That brings us back to another uncomfortable truth - players are partially responsible for any delays. Because a very vocal group - very likely not even a majority - rejected a superior offer that would have also protected Wizards, Wizards is almost certainly being more cautious in what is released than they might have otherwise been, if they had legal protections against their content being used for hate.
Caution means delays. It means risk analysis. It might even mean certain things that could have been released are not.
This is the world the anti-OGL change people wanted; it is pretty disingenuous for them to now try to spin anti-Wizards conspiracies… because Wizards is acting in a way necessitated by these advocates’ own behavior.
Unfortunate but entirely predictable results. But - as I'm noticing more often in certain circles - hating on WotC to the degree that spinning baseless conspiracies and making vitriolic attacks without checking to see if it's even warranted has become some folks' personal identity. Dare I say it, for some it's become their brand identity. So as has been pointed out before in this thread, WotC is stuck in this position where any announcement they make will set off this perpetually angry set of folks, but also they get set off by WotC not making announcements (even in cases like this where the only announcement to make would be that there's nothing to announce).
Wotc has spent years developing it's reputation, why lay the negative connotations from that at the feet of those that have been paying attention to the reputation they have spent so much time and energy to cultivate?
Unfortunate but entirely predictable results. But - as I'm noticing more often in certain circles - hating on WotC to the degree that spinning baseless conspiracies and making vitriolic attacks without checking to see if it's even warranted has become some folks' personal identity. Dare I say it, for some it's become their brand identity. So as has been pointed out before in this thread, WotC is stuck in this position where any announcement they make will set off this perpetually angry set of folks, but also they get set off by WotC not making announcements (even in cases like this where the only announcement to make would be that there's nothing to announce).
While true, so is the opposite. 'In certain circles'—to use your expression—denying or downplaying or even defending any actual wrongdoing on Wizards' part has become de rigueur. Neither behavior is helpful. The truth likely lies someone in the middle. Not at the extremes. Whether you're acting as if planned changes to the OGL was the coming of Armageddon or you're acting as if critics of these changes were 'all wrong'—an attitude with which Wizards themselves now disagreeas they have communicated in communications about why they gave us the SRD in Creative Commons—what you are doing is not engaging honestly. Tribalism of this sort should not be encouraged in a hobby in which there is the potential to play with people all over the world. To build real friendships. With people who might just think differently from oneself. I have been playing for over four decades. Watching as people stoke division to tear the TRPG community apart is saddening.
That brings us back to another uncomfortable truth - players are partially responsible for any delays. Because a very vocal group - very likely not even a majority - rejected a superior offer that would have also protected Wizards, Wizards is almost certainly being more cautious in what is released than they might have otherwise been, if they had legal protections against their content being used for hate.
While I have no issues with blaming poor fan behavior when there is in fact poor fan behavior, that's nonsense. Releasing the 2024 SRD doesn't put them in any threat that didn't already exist for the 2014 SRD, and, well, while I would not be at all surprised if some appalling stuff has been released under the 2014 SRD, if so it promptly sank into obscurity.
The reason it's slow is probably some combination of it actually being a complicated job to figure out which stuff is generic and which stuff is legit IP, and slow-walking by Hasbro's IP department, which demonstrably (see, most recently, BG3 mod stupidity, but plenty of priors) does not understand how to interact with fans. I mean, that last burst of stupid might even push them to try and get this done faster, as a way of covering up their recent faceplant (and no, it was not an 'accident', it was a 'stupid').
The reason it's slow is probably some combination of it actually being a complicated job to figure out which stuff is generic and which stuff is legit IP, and slow-walking by Hasbro's IP department, which demonstrably (see, most recently, BG3 mod stupidity, but plenty of priors) does not understand how to interact with fans. I mean, that last burst of stupid might even push them to try and get this done faster, as a way of covering up their recent faceplant (and no, it was not an 'accident', it was a 'stupid').
Very unlikely the first part is significantly hard seeing as they already have the "Free Rules" written, and while there are some variations between the 2014 free rules, and the 5.1 SRD, it's not that significant. It's just the Monsters really at this point.
So I'd lean far more into the "Hasbro Legal doesn't understand" part, likely because the lawyers who handled this 10 years ago have moved on, and the OGL scandal showed how they don't understand the relationship between the third party market and the success of their own products.
So, here on April 10th, where does this leave us? I am a new content creator, not depending on this for income but would like to start. Already posted a new module to DMsGuild, and immediately had a comment that this content wasn't allowed. Why is there an option to toggle the 2024 rules? It would be nice to have some clarity on this. Can these things be used with the new rules?
We are 8 days from it being the 3 months mark. Not sure how long the "When does weeks become months" ambiguity is going to keep holding water.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player. The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call To rise up in triumph should we all unite The spark for change is yours to ignite." Kalandra - The State of the World
weeks means jsut that. weeks, it doesnt become months until at least 8 weeks have passed.
The amount of times I've seen this in relation to "when is weeks still considered weeks" is funny to me, mostly because it's an unspoken rule that I also adhere to. It's like when a baby's age stops being referred to in months.
I fully sympathize with much of the sentiment expressed here, but I'm not sure how it would have been taken if all that had been said was "yup, we're still doing it," "yup, we're still on track", "yup, that's still the plan", because that's all that could have been said. It's what I've said to many people who've asked me about it over the last couple of weeks.
That being said, though, we are still on track to release within 'weeks' of the MM release. There is much work being done to make sure SRD 5.2 is just right for the community, and you will get to see it soon.
Hi @LaTiaJacquise,
Thanks again for your earlier response—it helped clear the air for a lot of people and was much appreciated.
That said, we’re now closing in on eight weeks since the Monster Manual released, and it’s hard not to notice that the original phrasing—“within weeks”—is quickly sliding into “months.”
I know you mentioned that you weren’t sure how it would have been taken if the only update was “yup, still on track,” but honestly, that would have been perfectly fine. Third-party creators aren’t asking for daily updates—just clear and timely communication, especially when something is as important as the SRD going into Creative Commons.
If there’s still no update this far out, I think it’s fair to ask:
Is the SRD 5.2 still coming?
Is the original timeline still considered accurate?
Has anything changed in terms of scope or intent?
Even a simple reaffirmation—“still coming, just taking a bit longer than planned”—would be incredibly helpful at this point.
Thanks again for your engagement here. I think we all just want to make sure creators aren’t left in limbo.
Just personal opinion but this is starting to feel like reporters trying to get a scoop rather then creators wanting to release their content using the new material..
I'm sure everyone will be notified at the same time via an announcement when it's released
Just personal opinion but this is starting to feel like reporters trying to get a scoop rather then creators wanting to release their content using the new material..
Feels to me like people getting impatient. Which is reasonable enough.
Just personal opinion but this is starting to feel like reporters trying to get a scoop rather then creators wanting to release their content using the new material..
I'm sure everyone will be notified at the same time via an announcement when it's released
Just a personal opinion, but people who have never felt the hunger to share creative work without censure should not sneer at those that do.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player. The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call To rise up in triumph should we all unite The spark for change is yours to ignite." Kalandra - The State of the World
Maybe wizbro should be less ambiguous and more forth comming. Shoot they give more information on sites they don't own than this one. Here it's all about scaring people from posting than actually communicating with them.
yet no matter how impatient people get, it wont speed up the process.... its going to take as long as it takes
Excluding the one person trying to spin some kind of conspiracy, I think most of the posts today expressed polite impatience. There is even a thanks thrown in there.
Polite impatience might not speed up the process, but that doesn’t mean it is not useful. Right now, what folks really need more than anything else is information. Wizards is pretty bad at volunteering information, so asking politely could be effective on that front - especially on this thread, where LaTiaJacquise (one of the very few people on Wizards’ staff who seems competent at handling PR with the player base) has posted a couple times.
Not really sure it is fair for you to accuse folks of being dishonest in their questioning, as happened in your first post today, or to lecture people on patience - especially when folks are handling their impatience as adults, asking questions in a fair and polite manner. That kind of behavior is far too rare in our community, and we really should not be trying to discourage it.
To that point, I would add my voice to those asking for an update. It is not exactly fair to third party publishers of leave them in the dark, and an update as we approach the expected release would be nice. I also do not want to find ourselves in another situation where the worst elements of this community spin some kind of conspiracy… then claim credit when Wizards does what they were going to do anyway, further emboldening those bad community elements.
yet no matter how impatient people get, it wont speed up the process.... its going to take as long as it takes
That's... not actually true. How long it takes is significantly dependent on what priority it has been assigned for resolution. Now, I doubt complaints in one thread on D&D Beyond will be enough to significantly move the needle, but pressure does have an effect.
So, here on April 10th, where does this leave us? I am a new content creator, not depending on this for income but would like to start. Already posted a new module to DMsGuild, and immediately had a comment that this content wasn't allowed. Why is there an option to toggle the 2024 rules? It would be nice to have some clarity on this. Can these things be used with the new rules?
I believe DM's Guild has a separate set of rules from the OGL anyway so even if one updates that's no guarantee that the other will
Thanks to everyone who's continued to contribute thoughtfully here over the last few days. I really appreciate the shift toward polite but firm calls for clarity, and I agree with what folks like Caerwyn_Glyndwr and Pantagruel666 have said—polite impatience is valid, especially when people are handling it like adults.
This isn’t about rushing the SRD, demanding daily updates, or trying to "scoop" anything. It’s about the fact that WotC publicly set an expectation (SRD 5.2 coming "within weeks" of the Monster Manual)—and now, we’re at 8 weeks, and the language has shifted to "no ETA" without any formal statement or update.
As someone creating content based on the 2024 ruleset, I’m not just curious—I’m waiting to move forward with a clear understanding of what’s covered under the upcoming SRD. That kind of uncertainty affects more people than just me, especially new or small creators looking to launch their first work under the updated rules.
So no, this thread hasn’t been about complaining or trying to "make WotC dance." It’s been about saying:
You made a promise.
We’re approaching the edge of that timeframe.
We need a simple update.
Huge thanks again to LaTiaJacquise for engaging earlier. A short, transparent message from WotC would go a long way toward clearing the air and supporting the many creators who want to work with them—not against them.
unless things have changed since previous posts, theres a chance the clock hasnt started yet....
"All that said, it’s important that we wait until all the books have made it into our players’ hands to release the SRD into Creative Commons." - expand the SRD - dndbeyond
"The French, Italian, German, and Spanish versions of the 2024 Core Rulebooks will be released in March 2025 (Player's Handbook), June 2025 (Dungeon Master's Guide), and September 2025 (Monster Manual)." - other languages - wotc
either way, hope things work out in your favour - back to my corner i go :)
So, here on April 10th, where does this leave us? I am a new content creator, not depending on this for income but would like to start. Already posted a new module to DMsGuild, and immediately had a comment that this content wasn't allowed. Why is there an option to toggle the 2024 rules? It would be nice to have some clarity on this. Can these things be used with the new rules?
I believe DM's Guild has a separate set of rules from the OGL anyway so even if one updates that's no guarantee that the other will
Unfortunately, as a publisher of third-party content, sites like DMsGuild depend on the SRD to make sure the submissions are 'legal'. In effect, they are making sure WotC can't sue them or their creators as we are all playing by the same rules.
I did not mean to kick the hornet's nest, I was honestly wondering. There is very little information on this. The Genie's Wishes are ready for people to play, and I want them to play it!
Unfortunately, as a publisher of third-party content, sites like DMsGuild depend on the SRD to make sure the submissions are 'legal'. In effect, they are making sure WotC can't sue them or their creators as we are all playing by the same rules.
DMs' Guild has separate licensing rules from the SRD, there are things you can use for DMs guild that you cannot use under the SRD. However, it sounds the 2024 books haven't been released for use under DM's Guild either.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Unfortunate but entirely predictable results. But - as I'm noticing more often in certain circles - hating on WotC to the degree that spinning baseless conspiracies and making vitriolic attacks without checking to see if it's even warranted has become some folks' personal identity. Dare I say it, for some it's become their brand identity. So as has been pointed out before in this thread, WotC is stuck in this position where any announcement they make will set off this perpetually angry set of folks, but also they get set off by WotC not making announcements (even in cases like this where the only announcement to make would be that there's nothing to announce).
Wotc has spent years developing it's reputation, why lay the negative connotations from that at the feet of those that have been paying attention to the reputation they have spent so much time and energy to cultivate?
While true, so is the opposite. 'In certain circles'—to use your expression—denying or downplaying or even defending any actual wrongdoing on Wizards' part has become de rigueur. Neither behavior is helpful. The truth likely lies someone in the middle. Not at the extremes. Whether you're acting as if planned changes to the OGL was the coming of Armageddon or you're acting as if critics of these changes were 'all wrong'—an attitude with which Wizards themselves now disagree as they have communicated in communications about why they gave us the SRD in Creative Commons—what you are doing is not engaging honestly. Tribalism of this sort should not be encouraged in a hobby in which there is the potential to play with people all over the world. To build real friendships. With people who might just think differently from oneself. I have been playing for over four decades. Watching as people stoke division to tear the TRPG community apart is saddening.
While I have no issues with blaming poor fan behavior when there is in fact poor fan behavior, that's nonsense. Releasing the 2024 SRD doesn't put them in any threat that didn't already exist for the 2014 SRD, and, well, while I would not be at all surprised if some appalling stuff has been released under the 2014 SRD, if so it promptly sank into obscurity.
The reason it's slow is probably some combination of it actually being a complicated job to figure out which stuff is generic and which stuff is legit IP, and slow-walking by Hasbro's IP department, which demonstrably (see, most recently, BG3 mod stupidity, but plenty of priors) does not understand how to interact with fans. I mean, that last burst of stupid might even push them to try and get this done faster, as a way of covering up their recent faceplant (and no, it was not an 'accident', it was a 'stupid').
Very unlikely the first part is significantly hard seeing as they already have the "Free Rules" written, and while there are some variations between the 2014 free rules, and the 5.1 SRD, it's not that significant. It's just the Monsters really at this point.
So I'd lean far more into the "Hasbro Legal doesn't understand" part, likely because the lawyers who handled this 10 years ago have moved on, and the OGL scandal showed how they don't understand the relationship between the third party market and the success of their own products.
So, here on April 10th, where does this leave us? I am a new content creator, not depending on this for income but would like to start. Already posted a new module to DMsGuild, and immediately had a comment that this content wasn't allowed. Why is there an option to toggle the 2024 rules? It would be nice to have some clarity on this. Can these things be used with the new rules?
We are 8 days from it being the 3 months mark. Not sure how long the "When does weeks become months" ambiguity is going to keep holding water.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call
To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
Kalandra - The State of the World
Hi @LaTiaJacquise,
Thanks again for your earlier response—it helped clear the air for a lot of people and was much appreciated.
That said, we’re now closing in on eight weeks since the Monster Manual released, and it’s hard not to notice that the original phrasing—“within weeks”—is quickly sliding into “months.”
I know you mentioned that you weren’t sure how it would have been taken if the only update was “yup, still on track,” but honestly, that would have been perfectly fine. Third-party creators aren’t asking for daily updates—just clear and timely communication, especially when something is as important as the SRD going into Creative Commons.
If there’s still no update this far out, I think it’s fair to ask:
Is the SRD 5.2 still coming?
Is the original timeline still considered accurate?
Has anything changed in terms of scope or intent?
Even a simple reaffirmation—“still coming, just taking a bit longer than planned”—would be incredibly helpful at this point.
Thanks again for your engagement here. I think we all just want to make sure creators aren’t left in limbo.
Just personal opinion but this is starting to feel like reporters trying to get a scoop rather then creators wanting to release their content using the new material..
I'm sure everyone will be notified at the same time via an announcement when it's released
Feels to me like people getting impatient. Which is reasonable enough.
Just a personal opinion, but people who have never felt the hunger to share creative work without censure should not sneer at those that do.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call
To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
Kalandra - The State of the World
yet no matter how impatient people get, it wont speed up the process.... its going to take as long as it takes
anywho do look forward to seeing these creations - please do drop us a link when your able to release your created content :)
Maybe wizbro should be less ambiguous and more forth comming. Shoot they give more information on sites they don't own than this one. Here it's all about scaring people from posting than actually communicating with them.
Excluding the one person trying to spin some kind of conspiracy, I think most of the posts today expressed polite impatience. There is even a thanks thrown in there.
Polite impatience might not speed up the process, but that doesn’t mean it is not useful. Right now, what folks really need more than anything else is information. Wizards is pretty bad at volunteering information, so asking politely could be effective on that front - especially on this thread, where LaTiaJacquise (one of the very few people on Wizards’ staff who seems competent at handling PR with the player base) has posted a couple times.
Not really sure it is fair for you to accuse folks of being dishonest in their questioning, as happened in your first post today, or to lecture people on patience - especially when folks are handling their impatience as adults, asking questions in a fair and polite manner. That kind of behavior is far too rare in our community, and we really should not be trying to discourage it.
To that point, I would add my voice to those asking for an update. It is not exactly fair to third party publishers of leave them in the dark, and an update as we approach the expected release would be nice. I also do not want to find ourselves in another situation where the worst elements of this community spin some kind of conspiracy… then claim credit when Wizards does what they were going to do anyway, further emboldening those bad community elements.
That's... not actually true. How long it takes is significantly dependent on what priority it has been assigned for resolution. Now, I doubt complaints in one thread on D&D Beyond will be enough to significantly move the needle, but pressure does have an effect.
I believe DM's Guild has a separate set of rules from the OGL anyway so even if one updates that's no guarantee that the other will
Thanks to everyone who's continued to contribute thoughtfully here over the last few days. I really appreciate the shift toward polite but firm calls for clarity, and I agree with what folks like Caerwyn_Glyndwr and Pantagruel666 have said—polite impatience is valid, especially when people are handling it like adults.
This isn’t about rushing the SRD, demanding daily updates, or trying to "scoop" anything. It’s about the fact that WotC publicly set an expectation (SRD 5.2 coming "within weeks" of the Monster Manual)—and now, we’re at 8 weeks, and the language has shifted to "no ETA" without any formal statement or update.
As someone creating content based on the 2024 ruleset, I’m not just curious—I’m waiting to move forward with a clear understanding of what’s covered under the upcoming SRD. That kind of uncertainty affects more people than just me, especially new or small creators looking to launch their first work under the updated rules.
So no, this thread hasn’t been about complaining or trying to "make WotC dance." It’s been about saying:
You made a promise.
We’re approaching the edge of that timeframe.
We need a simple update.
Huge thanks again to LaTiaJacquise for engaging earlier. A short, transparent message from WotC would go a long way toward clearing the air and supporting the many creators who want to work with them—not against them.
unless things have changed since previous posts, theres a chance the clock hasnt started yet....
either way, hope things work out in your favour - back to my corner i go :)
Unfortunately, as a publisher of third-party content, sites like DMsGuild depend on the SRD to make sure the submissions are 'legal'. In effect, they are making sure WotC can't sue them or their creators as we are all playing by the same rules.
I did not mean to kick the hornet's nest, I was honestly wondering. There is very little information on this. The Genie's Wishes are ready for people to play, and I want them to play it!
DMs' Guild has separate licensing rules from the SRD, there are things you can use for DMs guild that you cannot use under the SRD. However, it sounds the 2024 books haven't been released for use under DM's Guild either.