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.

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:

We've had to say this several times, over multiple threads, now - while economic and political systems may be interesting, they tend to brew arguments and don't actually do anything useful for dealing with the immediate OGL issues.

So please leave them out of the current discussions. Thanks.

 

[mangamuscle]

So wait...no message???

The message is that there is no message. I mean, anyone wants to make into history books as the face that tried to cover the money grab attempted by their corporate overlords as something good?

At this point in time any official video response will be uploaded to any social network you can think and then it will be edited and become a meme, no doubt starting with "I for one, welcome Sauron, or one D&D overlord".

 

[Yaarel]

I keep coming back to the view that no matter what WotC does, something has been broken - a feeling of goodwill and trust from the flagship company of D&D.

I mean, it is a basic principle: if you're nice 95% of the time but abusive 5% of the time, the abuse defines who you are (to the abused).

The point being, even if WotC "nices up" the OGL, no one is ever going to trust them again - unless they can somehow play the entire thing off as a bogus rumor, but that seems very unlikely. Unless they make it "irrevocable" - which they won't - there will always be a lingering edge of doubt, especially for smaller publishers.

There is something like a 5 to 1 ratio. For one harmful thing a person does to someone else, it takes 5 times doing something positive, each of equivalent value but positive, to repair a relationship. And this is just to return to the status quo of the relationship.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

4E actually ended game groups and friendships. I doubt this will have the same negative impact.

It depends I know many "D&D or nothing" players that wont care at all about the OGL (we don't use Player side 3pp) if the DM decides "I wont do D&D anymore" it will ALSO end groups/friends...

Infact it might be the same split... we have PF guys and 4e guys at my table I wonder if this will be along the same lines

 

[MoonSong]

Ah, I see. In that case I agree. Although, I do think they would have to add the word “irrevocable” to the OGL to fix things at this point.

And this version of the license is un-unauthorizable. (Ok, I never thought I'd ever need to say or write anything as convoluted)

 

[Charlaquin]

Just saying it’s valid to decide not to play it anymore—or to decide not to spend any more money on it, but keep playing. Presumably the latter course doesn’t break up groups and friendships? (And then adding a gag about reduced spending on 5e stuff I mostly haven’t been using anyway.)

Right, but this change absolutely will end playgroups and possibly friendships. That it won’t do so to yours specifically isn’t a counter argument to that point.

 

[Tazawa]

Lol - same here! I explained what was going on and that I wouldn't be buying any more D&D books or licensed minis, and I could see the joy bursting from her.

Wait until she finds out that you’re buying a whole different series of game books and minis instead!

 

[Yaarel]

Something my wife and I have told our son many times.

"They may not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel."

That is a wise lesson to teach your kid.

 

[Umbran]

There is something like a 5 to 1 ratio. For one harmful thing a person does to someone else, it takes 5 times doing something positive, each of equivalent value but positive, to repair a relationship. And this is just to return to the status quo of the relationship.

Eh. Quantifying the positive or negative value of actions seems... questionable.

I mean, if that actually worked, traditional alignment would be an uncontroversial mechanic upon which everyone agreed.

 

[Lidgar]

Yeah, just noticed that, too.
Well that's a good look for WotC, isn't it, lol.

Not like it could get much worse.

At this point I half expect an announcement they are handing D&D to NuTSR…