'Dungeons And Dragons' Fans Furious Following Lengthy Purported Leaks Of OGL 1.1
If you're a content creator or fan of Dungeons and Dragons, then you might want to read the supposedly leaked Open Gaming License 1.1 update that is believed to be coming from Wizards of the Coast soon.
The current Open Gaming License (1.0) is what everyone who uses D&D-based monsters, mechanics and story elements for their own ideas has been operating under, but according to sources who purportedly received the new 1.1 update, all agreements or beliefs that stem from the 1.0 agreement will supposedly become null once 1.1 hits, with new agreements needing to be signed that follow 1.1's strict guidelines.
Hello
Wizards_DnD</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Hasbro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">
Hasbro,There are currently a lot of rumors going around about an OGL 1.1 and its supposed effects on 1.0a. I find these rumors very worrying. In particular, your rumored assertion that 1.0a can be revoked. 1/11— Staffan Johansson (@DackeStaffan) January 5, 2023
#NeverHaveIEver felt so horrible about being right. Last month I saw through the smoke screen and anticipated #WOTC's attempt to "deauthorize" the #OGL 1.0.How'd I do it? We lifelong DMs know BBEG tactics.#onednd #dungeonsanddragons #ogl11 #ttrpg #ttrpgcommunity #Hasbro pic.twitter.com/NtGNuLI13t
— Starry Knight Press (@StarryKnightRPG) January 5, 2023
If this supposed "leaked document" is correct and 1.0 becomes delegitimized, everyone who has a current agreement with Wizards of the Coast, or was planning on creating an idea that involved DnD in any regard, will have to agree to the new 1.1 agreement, which on its own seems like a pretty easy thing to do.
Where the devil lies in the details, however, is what exactly is being waived and agreed to this time, with the purported leaked document being over 10 times as long as the original agreement that fans are used to, with some curious things being baked in that are raising several red flags online.
Chief among these issues some have expressed online are that creative endeavors that use DnD characters are believed to then become the property of Wizards of the Coast for their own monetization purposes.
I wrote Undying Corruption because I wanted to see more Korean mythology and culture represented in gaming. Did WotC help me with my Korean language research? Did they do anything to support the project, boost it? No, and now they're trying to claim ownership over all of that. https://t.co/4aKetWSrBk
— Nine Heavens Press | 🇰🇷 (@HeavensPress) January 5, 2023
by switching to ogl 1.1, this big and rich ass company is gonna ruin some people’s fucking livelihood. not only do people have to read NINE THOUSAND words but you have to Ask Permission for existing and new commercial products. not everyone is your fucking employee???
— josephine 🔜 cleric takeover (@scarydogfriend) January 5, 2023
WOTC can eat dirt. If the leaked info is true: The OGL 1.1 license revoking the right to use OGL 1.0a (Which 5e SRD is published) is absurd. Look at this. WotC is killing Dungeons and Dragons as surely as they’re killing Magic the Gathering. pic.twitter.com/jpbrusdQrl
— Evit ✨ (@Evit_cani) January 5, 2023
The largest takeaway from the leaked OGL 1.1 document is that WotC no longer needs to rely on creator communities fueling the popularity of D&D. The brand is likely self-sustaining as long as they keep pumping out Content.OGL 1.1 secures royalties and passive revenue for them. https://t.co/kEROuFTK5e
—
chase on cohost.org (
chasewrites) January 5, 2023
Due to the length of the document and the intricacies involved, if it does come to pass, it's likely there will be a long period of legal litigation while the lines are drawn in the sand as to what is okay or not under the new rules.
Regardless of this, the rumored changes are already starting to poison some of the fanbase against WOTC and Hasbro (the parent company) over them, with memes and vitriol coming en masse on platforms like Twitter today.
This is gross. Even if they were to quietly scrap this OGL 1.1 entirely and keep the 1.0 active, the existence of this draft damages my opinion of WotC as shepherd of the game. https://t.co/C9FBYufVIH
— RJ Lackie ⚔ (@rjlackie) January 5, 2023
I'll be damned rather than spend a single penny on this bastardization of greed that is your attempted assassination of the 1.0(a) OGL with this 1.1 revised "open" gaming license, Hasbro. Don't even think about it. I will never GM a system using this licensing scheme.#OpenDnD pic.twitter.com/axjiaQhMjg
— Gorion Wassenar (@GorionW) January 5, 2023
Current state of WotC and the OGL 1.1Art by @vyriann pic.twitter.com/XXYqY8dDFj
— NatePixel (@Nate_Pixel) January 5, 2023
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brawnhilda
Welcome to Late Stage Capitalism, y'all; greedy corporations are going to keep squeezing and squeezing ever harder to extract the last drops of blood and money from us peasants. We must fight back.
Nue7ra1
do you think watching WoTC flounder and burn will be enough to scare GW into pulling their heads out of their asses?
hexcaster
GW exists a full galaxy up their own ass. They won't even be aware of this.
ExcessiveKnife
So, did WotC get nostalgic for the old stampede to Pathfinder?
Revic
It's a big misunderstanding. They need to make sure nobody's adding new classes to the game. Aside from one slip-up with the Artificer, that's an incredibly important goal for D&D 5E. Why? I haven't the slightest goddamn idea. But apparently one new class was all the last eight years had room for. Much like having races besides "Human," "Small human," and "Furry" aside from, again, when Eberron briefly messed up the streak.
drossbots
Fucking knew this shit was coming after that report about D&D being "under-monetized" came out.
Risky play from WotC in a market filled with alternatives and homebrew. Not to mention how easy D&D is to "find" online.
wisehowl_the_2nd
Worth pointing out that Director of Games Jon Ritter essentially confirmed the leaks were true by clarifying a statement about the Kickstarter part.
Rhettorical
Didn't something like this happen with Games Workshop and WH40K not too long ago?
wisehowl_the_2nd
Sorta-not-really, it's hard to explain. Basically 40k had some units in some of their rulebooks that didn't have physical models, some third party companies made some, GW sued… and subsequently lost. Afterwards they scrapped that model from their roster and made all future models copyrightus-namus and renamed a bunch of factions and models to avoid this from repeating. It's why Imperial Guard got changed to Astra Militarum and Tau got changed to T'au.
Rhettorical
I was more referring to GW shutting down fan projects due to their license changes.
seacliff
To be honest, WotC's DnD content these past few years has been shit. Following that up with shitty legal stuff just feels like the natural next step.
Ten Shadows
Sticking with WotC has felt like Stockholm Syndrome almost ever since 5e came out.
All my bros do 1e or OSR.
seacliff
Love OSR, though our table is eying something like 13th Age as our replacement.