D&D 5E So, 5e OGL

[Jester David]

Unless something has changed, I think this one is the opposite of what you say. With an OGL the amount of 'meh' and slightly off material will sky rocket... and that's not counting openly bad stuff... No if you want Quality Control you want a Limited License that assures ONLY people who know what they are doing make stuff...

An OGL makes it easier for 3PP to be a business. Businesses are designed to make money and crap doesn't sell. Unlike the early days of 3.0, people are wary of quality and pay attention to reviews. People who make poor products will not make money, and may even end up losing money.
I think we're unlikely to see a glut of crap like we saw early in 3.0. There might be an initial surge at the release of an OGL, but that'll settle down as people gravitate to the established studios or the newcomers that develop a reputation while people producing lower quality content get ignored.

In contrast, no OGL means fewer people are taking a chance. So you get a few throw away low-risk products that people aren't really investing a lot of money into because they don't want to risk losing much if lawsuits/C&Ds happen, or those people who don't know better or just don't care. It's amateur hour.

 

[Jester David]

Okay, question:
Right now the big, new game is Fantasy Age, using the AGE system. It's right up there with Savage Worlds, albeit slightly less than World of Darkness and FATE. All four are in the Top Ten of the Hot Games chart.

I know Pathfinder and FATE have an open gaming licence. Is there something comparable for Savage Worlds, World of Darkness, or AGE?

 

[I'm A Banana]

It should be said that I don't view the "crud" as much of a problem - I saw WotC producing questionably balanced splat at the same time that the d20 glut was happening (Mercurial Greatswords!). Folks were trying to sell what they could to people who were fans of the new edition. But by the time 4e rolled out, the 3rd party publishers had made more amazing nonsplat products than WotC themselves made.

The OGL brought higher volume, which is higher volume of both the "Halfling outriders aren't SUPPOSED to have an ATB advancement!" type and of the "This luscious full-color monster hardcover" type.

 

[Wicht]

Okay, question:
Right now the big, new game is Fantasy Age, using the AGE system. It's right up there with Savage Worlds, albeit slightly less than World of Darkness and FATE. All four are in the Top Ten of the Hot Games chart.

I know Pathfinder and FATE have an open gaming licence. Is there something comparable for Savage Worlds, World of Darkness, or AGE?

Savage Worlds is a free permission-granted sort of license, where you have to ask them before you use it to sell product. They also grant fans the right to publish things at will so long as there is nothing being sold.

World of Darkness has always been closed. AGE as far as I know is also closed.

This page may be of interest.

 

[Mistwell]

I'm not any worse off and I don't sell *5E* or PF products.

Isn't your newest product about a year and a half old at this point, predating 5e?

 

[Jester David]

Savage Worlds is a free permission-granted sort of license, where you have to ask them before you use it to sell product. They also grant fans the right to publish things at will so long as there is nothing being sold.

World of Darkness has always been closed. AGE as far as I know is also closed.

This page may be of interest.

Which is kinda interesting. There's all this pressure on WotC to make their game open, when of the top 5 other game systems, two are based on already open licences and have to be open (FATE and Pathfinder), one is open to the fans (Savage Worlds), and two are closed (AGE, World of Darkness).
Shouldn't there be equal pressure on Green Ronin and Pramas?

 

[jmucchiello]

Which is kinda interesting. There's all this pressure on WotC to make their game open, when of the top 5 other game systems, two are based on already open licences and have to be open (FATE and Pathfinder), one is open to the fans (Savage Worlds), and two are closed (AGE, World of Darkness).
Shouldn't there be equal pressure on Green Ronin and Pramas?

Maybe there are AGE fan sites where there are people who ask about opening it up. ENWorld is kind of D&D oriented. Same with WoD. I wouldn't know. I don't go to those sites.

 

[prosfilaes]

Which is kinda interesting. There's all this pressure on WotC to make their game open, when of the top 5 other game systems, two are based on already open licences and have to be open (FATE and Pathfinder), one is open to the fans (Savage Worlds), and two are closed (AGE, World of Darkness).
Shouldn't there be equal pressure on Green Ronin and Pramas?

Why equal? People want to play in the D&D 5 sandbox. Savage Worlds Deluxe: Explorer's Edition is the 30,000th best selling book at Amazon; the 5E PHB is #169. (Still?!?) Savage Worlds is presumably an awesome system to use, but D&D 5 is a system whose name moves product. Even ignoring that serious disparity, for the last 15 years, D&D has had some sort of open license, and they've been hinting at it for 5E. If WotC had given a flat no, there'd be a lot less discussion on the matter.

 

[Remathilis]

Which is kinda interesting. There's all this pressure on WotC to make their game open, when of the top 5 other game systems, two are based on already open licences and have to be open (FATE and Pathfinder), one is open to the fans (Savage Worlds), and two are closed (AGE, World of Darkness).
Shouldn't there be equal pressure on Green Ronin and Pramas?

Likewise, there is no call for Kenzer to open Hackmaster or Goodman to open DCC Rpg either...

At this point, all I want is the once mentioned fan policy for making new content for free on blogs and personal sites. That's all I want.

 

[Jester David]

Why equal? People want to play in the D&D 5 sandbox. Savage Worlds Deluxe: Explorer's Edition is the 30,000th best selling book at Amazon; the 5E PHB is #169. (Still?!?) Savage Worlds is presumably an awesome system to use, but D&D 5 is a system whose name moves product. Even ignoring that serious disparity, for the last 15 years, D&D has had some sort of open license, and they've been hinting at it for 5E. If WotC had given a flat no, there'd be a lot less discussion on the matter.

True, but 90% of D&D players don't care. Heck, 90% of people who buy the game likely don't care. There's maybe a couple dozen people involved in this thread.

But my point is that Green Ronin was the talk of RPGs at GenCon and was founded on the OGL, but their new system is closed.

Likewise, there is no call for Kenzer to open Hackmaster or Goodman to open DCC Rpg either...

At this point, all I want is the once mentioned fan policy for making new content for free on blogs and personal sites. That's all I want.

I'd be happy with a non-commercial licence as well.