNickName]

Hmm, I admit I hadn't really considered the acronym very heavily. You've given me food for thought.

 

[Greggy C]

Isn't the problem with orcs in TTRPGs that they are treated by evil as default?

No their alignment wasn't the problem...

 

[Synthil]

Why buy store-brand Coke when you can just get the real thing?

Because it's more to your taste and/or cheaper? And I might just prefer coke to something else. I play fantasy roleplaying games because I actually like fantasy. Not because it's the easiest or only option.

That said, I can see your point. The new license being encompassing of all kinds of RPG content could've profited from a correspondingly encompassing or neutral name. But it's really a minor quibble.

 

[aco175]

At a certain point, if the only alternatives you care about are "Like D&D," people will eventually go back to the real thing. Why buy store-brand Coke when you can just get the real thing? Instead, how about switching to something else to drink? There are other alternatives out there.

In Georgia, we only have Coke and the person asks what flavor you want, and you would have to say Sunkist if you wanted some non-Coke.

Same with coffee when I go to Starbucks and they ask what flavor coffee. I should not have to specify coffee flavored coffee, black, hot, medium.

The other question rises from this is fantasy rpg the best because people like it more than modern or outer space or whatever? Or is it because D&D is the oldest and most played, so it became the default? Would Wild West have become the most played and associated with the brand if they were the first? How come the game did not grow out of Napoleonic figures and the fantasy stuck? Is it all about Tolkien and right time and place?

I like fantasy rpg and see no reason to switch. I only tried a few others so I might not know what I am missing.

 

[eyeheartawk]

In Georgia, we only have Coke and the person asks what flavor you want, and you would have to say Sunkist if you wanted some non-Coke.

Same with coffee when I go to Starbucks and they ask what flavor coffee. I should not have to specify coffee flavored coffee, black, hot, medium.

The other question rises from this is fantasy rpg the best because people like it more than modern or outer space or whatever? Or is it because D&D is the oldest and most played, so it became the default? Would Wild West have become the most played and associated with the brand if they were the first? How come the game did not grow out of Napoleonic figures and the fantasy stuck? Is it all about Tolkien and right time and place?

I like fantasy rpg and see no reason to switch. I only tried a few others so I might not know what I am missing.

I imagine it will go back to how it was in the 70s and early 80s. Where the definition of what "D&D" was varied from table to table. For one group it would be the AD&D Monster Manual, Mentzer Red Box, Arms Law and Apple Lane from Runequest, you know?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

In Georgia, we only have Coke and the person asks what flavor you want, and you would have to say Sunkist if you wanted some non-Coke.

So what you're saying is .... Georgia is a lot like the TTRPG market.

Same with coffee when I go to Starbucks and they ask what flavor coffee. I should not have to specify coffee flavored coffee, black, hot, medium.

The other question rises from this is fantasy rpg the best because people like it more than modern or outer space or whatever? Or is it because D&D is the oldest and most played, so it became the default? Would Wild West have become the most played and associated with the brand if they were the first? How come the game did not grow out of Napoleonic figures and the fantasy stuck? Is it all about Tolkien and right time and place?

I like fantasy rpg and see no reason to switch. I only tried a few others so I might not know what I am missing.

Eh, I've actually written essays on this (quelle surprise!) and I still don't know the answer. I'd say it's a combination of first-mover, the time (the 70s were fantasy-riffic), network effects, and that fantasy is actually conducive to TTRPGs (zero-to-hero, the "party").

Still, there is no reason to further entrench. IMO, etc.