WOTC undecided over OGL/GSL. Why you should care

[jakspade]

Has anyone stopped to consider the fact that the GSL is owned by WotC, and that they have the sole right to create it, change it, update it, basically at will? They can decide to release a strict GSL now, and at a later date, change it or update it to whatever they freaking want... or start with a more free and open license, and then tighten it up... so, this discussion is pretty much moot.

jak

 

[mxyzplk]

Has anyone stopped to consider the fact that the GSL is owned by WotC, and that they have the sole right to create it, change it, update it, basically at will? They can decide to release a strict GSL now, and at a later date, change it or update it to whatever they freaking want... or start with a more free and open license, and then tighten it up... so, this discussion is pretty much moot.

jak

Oh, you're right there slick! No one can ever talk about what an almighty company does!

If this were true, the entire Pathfinder thing wouldn't have been possible. They let that genie out of the bottle. Yes, they can declare themselves more closed in the future. That's something that people are discussing and deciding what to do about it. Any discussion involving major 3p publishers about it is anything but "moot" for anyone who doesn't trest WotC's flavor of the month as the inerrant Word of God.

 

[mxyzplk]

Has anyone stopped to consider the fact that the GSL is owned by WotC, and that they have the sole right to create it, change it, update it, basically at will? They can decide to release a strict GSL now, and at a later date, change it or update it to whatever they freaking want... or start with a more free and open license, and then tighten it up... so, this discussion is pretty much moot.

jak

Oh, you're right there slick! No one can ever talk about what an almighty company does!

If this were true, the entire Pathfinder thing wouldn't have been possible. They let that genie out of the bottle. Yes, they can declare themselves more closed in the future. That's something that people are discussing and deciding what to do about it. Any discussion involving major 3p publishers about it is anything but "moot" for anyone who doesn't treat WotC's flavor of the month as the inerrant Word of God.

 

[Seanchai]

The scary thing is that Hasbro suits might not see that.

Personally, I don't find it scary at all. If the GSL or whatever they want to call it suddenly went away, well, shrug. I'll just buy something else.

Seanchai

 

[Seanchai]

... most posts have the sub-text "I am smarter than you; and now I am going to prove it".

Yeah. Especially the original post.

Seanchai

 

[JohnRTroy]

The next generation of D&D designers could be sitting in Paizo or Necromancer Games right now. What happens to them if GSL screws them up and makes them work on some other system. Some will never return to it. Other designers will never get a chance to make games and so will be completely lost to the industry. 3PPs are an important nursery for talented writers for D&D and this needs saving.

The OGL one way or another did not have a specific influence in "discovering new talent". In the old days, New talent was either discovered by those willing to submit to Dragon Magazine, or hired at other companies before they came to TSR or Wizards. For instance, Monte Cook came from Iron Crown Enterprises, Warren Spector from another company I can't remember, Ed Greenwood and Roger Moore from Dragon Magazine.

Arguing the OGL helps game designers get hired by Wizards is like saying Superman or Spider-man have to be public domain for people to get hired by DC or Marvel. What usually happens in this day and age is independent comic creators eventually end up working on Marvel or DC projects.

People usually like to play more than one game. Game Designers that are truly versatile have to be familiar with multiple systems.

In fact, one drawback of the OGL--at least to Wizards point of view and not my own (since I like what has happened)--was it gave a market to people, so Monte Cook and other were able to leave employment at Wizards and form their own companies. If that didn't happen, there might be more incentive for them to stay or work exclusively for Wizards.

 

[Seanchai]

If I am wrong and we cancel our pre-orders, what do we lose.?

Our place in line. I'm hoping I ordered early enough on Amazon to be among the first orders sent out. If I'm not and my FLGS has all their copies accounted for by pre-orders of their own, well...

Seanchai

 

[Seanchai]

You really think Hasbro would notice? I doubt, if every single D&D player boycotted all Hasbro, that Hasbro would even notice aside from the D&D portion of their business (which itself is relatively small to Hasbro).

A more apt question might be: If every single player/DM who was vocal on gaming forums suddenly boycotted WotC, would they notice?

Seanchai

 

[Seanchai]

So if I'm worried, you all should be too.

No. I'm not in business with you. I'm just a dude who buys gaming books and plays games with his friends. If Necromancer Games went out of business, it would not disrupt my life one whit. I'd just buy Paizo or Green Ronin products instead. Or White Wolf ones. Or maybe ones from a company that doesn't exist yet.

I can understand why you'd be concerned - this is your livelihood we're talking about. It's the way you pay your bills, support your family, etc.. I can understand why you'd like us to believe that we have to act to promote your interests, but, really, we don't.

Seanchai

 

[jakspade]

Oh, you're right there slick! No one can ever talk about what an almighty company does!

If this were true, the entire Pathfinder thing wouldn't have been possible. They let that genie out of the bottle. Yes, they can declare themselves more closed in the future. That's something that people are discussing and deciding what to do about it. Any discussion involving major 3p publishers about it is anything but "moot" for anyone who doesn't treat WotC's flavor of the month as the inerrant Word of God.

Well, you guys can wave your hands around and gnash your teeth, parade up and down in front of Wizards headquarters and fill up the boards with "OMG ONOZ" talk all you want. Or you can just go out and buy what you want and talk about what you like and let the purchase numbers make the vote for you.... there, "slick".

jak