Well the big brain theory is that New CEO that got that came from Microsoft wants to Microtransact us into the ground. I mean it seems to be the new mantra, "Rent everything, the buyer will own nothing." They are using a tactic that while is messed up as it does nudge the gambling urge (microtransactions) to turn our Table Top pass time into pretty much a video game. DnD and other table tops are clearly different, but the Corporate people are not worried about it. Its control. Most addictive drug of all.
Money will come and go, but there is a seduction in being able to control human behavior. After all, they got to light them cuban cigars with that money that was supposed to go to war orphans.
Oh wow I didn't realize they came from Microsoft. That explains a lot.
Hey Wizards, Hey DNDBeyond how about instead of stealing from content creators to make money you actually just make improvements to your website? How long is the encounter builder going to be in beta? Why is the only updates around here dice to buy? When was the last time a real change has been made to improve dndbeyond? This site has looked the exact same for four years.
These guys don't get to just make money for nothing. This isn't a video game. We make the fun without them and we can all pick up our bags and head out at anytime. I own every book on DNDbeyond and I will burn my account before ever purchasing a micro transaction on this website.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"You canceled your subscription on 01/14/2023."
(1) Our job is to be good stewards of the game: Wrong. We are the stewards of the game. You print books.
(2) the OGL exists for the benefit of the fans: Wrong. The OGL exists to benefit Wizards. 3rd party Creators have made your game what it is today.
Well the big brain theory is that New CEO that got that came from Microsoft wants to Microtransact us into the ground. I mean it seems to be the new mantra, "Rent everything, the buyer will own nothing." They are using a tactic that while is messed up as it does nudge the gambling urge (microtransactions) to turn our Table Top pass time into pretty much a video game. DnD and other table tops are clearly different, but the Corporate people are not worried about it. Its control. Most addictive drug of all.
Money will come and go, but there is a seduction in being able to control human behavior. After all, they got to light them cuban cigars with that money that was supposed to go to war orphans.
Oh wow I didn't realize they came from Microsoft. That explains a lot.
Hey Wizards, Hey DNDBeyond how about instead of stealing from content creators to make money you actually just make improvements to your website? How long is the encounter builder going to be in beta? Why is the only updates around here dice to buy? When was the last time a real change has been made to improve dndbeyond? This site has looked the exact same for four years.
These guys don't get to just make money for nothing. This isn't a video game. We make the fun without them and we can all pick up our bags and head out at anytime. I own every book on DNDbeyond and I will burn my account before ever purchasing a micro transaction on this website.
I really don't understand all the hate for "microtransactions." Like, microtransactions have been on Beyond for as long as I've been here, both in die and individual character option forms. I don't get how they're so much worse than macrotransactions (books). So far as I can tell, the name has mostly gotten its reputation from video games, as additional ways to generate revenue after a game has been bought, but... haven't we had supplement books for a long time? I don't see people complaining about being able to purchase extra content.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
First they don't dislike NFTs they have their own NFTs they just don't want anyone else to make NFTs with dnd. Second the first ogl already covered discrimination and or racism obviously if something is just straight up offensive it would get taken down. Third you're basically saying that yes they're doing this to make more money since their only real way of gauging this community is with dnd beyond subscriptions, but ofcourse they need more point of revenue to understand their community I'm sure thats why they're doing it. Fourth they are not fighting big corporations here they are the big corporation they have made billions on this community and there's a lot of ways to make sure other big corporations like Amazon can't just use the dnd ip for whatever they want. Fifth again we all already knew they were doing this for money and nothing else. They sent this out to creators with NDA's and a week to sign with plans to roll the new OGL out today it was never a draft and they never intended to get community feedback they planned to push this out and hope no one noticed or cared enough to do anything they only started throwing out these random claims that it's to combat racism and other big corporations to get people like you on here and make them seem like they're not the money grubbing jags that they are.
TLDR: You're not just the clown you are the entire circus. Cancel your dnd beyond subscriptions people it's the only language these people speak worse comes to worse I hear the Warhammer 40k lore is amazing.
Well the big brain theory is that New CEO that got that came from Microsoft wants to Microtransact us into the ground. I mean it seems to be the new mantra, "Rent everything, the buyer will own nothing." They are using a tactic that while is messed up as it does nudge the gambling urge (microtransactions) to turn our Table Top pass time into pretty much a video game. DnD and other table tops are clearly different, but the Corporate people are not worried about it. Its control. Most addictive drug of all.
Money will come and go, but there is a seduction in being able to control human behavior. After all, they got to light them cuban cigars with that money that was supposed to go to war orphans.
Oh wow I didn't realize they came from Microsoft. That explains a lot.
Hey Wizards, Hey DNDBeyond how about instead of stealing from content creators to make money you actually just make improvements to your website? How long is the encounter builder going to be in beta? Why is the only updates around here dice to buy? When was the last time a real change has been made to improve dndbeyond? This site has looked the exact same for four years.
These guys don't get to just make money for nothing. This isn't a video game. We make the fun without them and we can all pick up our bags and head out at anytime. I own every book on DNDbeyond and I will burn my account before ever purchasing a micro transaction on this website.
I really don't understand all the hate for "microtransactions." Like, microtransactions have been on Beyond for as long as I've been here, both in die and individual character option forms. I don't get how they're so much worse than macrotransactions (books). So far as I can tell, the name has mostly gotten its reputation from video games, as additional ways to generate revenue after a game has been bought, but... haven't we had supplement books for a long time? I don't see people complaining about being able to purchase extra content.
I am complaining right now. I have been here for four years without seeing a single thing on this website change. I have not seen a single new feature or any features currently in beta come out of beta or be improved or updated in any meaningful way. I still see issues and bugs that have existed for four years.
You know what I have seen? The microtransactions. Those are about the only updates they have consistently provided ontop of my purchase of every single book and yearly sub. Don't white knight microtransactions like a corporate bootlicker. It's gotten its reputation because its corporate greed at its finest. Microtransactions isn't some boogieman, but the corporation that would rather make money off those than giving us anything of value is. They'd rather try to literally steal from 3rd party creators to make money than make meaningful changes here.
Hey, DnD Beyond is pretty sweet. It does a lot of things better than anything else, and it's a very handy tool that helps a ton for players and DMs. I don't see the problem in the people at DnD Beyond sustaining themselves by giving completely optional and cosmetic options for those who want cosmetic items. If you don't think the dice are worth your money, cool. That's your opinion and I respect that. But I don't see what's wrong with giving those who do care about dice options that they can enjoy, and making some profit as well.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Well the big brain theory is that New CEO that got that came from Microsoft wants to Microtransact us into the ground. I mean it seems to be the new mantra, "Rent everything, the buyer will own nothing." They are using a tactic that while is messed up as it does nudge the gambling urge (microtransactions) to turn our Table Top pass time into pretty much a video game. DnD and other table tops are clearly different, but the Corporate people are not worried about it. Its control. Most addictive drug of all.
Money will come and go, but there is a seduction in being able to control human behavior. After all, they got to light them cuban cigars with that money that was supposed to go to war orphans.
Oh wow I didn't realize they came from Microsoft. That explains a lot.
Hey Wizards, Hey DNDBeyond how about instead of stealing from content creators to make money you actually just make improvements to your website? How long is the encounter builder going to be in beta? Why is the only updates around here dice to buy? When was the last time a real change has been made to improve dndbeyond? This site has looked the exact same for four years.
These guys don't get to just make money for nothing. This isn't a video game. We make the fun without them and we can all pick up our bags and head out at anytime. I own every book on DNDbeyond and I will burn my account before ever purchasing a micro transaction on this website.
I really don't understand all the hate for "microtransactions." Like, microtransactions have been on Beyond for as long as I've been here, both in die and individual character option forms. I don't get how they're so much worse than macrotransactions (books). So far as I can tell, the name has mostly gotten its reputation from video games, as additional ways to generate revenue after a game has been bought, but... haven't we had supplement books for a long time? I don't see people complaining about being able to purchase extra content.
Well I think the problem some would have is they want to make it more the rule then the exception. Especially if the stuff goes digital. Because we both know their is extra content and then there is a bunch of fluff, like the loot boxes which are as rigged as elections in a Banana Republic. Price mark up as well and lets face it, people will spend a lot of money on this stuff, hence the reason they also disabled your ability to use codes. WOTC might get more good will say if you had the book and you used your receipt to get it transcribed instead of pretty much double purchasing it, especially when the book will probably be rendered obsolete in a few years or months.
Think microtransactions like that of the XBOX and PS4 games like Call of Duty, Battlefield series and Battlefront. In some cases, hints of play to win. One thing to buy access to book content or reference material, another to use it as a leverage point in a game that was not designed to be played like a video game.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"You are a beginner once, but a student for life." - Firearm Instruction Adage.
Well the big brain theory is that New CEO that got that came from Microsoft wants to Microtransact us into the ground. I mean it seems to be the new mantra, "Rent everything, the buyer will own nothing." They are using a tactic that while is messed up as it does nudge the gambling urge (microtransactions) to turn our Table Top pass time into pretty much a video game. DnD and other table tops are clearly different, but the Corporate people are not worried about it. Its control. Most addictive drug of all.
Money will come and go, but there is a seduction in being able to control human behavior. After all, they got to light them cuban cigars with that money that was supposed to go to war orphans.
Oh wow I didn't realize they came from Microsoft. That explains a lot.
Hey Wizards, Hey DNDBeyond how about instead of stealing from content creators to make money you actually just make improvements to your website? How long is the encounter builder going to be in beta? Why is the only updates around here dice to buy? When was the last time a real change has been made to improve dndbeyond? This site has looked the exact same for four years.
These guys don't get to just make money for nothing. This isn't a video game. We make the fun without them and we can all pick up our bags and head out at anytime. I own every book on DNDbeyond and I will burn my account before ever purchasing a micro transaction on this website.
I really don't understand all the hate for "microtransactions." Like, microtransactions have been on Beyond for as long as I've been here, both in die and individual character option forms. I don't get how they're so much worse than macrotransactions (books). So far as I can tell, the name has mostly gotten its reputation from video games, as additional ways to generate revenue after a game has been bought, but... haven't we had supplement books for a long time? I don't see people complaining about being able to purchase extra content.
I am complaining right now. I have been here for four years without seeing a single thing on this website change. I have not seen a single new feature or any features currently in beta come out of beta or be improved or updated in any meaningful way. I still see issues and bugs that have existed for four years.
You know what I have seen? The microtransactions. Those are about the only updates they have consistently provided ontop of my purchase of every single book and yearly sub. Don't white knight microtransactions like a corporate bootlicker. It's gotten its reputation because its corporate greed at its finest. Microtransactions isn't some boogieman, but the corporation that would rather make money off those than giving us anything of value is. They'd rather try to literally steal from 3rd party creators to make money than make meaningful changes here.
Hey, DnD Beyond is pretty sweet. It does a lot of things better than anything else, and it's a very handy tool that helps a ton for players and DMs. I don't see the problem in the people at DnD Beyond sustaining themselves by giving completely optional and cosmetic options for those who want cosmetic items. If you don't think the dice are worth your money, cool. That's your opinion and I respect that. But I don't see what's wrong with giving those who do care about dice options that they can enjoy, and making some profit as well.
They sustain themselves with my yearly subscription and purchase of every book. The fact is that the website has remained unchanged with zero features added in multiple years. How long is the encounter creator going to be in beta? Its been in beta for three-four years without any updates. This website is so much less than it could be. Maybe you're okay with that, maybe you're okay with Wizards treating you and all of us like coin purses to rob for every gold, silver, and copper, and maybe youre okay with them acting like we're all buffoons who will accept a corporate apology when they tried to strong arm 3rd party creators into handing over their money and content. Your money isn't going to dnd sustaining themselves, they've sold to Wizards they're a big corporation and anyone attached to this place sure isn't making a 100th of a percentage of those dice you're buying.
I have renounced my paid subscription to DNDBeyond but I don't want to delete it entirely because I own books on the platform. Can I get a refund? Probably not.
I won't be buying any more, that's for sure. I'm not here to trash talk WOTC, just to let them know how disappointed I am with them.
So, thanks for all the awesome times we had together but if you continue down this path, you can do it without me...and my money.
To start, here is what this thread is not about: It is not about the contents of the alleged draft OGL 1.1.It is not about wild speculation.It is not about unproductive commentary like “Wizards is doing this because they are evil.”If you want to engage in that or respond to any posts others make about that, there are a dozen or so other threads to choose from.
This thread is about addressing a certain argument that has been raised on those other threads - the proposition that the OGL did not need to change.This proposition is incorrect, as is plainly apparent from actual statements from Wizards and actual facts about recent events and how Wizards operates as a company.
Going back to what OP said there are ways OGL could change (though I take umbrage at the idea that it is 'plainly incorrect'). The thing is we have Wizards' opinion on what they initially wanted (whatever that document was intended to be we do know they wrote it with some kind of expectation that it could be accepted somewhere down the line). We additionally have the brass' public statements, their prior history, their recent business decisions as well as trends in the entertainment industry as a whole. I can't pretend to know what Hasbro/WOTC wants but I have three ways to view the topic of revising the OGL. There's my personal opinion as a programmer who has worked in the open source space for years, a very pro free software enthusiast, and someone who has published fiction under the Creative Commons license. There's what I would do if I were in WOTC's shoes (no they're not the same thing), could read the room, and actually look at and acknowledge the past 23 years of OGL history. And if I were, totally hypothetically, a former executive at Microsoft and Amazon and was very interested in turning D&D into an ecosystem similar to the Pits of Eternal Stink that is microtransactions in video games and walled gardens that is most of the rest of the entertainment industry (and a lot of tech now that I think about it).
My personal opinion: Either sign on with Pazio's ORC idea, or make their own foundation, and create a truly free licenese similar to the GNU/Linux license and/or the Creative Commons licenses. I'm not going to go too deep into this except to say that, IMO, the more open the license the better even in the case of RPGs as opposed to software. However, even if Pazio wasn't creating ORC this idea is farfetched and unrealistic for a company like Hasbro/WOTC under its current leadership so there's no real point in going to deep into it.
A realistic idea in the spirit of OGL 1.0: If we must modify OGL to address concerns listed in the blog post while still trying to keep the license 'open' in its original spirit I would say do two things: add a provision that licensees producing bigoted content can have their license revoked (as was seen in the Whatever It Was that leaked) and make explicit what is and is not covered in the OGL.
It must be said that the blog post was not totally honest consistent with what Wizards has said and done for more than two decades considering we have multiple statements where the OGL should apply to software and we even have instances where it did. (I can produce reciepts upon request but don't feel like getting them now). I don't like the fact that they believe that the OGL shouldn't apply to VTTs but it's their business and if they wanted to do it with 1.1 so be it. Although I would say if VTTs are going to be a signficiant part of the future one must think whether or not the OGL would have been anywhere close to as successful if in 2000 WOTC explicitly allowed it only for printed material and NOT PDFs. Either way a list of what is and isn't covered (NFTs for instance) in OGL should be made with further additions (or less likely subtractions) be given in new editions of the OGL. Any of the other stuff (data collection, registration, license back provisions, etc) are so against the spirit of the original OGL we can leave them behind. Which brings me to the third possibility...
The OGL that turns D&D into a walled garden: I think all this talk about an open license is ridiculous if their goal is to recreate the Pit Of Eternal Stink as mentioned above. Even if I were charitable enough to not try to get rid of OGL 1.0 I honestly see little to be gained besides PR in creating a new one. Go after VTT platforms that won't be exclusive to WOTC, cut deals with large 3pps individually if possible, and let the other small publishers die off or go to other systems. They don't really need to build a wall around the One DnD garden as IP law plus a large legal warchest does their work for them. This is basically how the rest of the entertainment industry, not to mention other industries, work today.
Now, if WOTC wanted to kill the OGL but also use lawyerly necromancy to reanimate it as some grotesque zombie, I think the leaked document (whatever it was) did a pretty good job. The terms are so obnoxious for smaller publishers and, assuming what I've been told about margins is correct, the terms are so financially onerous for larger publishers that you'd force them to the negotiation table anyway. And you can basically do everything I said above with it while using the new "O"GL as a PR shield though admittedlly, at this point, there wont' be many who will fail their saving throw at that illusion.
So there you have it, three ways I see the OGL changing on the assumption that it needs to.
So WOTC will retcon that Drow are no longer xenophobic and racist? I guess the Drow like everyone now. I mean they saw they want to fight racism and what not.
So I guess Morlock the Hateful wants to dominate the world but he won't hate you because of race and never **** nor pillage.
What an interesting time to be alive.
Lolthite Drow are those things. Playable Drow are generally not part of that cult.
We are not talking about the minority groups or Jarlaxles People or the vaunted Drizzt D'ourden (whom I am a big fan of). Talking about the Underdark itself.
However, 'generally' is an option. What about the player who wants to play the cult, because that is an option would be playing that role. It is a role playing game after all. Not saying I truck with that, but the good guy is only as great as his antagonist.
Just saying the civilization and their traditions are not going to change overnight. I agree races are not inherently evil (unless abyssal or devil), I believe the civilizations or their governments will be so, and if it is so in the book it kind of gives a good hook.
WOTC should let the creators, create. They weren't complaining when DnD had its resurgence, now did they? And as long as our society has issues the art and media will always reflect it in one form or fashion. One person will see tyranny or empowerment. It is really in the eye of the beholder.
If you want to be a cultist/monster drow, you can, just ask your DM. Just like your DM can let you play a Mindflayer or a Red Dragon if they want. That doesn't mean WotC themselves have to enable you.
If you want to be a cultist/monster drow, you can, just ask your DM. Just like your DM can let you play a Mindflayer or a Red Dragon if they want. That doesn't mean WotC themselves have to enable you.
You couldn't be more wrong.
It's not about WotC enabling those of us with different views. It's about WotC cancelling a 3PP OGL licensed system because the 3PP system enables us to do so, because that 3PP system doesn't align with WotC's moral viewpoint.
Or, in hypothetical terms, I don't want WotC cancelling my favorite OSR system because it uses the term "Race".
If you want to be a cultist/monster drow, you can, just ask your DM. Just like your DM can let you play a Mindflayer or a Red Dragon if they want. That doesn't mean WotC themselves have to enable you.
You couldn't be more wrong.
It's not about WotC enabling those of us with different views. It's about WotC cancelling a 3PP OGL licensed system because the 3PP system enables us to do so, because that 3PP system doesn't align with WotC's moral viewpoint.
Or, in hypothetical terms, I don't want WotC cancelling my favorite OSR system because it uses the term "Race".
They're not going to cancel someone solely because they create a setting where all drow are evil. But I would advise such a publisher, if they're truly worried about that possibility and might be ruined by it, to not rely on another company's licensed intellectual property for their creative output then.
As for "race" - the new SRD will likely include the term "species" (or whatever other replacement for "race" they ultimately land on), so if your work is based on their SRD, you will have agreed to use the gaming terminology included in that document. This is neither remarkable nor controversial.
so if your work is based on their SRD, you will have agreed to use the gaming terminology included in that document. This is neither remarkable nor controversial.
This is also not how the OGL works. There has never been an agreement to necessarily use their terminology. Even in the drafts of the new license, as bad as they are, this is not part of them.
"Freedom of speech" has nothing to do with anything, Slaughter. First of all, that's strictly a United States thing. Second of all, it only applies to the government - the U.S. government cannot impinge on your ability to speak. Wizards is, thank god, not the U.S. government and can impinge on the speech of its customers all they like. Given the amount of fire large corporations take for screwing up on the Hate Speech thing, updating the OGL to include terms allowing Wizards to disavow any product made that violates their policies of inclusivity is one of the few updates they could make to the OGL that would be lauded rather than lambasted. As Caerwyn stated, just because Wizards has been lucky so far doesn't mean somebody can't use the current OGL to publish "THE RACIST'S GUIDE TO GENOCIDE" with a Wizards of the Coast logo, and they don't want to have to sort that mess.
A 3rd party cannot use the WOTC logo. Period. That is in the current OGL.
As for being inclusive, I am a fan; however, the definition changes quite often. The license would need to legally specify what it means and how not to violate it or it allows WOTC to ban content on a whim because the definition has changed.
so if your work is based on their SRD, you will have agreed to use the gaming terminology included in that document. This is neither remarkable nor controversial.
This is also not how the OGL works. There has never been an agreement to necessarily use their terminology. Even in the drafts of the new license, as bad as they are, this is not part of them.
I never said the OGL includes that. The System Reference Document (SRD) does. You certainly don't have to use the SRD to use the OGL, but doing so confers benefits in exchange for some restrictions.
so if your work is based on their SRD, you will have agreed to use the gaming terminology included in that document. This is neither remarkable nor controversial.
This is also not how the OGL works. There has never been an agreement to necessarily use their terminology. Even in the drafts of the new license, as bad as they are, this is not part of them.
I never said the OGL includes that. The System Reference Document (SRD) does. You certainly don't have to use the SRD to use the OGL, but doing so confers benefits in exchange for some restrictions.
I understand that and I am saying you are wrong. Using the OGL and SRD does not create any of the terminology restrictions you claimed above. The OGL allows you to use as much or as little of the SRD as you like and to change and rework as much or as little as you like in any way you like. Heck, Green Ronin created a modern day superhero out of the OGL and SRD. Many have made sci fi games, westerns, etc. There is nothing in the OGL nor SRD restricting how much you can change it.
You seem to be repeatedly misunderstanding how the OGL actually works.
so if your work is based on their SRD, you will have agreed to use the gaming terminology included in that document. This is neither remarkable nor controversial.
This is also not how the OGL works. There has never been an agreement to necessarily use their terminology. Even in the drafts of the new license, as bad as they are, this is not part of them.
I never said the OGL includes that. The System Reference Document (SRD) does. You certainly don't have to use the SRD to use the OGL, but doing so confers benefits in exchange for some restrictions.
I understand that and I am saying you are wrong. Using the OGL and SRD does not create any of the terminology restrictions you claimed above. The OGL allows you to use as much or as little of the SRD as you like and to change and rework as much or as little as you like in any way you like. Heck, Green Ronin created a modern day superhero out of the OGL and SRD. Many have made sci fi games, westerns, etc. There is nothing in the OGL nor SRD restricting how much you can change it.
You seem to be repeatedly misunderstanding how the OGL actually works.
Then what precisely are Headless and Craykard crying about? They can use "race" even if the SRD is updated to "species" all they want.
How about the spirit of the deal that was struck between TSR and WotC when they created the OGL?
They explicitly wanted third party protections to create.
I don't buy this nonsense about NFTs, racism, or Jeff Bezos coming for DnD. The reason is MONEY. They want more of it and are undermining the original deal struck with TSR. Now, you might be able to argue against the OGL in a court of law, found loopholes, and even convince some people on here to take a bite of this shit sandwich.
ME? I have already cancelled and will provide zero revenue to WotC until they back down.
This guy doesn't take sides, just spells out some of the legalese for those like me that have trouble following along with the minutia of changes. Pretty decent watch:
Oh wow I didn't realize they came from Microsoft. That explains a lot.
Hey Wizards, Hey DNDBeyond how about instead of stealing from content creators to make money you actually just make improvements to your website? How long is the encounter builder going to be in beta? Why is the only updates around here dice to buy? When was the last time a real change has been made to improve dndbeyond? This site has looked the exact same for four years.
These guys don't get to just make money for nothing. This isn't a video game. We make the fun without them and we can all pick up our bags and head out at anytime. I own every book on DNDbeyond and I will burn my account before ever purchasing a micro transaction on this website.
"You canceled your subscription on 01/14/2023."
(1) Our job is to be good stewards of the game: Wrong. We are the stewards of the game. You print books.
(2) the OGL exists for the benefit of the fans: Wrong. The OGL exists to benefit Wizards. 3rd party Creators have made your game what it is today.
I really don't understand all the hate for "microtransactions." Like, microtransactions have been on Beyond for as long as I've been here, both in die and individual character option forms. I don't get how they're so much worse than macrotransactions (books). So far as I can tell, the name has mostly gotten its reputation from video games, as additional ways to generate revenue after a game has been bought, but... haven't we had supplement books for a long time? I don't see people complaining about being able to purchase extra content.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
First they don't dislike NFTs they have their own NFTs they just don't want anyone else to make NFTs with dnd. Second the first ogl already covered discrimination and or racism obviously if something is just straight up offensive it would get taken down. Third you're basically saying that yes they're doing this to make more money since their only real way of gauging this community is with dnd beyond subscriptions, but ofcourse they need more point of revenue to understand their community I'm sure thats why they're doing it. Fourth they are not fighting big corporations here they are the big corporation they have made billions on this community and there's a lot of ways to make sure other big corporations like Amazon can't just use the dnd ip for whatever they want. Fifth again we all already knew they were doing this for money and nothing else. They sent this out to creators with NDA's and a week to sign with plans to roll the new OGL out today it was never a draft and they never intended to get community feedback they planned to push this out and hope no one noticed or cared enough to do anything they only started throwing out these random claims that it's to combat racism and other big corporations to get people like you on here and make them seem like they're not the money grubbing jags that they are.
TLDR: You're not just the clown you are the entire circus. Cancel your dnd beyond subscriptions people it's the only language these people speak worse comes to worse I hear the Warhammer 40k lore is amazing.
Hey, DnD Beyond is pretty sweet. It does a lot of things better than anything else, and it's a very handy tool that helps a ton for players and DMs. I don't see the problem in the people at DnD Beyond sustaining themselves by giving completely optional and cosmetic options for those who want cosmetic items. If you don't think the dice are worth your money, cool. That's your opinion and I respect that. But I don't see what's wrong with giving those who do care about dice options that they can enjoy, and making some profit as well.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Question: Why is the new OGL needed?
Answer: It isn't.
Well I think the problem some would have is they want to make it more the rule then the exception. Especially if the stuff goes digital. Because we both know their is extra content and then there is a bunch of fluff, like the loot boxes which are as rigged as elections in a Banana Republic. Price mark up as well and lets face it, people will spend a lot of money on this stuff, hence the reason they also disabled your ability to use codes. WOTC might get more good will say if you had the book and you used your receipt to get it transcribed instead of pretty much double purchasing it, especially when the book will probably be rendered obsolete in a few years or months.
Think microtransactions like that of the XBOX and PS4 games like Call of Duty, Battlefield series and Battlefront. In some cases, hints of play to win. One thing to buy access to book content or reference material, another to use it as a leverage point in a game that was not designed to be played like a video game.
"You are a beginner once, but a student for life." - Firearm Instruction Adage.
They sustain themselves with my yearly subscription and purchase of every book. The fact is that the website has remained unchanged with zero features added in multiple years. How long is the encounter creator going to be in beta? Its been in beta for three-four years without any updates. This website is so much less than it could be. Maybe you're okay with that, maybe you're okay with Wizards treating you and all of us like coin purses to rob for every gold, silver, and copper, and maybe youre okay with them acting like we're all buffoons who will accept a corporate apology when they tried to strong arm 3rd party creators into handing over their money and content. Your money isn't going to dnd sustaining themselves, they've sold to Wizards they're a big corporation and anyone attached to this place sure isn't making a 100th of a percentage of those dice you're buying.
"You canceled your subscription on 01/14/2023."
(1) Our job is to be good stewards of the game: Wrong. We are the stewards of the game. You print books.
(2) the OGL exists for the benefit of the fans: Wrong. The OGL exists to benefit Wizards. 3rd party Creators have made your game what it is today.
I have renounced my paid subscription to DNDBeyond but I don't want to delete it entirely because I own books on the platform. Can I get a refund? Probably not.
I won't be buying any more, that's for sure. I'm not here to trash talk WOTC, just to let them know how disappointed I am with them.
So, thanks for all the awesome times we had together but if you continue down this path, you can do it without me...and my money.
Going back to what OP said there are ways OGL could change (though I take umbrage at the idea that it is 'plainly incorrect'). The thing is we have Wizards' opinion on what they initially wanted (whatever that document was intended to be we do know they wrote it with some kind of expectation that it could be accepted somewhere down the line). We additionally have the brass' public statements, their prior history, their recent business decisions as well as trends in the entertainment industry as a whole. I can't pretend to know what Hasbro/WOTC wants but I have three ways to view the topic of revising the OGL. There's my personal opinion as a programmer who has worked in the open source space for years, a very pro free software enthusiast, and someone who has published fiction under the Creative Commons license. There's what I would do if I were in WOTC's shoes (no they're not the same thing), could read the room, and actually look at and acknowledge the past 23 years of OGL history. And if I were, totally hypothetically, a former executive at Microsoft and Amazon and was very interested in turning D&D into an ecosystem similar to the Pits of Eternal Stink that is microtransactions in video games and walled gardens that is most of the rest of the entertainment industry (and a lot of tech now that I think about it).
My personal opinion: Either sign on with Pazio's ORC idea, or make their own foundation, and create a truly free licenese similar to the GNU/Linux license and/or the Creative Commons licenses. I'm not going to go too deep into this except to say that, IMO, the more open the license the better even in the case of RPGs as opposed to software. However, even if Pazio wasn't creating ORC this idea is farfetched and unrealistic for a company like Hasbro/WOTC under its current leadership so there's no real point in going to deep into it.
A realistic idea in the spirit of OGL 1.0: If we must modify OGL to address concerns listed in the blog post while still trying to keep the license 'open' in its original spirit I would say do two things: add a provision that licensees producing bigoted content can have their license revoked (as was seen in the Whatever It Was that leaked) and make explicit what is and is not covered in the OGL.
It must be said that the blog post was not totally
honestconsistent with what Wizards has said and done for more than two decades considering we have multiple statements where the OGL should apply to software and we even have instances where it did. (I can produce reciepts upon request but don't feel like getting them now). I don't like the fact that they believe that the OGL shouldn't apply to VTTs but it's their business and if they wanted to do it with 1.1 so be it. Although I would say if VTTs are going to be a signficiant part of the future one must think whether or not the OGL would have been anywhere close to as successful if in 2000 WOTC explicitly allowed it only for printed material and NOT PDFs. Either way a list of what is and isn't covered (NFTs for instance) in OGL should be made with further additions (or less likely subtractions) be given in new editions of the OGL. Any of the other stuff (data collection, registration, license back provisions, etc) are so against the spirit of the original OGL we can leave them behind. Which brings me to the third possibility...The OGL that turns D&D into a walled garden: I think all this talk about an open license is ridiculous if their goal is to recreate the Pit Of Eternal Stink as mentioned above. Even if I were charitable enough to not try to get rid of OGL 1.0 I honestly see little to be gained besides PR in creating a new one. Go after VTT platforms that won't be exclusive to WOTC, cut deals with large 3pps individually if possible, and let the other small publishers die off or go to other systems. They don't really need to build a wall around the One DnD garden as IP law plus a large legal warchest does their work for them. This is basically how the rest of the entertainment industry, not to mention other industries, work today.
Now, if WOTC wanted to kill the OGL but also use lawyerly necromancy to reanimate it as some grotesque zombie, I think the leaked document (whatever it was) did a pretty good job. The terms are so obnoxious for smaller publishers and, assuming what I've been told about margins is correct, the terms are so financially onerous for larger publishers that you'd force them to the negotiation table anyway. And you can basically do everything I said above with it while using the new "O"GL as a PR shield though admittedlly, at this point, there wont' be many who will fail their saving throw at that illusion.
So there you have it, three ways I see the OGL changing on the assumption that it needs to.
Which is nonsense, since the OGL doesn't let anyone use their brand.
You think they have to write "Dungeons and Dragons" in a book for it to harm them?
Hell, the OGL 1.0a itself has "Wizards of the Coast" in its text. Did you know that?
If you want to be a cultist/monster drow, you can, just ask your DM. Just like your DM can let you play a Mindflayer or a Red Dragon if they want. That doesn't mean WotC themselves have to enable you.
You couldn't be more wrong.
It's not about WotC enabling those of us with different views. It's about WotC cancelling a 3PP OGL licensed system because the 3PP system enables us to do so, because that 3PP system doesn't align with WotC's moral viewpoint.
Or, in hypothetical terms, I don't want WotC cancelling my favorite OSR system because it uses the term "Race".
They're not going to cancel someone solely because they create a setting where all drow are evil. But I would advise such a publisher, if they're truly worried about that possibility and might be ruined by it, to not rely on another company's licensed intellectual property for their creative output then.
As for "race" - the new SRD will likely include the term "species" (or whatever other replacement for "race" they ultimately land on), so if your work is based on their SRD, you will have agreed to use the gaming terminology included in that document. This is neither remarkable nor controversial.
This is also not how the OGL works. There has never been an agreement to necessarily use their terminology. Even in the drafts of the new license, as bad as they are, this is not part of them.
A 3rd party cannot use the WOTC logo. Period. That is in the current OGL.
As for being inclusive, I am a fan; however, the definition changes quite often. The license would need to legally specify what it means and how not to violate it or it allows WOTC to ban content on a whim because the definition has changed.
I never said the OGL includes that. The System Reference Document (SRD) does. You certainly don't have to use the SRD to use the OGL, but doing so confers benefits in exchange for some restrictions.
I understand that and I am saying you are wrong. Using the OGL and SRD does not create any of the terminology restrictions you claimed above. The OGL allows you to use as much or as little of the SRD as you like and to change and rework as much or as little as you like in any way you like. Heck, Green Ronin created a modern day superhero out of the OGL and SRD. Many have made sci fi games, westerns, etc. There is nothing in the OGL nor SRD restricting how much you can change it.
You seem to be repeatedly misunderstanding how the OGL actually works.
Then what precisely are Headless and Craykard crying about? They can use "race" even if the SRD is updated to "species" all they want.
How about the spirit of the deal that was struck between TSR and WotC when they created the OGL?
They explicitly wanted third party protections to create.
I don't buy this nonsense about NFTs, racism, or Jeff Bezos coming for DnD. The reason is MONEY. They want more of it and are undermining the original deal struck with TSR. Now, you might be able to argue against the OGL in a court of law, found loopholes, and even convince some people on here to take a bite of this shit sandwich.
ME? I have already cancelled and will provide zero revenue to WotC until they back down.
This guy doesn't take sides, just spells out some of the legalese for those like me that have trouble following along with the minutia of changes. Pretty decent watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZQJQYqhAgY&t=611s