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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Turjan" data-source="post: 2495354" data-attributes="member: 3477">Ugh. These were really ugly times. I know that this behaviour led me to completely boycott the P&P game. If you know the computer game 'Baldur's Gate', then you may remember that you had to build your characters there using things like THAC0 and AC. These were on your 'character sheet', and you had to deal with them. I remember a 'cease and desist' when someone on a board that I frequented dared to ask what THAC0 actually means, and he got a one sentence answer to this question. There was actually someone reading this game board and sending out threats per e-mail! Absolutely pathetic!That's why in my view I (also) see these two effects of the OGL as the most important:1) Everybody talks about WotC as 'the 800 lb. gorilla', recognizing their position as the dominant company in the RPG market. However, there is nothing comparable to all this T$R vitriol nowadays. You can always point your finger to the SRD and tell "See, this company is giving their game system to the public domain! What do you complain about?" I think that this effect on public relations is worth a lot! It results in a general climate of good will towards the company.2) The freedom to discuss the d20 game system in the public (public is used here in the somewhat limited sense of the active online P&P gaming community, including d20 publishers) leads to a constant development of the game system with a continually replenished pool of ideas from all sides. Even if a d20/OGL publisher takes these ideas and sells product on this basis, WotC is able to do the same afterwards, given their much higher market presence compared to their competitors. In one way or the other, many good ideas have found their way back to the source during the last years. It's a bit like outsourcing of your research facilities without having to pay a dime. If WotC likes some of the ideas very much, they can even hire the designer <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />.I'd say these are the main benefits. I'm not sure whether these goals will still be worth the same five years from now. Changes in the distribution sector of RPGs (the death of game stores) might get rid of competitors much more effectively than the whole OGL idea ever imagined. However, I see the OGL at the moment as a full success. For WotC, that is <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />.</blockquote>

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