WotC Talks OGL... Again! Draft Coming Jan 20th With Feedback Survey; v1 De-Auth Still On

Following last week's partial walk-back on the upcoming Open Game Licence terms, WotC has posted another update about the way forward. The new update begins with another apology and a promise to be more transparent. To that end, WotC proposes to release the draft of the new OGL this week, with a two-week survey feedback period following it...

Following last week's partial walk-back on the upcoming Open Game Licence terms, WotC has posted another update about the way forward.

Screen Shot 2023-01-09 at 10.45.12 AM.png

The new update begins with another apology and a promise to be more transparent. To that end, WotC proposes to release the draft of the new OGL this week, with a two-week survey feedback period following it.


They also list a number of points of clarity --
  • Videos, accessories, VTT content, DMs Guild will not be affected by the new license, none of which is related to the OGL
  • The royalties and ownership rights clauses are, as previously noted, going away
OGL v1 Still Being 'De-Authorized'
However, OGL v1.0a still looks like it's being de-authorized. As with the previous announcement, that specific term is carefully avoided, and like that announcement it states that previously published OGL v1 content will continue to be valid; however it notably doesn't mention that the OGL v1 can be used for content going forward, which is a de-authorization.

The phrase used is "Nothing will impact any content you have published under OGL 1.0a. That will always be licensed under OGL 1.0a." -- as noted, this does not make any mention of future content. If you can't publish future content under OGL 1.0a, then it has been de-authorized. The architect of the OGL, Ryan Dancey, along with WotC itself at the time, clearly indicated that the license could not be revoked or de-authorized.

While the royalty and ownership clauses were, indeed, important to OGL content creators and publishers such as myself and many others, it is also very important not to let that overshadow the main goal: the OGL v1.0a.

Per Ryan Dancey in response this announcement: "They must not. They can only stop the bleeding by making a clear and simple statement that they cannot and will not deauthorize or revoke v1.0a".


Amend At-Will
Also not mentioned is the leaked draft's ability to be amended at-will by WotC. An agreement which can be unilaterally changed in any way by one party is not an agreement, it's a blank cheque. They could simply add the royalties or ownership clauses back in at any time, or add even more onerous clauses.

All-in-all this is mainly just a rephrasing of last week's announcement addressing some of the tonal criticisms widely made about it. However, it will be interesting to see the new draft later this week. I would encourage people to take the feedback survey and clearly indicate that the OGL v1.0a must be left intact.
 

log in or register to remove this ad


log in or register to remove this ad

Alzrius

The EN World kitten
ok, so what does revoked mean then? To me it means ‘there once was, but it is not available any more’
Not being available doesn't mean (to my understanding) that it is no longer in effect with regard to things which took advantage of it when it was.

WotC's use of revocation, insofar as I've always read it, has been to mean that the OGL v1.0a will no longer be available for anyone to use. It doesn't mean that works previously released under it are suddenly no longer bound by the terms of the license.
 



mamba

Legend
So, if I understand you correctly, you are saying that nothing that WotC or Hasbro does will change your mind?
that is the problem with violating trust, there just might be nothing they can do to gain it back.

I like the new direction, but I still do not trust them at all and want ORC to be a strong competitor. At this time I do not care if WotC dies tomorrow, we will see if they can win me back enough to buy anything from them, but even then it will not be the same and I will keep them at arms length and they will be one among several TTRPGs
 

Scribe

Legend
I see it and there's a very high probability that the result of this fiasco is going to push my group back to 3.5.

Hell yeah. I'm going to work on bringing PF2 back slightly, but its hard because I wasnt able to get all the books the other day, core stuff already had been sold out.

Good for Paizo, less so for my efforts. :)
 


the fear does not need to be rational for them to point out that this is not what is happening, which to me is all they did in that part.
Sure, but when you address an irrational fear, and don't address a rational that's directly connected and more important, you're lying by omission, in my view.

It's a classic tactic - "They've told you we're going to come and take your homes by force, with armed mercenaries! We will not!", when in fact you're still planning to take their homes, just through Eminent Domain.
 


overgeeked

B/X Known World
So, if I understand you correctly, you are saying that nothing that WotC or Hasbro does will change your mind?
When someone proves that they’re dishonest, you don’t trust them after that. Nothing they say is trustworthy. Either it’s in finalized, legally binding documentation or it’s smoke and mirrors.
If you refuse to participate in the process, do you expect them to be able to hear your complaints?
The thing about using proper channels is it silences dissent as the people wanting to silence dissent are, mysteriously, always in charge of those proper channels. WotC can hear me deleting my Beyond account just fine. They can hear me no longer buying their products just fine. They can hear me talking up any and every other game on the market just fine. They can hear me putting out products under the ORC (when it comes out) just fine.

WotC lit the fire. I’m gonna grab some marshmallows.
 

Split the Hoard


Split the Hoard
Negotiate, demand, or steal the loot you desire!

A competitive card game for 2-5 players
Remove ads

Split the Hoard


Split the Hoard
Negotiate, demand, or steal the loot you desire!

A competitive card game for 2-5 players
Remove ads

Top