I had a thought, spawned form something I said on another thread that I'll say again here: "The thing that I find so odd about all this is that it makes no sense: for the past few years, D&D has been making more money than it ever has. D&D was sitting pretty atop a pretty stable player base, thanks in part toa confluence of circumstances that cannot be replicated. (One was a global pandemic; we HOPE it isn't replicated) Now, all of that is in flames, and for what? The revenue streams of third party publishers? Those companies make PENNIES compared to WOTC; they've flushed away wads of 100s to try to grab a few rolls of nickels. It's mind-boggling"
The thought that just clicked: it's only mind-boggling if you read OGL 1.1 honestly: as a document that's meant to be followed. There's an expression: "Rules that aren't meant to be followed but are meant to be broken", that describes this perfectly. OGL 1.1's demands only make sense if you read them as a complete, money-grubbing psychotic.
Examples:
Q: Why does the revenue sharing system seem to punish people for being successful? How are you supposed to grow a business under these rules? A: YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO; this is designed not for you to prosper under, but to torpedo teh next Paizo before it gets a chance to start. Anyone who wants to succeed will have to instead negotiate a "better deal" directly with WOTC; and probably agree to a bunch of riders in the process. Like not being able to publish anything for other rule systems, etc etc. It's designed to KILL your business; not skim a little off the top.
Q: Why is WOTC basically granting themselves the right to act as both the IRS and the legal arm of TTRPGS? Who would agree to sign over basic legal rights to WOTC? A: Because that gives WotC tighter control over the hobby as a whole... At no cost because it's all on you to have those documents at the ready and pay their legal fees.
Q: What's going to happen to third party VTT systems under this licence? How are they supposed to survive? A: THEY AREN'T: they are competition for WOTC's own VTT to come with OneD&D. This isn't designed to allow for their existence, ditto any other third-party software. Those are competition, and thus, must go.
Q: What's with the bit about NFTs? Was anyone actually doing that? A: No, no they weren't. That's just a canard; it's just designed to use a topical boogeyman to scare you out of thinking and into line.
Q: Why is the language around offensive content so vague? How am I supposed to follow the rules? A: Those rules aren't for you: they're for WOTC. That's why they include "no reason" under the list of reasons they can yeet you from the agreement; but also keep all rights to your stuff. They want to grant themselves infinite carte blanche to do what they like and give you zero recourse. They want all the rights and zero responsibilities; you get to have those, you lowly plebeian you.
In one word: it's all about control. Hasbro/WotC have a vision of D&D as a walled garden; safe to farm for money. Choose now: freedom, or the gilded cage... The gilded cage that you have to pay for yourself, every step of the way.
"I have altered the deal, pray I don't alter it any further." - Darth Vader
Well... Owlcat definitely did not make pennies off the OGL. Neither has Roll20, FG or Foundry.
Beyond that - I agree with you that this version likely wasn't intended to be the successful or final version. Unfortunately, WotC is staying quiet and here we are.
Well... Owlcat definitely did not make pennies off the OGL. Neither has Roll20, FG or Foundry.
Beyond that - I agree with you that this version likely wasn't intended to be the successful or final version. Unfortunately, WotC is staying quiet and here we are.
Sure; SOME of the third party companies made some money... but "In comparison to WotC"? They're NOTHING. In 2021: Hasbro made a PROFIT, not revenue; PROFIT of around 763 MILLION dollars. Something like a third to half of that through WotC (thank you cardboard crack, I mean MTG). This is Scrooge McDuck shaking down Spongebob for his tip money; it can't possibly be worth the squeeze.
Well... Owlcat definitely did not make pennies off the OGL. Neither has Roll20, FG or Foundry.
Beyond that - I agree with you that this version likely wasn't intended to be the successful or final version. Unfortunately, WotC is staying quiet and here we are.
Sure; SOME of the third party companies made some money... but "In comparison to WotC"? They're NOTHING. In 2021: Hasbro made a PROFIT, not revenue; PROFIT of around 763 MILLION dollars. Something like a third to half of that through WotC (thank you cardboard crack, I mean MTG). This is Scrooge McDuck shaking down Spongebob for his tip money; it can't possibly be worth the squeeze.
It wasn't worth *gestures wide* all this, sure.
But worth updating the OGL 1.0a to something a bit more favorable for them and less favorable for their direct competition, I'd say it could be - even now.
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I had a thought, spawned form something I said on another thread that I'll say again here: "The thing that I find so odd about all this is that it makes no sense: for the past few years, D&D has been making more money than it ever has. D&D was sitting pretty atop a pretty stable player base, thanks in part toa confluence of circumstances that cannot be replicated. (One was a global pandemic; we HOPE it isn't replicated) Now, all of that is in flames, and for what? The revenue streams of third party publishers? Those companies make PENNIES compared to WOTC; they've flushed away wads of 100s to try to grab a few rolls of nickels. It's mind-boggling"
The thought that just clicked: it's only mind-boggling if you read OGL 1.1 honestly: as a document that's meant to be followed. There's an expression: "Rules that aren't meant to be followed but are meant to be broken", that describes this perfectly. OGL 1.1's demands only make sense if you read them as a complete, money-grubbing psychotic.
Examples:
Q: Why does the revenue sharing system seem to punish people for being successful? How are you supposed to grow a business under these rules?
A: YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO; this is designed not for you to prosper under, but to torpedo teh next Paizo before it gets a chance to start. Anyone who wants to succeed will have to instead negotiate a "better deal" directly with WOTC; and probably agree to a bunch of riders in the process. Like not being able to publish anything for other rule systems, etc etc. It's designed to KILL your business; not skim a little off the top.
Q: Why is WOTC basically granting themselves the right to act as both the IRS and the legal arm of TTRPGS? Who would agree to sign over basic legal rights to WOTC?
A: Because that gives WotC tighter control over the hobby as a whole... At no cost because it's all on you to have those documents at the ready and pay their legal fees.
Q: What's going to happen to third party VTT systems under this licence? How are they supposed to survive?
A: THEY AREN'T: they are competition for WOTC's own VTT to come with OneD&D. This isn't designed to allow for their existence, ditto any other third-party software. Those are competition, and thus, must go.
Q: What's with the bit about NFTs? Was anyone actually doing that?
A: No, no they weren't. That's just a canard; it's just designed to use a topical boogeyman to scare you out of thinking and into line.
Q: Why is the language around offensive content so vague? How am I supposed to follow the rules?
A: Those rules aren't for you: they're for WOTC. That's why they include "no reason" under the list of reasons they can yeet you from the agreement; but also keep all rights to your stuff. They want to grant themselves infinite carte blanche to do what they like and give you zero recourse. They want all the rights and zero responsibilities; you get to have those, you lowly plebeian you.
In one word: it's all about control. Hasbro/WotC have a vision of D&D as a walled garden; safe to farm for money. Choose now: freedom, or the gilded cage... The gilded cage that you have to pay for yourself, every step of the way.
"I have altered the deal, pray I don't alter it any further." - Darth Vader
Well... Owlcat definitely did not make pennies off the OGL. Neither has Roll20, FG or Foundry.
Beyond that - I agree with you that this version likely wasn't intended to be the successful or final version. Unfortunately, WotC is staying quiet and here we are.
Sure; SOME of the third party companies made some money... but "In comparison to WotC"? They're NOTHING. In 2021: Hasbro made a PROFIT, not revenue; PROFIT of around 763 MILLION dollars. Something like a third to half of that through WotC (thank you cardboard crack, I mean MTG). This is Scrooge McDuck shaking down Spongebob for his tip money; it can't possibly be worth the squeeze.
It wasn't worth *gestures wide* all this, sure.
But worth updating the OGL 1.0a to something a bit more favorable for them and less favorable for their direct competition, I'd say it could be - even now.