It is time to forgive WOTC and get back onboard.

[Snarf Zagyg]

Ah, so you can't, then. Well done, you.

sigh A person normally would just say, "I haven't seen that television program."

 

[Solauren]

Here is my thought on things (as the WOTC/D&D situtation, and I stand)

First, it was a bad business decision that was back-tracked before it was implemented.
That, is a good thing. It's easier to backtrack a decision before it goes into effect.

Second, the community got what it wanted.
That is also a good thing.

Third, we've had numerous copyright lawyers come out and say in the mainstream media 'Hasbro can't actually do that'
That is a a very good thing, as it should make Hasbro think twice about doing it in the future.
That would never have happened if all this hadn't occured.

I'm not going to hold a grudge over this with WOTC, because Copyright is a rather, complicated (and quite frankly, stupidly) handled area.

For example, the family of the people that created Superman periodically go after DC Comics for more money whenever a new media format appears.
Yet, the descendants of people that have created important, life saving stuff, are shafted.

Companies like Hasbro, WOTC, etc, have to be very careful producting their intellectual property and copyrights, as well as their reputation.
Their attempt to change the OGL was an attempt to do that.
It screwed up, they back-pedaled before serious damage was done. I don't consider stress serious damage.



So, in that regard, I'm "back onboard" with WOTC. I was never off the board with Hasbro.

However, that doesn't mean much.

I haven't purchased a new WOTC sourcebooks since the last 3.5 book was on the shelf, or miniatures since the last pre-4e set.
Didn't care for 4e. Didn't like what they did to the Realms with the 'Spell-plague'.
Never tried 5e.
I have a few of the post 3e/4e Dragon Miniatures.

I switched to Paizo.
I haven't purchased a Paizo product since PF2e, and the Rusty Dragon Inn miniature set.

So, I haven't purchased an RPG product in quite some time.
Heck, nearly all my pre-painted plastic miniatures (which included at least one of each since Harbinger) are in boxes wrapped in bubble wrap.


So, what was my stake in this?
I own alot of 3rd party products for D&D 3.X/D20 System and Pathfinder. Not much of an investment, but still, I read them at least.
I want to be able to see people make and sell products for the game we all enjoy.

And I want the option of doing it myself to still be viable.

I'm stilling doing to take a few 'just in case' steps, because that's just common sense, and I was wondering if I needed to do them anyway.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I don't do VTT, either, with the lone exception of when we were shut down for Covid and the only way to safely game was virtually. Even then we used Discord and Zoom.

If the game moves forward in a way that causes me not to want to continue on with WotC, then my group and I will probably go back to 3.5. We have enough options there to last us the rest of our lives and then some. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I fear you may be correct.

3.5? You mean .... the Devil's Edition?*

j/k. That said, I prefer B/X or 1e at this point when it comes to old editions. Although my 1e is customized by decades, so ... there's that.


*3.5 is often referred to as the Avocado of D&D. Hence, the saying, Y'all wanna play some California D&D?

 

[Maxperson]

3.5? You mean .... the Devil's Edition?*

j/k. That said, I prefer B/X or 1e at this point when it comes to old editions. Although my 1e is customized by decades, so ... there's that.


*3.5 is often referred to as the Avocado of D&D. Hence, the saying, Y'all wanna play some California D&D?

Unfortunately I lost almost all of my Basic(B/X and BECMI), 1e and 2e stuff, including the core books during a move some years ago. I need hard copies to play or run an edition and It's not worth the trouble and expense to get all of those books and supplements back. 3.5 is the only edition for which I have enough stuff to run a game that isn't 5e.

 

[Clint_L]

From my perspective, this all only became a thing because Hasbro/WotC originally opened up their IP in a way that is remarkable for a large corporation. Then they briefly tried to rescind part of that, which was a Bad Idea that rightfully blew up in their faces, so they quickly backed off and offered even better stuff than the original deal. The end result is that we have had and continue to have remarkable access to do stuff with the game we love.

In the annals of corporate villainy, this does not even register for me.

Edit: it seems like for some folks, the fact that Hasbro attempted to do The Bad Thing before running away is worse behaviour than the many, many corporations who just do The Bad Thing.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Unfortunately I lost almost all of my Basic(B/X and BECMI), 1e and 2e stuff, including the core books during a move some years ago. I need hard copies to play or run an edition and It's not worth the trouble and expense to get all of those books and supplements back. 3.5 is the only edition for which I have enough stuff to run a game that isn't 5e.

I really hope that for the 50th Anniversary, they re-release some of the true classics from the past in actual BOOK FORM.

Moldvay/Cook (B/X)
The Core Three of the AD&D (PHB, MM, DMG)

Anything else would be gravy. But I would love to grab extra copies. Something about the feel of books ....

 

[SkidAce]

So, there's going to be an issue here, in that "we" are not a united front, at all. We may have all been aligned on how the immediate cancellation of v1.0a was bad, for example. But beyond that, we have different goals and desired outcomes.

Truth.

 

[Velderan]

I really hope that for the 50th Anniversary, they re-release some of the true classics from the past in actual BOOK FORM.

Moldvay/Cook (B/X)
The Core Three of the AD&D (PHB, MM, DMG)

Anything else would be gravy. But I would love to grab extra copies. Something about the feel of books ....

That's my hope too. When is that last time Basic in some form was printed? Rules Cyclopedia? 1e and 2e have both seen reprints of the core books during WotC's ownership of the brand.

 

[Maxperson]

I really hope that for the 50th Anniversary, they re-release some of the true classics from the past in actual BOOK FORM.

Moldvay/Cook (B/X)
The Core Three of the AD&D (PHB, MM, DMG)

Anything else would be gravy. But I would love to grab extra copies. Something about the feel of books ....

That would be awesome. The bulk of my 1e/2e stuff that I have left are settings. I have Greyhawk 1e, Ravenloft 2e, Spelljammer 2e, Planescape 2e, Kara-Tur 2e, The Netherese 2e setting and maybe Al-Qadim. I still go back to those for lore and adventure ideas and will continue to do so for as long as I DM.

It would be great if they released the books(and monstrous compendiums for 2e) again to buy.

 

[Umbran]

Really? I have? Care to point out how, exactly?

Snarf's snarkiness aside, there's some issue with attaching ethical fault to things that never actually happen.