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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 6290310" data-attributes="member: 22779">The thing that people seem to forget is that the release of 5e is a completely and totally different situation from the release of 3e.Let's hit the wayback machine shall we?&nbsp; 3e was released by a virtually unknown RPG publishing company who was far better known for its CCG's.&nbsp; D&amp;D, as a business, was in the toilet.&nbsp; TSR had gone bankrupt.&nbsp; The rules for AD&amp;D were twenty years old and most serious gamers at the time were moving on to other games.&nbsp; The hobby was shrinking.3e at release had to compete, not only with earlier versions of D&amp;D, for which there was a metric crapton of material, but a number of other very healthy RPG's with complete product lines.&nbsp; The OGL was a way to get the name D&amp;D back on the shelves in a huge way without costing WOTC a bunch of money.Fast forward to today.&nbsp; Anyone remotely interested in RPG's can find out more information, instantly, than they could ever possibly want to know.&nbsp; Tens of thousands of people belong to various websites.&nbsp; A game that isn't even out yet is being talked about more than completely mature product lines like Pathfinder or 4e D&amp;D.&nbsp; Think about that for a second.&nbsp; A game that won't be out for months yet, that we haven't actually seen the finished version of, is being talked about in more places than any other RPG out there.They don't need an OGL to get the game in the hands of players.&nbsp; And considering how much licensing has bitten them on the ass in the past, do you really think you're going to see a 3e style OGL ever again?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 6290310, member: 22779"] The thing that people seem to forget is that the release of 5e is a completely and totally different situation from the release of 3e. Let's hit the wayback machine shall we? 3e was released by a virtually unknown RPG publishing company who was far better known for its CCG's. D&D, as a business, was in the toilet. TSR had gone bankrupt. The rules for AD&D were twenty years old and most serious gamers at the time were moving on to other games. The hobby was shrinking. 3e at release had to compete, not only with earlier versions of D&D, for which there was a metric crapton of material, but a number of other very healthy RPG's with complete product lines. The OGL was a way to get the name D&D back on the shelves in a huge way without costing WOTC a bunch of money. Fast forward to today. Anyone remotely interested in RPG's can find out more information, instantly, than they could ever possibly want to know. Tens of thousands of people belong to various websites. A game that isn't even out yet is being talked about more than completely mature product lines like Pathfinder or 4e D&D. Think about that for a second. A game that won't be out for months yet, that we haven't actually seen the finished version of, is being talked about in more places than any other RPG out there. They don't need an OGL to get the game in the hands of players. And considering how much licensing has bitten them on the ass in the past, do you really think you're going to see a 3e style OGL ever again? [/QUOTE]

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