First of all, I feel for everybody in this thread -- and across the hobby over the past week. It's made a thing which is supposed to fun -- and which is a hobby which is not only a pleasant escape but something that most of are deeply attached to emotionally and have been for most of our lives. They changed that into a source of aggravation and anxiety. This past week, our hobby has made us sad, to a lesser or greater degree.
That sucks; that sucks a lot.
Secondly, I'm particularly depressed reading the statements here that DMs can't feel the passion to work on their game, think about their campaigns, or start a new campaign just after buying a new book (like SotDQ, say). That resonates. Like the worst case of burn out? It will come back. Give it some time.
As a lawyer (and former podcaster) I have a lot of FB friends in the industry and I have seen their expressions of legal anxiety this week, too. That bothers me a LOT to see small business people and creative writers wonder what the hell they are going to do about all of this 1.1 OGL. It's worse, as almost all of them are not able to afford a lawyer to provide them with solid advice. That's upsetting on both a personal and professional basis. They deserve BETTER than this. So that sucks a lot, too.
As for where this is all going? I don't know what's coming later this week, or month. I do think it is possible that WotC retreats from some of this, because the law is not on their side here. So there is some practical reason for hope on that score.
I do think one thing will NOT change: there will only be one, count em, ONE VTT for 6th ed that will fully support that system - and that's the new WotC VTT. Roll 20 won't work with it, FG won't, Foundry won't, Talespire or whatever else won't either. It will be a closed subscription only system via DDB. Okay. Fine.
And it may be awesome in the final result, too. That also, would be fine. I won't swear I will never use it - as I might. But I sure as hell don't plan to and will likely move away from WotC published D&D. shrug I've done that TWO times before. A third time? No Big Deal.
The management at WotC want to earn WoW money from this game and this is their plan to do it. To be fair? That is okay and a legitimate business plan. If they can do that? God bless em. They spent $146 million on DDB towards that end. That bullet has left the chamber, it's not coming back. That aspect of their plan will NOT change. Fine. Take as much as you can; stuff your pockets and fill your boots.
Now it is possible, entirely possible, that WotC may rethink its approach on the 1.1 OGL. That would not surprise me in the least, because I think their plan to get rid of the OGL 1.0a from those who have already exercised those rights is legally dubious and unsound. This is a real problem for WotC, as VTTs are out there under 5.1 and the OGL 1.0a -- and WotC's business plan calls for them to ensure that compatibility ends with 6e so that the subscription plan for VTTs does not have any "leaks".
If WotC backs off of 1.1 OGL, that would mean that WotC would need to make some adjustments to 6e so that is more different and less compatible with 5e than they would prefer, just so that it will be certain to break Foundry, Roll 20, FG, and anybody else from kludging support for 6e. That is probably a pain in the ass for the designers at WotC, but they can live with that, too, if they must. I expect their marketing people don't want to mess with the current success -- hence the 1.1 OGL plan to ensure VTT exclusivity. meh
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