After the OGL issue now seems to be resolved, there is a big question on my mind:
Does this just mean that WotC conceded this point to the community or is this a real course change?
The whole ordeal around the OGL clearly indicated that there were plans to make OneD&D and the upcoming VTT into a walled garden and shut Creators out. Is that still the plan going forward? I would like to see a real course change where OneD&D uses an open approach similar to 5e and that the VTT will be opened up to 3rd party tools. I would like to see a marketplace inside that VTT where Creators can offer adventures, creature models, etc and earn something from that. I would like to see APIs opened up in a reasonable way to exchange data with Dungeon Generators, Character creators or similar tools so that 3rd Party devs can augment the toolset available to the users of the VTT and get some payment from the marketplace system for offering those services. I think ultimately this would make the VTT and OneD&D much bigger and better than the "walled garden approach".
I suspect that we'll see One D&D be only available through the VTT. It's possible that paper copies may print, but I expect it to have no open licensing available, with everything being done by contract.
I'm really puzzled by the emphasis on the VTT because I think those are an add-on and a solution to particular problems for players, but not attractive for the majority of the gaming community. But even so...it's puzzling that they don't think they can compete on quality with 3rd party creators and can only win by refusing to let others in. It's a really odd way to go about things. Pretty much a fear-based approach to the business rather than a commitment to excellence. Oh, well.
The real value of D&D 5 has been as an umbrella that could pull all sorts of gamers in underneath it. I am afraid that the way WotC approached the OGL has damaged that dramatically and they've set themselves back by at least a decade. On the plus side for us nerds, I think there is going to be a burst of creativity in systems over the next few years.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
After the OGL issue now seems to be resolved, there is a big question on my mind:
Does this just mean that WotC conceded this point to the community or is this a real course change?
The whole ordeal around the OGL clearly indicated that there were plans to make OneD&D and the upcoming VTT into a walled garden and shut Creators out. Is that still the plan going forward?
I would like to see a real course change where OneD&D uses an open approach similar to 5e and that the VTT will be opened up to 3rd party tools. I would like to see a marketplace inside that VTT where Creators can offer adventures, creature models, etc and earn something from that. I would like to see APIs opened up in a reasonable way to exchange data with Dungeon Generators, Character creators or similar tools so that 3rd Party devs can augment the toolset available to the users of the VTT and get some payment from the marketplace system for offering those services.
I think ultimately this would make the VTT and OneD&D much bigger and better than the "walled garden approach".
I suspect that we'll see One D&D be only available through the VTT. It's possible that paper copies may print, but I expect it to have no open licensing available, with everything being done by contract.
I'm really puzzled by the emphasis on the VTT because I think those are an add-on and a solution to particular problems for players, but not attractive for the majority of the gaming community. But even so...it's puzzling that they don't think they can compete on quality with 3rd party creators and can only win by refusing to let others in. It's a really odd way to go about things. Pretty much a fear-based approach to the business rather than a commitment to excellence. Oh, well.
The real value of D&D 5 has been as an umbrella that could pull all sorts of gamers in underneath it. I am afraid that the way WotC approached the OGL has damaged that dramatically and they've set themselves back by at least a decade. On the plus side for us nerds, I think there is going to be a burst of creativity in systems over the next few years.