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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 9575257" data-attributes="member: 58172">I feel Mearls is correct. He views the attempted OGL manipulation as devastating. We are still seeing the consequences of its harm play out. He notes.&quot;My theory is that when you look back at the OGL, the real impact of it is that it made D&amp;D uncool again. D&amp;D was cool, right? You had Joe Manganiello and people like that openly talking about playing D&amp;D. D&amp;D was something that was interesting, creative, fun, and different. And I think what the OGL did was take that concept—that Wizards and this idea of creativity that is inherent in the D&amp;D brand because it's a roleplaying game, and I think those two things were sundered.And I don’t know if you can ever put them back together. I think, essentially, it’s like that phrase: The Mandate of Heaven. I think fundamentally what happened was that Wizards has lost the Mandate of Heaven—and I don’t see them even trying to get it back.&quot;The previous hostility to OGL in a way that showed hostility (disrespect) toward players (including indies) harmed the trust and relationship with players.Hasbro/WotC probably did lose the Mandate of Heaven. But I feel by ultimately placing the OGL into the safety of the CC, Hasbro/WotC has paid a tithing to Heaven. Lets see if they can earn their mandate back.Like other human relationships, it takes several amazingly good things to repair the damage of one amazingly bad thing.This relates to an other point that Mearls notes. Unlike in other businesses where the business leaders can focus on a product, in D&amp;D (and roleplaying generally) the business leaders must focus on the customers, the players. There can be no distance away, no delegation to a PR team. The business leaders themselves must be in contact with the players, to understand the needs and sensibilities of their players. The reason is, the players themselves are experts in roleplaying. The players value D&amp;D products but arent dependent on them. The D&amp;D leaders need to always understand exactly what players want and need at all times.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 9575257, member: 58172"] I feel Mearls is correct. He views the attempted OGL manipulation as devastating. We are still seeing the consequences of its harm play out. He notes. " My theory is that when you look back at the OGL, the real impact of it is that it made D&D uncool again. D&D was cool, right? You had Joe Manganiello and people like that openly talking about playing D&D. D&D was something that was interesting, creative, fun, and different. And I think what the OGL did was take that concept—that Wizards and this idea of creativity that is inherent in the D&D brand because it's a roleplaying game, and I think those two things were sundered. And I don’t know if you can ever put them back together. I think, essentially, it’s like that phrase: The Mandate of Heaven. I think fundamentally what happened was that Wizards has lost the Mandate of Heaven—and I don’t see them even trying to get it back. " The previous hostility to OGL in a way that showed hostility (disrespect) toward players (including indies) harmed the trust and relationship with players. Hasbro/WotC probably did lose the Mandate of Heaven. But I feel by ultimately placing the OGL into the safety of the CC, Hasbro/WotC has paid a tithing to Heaven. Lets see if they can earn their mandate back. Like other human relationships, it takes several amazingly good things to repair the damage of one amazingly bad thing. This relates to an other point that Mearls notes. Unlike in other businesses where the business leaders can focus on a product, in D&D (and roleplaying generally) the business leaders must focus on the customers, the players. There can be no distance away, no delegation to a PR team. The business leaders themselves must be in contact with the players, to understand the needs and sensibilities of their players. The reason is, the players themselves are experts in roleplaying. The players value D&D products but arent dependent on them. The D&D leaders need to always understand exactly what players want and need at all times. [/QUOTE]

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