I have my original D&D set, still in the little white box it came in. There are pencil notes in the margin that were made by me when I was a little bit younger than I am now. ;-) When the OGL came out (it didn't need a version number back then), I was pleasantly surprised. It made sense to provide some level of content for playing. WotC had my attention. The continuing iterations of versions were engaging for my children and me. They have grown up and have their own children now. Children who play D&D.
So what bugs me? The culture inside WotC/Hasbro that this screwup has revealed.
"It’s my team that makes the game we all play." - Kyle Brink
"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." - unknown source inside DnD Beyond
I'm sorry Kyle but the rules for the games I play were 99% done before you ever were hired by WotC. And honestly, I have not been impressed with the "video game" trend of the rules away from the first iteration that grafted magic onto a physical universe. Sure, it is much easier to calculate falling damage today but was it really that hard before? I remember learning the value of what I had been forced to learn in school, the first time I calculated the volume of a spherical fireball or the damage from a fall. Your rules have thrown that away. D&D existed before video games or personal computers. Perhaps attempting to force it to fit the economic models of video and computers games is like teaching a pig to do ballet dancing. The results will be less than impressive and the pig won't enjoy it.
As for the second quote, oh boy. Any business that views its customers as an opponent that wins or loses, has lost. D&D is a community, a social group, a lifestyle. D&D Beyond, WotC and Hasbro can figure out how to support that (and make a profit) or that community will walk away. I have been a reluctant user of DnDBeyond and I can tell you that I will not be expanding or supporting that use going forward. Plenty of other ways to track characters that don't ask for a credit card number. I have informed the DMs in the games that I participate in. I can always find another table if they insist on sticking with DnDBegone.
The good will that WotC has created over the years as the steward of the D&D brand has been pissed away like so much used beer at a drunken frat party. Whether or not Hasbro and/or WotC has plans to change the leadership that has done that damage is their business. Personally, I would not be retaining folks who have managed to destroy this much value, so carelessly. Whether or not they can ever recover that good will remains to be seen.
Those other providers in the community will have my dollars, when I need their products. I will be looking for the ORC to be created by the consortium of those other companies that provide services to the D&D community. I would suggest WotC look carefully at that document and then sign on, no questions or requests for changes. WotC no longer gets to dictate the legal framework. If they behave, they might be allowed to sell me product.
Full Stop.
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I have my original D&D set, still in the little white box it came in. There are pencil notes in the margin that were made by me when I was a little bit younger than I am now. ;-) When the OGL came out (it didn't need a version number back then), I was pleasantly surprised. It made sense to provide some level of content for playing. WotC had my attention. The continuing iterations of versions were engaging for my children and me. They have grown up and have their own children now. Children who play D&D.
So what bugs me? The culture inside WotC/Hasbro that this screwup has revealed.
"It’s my team that makes the game we all play." - Kyle Brink
"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." - unknown source inside DnD Beyond
I'm sorry Kyle but the rules for the games I play were 99% done before you ever were hired by WotC. And honestly, I have not been impressed with the "video game" trend of the rules away from the first iteration that grafted magic onto a physical universe. Sure, it is much easier to calculate falling damage today but was it really that hard before? I remember learning the value of what I had been forced to learn in school, the first time I calculated the volume of a spherical fireball or the damage from a fall. Your rules have thrown that away. D&D existed before video games or personal computers. Perhaps attempting to force it to fit the economic models of video and computers games is like teaching a pig to do ballet dancing. The results will be less than impressive and the pig won't enjoy it.
As for the second quote, oh boy. Any business that views its customers as an opponent that wins or loses, has lost. D&D is a community, a social group, a lifestyle. D&D Beyond, WotC and Hasbro can figure out how to support that (and make a profit) or that community will walk away. I have been a reluctant user of DnDBeyond and I can tell you that I will not be expanding or supporting that use going forward. Plenty of other ways to track characters that don't ask for a credit card number. I have informed the DMs in the games that I participate in. I can always find another table if they insist on sticking with DnDBegone.
The good will that WotC has created over the years as the steward of the D&D brand has been pissed away like so much used beer at a drunken frat party. Whether or not Hasbro and/or WotC has plans to change the leadership that has done that damage is their business. Personally, I would not be retaining folks who have managed to destroy this much value, so carelessly. Whether or not they can ever recover that good will remains to be seen.
Those other providers in the community will have my dollars, when I need their products. I will be looking for the ORC to be created by the consortium of those other companies that provide services to the D&D community. I would suggest WotC look carefully at that document and then sign on, no questions or requests for changes. WotC no longer gets to dictate the legal framework. If they behave, they might be allowed to sell me product.
Full Stop.