WOTC’s Newest OGL Ruse: Obfuscation, Misdirection, and Psychological Tricks

Until WOTC drops this business of attempting to unauthorize OGL v1.0a, I urge all D&D fans to cancel their D&D Beyond sub, stop buying WOTC products, and send the money elsewhere! Vote with your wallets; Wizards executives won't listen to anything else.

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Now that Wizards of the Coast has been exposed for trying to sneak behind the D&D community's back with an update to the Open Gaming License (OGL), they are changing their tactics. WOTC now claims they want to open a conversation with us about the new OGL v1.2, and they've released a draft and solicited our feedback. At first glance, this may seem great, but upon deeper analysis, we find that Wizards is really up to their old tricks, just using a different ploy -- since the last one failed. The fact of the matter is that OGL v1.2 is still really bad, and WOTC continues to say that they will attempt to unauthorize OGL v1.0a, something that is IN BAD FAITH and illegal. So, today we dig into some of the new ways WOTC leadership is trying to obfuscate the truth and pull the wool over the Dungeons & Dragons community's eyes yet again.

DISCLAIMER: We at the DM Lair no longer support Wizards of the Coast due to the unconscionable and, frankly, malicious actions by their senior leadership with respect to the Open Gaming License (OGL). However, we still love D&D and RPGs, and we remain dedicated to helping the community, particularly game masters. So, while you will see videos that talk about D&D and 5e resources, the reason we create them stems from our desire to continue providing support for GMs who continue to run D&D for their groups. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with D&D; there is something wrong at WOTC. And it is the latter that we take a strong stance against. The DM Lair team still loves D&D; we still love the community. (It's WOTC's senior leadership that doesn't.)

#dnd #dnd5e #dungeonsanddragons #dungeonmaster #gamemaster

[theDMLair]

Until WOTC drops this business of attempting to unauthorize OGL v1.0a, I urge all D&D fans to cancel their D&D Beyond sub, stop buying WOTC products, and send the money elsewhere! Vote with your wallets; Wizards executives won't listen to anything else.

[admpandora]

If you check the 1.1 and 1.2 there are almost not functional changes. Every change you hated in 1.1 is now moved to the fine print as though it's a rare condition that'll never happen except on the most extreme instances. Remember, what was the devil's best trick?

[Omronekoro]

I think it is super important to take Wizards of the Coast's previous behavior in banning people critical of them. It has already been done in the magic the gathering scene.

[RavingNutter]

This whole ordeal has brought to my attention some really important information...such as how my local library has several Pathfinder 2e books available. Never would've known that without WotC's help. Thx.

[khalyiablooddagger]

I love your rightful wrath. Please clip your "Moral Obligation to Resist Evil"-rant from your last live stream - I had tears in my eyes afterwards. And keep in mind: if you'll diversify your content to different TTRPGs, you *will* take a short term hit in viewership *at first*. Perseverance is the key. Seth Skorkowsky has almost as many subscribers as you have although he does almost only non-D&D TTRPGs.

But it will get better again over time and you'll surpass your current subscriber count.

[ericanderson]

I thank the OGL trainwreck. Encouraged me to play a wider range of systems, why play something new when you had D&D. Still doesn't make anything that they are doing right, just means WotC is going to become an expensive niche game company.

[Hedron-Design]

My favorite part of this is the creative commons license. It is full of stuff they cannot copywrite anyway. We never needed a license to use the rules mechanics to begin with. We only needed a license to use any identifiable and owned IP items. Hence no Beholders in Pathfinder etc. It is like me telling my neighbor they have my legal permission to drive their car. Yea this "draft" is indeed a big nothing burger. It even tries to tell us why they HAVE to get rid of the 1.0a license. sorry not buying it. I have seen some videos with people saying the license is still bad but its a step in the right direction. Um no this is not a step. it still gives them draconian control and rights to yank things from any third party creator.

[JunMiyazaki]

Ferengi Rules of Acqusition, #48 - The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.

[grumpyinbrooklyn]

Is anyone picking up on how suspicious it is that they want creators to waive their right to a trial by jury and only use their home turf, you know, the one were the have likely contributed a sh-t load of money to the "system?' That's EXACTLY why such cases SHOULD be by jury and in different jurisdictions if at all possible!

[MitchT]

Already taken a two week massive deep dive into Pathfinder 2E both game and lore. I’ll probably still play D&D but I’ll just be using free content or homebrew from now on with that. You just can’t trust them. Though anyone that is looking to learn Pathfinder 2E I’ve found Wanderers Guide to be an excellent character sheet builder and DM asset.

[MilieuGames]

Never sign a contract where the other side can change things when they see fit, and get to hold you to "a standard" that they get to decide on whenever they want.

[happy]

I really think you and the content you produce is a benefit to the community and I think it is BS that Hasbro is trying to take you and other content creators away from the community. Good luck and heavily debating joining your patreon to give you and your staff the support they have earned.

[bakahydroid]

They use this kind of tactic in the legal world all the time. They stack a law up with a ton of nothing-rulings that seem pointless or harmless, and then way way down at the bottom they put the less palatable stuff, like us signing away our basic human rights. Because after all, human rights only serve to stand in the way of them forcing us to make them money whether we like it or not

[spktr]

Great Break down, thank you for the content.

[leslielegra]

We can't let people get complicent or think that we've won yet, wizards lost ALL my respect and I'm never buying minis, books, or anything from them again. I always wanted to try pathfinder and I think I have the perfect excuse now!

[alanthomasgramont]

I just noticed when you lean on your desk your camera rattles. Now I can't unsee it! :)

[MisterNightfish]

It's not even about them being the morality police, they could just say anyone they don't like did something "harmful" or "offensive" and boom, you're done. Nobody should have that power. Unless you break the law, and in a serious manner at that, nobody should be able to take away your livelihood. You definitely shouldn't have it taken away because you made a campaign where a villain did villain things.

[alexyarbrough]

Why is everybody so upset by them deauthorizing an old license for future Contant release? it explicitly states in this draft, that previously published content does not need to update to the new license. That is a perfectly reasonable clause. It is perfectly reasonable to update to a new license and then tell people they can’t use the old license going forward. I do not know of any company that actively has two different licenses for the same purpose, that people can pick and choose from for the same content with the same purpose.

[Elka-qglt]

Exept from the RPG Community and some "Games Sites" i did not find any national news about WotC?

[AniBashShow]

Wizards should update 1.0a to say what it only effects 5e and earlier editions then they can make a new ogl for one dnd and all their media movies video games digital stuff.

Which is still a crappy deal but a compromise that might work out better for everyone, people could still build on 5e in tabletop and vtt but be restricted in using one dnd things so wizards can grow on that if they want to make more money.

I’m sure most people would stick with 5e as a result but wizard would save face, and still benefit from the free advertising they have been getting for 20+ years