Every time you've released a new statement on the OGL, you try to make yourselves look like the victors in the situation and it's sad. Just recognize and address that you've screwed up massively, made a mistake and apologize. Every time you update us on the OGL it sounds like a petulant child trying to explain that their opponent didn't win, they cheated and it's a really bad look.
It's discredited by the end of the update where they say "A couple of last thoughts. First, we won’t be able to release the new OGL today, because we need to make sure we get it right, but it is coming. Second, you’re going to hear people say that they won, and we lost because making your voices heard forced us to change our plans. Those people will only be half right. They won—and so did we."
That line is a piss poor apology when it comes before this one. Trying to make it out like a contest that's winnable instead of the truth of them thinking they could get away with this and us not letting them. And it sounds like all they're gonna do is use more legalese to try and shoehorn the stuff that they want in anyway.
Not really. Its a reworded version of "Im sorry that you feel this way".
The statement itself implies that with their 3 objectives :
we wanted the ability to prevent the use of D&D content from being included in hateful and discriminatory products.
we wanted to address those attempting to use D&D in web3, blockchain games, and NFTs by making clear that OGL content is limited to tabletop roleplaying content like campaigns, modules, and supplements.
we wanted to ensure that the OGL is for the content creator, the homebrewer, the aspiring designer, our players, and the community—not major corporations to use for their own commercial and promotional purpose.
...they werent able to do because of the backlash. The furore wasnt about that, but they are trying to spin it so we are perceived as being anti-positive steps. I mean how stupid do they think we are? Ofc the community is not against hate speech, or using it for homebrew, or WotC getting fairly compensated. The wording of the OGL 1.1stripped all protection and rights from the homebrew player, and the royalty was to be applied BEFORE profit, so a breaking-even company would go under (which, they would know as they were demanding full finacial disclosure).
Besides, the anger was in the vauge wording that strips all legal recorse and puts all rights to WotC, and allows them to change anything at anytime on a whim. NFTs etc were not covered by the OGL, with games, and larger publishers having custom agreements too. Its a PR spin to make themselves out to be the good guys and caring.
Leaked internal documents contradict the 'we care' message, so thats a lie. It was never about 'us' and the community. The way they planned to release it, giving only one week to sign was abhorrent. Plus it wasnt a 'draft' , as you cant send drafts out with contracts to sign, which they did with several publishers, so they lied there too.
They say you 'won', or they 'won', implying it was a battle. Although some memes were shown, nobody 'won'. The community lost all faith in WotC, who have shown that all they care about is money.
It could have been updated fairly, but WotC wanted all of the pieces of the pie.
The damage is done, and they have lost the faith we had in them, so they were never acting as 'stewards'.
A haldf thought, rushed statement is an insult, and a proper apology should have said:
"We're sorry for what we did. We lost sight, and made mistakes. We realise it will take time to rebuild trust with you, but we want to make amends and ensure this kind of catastrophic approach does not happen again" and then, put the new OGL in a sepereate non-profit holding owned by a trusted independant company, similar to how the ORC is being written.
Instead we got a thinly vieled accusatory 'apology', and confirmation that they will be drawing up another OGL to try and salvage whatever tarnished rep they have left. But at this point they have lost virtually all of it.
"We're sorry for what we did. We lost sight, and made mistakes. We realise it will take time to rebuild trust with you, but we want to make amends and ensure this kind of catastrophic approach does not happen again" and then, put the new OGL in a sepereate non-profit holding owned by a trusted independant company, similar to how the ORC is being written.
Bold is... completely unrealistic. Just move on to ORC if that's what you're looking for.
Your assessment is 100% correct imo, they're trying to demonize us against each other somehow while trying to downplay the fact that we as a community are almost entirely a united front on this issue.
"We aren't the bad guys, the bad guys are the ones who made us rewrite this, wahhhh." is how it sounds.
I'm confused, are you saying WotC should be a part of ORC or? I mean I'd agree tbh, i think this whole fiasco is gonna end with the OGL dying entirely and ORC being the new standard that WotC will be forced to comply with whether they like it or not. Truly a demon of their own summoning.
Just recognize and address that you've screwed up massively, made a mistake and apologize.
We want to always delight fans and create experiences together that everyone loves. We realize we did not do that this time and we are sorry for that.
Is that not an apology...?
No. it really isn't. Saying "I'm sorry you got hurt" is not the same thing as saying "I am sorry that I hit you with a baseball bat. But you woke up now and I'm sorry that I didn't delight you."
I'm confused, are you saying WotC should be a part of ORC or? I mean I'd agree tbh, i think this whole fiasco is gonna end with the OGL dying entirely and ORC being the new standard that WotC will be forced to comply with whether they like it or not. Truly a demon of their own summoning.
If they had the slightest bit of sense, they'd be contacting Paizo & saying "We'd like to be at the table as you're drafting ORC along with with the other publishers who are onboard & we're committed to future SRD releases under it. But they don't have sense, so they probably won't.
I really feel for that WOTC employee that had to write the response.
They had to respond and they had to carry the corporate response or spin like a US president spokesperson. It's a tough gig. You cannot win and you look bad either way. "the staff" signed it because nobody in their right mind wants to be associated with that.
Your assessment is 100% correct imo, they're trying to demonize us against each other somehow while trying to downplay the fact that we as a community are almost entirely a united front on this issue.
"We aren't the bad guys, the bad guys are the ones who made us rewrite this, wahhhh." is how it sounds.
We were united on 1.1 being bad. The disagreement is around what comes next now that it's dead.
Your assessment is 100% correct imo, they're trying to demonize us against each other somehow while trying to downplay the fact that we as a community are almost entirely a united front on this issue.
"We aren't the bad guys, the bad guys are the ones who made us rewrite this, wahhhh." is how it sounds.
We were united on 1.1 being bad. The disagreement is around what comes next now that it's dead.
They could start by electing a new CEO who has some understanding of the community and an understanding that they're going to need to spend money to make money WRT increasing their income and handling the 3rd party market.
Every time you've released a new statement on the OGL, you try to make yourselves look like the victors in the situation and it's sad. Just recognize and address that you've screwed up massively, made a mistake and apologize. Every time you update us on the OGL it sounds like a petulant child trying to explain that their opponent didn't win, they cheated and it's a really bad look.
And it's insulting that they think that we can't/won't see through their bullshit.
Is that not an apology...?
It's discredited by the end of the update where they say "A couple of last thoughts. First, we won’t be able to release the new OGL today, because we need to make sure we get it right, but it is coming. Second, you’re going to hear people say that they won, and we lost because making your voices heard forced us to change our plans. Those people will only be half right. They won—and so did we."
That line is a piss poor apology when it comes before this one. Trying to make it out like a contest that's winnable instead of the truth of them thinking they could get away with this and us not letting them. And it sounds like all they're gonna do is use more legalese to try and shoehorn the stuff that they want in anyway.
Not really. Its a reworded version of "Im sorry that you feel this way".
The statement itself implies that with their 3 objectives :
...they werent able to do because of the backlash.
The furore wasnt about that, but they are trying to spin it so we are perceived as being anti-positive steps.
I mean how stupid do they think we are? Ofc the community is not against hate speech, or using it for homebrew, or WotC getting fairly compensated.
The wording of the OGL 1.1stripped all protection and rights from the homebrew player, and the royalty was to be applied BEFORE profit, so a breaking-even company would go under (which, they would know as they were demanding full finacial disclosure).
Besides, the anger was in the vauge wording that strips all legal recorse and puts all rights to WotC, and allows them to change anything at anytime on a whim. NFTs etc were not covered by the OGL, with games, and larger publishers having custom agreements too. Its a PR spin to make themselves out to be the good guys and caring.
Leaked internal documents contradict the 'we care' message, so thats a lie. It was never about 'us' and the community. The way they planned to release it, giving only one week to sign was abhorrent. Plus it wasnt a 'draft' , as you cant send drafts out with contracts to sign, which they did with several publishers, so they lied there too.
They say you 'won', or they 'won', implying it was a battle. Although some memes were shown, nobody 'won'. The community lost all faith in WotC, who have shown that all they care about is money.
It could have been updated fairly, but WotC wanted all of the pieces of the pie.
The damage is done, and they have lost the faith we had in them, so they were never acting as 'stewards'.
A haldf thought, rushed statement is an insult, and a proper apology should have said:
"We're sorry for what we did. We lost sight, and made mistakes. We realise it will take time to rebuild trust with you, but we want to make amends and ensure this kind of catastrophic approach does not happen again" and then, put the new OGL in a sepereate non-profit holding owned by a trusted independant company, similar to how the ORC is being written.
Instead we got a thinly vieled accusatory 'apology', and confirmation that they will be drawing up another OGL to try and salvage whatever tarnished rep they have left. But at this point they have lost virtually all of it.
Bold is... completely unrealistic. Just move on to ORC if that's what you're looking for.
I will definitely be switching to Pathfinder after that joke of an apology.
1 shot dungeon master
Your assessment is 100% correct imo, they're trying to demonize us against each other somehow while trying to downplay the fact that we as a community are almost entirely a united front on this issue.
"We aren't the bad guys, the bad guys are the ones who made us rewrite this, wahhhh." is how it sounds.
I'm confused, are you saying WotC should be a part of ORC or? I mean I'd agree tbh, i think this whole fiasco is gonna end with the OGL dying entirely and ORC being the new standard that WotC will be forced to comply with whether they like it or not. Truly a demon of their own summoning.
no, Im saying they should have taken the same approch and sealed the license away from themselves after communicating a fair one for both sides
No. it really isn't. Saying "I'm sorry you got hurt" is not the same thing as saying "I am sorry that I hit you with a baseball bat. But you woke up now and I'm sorry that I didn't delight you."
If they had the slightest bit of sense, they'd be contacting Paizo & saying "We'd like to be at the table as you're drafting ORC along with with the other publishers who are onboard & we're committed to future SRD releases under it. But they don't have sense, so they probably won't.
I really feel for that WOTC employee that had to write the response.
They had to respond and they had to carry the corporate response or spin like a US president spokesperson. It's a tough gig. You cannot win and you look bad either way. "the staff" signed it because nobody in their right mind wants to be associated with that.
The facts are :
1- Hasbro wants to monetize more WOTC.
2- People who are not gamers are in the direction
3- ESG compliance is ALSO hurting WOTC.
We were united on 1.1 being bad. The disagreement is around what comes next now that it's dead.
They could start by electing a new CEO who has some understanding of the community and an understanding that they're going to need to spend money to make money WRT increasing their income and handling the 3rd party market.
Im very curious as to what the OGL will actually say once released.
You’re going to hear people say that I lost your dog. Those people will only be half right. I lost it—and so did you.