D&D 4E Is the OGL the reason for WOTC's secrecy about 4E?

[Lizard]

On the contrary, that was one of the explicit objectives of the OGL--to kill off a lot of the competing systems and get everybody using d20, thereby increasing the "network effect." If there must be competing RPGs, the thinking goes, then let's make sure they're compatible with D&D so people can transition easily between them.

There's a stunning and rather painful amount of ignorance about what the SRD/OGL/STL were "supposed" to do and how "no one wanted" thus-and-such. In addition to the "no one wanted stand alone games", which you've nicely debunked, there's the "No one wanted people to reprint the SRD" meme, despite the fact WOTC's own FAQ on the subject explicitly says "Go ahead, have fun."

Apparently, some people have basically made up what the Open Gaming idea was "supposed" to do, based on, as far as I can tell, their own vision of what they'd want, and then declared this vision to be historic fact. (One thing it WAS supposed to do was preserve D&D -- or at least a version of it -- from all corporate whims and changing markets. This it has done spectacularly well. The core of D&D, including iconic monsters, classes, and spells, is open, now and forever. Thanks to Necromancer and TOH, many hundreds of additional classic creatures are there. The amount of open content out there is extraordinary; there are enough rules, options, variants, and genre toolkits to enable just about any non-Forge style RPG setting to be played with success.)

 

[xechnao]

On the contrary, that was one of the explicit objectives of the OGL--to kill off a lot of the competing systems and get everybody using d20, thereby increasing the "network effect." If there must be competing RPGs, the thinking goes, then let's make sure they're compatible with D&D so people can transition easily between them.

From Dancey's interview on the subject:



It's rather ruthless actually.

Now, it seems there will be the chance for a change.

 

[xechnao]

The amount of open content out there is extraordinary; there are enough rules, options, variants, and genre toolkits to enable just about any non-Forge style RPG setting to be played with success.)

It is not just D20 or Forge. Both -by the way you put it here regarding style- have their limits. Apart from these other systems should be emerging.

 

[HeinorNY]

And I don\'t care what market analysis WoTC has to estimate the impact this will have on their sales; they CANNOT know for sure. Market research is a pseudo-science and very imperfect.

So, WOTC should make their business decisions based on what?

 

[Ydars]

I think they should either use a medium or make a DC40 Knowledge (Gaming Industry) check !

Seriously; they will use Market Research, but I suspect that it will have much less predictive power than they would like, given the change in prevailing conditions.

 

[Ydars]

Xechnao, why do advocate more gaming systems and what would you like to see more of?

I am puzzled because before 3.5E, I too loved the variety of many different types of games, but so many of them are broken and open to abuse that I haven't played any others in a long time; I guess modern players don't seem to like DM fudging so much either.

 

[Desdichado]

Sure there is.

Wizards, being massive, doesn't have to win a lawsuit, just keep it going long enough to financially ruin the person/company that's trying to rip off their work.

Assuming they have a basis to file suit in the first place. Besides, if they financially ruin someone, they create massive negative PR as well as open themselves up for a countersuit when their legal practices are accused of being monopolistic.

:shrug: But I see your point. I just don't think that's something they'd do, or that if they did, it would work out in their best interest in the long run.

 

[Mark]

Seriously; they will use Market Research, but I suspect that it will have much less predictive power than they would like, given the change in prevailing conditions.

Less than us?

 

[Desdichado]

Apparently, some people have basically made up what the Open Gaming idea was "supposed" to do, based on, as far as I can tell, their own vision of what they'd want, and then declared this vision to be historic fact. (One thing it WAS supposed to do was preserve D&D -- or at least a version of it -- from all corporate whims and changing markets. This it has done spectacularly well. The core of D&D, including iconic monsters, classes, and spells, is open, now and forever. Thanks to Necromancer and TOH, many hundreds of additional classic creatures are there. The amount of open content out there is extraordinary; there are enough rules, options, variants, and genre toolkits to enable just about any non-Forge style RPG setting to be played with success.)

Which is pretty cool, but if that version of D&D is marginalized by obsolescence in the marketplace at large, then I don't see how that's functionally all that cool. Unless (tinfoil hat time) WotC ceases production of D&D entirely for some reason.

 

[Desdichado]

It is not just D20 or Forge. Both -by the way you put it here regarding style- have their limits. Apart from these other systems should be emerging.

Why should they be emerging?

I'm pretty much a classic case study of how they were right about system proliferation. While I never enjoyed new systems for their own sake, I used to change systems with different games because there wasn't any choice, and the learning curve for a new system often meant that I didn't bother.

Now I'm at a point where I turn to a d20-based derivative for pretty much anything I could concievably want to play, and because of the rather modular nature of the rules, I can find tweaks that give me what I want without me having to relearn the system.

For all intents and purposes, I've done exactly what Dancey wanted the marketplace to do; I'm migrated nearly 100% to a d20.