Modification of the Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License

[Typhonis]

Paizo Wins. WotC loses. Game Over. - Brand New OGL - YouTube


Oh boy...Paizo is coming up with it's own OGL.

Heck the owners of the company were at Wizards when the original OGL came out.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Yeah Kobold Press did something similar as well.

Kobold Press announces new “open” RPG ruleset amid DnD OGL row

As the DnD OGL controversy rages, RPG publisher Kobold Press has announced it's working on a new RPG ruleset which will be open and subscription-free

www.wargamer.com

And two non-woke Companies are offering promotions of their 5E stuff in regards to the announcement of WOTC's announcement or at least did when it first broke last week or whenever.

Troll Lord Games, which recently made the internet ree by simply stating they were non-political.



And a much smaller company, Aeres Chronicles as well.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Paizo Wins. WotC loses. Game Over. - Brand New OGL - YouTube


Oh boy...Paizo is coming up with it's own OGL.

Heck the owners of the company were at Wizards when the original OGL came out.

The funny thing here is that Paizo basically exists because of WotC's last round of futzing with the OGL when they tried it with 4th edition.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

However these leaked details have revealed that potentially, the new OGL Wizards is releasing will be even more restrictive, exploitative and upon release intends to negate the previous Open Gaming License.

This is not surprising -- the original OGL allowed for full up commercial creation of rival products to like Pathfinder to springboard off of D&D 3rd Edition. As much as I love Pathfinder, that was absolutely an unintended consequence of an overly permissive license and *not* what any sane corporation would want.

1. ALL COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS will require their creators to report their work to Wizards of the Coast. Royalties will only be asked of any revenue in excess of 750K. So if you make 800K, you owe 25% royalties on 50K of that. (which was known already) The only exception is money raised on Kickstarter... the royalty then is only 20%.

Point of detail: this is clearly intended to steer major projects to negotiate their own commercial license agreements instead of using the OGL terms, which is totally reasonable.

2. WotC gets the right to use any content that licensees create, whether commercial or non-commercial. Although this is couched in language to protect Wizards’ products from infringing on creators’ copyright, the document states that for any content created under the updated OGL, regardless of whether or not it is owned by the creator, Wizards will have a “nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, royalty-free license to use that content for any purpose.”

This is totally reasonable, for the same reason that pretty much *every* digital content publisher and forum has exactly such a clause. You do not want people to be able to demand that you retroactively un-exist licensed material or to dictate the way it's presented / remixed.

3. Creators will be required to use a specific badge in order to publicly and obviously identify their work as covered by the updated OGL, and they will have to give WotC a copy of the publication. The early draft suggests that many of these processes will be handled through the company’s official digital toolset, D&D Beyond.

This is completely normal and unobjectionable, and handling indie content through the digital toolset is a completely sensible way to do it.

4. The company “can modify or terminate this agreement for any reason whatsoever, provided We give thirty (30) days’ notice.”

Again, everyone has either a 30-day clause or a zero-day clause, for legal liability reasons.

 

[Husky_Khan]

This is totally reasonable,

Since it's a nothingburger then I guess that WOTC has nothing to worry about. 🤷‍♀️

Good thing they must have people like you in charge there.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

Since it's a nothingburger then I guess that WOTC has nothing to worry about. 🤷‍♀️

It's fair to criticize the OGL 1.1 draft as much more restrictive, but raging at literally standard terms that *every* digital content forum has is not particularly sensible any way you cut it.

(Also, this is like the billionth time people have gotten themselves all worked up over that exact bit of legal boilerplate for that exact reason, because it's very much 'the legalese doesn't mean what you think it means, but what people think it means is huge energy')

 

[Husky_Khan]

It's fair to criticize the OGL 1.1 draft as much more restrictive, but raging at literally standard terms that *every* digital content forum has is not particularly sensible any way you cut it.

What makes OGL 1.1 more restrictive?

And posting the terms in the OP isn't raging lol. This is my normal posting behavior.

 

[ShadowArxxy]

What makes OGL 1.1 more restrictive?

Well, obviously the big thing is the royalty clause; although I think the fanbase-at-large is really underestimating just how few OGL projects even get remotely close to the $750,000 a year mark, and how commercial those projects are. This is not something that's going to significantly affect any but the most wildly successful "big indie" projects, and most of those are going to catapult way past the line into negotiating their own licenses rather than using OGL terms.

And posting the terms in the OP isn't raging lol. This is my normal posting behavior.

Totally fair. I didn't mean you individually; I meant the amount of "at large" sturm und drang that's been going on sincec the 1.1 draft leaked.

(Also keep in mind that it's a working draft. The weird mix of legalese and colloquial language absolutely confirms that it's nowhere near a finalized copy, which would be in all legalese.)

 

[Husky_Khan]

So some new developments. The biggest news is that WOTC/Hasbro apparently stated that OGL 1.1 was just a "rough draft" and have announced OGL 2.0 which was revealed to some partners. This of course goes against reports that OGL 1.1 was supposed to roll out by now in early January but was likely delayed due to the negative backlash from the leaks.

Anyways, here is a thread discussing the concessions made by Wizards regarding OGL 2.0. This is unconfirmed at the moment.

Thread by @andreas_mwg on Thread Reader App

@andreas_mwg: Whelp, looks like I got my hands on a OGL 2.0 Faq that was leaked. (they're rebranding from away from 1.1 apparently) #dnd #OpenDnD #dndogl in it it appears they're trying to set up some...…

threadreaderapp.com

And another potential leak illustrating what we already knew most likely.



Also don't want to get this buried by Shadow's shilling for another big corporation driving a popular franchise to the ground for like the billionth time. 👇

And two non-woke Companies are offering promotions of their 5E stuff in regards to the announcement of WOTC's announcement or at least did when it first broke last week or whenever.

Troll Lord Games, which recently made the internet ree by simply stating they were non-political.



And a much smaller company, Aeres Chronicles as well.

Just wanna reiterate that ten to twelve bucks for a hardcover is a legitimately good deal. Full color illustrations. Lots of information inside. The Aeres handbook is like a campaign setting and its 360 pages of stuff about their pet world.

The Troll Lord Games books are even more well developed. They've been at this for decades now and actually employed the legend himself Gary Gygax, helping publish his post-TSR works in game and novel formats. Their sourcebooks are also hardcovers and pretty good bargain for only ten bucks. Plus both of them include free PDF's and the like for what you purchase from them in actual hardcover format.

Troll Lord Games also has a lot of adventures and their own Castles & Crusades RPG system which apparently can easily convert 5E to their format. I haven't tried it yet though. And again, both companies incur much ree'ing just from publicly stating they are non-political when it comes to gaming.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Gizmodo's done some digging and has an article up. Apparently, WotC has actually had enough cancellations over this it's legit hit their bottom line.

Wizards of the Coast Cancels OGL Announcement After Online Ire

The new Dungeons & Dragons Open Game License was expected on Thursday afternoon, but a fan campaign against changes has caused the company to hesitate.

gizmodo.com

 

[Husky_Khan]

Gizmodo's done some digging and has an article up. Apparently, WotC has actually had enough cancellations over this it's legit hit their bottom line.

Wizards of the Coast Cancels OGL Announcement After Online Ire

The new Dungeons & Dragons Open Game License was expected on Thursday afternoon, but a fan campaign against changes has caused the company to hesitate.

gizmodo.com

Oh wow Ginny D came out and said cancel subscriptions. I never saw her videos but she's a pretty big presence in DnD on Youtube AFAIK. My own recommendation list is literally filled with DnD content creators on YouTube offering their takes on OneDnD/6thEd and the new proposed OGL's. I've never heard of most of these creators but I watched liek one or two vids from the ones I followed, now I'm reaping the whirlwind on all of the content I don't really need to see being rehashed over and over again.

But of the DnD content creators I do know and follow, AJ Pickett has stated he's not going to be covering DnD Lore anymore since he says that his viewerbase will watch his videos even if he's covering non-DnD monsters and lore which is kind of neat since there's a lot of that out there.

And an even bigger creator in Mr. Rhexx I don't think made any videos about it but has been railing against the OGL controversies on his Twitter account. And he's got like something ridiculous like 800K followers on YouTube. I doubt he'll make a video on the thing though since his channel is pretty firm in just issuing lore.

I do like the idea of a lot of the DnD Channels just moving towards more generalized TTRPG/Fantasy lore though. DnD might have licenses to ruin everything from Greyhawk and Dragonlance and Planescape like they've already done with Spelljammer and are currently doing with Forgotten Realms but there's a lot of homebrewed and third party worlds out there that can freely use dice rolling mechanics.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Oh wow Ginny D came out and said cancel subscriptions. I never saw her videos but she's a pretty big presence in DnD on Youtube AFAIK. My own recommendation list is literally filled with DnD content creators on YouTube offering their takes on OneDnD/6thEd and the new proposed OGL's. I've never heard of most of these creators but I watched liek one or two vids from the ones I followed, now I'm reaping the whirlwind on all of the content I don't really need to see being rehashed over and over again.

But of the DnD content creators I do know and follow, AJ Pickett has stated he's not going to be covering DnD Lore anymore since he says that his viewerbase will watch his videos even if he's covering non-DnD monsters and lore which is kind of neat since there's a lot of that out there.

And an even bigger creator in Mr. Rhexx I don't think made any videos about it but has been railing against the OGL controversies on his Twitter account. And he's got like something ridiculous like 800K followers on YouTube. I doubt he'll make a video on the thing though since his channel is pretty firm in just issuing lore.

I do like the idea of a lot of the DnD Channels just moving towards more generalized TTRPG/Fantasy lore though. DnD might have licenses to ruin everything from Greyhawk and Dragonlance and Planescape like they've already done with Spelljammer and are currently doing with Forgotten Realms but there's a lot of homebrewed and third party worlds out there that can freely use dice rolling mechanics.

Yeah, this has blown up to an absurd degree. EN world has a thread going on where a Lawyer came out in defense of the OGL and four other lawyers have piled on telling him no, it doesn't work the way he's claiming. Though to be fair, all of them have noted that there's no such thing as certainty in law until the Judge bangs the gavel.

Hello, I am lawyer with a PSA: almost everyone is wrong about the OGL and SRD. Clearing up confusion.

Hello, community. Like many of you, I am a nerd. I am also a lawyer. With all the OGL controversy, I have been seeing a lot of claims on the internet, here and elsewhere, about what the OGL is and how it interacts with third party content and copyright law. Many of these claims are, in my...

www.enworld.org

 

[Zachowon]

Non DnD is covering it as well. Moist Critikal, Asmongold, etc.
Everyone is covering it

 

[Husky_Khan]

The company released an official statement. A new OGL will be coming but they're claiming changes will be made based on the negative fan feedback.

They also stated their purpose was tonprevemt large corporations from using their OGL AND to prevent the use of their OGL by "hateful and discriminatory" products as well as limiting the OGL to TTRPG content (as opposed to it applying to NFT's and Blockchain games etc).

An Update on the Open Game License (OGL)

Although we are not yet able to release the OGL at this time, we would like to update you on how things are developing, and the goals we have in mind fo...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Atarlost]

This is totally reasonable, for the same reason that pretty much *every* digital content publisher and forum has exactly such a clause. You do not want people to be able to demand that you retroactively un-exist licensed material or to dictate the way it's presented / remixed.

Hasbro isn't a digital content publisher or forum here. This is a thing hobbyists unwillingly tolerate from people giving them free hosting. It's something Hasbro could demand as a price for being in their online store. It's not something people who are paying for their own hosting and publishing are going to accept because it allows Hasbro to steal their work.

Hasbro should not need to retroactively un-exist licensed material because it should not have it. It should not be presenting licensed material except through a separate contract for stuff appearing in its e-store. It should not be remixing licensed content at all.

"hateful and discriminatory"

The first thing they need to do is ban themselves then.

 

[Allanon]

Maybe someone here who knows more about this can explain it a bit more clearly, but- if WotC is "woke," and it certainly is, wouldn't this action hurt "the little guy," especially their own fans? Are they unaware that this could turn people who would overlook many things against them at last?

Is it just me or has everything gone over the edge?

I miss the brighter days of Mr. Gygax...really, I do. "I cast...MAGIC MISSILE!"

(Sheesh, I roll a minus 3 on typing ability...)

 

[Allanon]

It seems to this dinosaur from an earlier time that many institutions, including companies like WotC, are in a meta-stable condition. They are secure enough because they own brands like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, but a meta-stable thing can be brought down by seemingly small problems. Sort of like having a large ball balanced carefully on a cone- it'll stay just fine but one small push and down it goes. Resentment against such companies has been building for some time like wind blowing against that ball, could this be that small push?

 

[Bear Ribs]

Maybe someone here who knows more about this can explain it a bit more clearly, but- if WotC is "woke," and it certainly is, wouldn't this action hurt "the little guy," especially their own fans? Are they unaware that this could turn people who would overlook many things against them at last?

Is it just me or has everything gone over the edge?

I miss the brighter days of Mr. Gygax...really, I do. "I cast...MAGIC MISSILE!"

(Sheesh, I roll a minus 3 on typing ability...)

I'm pretty sure hurting the little guy is the point of the exercise. WOTC managed to accidentally create Paizo, their greatest rival now, by futzing with the OGL last time but they still don't seem to be able to resist trying to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

A company on the rise makes and releases cool new stuff. A company on the decline sues others to keep them from releasing cool new stuff.

 

[Typhonis]

Look what they did to the company trying to bring back TSR.

 

[Bear Ribs]

Look what they did to the company trying to bring back TSR.

Yeah, RPG.NET is also running interference for them. People who complain too much in the forums are getting banhammered and they locked the thread discussing the OGL because "Conversation seems to be slow."