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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 8886324" data-attributes="member: 467">NOTE: This is not a thread to argue about, or even really discuss, the OGL 1.1.This thread is about why Open Gaming is important. More specifically, it is a thread about why we, individually, feel it is important. Folks are free to debate however they like about the &quot;whys&quot; and it is even okay to debate if it is, as long as we do so respectfully.For my part, Open Gaming fulfills the ultimate promise of D&amp;D and tabletop RPGs in general: they are products of imagination that are ultimately egalitarian. Everyone can play D&amp;D, even if they can't afford rule books. More importantly, everyone can make D&amp;D -- for their friends, for their fellow gamers, and for the world. All you need is a cool idea and the will to mold that idea into a form usable by others.Remember the initial d20 glut? I do. Sure, there was a lot of shovelware at that time, companies jumping on the bandwagon for those d20 dollars. But there was also a whole lot of labors of love. There were campaign settings and house rule documents that had been developing for literal decades turned into books you could buy. Mostly terrible books, mind you, but that's not the point. Everyone is bad at art when they first try.The best part was that in general, the good ideas won out. A lot of stuff got buried of course, but what became popular wasn't necessarily pre-destined by the wallets of the companies putting it out.I never got in a position to make a living off writing OGL material, but I have enjoyed a nice freelance career at least half fueled in one form or another by Open Gaming. A lot of people got to live their dream of &quot;writing D&amp;D&quot; because of Open Gaming -- some of them writing for actual D&amp;D. Our work has been seen by more eyes than we could have likely hoped otherwise. Tt's been good. It's been rewarding.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 8886324, member: 467"] NOTE: This is not a thread to argue about, or even really discuss, the OGL 1.1. This thread is about why Open Gaming is important. More specifically, it is a thread about why we, individually, feel it is important. Folks are free to debate however they like about the "whys" and it is even okay to debate if it is, as long as we do so respectfully. For my part, Open Gaming fulfills the ultimate promise of D&D and tabletop RPGs in general: they are products of imagination that are ultimately egalitarian. Everyone can play D&D, even if they can't afford rule books. More importantly, everyone can make D&D -- for their friends, for their fellow gamers, and for the world. All you need is a cool idea and the will to mold that idea into a form usable by others. Remember the initial d20 glut? I do. Sure, there was a lot of shovelware at that time, companies jumping on the bandwagon for those d20 dollars. But there was also a whole lot of labors of love. There were campaign settings and house rule documents that had been developing for literal decades turned into books you could buy. Mostly terrible books, mind you, but that's not the point. Everyone is bad at art when they first try. The best part was that in general, the good ideas won out. A lot of stuff got buried of course, but what became popular wasn't necessarily pre-destined by the wallets of the companies putting it out. I never got in a position to make a living off writing OGL material, but I have enjoyed a nice freelance career at least half fueled in one form or another by Open Gaming. A lot of people got to live their dream of "writing D&D" because of Open Gaming -- some of them writing for actual D&D. Our work has been seen by more eyes than we could have likely hoped otherwise. Tt's been good. It's been rewarding. [/QUOTE]

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