On the OGL fiasco

This would probably go away with OGL 1.1 

 

It’s been a messy week or so in the tabletop roleplaying space, ever since Gizmodo published a leak of Wizards of the Coast’s planned update to the gaming licence that’s used by most third party publishers of Dungeons & Dragons compatible material. Of course, the reality is that in many cases, publishers don’t really need to use the OGL (Open Gaming Licence) but it made them confident that they could publish material without the risk of litigation. The freedom of the OGL has driven a vibrant community which has lifted the game as a whole, with a variety and breadth of material that has driven creativity and engagement. All the messaging from Wizards (confirmed by the former leadership team) was that the OGL was not revokable and that publishers could trust them and help them grow the game. 

The proposed changes meant that reasonably small publishers would be reporting their D&D turnover and paying 25% of their turnover to Wizards going forward. That’s enough to make most businesses no longer viable. The previous version of the OGL was also being revoked by Wizards, which meant that (1) old material would need to be removed and (2) the changes would also impact third parties with completely different games that let other publish for them because they’d used the OGL(*). Finally, Wizards also claimed the rights to use material that you created using the new licence for free.

(*)The OGL is copyright by Wizards so if they withdraw it, it can’t be used anymore.

Understandably, uproar has followed and Wizards have had a corporate comms disaster on their hands as they’ve managed to motivate a large part of their customer base with anger and frustration. They’ve not managed the crisis comms well, and other publishers have stepped into the space. Legal views have been taken and routes around the OGL based on fair use and case law mean that Wizards are losing control of the narrative and market. It doesn’t mean that D&D won’t be the biggest game in the industry, but it does mean that years of work on its image have been undermined, goodwill burnt and trust broken.

I came back to D&D with the fifth edition. D&D was my second roleplaying game; I started with Holmes Basic, moved to AD&D and then the second edition. I actively ran games (although it was never my true love; that space in my heart stays with Traveller) and enjoyed it. But I enjoyed Stormbringer and Pendragon more. I played a bit more D&D with D&D3e was released, but never ran it. I stepped away again with 3.5e, and didn’t notice the release of 4e (which First Age tells me is the best thing since sliced bread). I saw a lot of good stuff about fifth edition, enough that I bought it and realised I could see echoes of the game I used to play, modernised.

I’d toyed with returning to Ravenloft or running some older school dungeons for a while, and toyed with the idea of using Dungeon World or another retro-clone (at that time Labyrinth Lord, these days it’d be Old-School Essentials). I picked up Curse of Strahd and definitely wanted to run it (Dr Mitch worked his magic on me and told me to run it), and I was looking for a system. In the end I decided to follow the easiest path and use D&D5e.

Now I find myself nearly 60 sessions into a campaign, and comfortable to run the game with minimal reference to the D&D5e rules. Along the way, I’ve bought a lot of material from Wizards. I’ve also picked up the official Roll20 and DnD Beyond versions of the rules and was considering a Beyond subscription. I’d started to ponder running a shorter set of adventures after Curse of Strahd.

Where my head is now is that I will finish Curse of Strahd and take a break. I don’t think I’ll be picking up anymore Wizards books for quite some time, especially as I fully expect the digital versions I’ve picked up to be withdrawn once the mythical OneD&D is released. I do like (rather than love) fifth edition, but there’s a bad taste that I suspect would only be solved with an updated OGL that makes it impossible to pull this kind of chicanery again. I have more than enough material for this edition to play going forward without paying Wizards more.

As I finish this post, I reflect that the response posted by Wizards is disingenuous, demonstrably flexible with the truth (based on multiple sources) and frankly patronising. I don’t buy into their micro-transaction future; this isn’t a video game. As a customer I’m disappointed. As a friend to several publishers who use the OGL, I’m angry. Wizards of the Coast need to do better.

15 January 2023