D&D 5E (2014) Prediction: No OGL until at least May if not later

[delericho]

I don't really know what I am talking about. Questions, thoughts?

I think you're right, but for the wrong reasons. The big delay in any OGL is that it will need to be signed off by Legal, which takes time. When you add to that that it's a license for a very minor concern at Hasbro, and further that it's a license that isn't going to make them any money (at least directly), and it will be a very low priority item.

I don't doubt that the guys in the D&D team do fully intend to release 5e under an OGL. But I'm not holding my breath, because this one isn't under their full control.

 

[Henry]

I think you're right, but for the wrong reasons. The big delay in any OGL is that it will need to be signed off by Legal, which takes time. When you add to that that it's a license for a very minor concern at Hasbro, and further that it's a license that isn't going to make them any money (at least directly), and it will be a very low priority item.

I don't doubt that the guys in the D&D team do fully intend to release 5e under an OGL. But I'm not holding my breath, because this one isn't under their full control.

Probably right about being released later into 2015 due to legal delays if anything. It's worth noting that without the Vice President of WotC pushing it, the original OGL would not exist.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I don't think we will see an OGL at all. WotC will outsource license and material so they see some form of profit before they let it go free. Just don't think they want another Pathfinder, where a 3rd party out-performs them like Pazio did with the OGL.

 

[Nellisir]

It wouldn't surprise me if the OGL was limited to the Basic game material, with the material in the physical books (the Advanced game) being off-limits. People would be free to publish adventure modules that were playable with the basic game (and therefore also with the advanced game) but not to embed anything that is copyrighted and not to pass stuff off as official or use the brand name or logo without a licence.

I think this is reasonable. The best counterargument I can think of is that people are *immediately* going to reproduce the PHB under OGL rules, although it's possible (probable?) that the 5eOGL will disallow co-use of it and the original OGL, which will handicap things somewhat.

I don't think we're going to see a SRD. That would make 3 iterations of the same ruleset that WotC needs to track, and that's just...silly.

 

[Nellisir]

I wasn't saying so much that third-party products are a threat to WOTC's revenue. I was saying that WOTC wants to protect the third party companies it has contracted out merchandise to. It might even be written into contracts that WOTC won't release an OGL until after these products (like the official adventure paths) have sufficient time to sell.

Who wants to be a Sasquatch Studios, work really hard on an adventure path, and then have WOTC release an OGL just as your adventure path goes out to bookstores. You'd loose a certain percentage of business if they released the OGL at that moment.

As noted, WotC & TSR have always used freelance writers and editors under contract; now they're using studios instead of individuals, but it's pretty much the same arrangement. I imagine it's a bit less hassle at WotC's end, because they're not acting as go-betweens for different freelancers.

 

[Mistwell]

I think you're right, but for the wrong reasons. The big delay in any OGL is that it will need to be signed off by Legal, which takes time

I see this claim a lot. And while it's true Legal usually signs off on such things, it's not true that Legal departments typically take a long time to sign-off on things. We're talking about a department that is used to working under very serious time pressures...not a department that is used to taking their time. There are hard deadlines for many things the Legal department does in a public company, including FTC rules, and internal rules on "don't screw up our deal because you delayed" type pressures. I seriously doubt the Legal department is a meaningful delay to anything. Heck, in my experience, Legal works weekends and longer hours to get things done when necessary, when nobody else is around.

 

[Crothian]

I don't think we will see an OGL at all. WotC will outsource license and material so they see some form of profit before they let it go free. Just don't think they want another Pathfinder, where a 3rd party out-performs them like Pazio did with the OGL.

This is what I'm thinking as well. I think if this is how it goes I'll be okay with it.

 

[Morrus]

I see this claim a lot. And while it's true Legal usually signs off on such things, it's not true that Legal departments typically take a long time to sign-off on things. We're talking about a department that is used to working under very serious time pressures...not a department that is used to taking their time. There are hard deadlines for many things the Legal department does in a public company, including FTC rules, and internal rules on "don't screw up our deal because you delayed" type pressures. I seriously doubt the Legal department is a meaningful delay to anything. Heck, in my experience, Legal works weekends and longer hours to get things done when necessary, when nobody else is around.

I would imagine that something like that would have to be signed off by more than just a legal department. Branding, marketing, upper management, Hasbro, it's probably one of those things that needs to be passed by everyone but the janitor.

 

[Staffan]

I would imagine that something like that would have to be signed off by more than just a legal department. Branding, marketing, upper management, Hasbro, it's probably one of those things that needs to be passed by everyone but the janitor.

Which is ironic, considering that Peter Adkison used to sign his emails "Janitor, Wizards of the Coast."

 

[Henry]

I see this claim a lot. And while it's true Legal usually signs off on such things, it's not true that Legal departments typically take a long time to sign-off on things. ends and longer hours to get things done when necessary, when nobody else is around.

Let me be clearer: it will likely be delayed by the people who hassle the Legal and Brand teams looking for as many pitfalls or reasons to say "no" as possible, and use Legal as the explanation why it's late.