Statement on OGL from WotC

Wizards of the Coast has made a short statement regarding the ongoing rumors surrounding OneD&D and the Open Gaming License. In a short response to Comicbook.com, the company said "We will continue to support the thousands of creators making third-party D&D content with the release of One D&D in 2024. While it is certain our Open Game License (OGL) will continue to evolve, just as it has since its inception, we're too early in the development of One D&D to give more specifics on the OGL or System Reference Document (SRD) at this time."

Dungeons & Dragons Clarifies Support for Third-Party Material as New Edition Draws Near

Wizards of the Coast has responded to rumors of changes to the Open Game License and System [...]

comicbook.com

It's not clear what WotC means when they say that the OGL will 'continue to evolve' -- while there have been two versions of the license released over the years, each is non-rescindible so people are free to use whichever version of the license they wish. Indeed, that is written into the license itself -- "Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License."

During the D&D 4th Edition era, WotC published a new, separate license called the Game System Licence (GSL). While it was used by third party publishers, it was generally upopular.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No, but apparently you do since you claim that the game is being entirely rewritten.

They have shown us re-written passages from the proposed books. If they were just doing a reprint with new art I think they would say so.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

They have shown us re-written passages from the proposed books. If they were just doing a reprint with new art I think they would say so.

They've officially rewritten at least some parts of all of the books through errata. That doesn't mean that they're entirely different editions of D&D from the first printing, though. However, edition debates pretty quickly fall into arguments about the ship of theseus, and you've already made up your mind that OneD&D is a new edition. So I don't see much point in bringing up this discussion again.

 

[tenkar]

From WotC themselves:

One D&D will take what we love from fifth edition and create an experience that is not only backwards compatible with the adventures and supplements you enjoy today but that will evolve the game for years to come. You’ll see updates to just about every facet of the game, from player classes to backgrounds and even to how we lay out books and present game information. Our goal is to improve on everything that has made D&D the best tabletop roleplaying game in the world.

One D&D

 

[Micah Sweet]

From WotC themselves:


One D&D

Marketing copy. We'll see how it holds up to reality and the opinion of the fandom.

 

[Yaarel]

I assume the "evolving" OGL refers to what content is available, which normally expands content with new additions, but occasionally prunes obsolete content.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I assume the "evolving" OGL refers to what content is available, which normally expands content with new additions, but occasionally prunes obsolete content.

When did anyone remove content from the OGL?

 

[Hussar]

When did anyone remove content from the OGL?

I believe he means SRD. You cannot actually remove anything from OGL. Once it's declared OGL, that's it.

 

[Hussar]

They have shown us re-written passages from the proposed books. If they were just doing a reprint with new art I think they would say so.

There's a fair middle ground between an entire rewrite, and a simple reprint with new art.

Did you also feel it was a new edition of the game when the 3e PHB was rewritten between first and second printings? As in there are large swaths of the book that were rewritten?

 

[darjr]

There's a fair middle ground between an entire rewrite, and a simple reprint with new art.

Did you also feel it was a new edition of the game when the 3e PHB was rewritten between first and second printings? As in there are large swaths of the book that were rewritten?

Ssshhhh! It’s a secret!

 

[Micah Sweet]

There's a fair middle ground between an entire rewrite, and a simple reprint with new art.

Did you also feel it was a new edition of the game when the 3e PHB was rewritten between first and second printings? As in there are large swaths of the book that were rewritten?

Are you talking about 3.5? I only ever bought the 3.0 book once, so I don't know what they changed between that and 3.5.