So how do we respond?

[dave2008]

I suggest we set up a Gofundme page to raise money to for legal fees if WotC tries to sue people for using the OGL 1.0 or 1.0(a)

 

[Doc_Klueless]

I suspect I'll be in a distinct minority here, but, as a consumer, I don't really care what WotC does with the OGL. For pretty much the entirety of 5th edition, I don't think I've purchased a single game product that was under the OGL. That isn't to say I don't have a detached interest in what's happening, just that I'm not going to boycott or otherwise avoid WotC products because of this.

This is me. And I suspect the great majority of WotC customers. Changing, deleting, etc. won't impact ... say... 90-99% of WotC customers.

 

[DEFCON 1]

One other important thing...

...someone go contact Devin at the LEGAL EAGLE YouTube channel about all of this, so that he can make a video about it. That'll be much more entertaining to watch than all the attorneys here just writing everything down.

 

[Retreater]

This is me. And I suspect the great majority of WotC customers. Changing, deleting, etc. won't impact ... say... 90-99% of WotC customers.

Wait until Matt Colville comes out against it. Wait until Paizo comes out against it. Wait until Matt Mercer and Critical Role come out against it.
If it's as draconian and terrible of a contract as it seems - it will impact 3PPs (of course), but also merchandise, live streams, YouTube, wikis - a lot of stuff.
This is going to kill their brand if they don't change it.

 

[Umbran]

1. Table Top
2. Video Games
3. Movies
4. Merch

WotC want draconion control of 2, 3, and 4.

And, wanting control of 2, 3, and 4 is okay. They can have that.
The license, unfortunately, also exerts control on 1, which they'd let loose on a couple of decades ago.

 

[Umbran]

and if you infer by 'Pantomimes' they actually are referring to LARPs, no surprise they'd want a slice out of that pie as well.

There is no pie there for WotC. Nobody* larps based off the d20 engine - larps generally run diceless systems, and D&D doesn't convert to diceless well..


*or almost nobody. As in "that's not a thing" in larp circles.

 

[kenada]

I assumed pantomimes referred to TikTok rather than LARP or cosplay.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The reason they and a lot of other companies now include 'pantomime' again is Tik Tok skits.

Because a weird acting over voiceover sketch would be something worth totally-not-stealing-because-we-made-an-extortive-contract.

Edit: beaten

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

I fear at this point that even if WotC walks back their plans, the well is poisoned. You can no longer trust that WotC will leave the OGL alone like they promised and intended at its creation.

I think if they came out with a OGL 1.0(b) that simply added a clause that it is non-revocable. That might remove the poison IMO.

 

[MGibster]

Consider also if this goes ahead it might mean a company like Paizo is forced out of business as they rely on the OGL and can't make a brand new game in 6 months. Which means 125 employees are out of work as the second biggest name in tabletop gaming goes away...

I do understand that. I'm also cognizant that there are many posters here who have a financial stake in the OGL and I can appreciate how they must feel as this threatens their livlihood. The RPG industry, and more broadly speaking the entertainment industry as a whole, is a bit odd because there's a strong parasocial relationship between authors and artists with their customers. Most of us probably wouldn't care all that much if there was a spat between Domino's Pizza and the other pizza companies in the area. And it's because we don't know or care who the CEO of Domino's is or who came up with the recipe for their sauce. We just dont have that kind of relationship with Domino's like we do with WotC, Paizo, or EN Publishing. I could send a message to Morrus right now and there's a decent chance I could get a personal reply which is unlikely to happen with Domino's.