D&D General Why Mike Mearls left D&D, an interview by Ben Riggs.

[Micah Sweet]

I think it's really hard to make DM content that is broadly applicable.

Things like random tables are useful to certain styles. Other things like advice and optional rules are cool and useful, once. But you never really revisit them. Maybe world lore books? But my favorite books as a DM are monster books.

There was an Atlas Animalia from Metal Weave games that gave like in-depth lore on a small subset of creatures. Really niche stuff like ecology and habitat, behavior, almost like an article on a real creature. Loved that book. But I doubt most DMs value that content like I do.

I don't know what WotC can make for DMs that is broadly useful to experienced DMs. When players it's easy, a new subclass or race.

Again, something being easy is not in and of itself a good reason to do it.

 

[mearls]

He is basically repeating what Kyle Brinks said as far as I can tell / remember from that.

I doubt he was in the room where these things were discussed and decided given that he was not even on the same team

Do you honestly believe that if the negotiations had gone on we would have eventually arrived at something close to 1.0a if only the 3pps kept pushing back?

I think there is a path were WotC creates a new, professional tier license attached to D&D Beyond, that goes something like this::

• If you follow this license, your stuff becomes eligible for D&D Beyond if it hits X sales threshold.
• You give us:
  • Annual sales reports
  • A 2% royalty on annual revenue over $1 million
• In return, you get:
  • Access to the D&D team's internal design guides and tools for monster creation, etc.
  • Invitation to an exclusive, annual developer conference with D&D creative team and marketing
  • Co-marketing opportunities with D&D based on royalty payments
  • Eligibility for publication on D&D Beyond, at these terms (insert royalty, etc) if you cross sales threshold $X.

I think in that world, you have people still using the original OGL but anyone making a real go of it as a full-time business would opt for this license. If the royalty is worth the price of the support and opportunity, then it's a win-win.

You keep hobbyists happy with the original license or CC, and people like MCDM and Kobold Press get a competitive advantage to help grow their business if they opt into the pro tier.

 

[Clint_L]

We should also keep in mind that these are mostly Mearls' opinions. He wasn't actually there during the OGL, but he does know lots of people on the inside and understands better than most how Wizards operates. I think his opinions are much more relevant and informed than, say, mine are. But he's not claiming to have firsthand knowledge of what specifically happened during the OGL. He's very clear about that.

 

[Parmandur]

He is basically repeating what Kyle Brinks said as far as I can tell / remember from that.

Yes, I think that is because Brinks was shooting straight, and now Mearls is as well.

 

[mamba]

I think there is a path were WotC creates a new, professional tier license attached to D&D Beyond, that goes something like this::

• If you follow this license, your stuff becomes eligible for D&D Beyond if it hits X sales threshold.
• You give us:
  • Annual sales reports
  • A 2% royalty on annual revenue over $1 million

I doubt the 2% are what they are getting now / would be in the license, but I’d welcome something like that

They do not have to kill the OGL to offer alternatives

 

[mamba]

Yes, I think that is because Brinks was shooting straight, and now Mearls is as well.

I would not say Brinks was lying, but I am certain his main job was limiting damage, not reporting the truth.

Was there some wiggle room in the negotiation, yes. Was it merely an open ended discussion where any outcome between essentially 1.0a and the proposed 2.0 was acceptable, no. Let’s not forget the difference in size / power and WotC violating the OGL contract in order to get what they want either. This was not a discussion among equals

 

[Parmandur]

I would not say Brinks was lying, but I am certain his main job was limiting damage, not reporting the truth.

Was there some wiggle room in the negotiation, yes. Was it merely an open ended discussion where any outcome between essentially 1.0a and the proposed 2.0 was acceptable, no.

I mean, at this point all internal reports basically add up.

 

[dave2008]

Let’s not forget the difference in size / power and WotC violating the OGL contract in order to get what they want either. This was not a discussion among equals

Maybe, yet people with supposedly no power got them to scrap it (their plan) 100% and even take it out of their control! So maybe they had power all along!

 

[mamba]

I mean, at this point all internal reports basically add up.

yes, and Mearls might well have Brink as his source, so that would not be surprising

 

[Parmandur]

yes, and Mearls might well have Brink as his source, so that would not be surprising

Maybe, maybe not: but the odds that the reports are accurate seems probable.