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<blockquote data-quote="JohnRTroy" data-source="post: 5456164" data-attributes="member: 2732">While I don't want to argue the pros and cons of the OGL, assuming that there would be no new designers without the OGL is incredibly shortsighted.&nbsp; Almost all the new hires in the D&amp;D world came from any sort of smaller publisher or fan work.&nbsp; People like Monte Cook, Warren Spector, Ed Greenwood, etc., a lot of them came from either writing for the publications, the fanzines, or working for one of the smaller companies.&nbsp; Just because Mike Mearls--who is the one who gets brought up the most--got to work with an OGL system it does not mean the OGL itself was a direct influence, and without him we would have nothing.&nbsp; Mearls was lucky enough to work under Monte Cook, who was a popular 3pp at the time with Malhavoc press.&nbsp; It wasn't the OGL that got him, it was his talent and where he worked and what he did.So, even if 3e didn't have an OGL, based on how game designers ascended to the top in RPG tabletop publishing (now WoTC--although now that the low end of gaming if you take into account computer/video games), it was the talent of the individual and the opportunities of the marketplace that allowed it.&nbsp; If there wasn't a 3e, Mearls might have worked with another competing game system, or worked as a contributor to Dragon and Dungeon and the RPGA.&nbsp; Saying the OGL is the reason we have a 4e is over-inflating the role of the OGL as well as not paying attention to the past marketplace.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JohnRTroy, post: 5456164, member: 2732"] While I don't want to argue the pros and cons of the OGL, assuming that there would be no new designers without the OGL is incredibly shortsighted. Almost all the new hires in the D&D world came from any sort of smaller publisher or fan work. People like Monte Cook, Warren Spector, Ed Greenwood, etc., a lot of them came from either writing for the publications, the fanzines, or working for one of the smaller companies. Just because Mike Mearls--who is the one who gets brought up the most--got to work with an OGL system it does not mean the OGL itself was a direct influence, and without him we would have nothing. Mearls was lucky enough to work under Monte Cook, who was a popular 3pp at the time with Malhavoc press. It wasn't the OGL that got him, it was his talent and where he worked and what he did. So, even if 3e didn't have an OGL, based on how game designers ascended to the top in RPG tabletop publishing (now WoTC--although now that the low end of gaming if you take into account computer/video games), it was the talent of the individual and the opportunities of the marketplace that allowed it. If there wasn't a 3e, Mearls might have worked with another competing game system, or worked as a contributor to Dragon and Dungeon and the RPGA. Saying the OGL is the reason we have a 4e is over-inflating the role of the OGL as well as not paying attention to the past marketplace. [/QUOTE]

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