Rumours: WotC Announcement Today; Insider Email Reveals Plans

There's a couple of rumours going round today. I cannot verify either, but I'm reporting them as most of the recent OGL rumours have proven true.

First -- it is rumoured that today at 3pm ET Wizards of the Coast will make some kind of video statement about the current Open Game License situation. This rumour came from the folks at Roll For Combat who were the first to break the draft OGL scoop.

[[UPDATE -- This didn't happen!]]

Second -- an email has been circulating from an anonymous WotC insider. Again, I must reiterate I cannot myself verify this, so read this with that in mind, but the email says:

Hi,

I'm an employee at WotC currently working on D&Dbeyond (DDB) and with D&D business leaders on the health of the product line. If you want I can provide proof of this.

I'm sending this message because I fear for the health of a community I love, and I know what the leaders at WOTC are looking at:

-They are briefly delaying rollout of OGL changes due to the backlash.
-Their decision making is based entirely on the provable impact to their bottom line.
-Specifically they are looking at DDB subscriptions and cancellations as it is the quickest financial data they currently have.
-They are still hoping the community forgets, moves on, and they can still push this through.

I have decided to reach out because at my time in WotC I have never once heard management refer to customers in a positive manner, their communication gives me the impression they see customers as obstacles between them and their money, the DDB team was first told to prepare to support the new OGL changes and online portal when they got back from the holidays, and leadership doesn't take any responsibility for the pain and stress they cause others. Leadership's first communication to the rank and file on the OGL was 30 minutes on 1/11/23, This was the first time they even tried to communicate their intentions about the OGL to employees, and even in this meeting they blamed the community for over-reacting.

I will repeat, the main thing this leadership is looking at is DDB subscription cancellations.

Hope your day goes well,

P.S. I will be copying and pasting this message to other community leaders.

If both rumours are true, I guess at 3pm ET today we'll find that out.

 

[Parmandur]

Well, yeah, but was that a boycott of WotC, or just people not embracing the new edition of D&D?

The former, and loudly. It was quite an angry scene.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, yeah, but was that a boycott of WotC, or just people not embracing the new edition of D&D?

That's a good question. I was deeply dismayed by the GSL (on EnWorld! There are receipts!), but I already wasn't playing 4E, as it was too focused on skirmish play and not enough on adorable gnome illusionist PCs. I suspect it would be hard to disentangle the two issues.

 

[Reynard]

The year 2016 is entirely my point. If Wizbro reverses course, people will cool down. People who declared eternal enmity to WotC over the GSL in 2008 did not hold on to that in 2016.

Oh. Gotcha. Yes, people came back when D&D returned to its roots. I still contend the GSL was less important a thing that 4E being controversial. Currently, 1D&D is not controversial. it's barely a change. the issue here is the OGL. But sure, if in 5 years there was new leadership and they re-embraced the OGL or some form of true Open Gaming, people would return. But I am also not convinced there will be a major exodus relative to the size of the current player base. People are mad, but they also want to play D&D.

 

[gametaku]

There's a stream scheduled for today on dndbeyond's twitch.

But it's the same schedule next few weeks. I think that it's just their standard schedule.

 

[Michael Linke]

Their 3pm stream today is now showing cancelled.

Edit: i don't even mind the license changes in and of themselves, but watching the damage they're doing to the community is shocking. At this point, I want them to reverse course just to mend the damage they've done to the community.

 

[Charlaquin]

The GSL was just one of many issues people had with 4e.

Right, that’s my point. I’m sure lots of people were mad about the GSL. But folks left D&D at the time for many reasons, and the fact that a lot of them came back when 5e released isn’t an indication that people have short memories for outrage. It’s a sign that the things people were upset about (mainly the rules system, but also the GSL) actually got changed.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Their 3pm stream today is now showing cancelled.

I wonder if they were going to push through and still do the OGL and then saw their D&D Subscriptions dropping like flies.

I hate, hate, hate that they are dragging this out, it's only making things worse for them, this rage will only spread.

 

[Parmandur]

But it's the same schedule next few weeks. I think that it's just their standard schedule.

Yeah, I think they broadcast something every Thursday. I suspect that people decided to assume that WotC would say something today during the regular Beyond stream...incorrectly.

 

[darjr]

There's a stream scheduled for today on dndbeyond's twitch.

Cancelled

 

[Haplo781]

Stream is canceled