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<blockquote data-quote="Zil" data-source="post: 5452862" data-attributes="member: 20004">I don't think the employees of WotC&nbsp; made the initial OGL out of personal&nbsp; self-interest.&nbsp; WotC believed (rightly) that the OGL would create a huge ecosystem with themselves at the centre of it and they profited from it.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sure, some of those at WoTC back when the OGL was created believed that the OGL would also help protect the game (i.e. D&amp;D ) from future management decisions.&nbsp;&nbsp; Even if that was their primary motivation, the fact that it was still also clearly a profitable (to WotC) concept,&nbsp; you can't say it is truly an unethical decision or even a bad decision in the 3E context.&nbsp;&nbsp; Back to my work example.&nbsp; When we open-sourced our software system one of our goals was to ensure that the software could survive future bad senior management decisions.&nbsp;&nbsp; We weren't acting in our own interests.&nbsp; Rather, we were ensuring that even if management were to wreck our project group (which produces critical Search and Rescue software), there was a better chance that the software could survive in some form.&nbsp;&nbsp; Of course there were many other reasons to go open-source, but self-interest certainly wasn't one of them nor do I believe what we did was unethical.&nbsp; As has been hashed out in earlier messages, I do not believe that the OGL had to hurt 4E.&nbsp; 4E released under the OGL would have been a much more sane decision for WotC.&nbsp; If any management made mistakes, it is the current crop - not those who were around in 1999.&nbsp; I believe you are pointing your finger at the wrong people.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Zil, post: 5452862, member: 20004"] I don't think the employees of WotC made the initial OGL out of personal self-interest. WotC believed (rightly) that the OGL would create a huge ecosystem with themselves at the centre of it and they profited from it. Sure, some of those at WoTC back when the OGL was created believed that the OGL would also help protect the game (i.e. D&D ) from future management decisions. Even if that was their primary motivation, the fact that it was still also clearly a profitable (to WotC) concept, you can't say it is truly an unethical decision or even a bad decision in the 3E context. Back to my work example. When we open-sourced our software system one of our goals was to ensure that the software could survive future bad senior management decisions. We weren't acting in our own interests. Rather, we were ensuring that even if management were to wreck our project group (which produces critical Search and Rescue software), there was a better chance that the software could survive in some form. Of course there were many other reasons to go open-source, but self-interest certainly wasn't one of them nor do I believe what we did was unethical. As has been hashed out in earlier messages, I do not believe that the OGL had to hurt 4E. 4E released under the OGL would have been a much more sane decision for WotC. If any management made mistakes, it is the current crop - not those who were around in 1999. I believe you are pointing your finger at the wrong people. [/QUOTE]

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