WotC Rumor: OGL will not be supported starting with One D&D

[overgeeked]

Yeah, there's nothing they can do about OGL content. They might drop the DM's Guild, which would be stupid as it's free money. They might gate their VTT, which while it might make sense short term, would be a disaster for them long term. The only way they could pull that off really would be to pull the VTT license from everywhere else, pissing off all those customers and service providers. But again, it's almost all OGL at this point, so it's out there. Unless they drastically change the system and don't release that under the OGL there's nothing they can do. But then you run into the fact that you cannot copyright game systems, only the specific expression thereof. So it'll be maybe a week before people translate the new stuff into slightly different language to then release that as OGL content. If they want to pick a fight with their own customer base and shoot themselves in the foot, sure...why not.

 

[CleverNickName]

Paizo's reaction to the rumor:

 

[Weiley31]

Wouldn't it be crazy if the 5E framework became its "own thing" once OneD&D happens and ya still have plenty of other 3PP people working off the old base?

 

[overgeeked]

Paizo's reaction to the rumor:

New in 2024, Pathfinder 5th Edition (yes, we're skipping over 3rd and 4th).

 

[Sacrosanct]

DMsGuild isn’t OGL. And even if it was they can’t rescind the old OGL.

Yep. Really, the only (well not only, but big) reason to use DM's Guild over OBS is to use the setting IP. And frankly, there's still going to be a ton of 3PP creators who will still create and not use that IP, just like we all did before DM's Guild was a thing.

 

[Minigiant]

I can't believe it as the whole point of OneD&D being barebones is to have 3PP carry the load.

So I call BS.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I can't believe it as the whole point of OneD&D being barebones is to have 3PP carry the load.

So I call BS.

We can't call One D&D Barebones it's not out yet.

 

[Morrus]

Roll20 support will pretty much determine how much/little of the new edition* I buy. I'm not sure if that counts as "third party" or not, but I'm sure it's in the same ballpark.



*don't call it a new edition. It's totally not a new edition, wink wink.

Roll20 doesn’t use the OGL. It has a different license with WotC.

 

[Oofta]

Oh no, an unconfirmed rumor that would have almost no impact because of the current OGL! What shall we do!

 

[J.Quondam]

Kind of disappointing if true, but not unexpected, tbh.
But nothing would really change, would it? I mean, the OGL isn't going anywhere. At worst, 3PPs might miss out on access to official D&D branding, IP access, maybe eventually VTT integration or something... but those publishers already have to make that sort of decision when deciding to go with DMsGuild or not.

Seems unnecessary from a business standpoint, tbh, and unnecessarily risky from an optics & goodwill standpoint.
Plus ça change....