Wizards of the Coast is hating on players with their proposed OGL 1.1 revision.

[Endarire]

Because many of us are D&D fans and this may apply to us, here's the tweet saying that the permissions of the OGL 1.0a for fan works is something WotC wants gone, gone, gone!

I never subscribed to D&D Beyond, but now's a very good time for you to unsubscribe if you are subscribed.

(I apologize if this is put in the wrong forum. Moderators, pweath move it if it should be moved.)

Thankee!

[Enceladus]

Not surprised since Cynthia Williams took over as CEO. Whether this post is true or not, WOTC other actions of late are pretty clear what is on their agenda.

[KorvinStarmast]

Linda Codega has posted a new article at Gizmodo as regards how the backlash has been received.
Worth a look.

On a more general note, what has become evident in the past week is that WotC and Hasbro are tone deaf as regards the customers who have made this particular brand successful. It's been seeming that way for a few years, although I for one was very pleased to see the announcement of the D&D movie.

This may be seen from the fan PoV as a straw that may break the camel's back. Or not.
That depends on the response to the backlash, and the viral "suggest you end your subscription" campaign that appears to be underway - which may have gotten the attention of decision makers.

[Anonymouswizard]

I'd still wait for an official announcement, but if this potentially bothers you it's worth looking up other systems with content creator programs (I believe the various Storyteller derivatives and Savage Worlds have them), or a full blown Creative Commons release.

I saw an interesting point on the Onyx Path forums back in December (I'd dig out the exact quote, but they're currently down). WotC is in the position of outselling potentially the rest of the industry in it's entirety, but the corporate overlords still want more. There's a decent chance that for all practical purposes they can strongarm people into going along with their decisions.

It's notable but unsurprisinge that they're delivering terrible options compared to their competition (e.g. no official pdfs*, only overpriced D/7D Beyond stuff) and still has insane sales for an RPG. I'm fairly certain that this move, if true, will have at best no effect on their bottom line, and potentially will increase the amount of money they're raking in. The worst potential outcome is that companies with original IPs that used the OGL to br 5e compatible might taske them to court if the new licence would potentially infringe their copyright, and if enough band together it's possible they'll win. But WotC is large enougfh that I'm sure they've worded the changes very carefully.


* Which, if it's for anti-piracy purposes, has basically failed.

[Endarire]

I'm glad fan actions got WotC's attention. Now it's WotC/Hasbro's time to realize that their love of money has become a root of evil for them.

[Atranen]

I'm fairly certain that this move, if true, will have at best no effect on their bottom line, and potentially will increase the amount of money they're raking in. The worst potential outcome is that companies with original IPs that used the OGL to br 5e compatible might taske them to court if the new licence would potentially infringe their copyright, and if enough band together it's possible they'll win. But WotC is large enougfh that I'm sure they've worded the changes very carefully.

That seems likely to me. I'll bet they can make up for lost customers with a subscription model that does a better job of extracting money from people who stick around. At the end of the day, they have the brand recognition to control the market, and no one else comes close. Until/unless that changes, they can get away with quite a bit.

[truemane]

Metamagic Mod: we know this is an important topic, but as previously stated, we're pressing pause on it for now until we figure out how we can (or even IF we can) host this discussion within the bounds of the existing Forum Rules. Please don't start new threads on this topic, please don't respond to any that are started, and please report any that appear. Thank you.