WOTC undecided over OGL/GSL. Why you should care

[TrainedMunkee]

My 2 Cents

I would not have seen this thread if it had not appeared in the main forum. I believe that this topic is very relevant to 4e. This is the best thread on this particular subject.

I have a teenage son and have inducted him into geekdom, he plays in my group. We were at the local Borders one day and he asks me,"Dad what is this Book of Erotic Fantasy?" Luckily the book was sealed, but I was taken aback a little.

Back on topic.
Paizo is a good example of what can happen with an OGL. WoTC has been slapped in the face with this. What remains to be seen is how they will react. They already have let the genie out of the bottle, there is no putting it back now. If they want to bring the d20 adopters along they will have to offer a new OGL, otherwise they don't have a reason to change to 4e. I have a feeling that they will try to put the genie back though and be more restrictive. This has little chance of success. This applies to people and companies who already play the game, new adopters will differ of course. From what I understand their initial push is for this group though. I do wish them luck and hope that they make intelligent decisions, because I do love this hobby.

Space

 

[xechnao]

BUT the result is that you would not have a searchable online rule book like you do for 3E (whcih I think is fine. while I love d20srd.org, i dont think that was ever the intent of the srd).

I think it it was less of a pain and a time suck to update the srd that it would ahve been updated more.

They will have already been providing this with DDI.

 

[Delta]

I think it it was less of a pain and a time suck to update the srd that it would ahve been updated more.

We'll have to agree to disagree about that one, Clark.

 

[Roman]

I have made a poll on the issue of purchasing behavior with respect to 4E and whether it is open or closed. You can find it here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=4138993&posted=1#post4138993

 

[JohnRTroy]

They already have let the genie out of the bottle, there is no putting it back now. If they want to bring the d20 adopters along they will have to offer a new OGL, otherwise they don't have a reason to change to 4e.

Technically, they are replacing the Djinn with an Efreet. Seriously, 3e and 4e are so different that it will be sufficiently new enough for people to consider it a new game. The OGL version of D&D is the Djinn, while 4e is an Efreet, still a Genie, but the Djinn is out there and breeding like a rabbit, but the Efreet is guarded by Salamander Eunuchs and Mordenkainen's Chastity belt.

 

[BadMojo]

They will have already been providing this with DDI.

I can only speak for myself (obviously), but I'm a little skeptical that DDI is going to provide this in any sort of a timely manner. So, instead of being out of date and free like the SRD, it will be out of date and cost money.

As for the BoEF, there's been a copy at my local Borders since it was released. I think it caused more trauma in the industry than to the general public who mercifully didn't buy it.

 

[AZRogue]

I am all for a more restrictive GSL. I don't mind standards, as I think most of the 3rd party books I bought would have met them easily (GR's demons/devils books, Monte's Arcana Unearthed material, Tome of Horrors). It would be sad to lose the opportunity for new offshoot systems, like Mutants and Masterminds, but I can live with that. No big deal.

But I really want some kind of 3rd party support, even restrictive support. I don't believe that Wotc is capable of providing every different sourcebook that I might be interested in as some ideas just aren't worth their trouble, but I might be able to buy that book from a 3PP. I'd like that option. I'd like another Tome of Horrors, adventure paths, monster books, setting material, etc.

Regardless, I'm sure that WotC has already essentially made its decision. All that's left is for them to finalize and announce it. So, I hope it's good news.

 

[TrainedMunkee]

Technically, they are replacing the Djinn with an Efreet. Seriously, 3e and 4e are so different that it will be sufficiently new enough for people to consider it a new game. The OGL version of D&D is the Djinn, while 4e is an Efreet, still a Genie, but the Djinn is out there and breeding like a rabbit, but the Efreet is guarded by Salamander Eunuchs and Mordenkainen's Chastity belt.

I'm hardly a game designer, but folks on this thread have said that they believe they could get close to 4e under the OGL and give it a different name.

I had more in mind current players not switching to 4e, but sticking with OGL material. Back in 1e days when I first started playing, we all sat down and figured out the rules together. That was a different era, most players are brought in from an existing DM these days. If current players don't switch en-mass? I've been pushing 4e with my group, we all have ordered the gift set from Amazon. The numbers from Amazon would indicate that WoTC is sitting pretty right now.

 

[hossrex]

Originally Posted by hossrex
I can't help but to think that I have never personally gained any advantage from the Open Game License ...

Simply put, you're wrong.

LOL. Unless third parties had an influence over the core books, the Forgotten Realms Campaign book, and a handful of class books... I'm not wrong.

Everyone here just assumed that everyone uses SOME third party book, or... I guess worst case scenario uses enough books for the official books to have been influenced by third parties.

Everyone here is transposing their own playing habits onto other people, and the fact that they don't realize it pretty much disproves everything they're saying. Generalizations. Assumptions. Semantics.

We use the core books, and a VERY small splash of other stuff. Most of our campaigns are from old Dragon Magazines, or updated second edition stuff. Its silly to say "there isn't enough material to continue playing without using third party product" (which people have literally said above). We've been playing since month One of 3.0, and aside from a couple *VERY* small breaks to play something else (Star Wars for six months, Hackmaster for about the same, and first edition DnD for another six months), we've never been without something to play.

If you're going to try to convince someone they're wrong, making fallacious assumptions about them probably isn't the best way to go about it.

 

[TrainedMunkee]

New Front Page

They've updated some things. Any new word on the license?

Strike the above. I guess it's only the countdown, besides the silly April Fool's Joke.