Mouseferatu said:
I don't think anyone who actually thinks it through should be mad at WotC.
Please don't "should" on me.
I've thought this through, and I'm plenty mad at WotC. Is this a good strategic business decision on their part? Yes. But that's not an aspect that I'm particularly concerned with. WotC could still make money, promote their product, and be successful without deliberately attempting to hamstring other publishers.
This is, frankly, a step backwards from the spirit of Open Gaming. I tend to get upset whenever anything moves from a paradigm of more freedom to less freedom. Basically demanding that companies give up the OGL if they want to use the GSL at all (to say nothing of all of the other restrictions built in) just rubs me the wrong way on principle alone.
That's not even taking into account that, as a fan, I like 3.5 and want companies to stick with it. Now there will be less of that, because companies that would be inclined to do both 3.5 and 4E material won't have that option. That, in turn, gives me less options as a consumer. That also holds true for the 4E customers as well - companies that stick with the OGL won't be producing 4E materials (for example, I doubt Green Ronin, with their
Mutants & Masterminds and
True20 lines, will dump the OGL), giving those fans less third-party works as well...which ultimately hurts WotC.
Declaring war on the OGL just makes battle-lines be drawn, and it's ultimately a loss, not a win, when that happens. Hence why I'm rather upset at WotC that they've stepped so far away from the "enlightened self-interest" that was Open Gaming, and have instead used their new GSL as a weapon against the OGL.
[/rant]