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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SlyFlourish" data-source="post: 9575866" data-attributes="member: 54840">A lot of folks here seem to be trying to talk about how other people feel about D&D which we can't really know in the end. I expect many attribute their own feelings to others. The OGL didn't bother me that much – I bet it didn't bother other people that much.But we can talk about how we feel about it. My own feelings are complicated.Something broke for me with my feelings towards Hasbro and WOTC has stewards of D&D and it has and likely will never recover. One should never trust a corporation. I said "don't let WOTC determine your happiness with D&D" for a long time before the OGL. I had a four-quadrant theory about what they'd do with the next version of D&D. They'd either<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">come out with a compatible version and support a new license – thus we can all write for it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">come out with a compatible version but don't offer a new license – but we can use the old one so it's ok.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">come out with a new version and offer a new license – in which case we can write for the new one or old one.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">come out with a new version and don't offer a new license – in which we can continue writing for the old one.</li> </ul>But they found a new option: attempt to revoke an assumed irrevocable license. I never expected them to do that. I didn't believe it for like two months when I started hearing rumors of it. Then they did it and something just snapped in my head.I still love D&D. I still love 5e. I think the new D&D 2024 books are really good (I have my quibbles but we all always have our quibbles). But I'll never trust WOTC to act in the best interests of the hobby again without continual verification. Recently they have acted in the best interests of the hobby (and their own interests as well but that's ok with me) by:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">releasing the 5.1 SRD in the CC in five languages.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">having a good free version of D&D for school kids.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">releasing D&D 2024 on multiple competing VTT platforms – including two that let you download and keep local versions.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Continue releasing their products as physical books we can keep forever.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Continually stating their intention to release a 5.2 SRD with D&D 2024 rules in it.</li> </ul>I think, in the end, WOTC is winning the OGL war by bringing third party publishers into D&D Beyond and that's the area where I raise a suspicious eye-brow. Lots of people think this is good for the hobby. I don't. Centralizing more of the hobby under a company that proved they can act against the interests of the hobby seems dangerous.So yeah, for me, I'll never forget what happened at the OGL and I'm always worried about what's next. I never predicted they'd try to revoke the OGL – I thought it was just impossible. So what else am I missing now?For my own work and my own handle on the hobby, I've diversified a lot. I've stopped running WOTC published campaigns unless they really speak to me. I've run a lot of campaigns in other systems: Cypher, Shadowdark, Tales of the Valiant, A5e, and Blades in the Dark. I renamed my talk show and my podcast away from D&D and towards RPGs. I think a lot about the baseline of the hobby and how we can ensure our own grasp on it is independent from the whims of any company. I look for companies that make Ulysses pacts – things they do to help the hobby that they can't take back. WOTC has quite a few (listed above).I always thought that we shouldn't trust WOTC with our happiness with D&D. I feel that twice as strong now. I'm really glad they're making all of these great moves now but I'll always be watching for the bad ones from now on. I simply can't help it.</blockquote>

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