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.

 

[CleverNickName]

Goodman Games was one of the only GSL licensees for 4e. They also are the 3PP that publishes OAR.

If anyone is going to get along with Hasbro…. It’s Goodman Games.

Came here to say this, but got Snarfed.

 

[Parmandur]

Goodman Games was one of the only GSL licensees for 4e. They also are the 3PP that publishes OAR.

If anyone is going to get along with Hasbro…. It’s Goodman Games.

Indeed, there are a few publishers who have not said much publicly or joined up on an alternate initiative. I doubt WotC will have zero takers, and there is much we still do not know.

 

[Parmandur]

Came here to say this, but got Snarfed.

You might want to have a doctor look at that.

 

[Ondath]

Paizo, these are the same guys who had to be publicly shamed and browbeat into not oppressing their workforce like a year ago. Yet here we are, people have moved on. So the cycle goes.

To be fair, now they are a unionised company, so I feel so much better about supporting them. Not to mention their open support for inclusivity for a long time (I remember PF1E's core class characters all being canonically bi).

Sure, they messed up a year ago, but they are certainly in a good place now.

 

[Parmandur]

To be fair, now they are a unionised company, so I feel so much better about supporting them. Not to mention their open support for inclusivity for a long time (I remember PF1E's core class characters all being canonically bi).

Sure, they messed up a year ago, but they are certainly in a good place now.

Hence my point. Corporation caved into public pressure, people moved on. They wouldn't have done the right thing without that pressure, same as WotC, and same as Paizo WotC can walk any controversy off.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

For me this is pretty simple. This is not a moral issue. A company has a right to fence off their IP.

However, I like it when they are more liberal. I have access to more products I like. I enjoy the 5e conversions of keep on the borderlands. I like that there are non WOTC things I can buy for 5e. I like retro clones.

This is why I am not BUYING any more WOTC stuff until they recant and revise.

It’s not a grand moral crusade for me. It’s the power of pressure by numbers. Sure I feel bad it hurts the bottom line of indie designers. But this is all about money to wotc and avoiding entanglements when their brand “really takes off.” Our movie, our show, our tabletop.

Cool. I get it. But they will see surely some drop in rpg sales…maybe. They will lose mine because I want them to do what I want.

My fear is like Ford not fixing exploding pintos, they have done the math and those they lose will be made up for x 10. We shall see.

But I will help them test that assumption. I could pout or rage against the machine. what I am going to do is just not give them my money and let them know why.

I hope small game companies can pivot or last until this passes. We shall see. Business is a bitch.

 

[Oofta]

You might want to have a doctor look at that.

Have you been Snarfed? Signs include a severe hatred of bards, inability to post forum threads with an opening post of less than 5,000 words and uncontrollable sarcasm. While there is currently no cure, you can sign up now for our drug trial for a low, low price!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I know not everybody shares this opinion but for me, my reason is that I don't want to have to pay twice for the content in a book I already bought.

No offense, but IMO while that is valid as a “I don’t wanna”, it isn’t like, a “really good reason” in a general sense. Like, any individual reason is valid, it’s your money. But it isn’t like…something that actually makes ddb a bad deal.

Especially since it isn’t buying the same thing twice, it’s buying the character builder and digital compendium optimized version, and the hardback at the table version. They’re two distinct products.

Goodman Games response:

"Goodman Games has supported tabletop role-playing games in all forms for 20 years, and we plan to continue supporting it for many years to come.As you may be aware, Wizards of the Coast may consider amending the Open Game License which may include changes to how it manages licenses to third parties. We have reviewed the possible changes and determined that they will not impact our line of roleplaying games, including Dungeon Crawl Classics, Mutant Crawl Classics, Xcrawl Classics, and related products; Fifth Edition Fantasy, Original Adventures Reincarnated #7: Dark Tower, Original Adventures Reincarnated #8: Caverns of Thracia, and related products; and our other lines.Fans, don’t worry. We think we will all be just fine."

I... don't know what to make of this. It's really short, says not to worry, but doesn't say much else than that? Really hoping they didn't cut a deal with WotC or anything, tbh.

Or they are operating under the belief that “deauthorizing” the OGL won’t actually effect stuff that isn’t made for OneDnD.

 

[blakesha]

Goodman Games response:

"Goodman Games has supported tabletop role-playing games in all forms for 20 years, and we plan to continue supporting it for many years to come.As you may be aware, Wizards of the Coast may consider amending the Open Game License which may include changes to how it manages licenses to third parties. We have reviewed the possible changes and determined that they will not impact our line of roleplaying games, including Dungeon Crawl Classics, Mutant Crawl Classics, Xcrawl Classics, and related products; Fifth Edition Fantasy, Original Adventures Reincarnated #7: Dark Tower, Original Adventures Reincarnated #8: Caverns of Thracia, and related products; and our other lines.Fans, don’t worry. We think we will all be just fine."

I... don't know what to make of this. It's really short, says not to worry, but doesn't say much else than that? Really hoping they didn't cut a deal with WotC or anything, tbh.

Don't have any of their stuff, but wasn't the majority of their work not based on the OGL? (Like they have always had a separate licensing agreement as a hold over from the 4e days - someone should check some of those books mentioned)

 

[God]

What a glorious news day.