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Open Game License

2023-01-27T20:36:12Z

2600:1700:D1D0:2220:6098:D106:A51F:9B9D: /* Version 1.0a */

Introduced by [[Wizards of the Coast]] with [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition]], the '''Open Game License''' is a [[copyright|copyright license]] for [[RPG|TTRPGs]]. It rips off of the GNU Public License that made open source software so ubiquitous. The idea is that you can make [[splatbook]]s and derivative works without paying hefty royalty cheques, so long as you don't pass yourself off as "official" support material, and you let other people make stuff derived from your stuff. Plus US courts have held you can't copyright game rules, only the words used to describe them, so you don't actually lose that much.

Giving things away for free, even if it means you get truckloads of new content you didn't have to hire writers for, and it gives your product most of the market share, is still scary to execs and suits, so Wizards of the Coast "improved" the Open Gaming License in 2008 to the "Game System License," which allowed developers to use D&D trademarks like beholders, but forces them to stamp their products with WotC and D&D logos, and WotC can change the rules at any time without notice, and if they decide to sue someone the target agrees to pay the legal fees up-front. Understandably, authors said "fuck that noise" and stuck with the OGL.

Eventually Wizards realized (translation: copied from the greedy fucktards at [[Bethesda]]) that you don't have to pay writers to make lots of supplements if you let fanboys write them for you and take a hefty slice off the top, so in January 2015, they released the [http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/SRD-OGL_V1.1.pdf Systems Reference Document] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] under the OGL v. 1.0a containing just enough for supplement writers to write 5e-compatible books and created the [http://dmsguild.com/ Dungeon Master's Guild], which allows developers to use D&D trademarks (and settings like [[Forgotten Realms]]) but with Wizards taking '''''half of all revenue''''' and reserving the right to steal your shit to sell ''again'' as [[/v/|DLC for their licensed vidyas.]] This means that Wizards has successfully introduced the concept of paid mods to tabletop gaming, and this time developers seem to have taken the bait. At least you can tell them to fuck off and just use the SRD, even if it's the absolute bare minimum to work with.

When you use the OGL, the stuff that you don't want copied and passed around has to be explicitly stated (See definition 1e, and item 7 below "Product Identity".). Since Wizards retained all trademarks that can possibly refer what the hell something is supposed to be based on or compatible with, "OGL" also sees use to refer to what a system ''is''. This ''would'' be confusing, but the exact nature of the OGL means there's no real reason to use it over a very similar but legally distinct license if the product isn't ultimately a derivative of 3E D&D or, more rarely, d20 modern.

== Version 1.1 ==
{{HurfDurf}}
{{skubby}}

{{topquote| A couple of last thoughts. 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 [[Paizo|they]] won, and [[Wizards of the Coast|we]] lost because [[Bullshit|making your voices heard forced us to change our plans.]] [[What|Those people will only be half right. They won—and so did we.]] |Wizards of the Coast, trying to cover it’s tracks}}

In late 2022, an update to the OGL was leaked, no denial was forthcoming just a "coming soon Jan 13th 2023" ([[Just as planned|of course it was going to come out on Friday the 13th, the bastards)]] and it looks like Hasbro/WOTC is perched to shit the bed.
[[Games Workshop|The siren call of rent-seeking can only be abjured for so long]]. Among the [[Derp|improvements]] in this leaked document are:

* Revoking OGL 1.0a. Already-published stuff won't get retroactively changed, but after January Hasbro's lawyers won't respect new material published under OGL 1.0a.
** This is despite the fact the OGL specifically states it's perpetual, so [[Skub|this will go well in court]] because while WotC is absolutely going to try and argue perpetual =/= non-revocable, a good number of countries that aren't America (most notably the majority of the Commonwealth countries) have precedents to the opposite (mostly in the form of a perpetual lease for land, either way the use of "perpetual" in contracts has long been interpreted to be almost identical to making it non-revocable).
* "Commercial" and "Non-Commercial" versions. [[Fail|They literally state if you get paid by "your brother doing your chores for a week" then you must use the Commercial version.]]
* If you make gross revenue over $50,000 in one year from your combined OGL stuff, you must [[Blam|voluntarily]] give WOTC a copy of your ledgers for them to audit. [[Wat|They call this "leveling-up"]].
* If you make gross revenue over $750,000 in one year from your combined OGL stuff, [[Money|you gotta give Hasbro 20%-25% of whatever's above 750,000]]. Note the use of ''gross'', not ''net'' - that means it's taken before factoring in expenses, meaning that Hasbro can cuck you out of being able to pay to manufacture what got you to this level of revenue in the first place.
** This is the part of the OGL that have people rightfully worried that this is anti-competitive, which is even more serious than the aforementioned attempt to revoke a perpetual contract. [[Cyberpunk| Though given how many monopolies and oligopolies have cropped up in recent times]], [[Grimdark | Hasbro could easily just lobby out of it...]]
* WOTC owns the copyright, trademark and patent for anything licensed by OGL 1.1. So do you, but if you're good enough then Hasbro spins up the printing engines (or grants the license to any of their partners) and you get to compete against them, good fucking luck.
* No more software, not even a form-filling PDF, "games and supplements in printed media and static electronic file formats" can be made without Uncle Wizards' permission. Among the formats they explicitly name as no-go are: videos, games, novels, apps, graphic novels, music, songs, dances and [[Wat|pantomimes]]. [[Cegorach|Yeah, fuck mimes amirite?]]
* WOTC can revoke your license at any time. The license states that this is mainly aimed at "bigoted and other brand-damaging content," but considering how anti-competitive the rest of the license is and how these criteria are not spelled out, it effectively means they can revoke your license on a whim. [[SJW|Have a squeaky clean supplement but say mean things about Hasbro on twitter? They'll find an excuse to get your content pulled.]]
* Much of the new license is written from a very [[Fifteen views of Asscrack|Amerifat]] perspective and relies on clauses that are outright illegal in actual first world countries (and even a number of supposedly third world ones). See below for an example:
{{Topquote|Additionally, You waive any right to sue over Our decision on these issues. We’re aware that, if We somehow stretch Our decision of what is or is not objectionable under these clauses too far, We will receive community pushback and bad PR, and [[Bullshit|We’re more than open to being convinced that We made a wrong decision]]. But nobody gets to use the threat of a lawsuit as part of an attempt to convince Us.|Wizards of the Coast, failing to realise that a large number of countries have significant restrictions on contracts enforcing one party to waive the right to sue the other, to the extent that including such a clause may [[Fail|invalidate the entire contract]].}}

To nobody's surprise, plenty of third-party publishing houses are jumping ship, having a fire sale on their D&D-related stock and looking for alternate systems to write for, if they're not deciding to make their own games. Companies that don't make D&D content but do publish under the OGL 1.0 are experiencing their own dilemmas about how to move forward, whether it be ditching the OGL altogether or scrapping together their own licensing (whether it be making their own or seeing how Creative Commons can be applied). You can just smell the "I told you so" smug coming off [[Paizo]] right now.

Well, that smugness only amplified tenfold when Paizo broke their silence and announced that they'd be collaborating with a number of fellow RPG devs to create their own '''Open RPG Creative License''', a system-agnostic license which would keep the spirit of OGL 1.0a alive that's not owned by Paizo or any of the other collaborators, but by a law firm that's had history representing publishers and has a co-founder who helped create the damn OGL...until they find a suitable owner to take it open-source similar to how Linux operates. And to top this all off, it's also been shortened to '''''[[Orc|ORC]]''''', which might be mere coincidence, but there's no way any neckbeard savvy enough would pass up the obvious jabs made.

Because who knew that people wouldn't just accept your forced attempt to make them pay you. Surely, they wouldn't just jump ship to the numerous other alternatives already existing? [[Warhammer Plus|It's not like this has ever]] [[4E|happened before in recent memory, right?]]

As expected, [[FAIL|WOTC backpedaled in the most limp-dicked fashion imaginable]], claiming that they're changing the new OGL to be less suffocating but not removing the clause that says they can change the agreement with 30 days' notice (meaning the changes mean jack shit since the original plan could just be reinstated the moment people forget), all while crowing that this was a win for both them and the community. The community was not convinced and, following reveals of more bullshit Wizards was trying to do behind everyone's back, grew even more riotous.

=== Version 1.2 ===
A week after that shitstorm another PR apology came forth, this time from D&D Executive Producer Kyle Brink. This one didn't try to frame this all as some "misunderstanding", citing a couple major examples that wouldn't be affected by the OGL as well as proposing a draft copy for all of the public to view, scrutinize, and provide feedback on. On one hand, they managed to give ground on all the fees and mandatory earnings reports and have confirmed that certain core rules for the game are protected under the Creative Commons license and thus can never be grounds for lawsuit. On the other hand, there are still issues with the proposed license.

The concerns for this are several: The first is the whole VTT hill they're insistent on dying on, with several of the proposed restrictions being nonsensical (You can have macros to calculate things like the damage that [[Magic Missile]] does, but [[What|any visual elements that can't be replicated on the dinner table]] - codeword for any special visuals for spells, which is something most VTTs can't even support - are not considered protected under the new OGL, nor are any licensed images) and reek of trying to prevent any competitor VTTs from providing a better experience. The second is the terms for what they consider "harmful and hateful content", and we don't mean [[Racial Holy War|obvious shit]] like [[TSR#Since WotC's Buyout|someone trying to use a trademark you used to own to promote some really stupid racist shit]] or NFTs made from opportunistic grifters that aren't Hasbro. Without clear explanation on what qualifies as "harmful and hateful content" (to say nothing about how the definition can change in the blink of an eye as a result of any perceived [[SJW|cultural forever wars]]), it gives Wizards free reign to cancel whatever they see fit without owing any explanations to the affected parties - all because this new OGL being allegedly penned to protect their brand from such content. Of course, this is all on top of the great issue that Wizards can, at any point of their choosing, opt to cancel out any concessions they make by drafting a new version of the OGL since they've clearly stated their intent to cancel the 1.0a OGL and any content made once this version becomes official must use it.

Even this token effort at appeasement is under suspicion, though, as the promised way to comment and critique the proposed OGL changes ''still'' has to pass through the same system that D&D Beyond is built on, meaning surveys, and as such has '''zero''' transparency. Which is to say, if fifty thousand people voted for WotC to shove the new OGL regardless of the changes, then what's to stop them from saying publicly that, golly gee, fifty thousand folks thought the changes were swell. Yeah.

<s>Whatever the ultimate result, the effects of needing to change it at all have already eroded a massive amount of trust people have had with the company, and there's no doubt that the upcoming [[One D&D]] will only be seeing a fraction of the fan support its predecessor had.</s> They surrendered to fan demand and shut off the entire changing the OGL thing, cowering back into Hasbro's offices like a [[Troll|troll]] to a cave to figure out a Plan C.

== Version 1.0a ==
<blockquote style="border: 4px #000 double; margin: auto 0; padding: 0 10px;">
'''OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a'''

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.

<ol>
<li>Definitions:
<ol style="list-style: lower-alpha;">
<li>"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content;</li>
<li>"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted;</li>
<li>"Distribute" means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute;</li>
<li>"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity.</li>
<li>"Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content;</li>
<li>"Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor</li>
<li>"Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content.</li>
<li>"You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.</li>
<li>Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.</li>
<li>Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.</li>
<li>Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.</li>
<li>Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.</li>
<li>Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.</li>
<li>Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.</li>
<li>Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.</li>
<li>Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.</li>
<li>Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.</li>
<li>Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.</li>
<li>Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.</li>
<li>Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.</li>
<li>COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.</li>
</ol>

System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
</blockquote>

<s>Unfortunately, this is going to be replaced by the cashgrab that is 1.1</s> <s>the half-assed appeasement that is 1.2.</s> Here to stay thanks to Wizards cowering under fan backlash.

== Parts of D&D that are not Open Game Content ==
* The brand names "Dungeons & Dragons," "D&D," "d20 System," nor "Wizards of the Coast," Duh. That means you [[Fail|can't say "compatible with Dungeons & Dragons" nor "uses the d20 System," you have to use some bullshit like "compatible with popular fantasy role-playing games wink wink nudge nudge."]]

<blockquote>''The following items are designated Product Identity, as defined in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, and are subject to the conditions set forth in Section 7 of the OGL, and are not Open Content: [[Dungeons & Dragons]], [[D&D]], [[Player's Handbook]], [[Dungeon Master]], [[Monster Manual]], [[d20 System]], [[Wizards of the Coast]], [[d20]] (when used as a trademark), [[Forgotten Realms]], [[Faerûn]], proper names (including those used in the names of spells or items), places, [[Underdark]], [[Thay|Red Wizard of Thay]], the City of Union, [[Ysgard|Heroic Domains of Ysgard]], [[Limbo|Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo]], [[Pandemonium|Windswept Depths of Pandemonium]], [[Abyss|Infinite Layers of the Abyss]], [[Carceri|Tarterian Depths of Carceri]], [[Hades|Gray Waste of Hades]], [[Gehenna|Bleak Eternity of Gehenna]], [[Baator|Nine Hells of Baator]], [[Acheron|Infernal Battlefield of Acheron]], [[Mechanus|Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus]], [[Arcadia|Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia]], [[Celestia|Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia]], [[Bytopia|Twin Paradises of Bytopia]], [[Elysium|Blessed Fields of Elysium]], [[Beastlands|Wilderness of the Beastlands]], [[Arborea|Olympian Glades of Arborea]], [[Outlands|Concordant Domain of the Outlands]], [[Sigil]], [[Lady of Pain]], [[Book of Exalted Deeds]], [[Book of Vile Darkness]], [[beholder]], [[gauth]], [[Carrion Crawler|carrion crawler]], [[tanar'ri]], [[baatezu]], [[displacer beast]], [[githyanki]], [[githzerai]], [[mind flayer]], [[illithid]], [[Umber_Hulk|umber hulk]], [[yuan-ti]].''
—System Reference Document 5.1, Wizards of the Coast</blockquote>

Yes, they seem to have trademarked "Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo" and even Gauths, like seriously out all the interesting and not so interesting beholderkin the only one they decided to trademark was the puny insignificant Gauths? Really makes you wonder what the the guys who wrote the OGL were smoking.

== Works that use the OGL ==
This is not a complete list. Also, all of these use 1.0, so expect this list to be ''severely'' truncated once 1.1 puts on the chokehold and people jump over to the way-less-vulnerable-to-corporate-bullshit ORC.
* [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition]]
* [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] (just barely enough content to attend one Legendary Encounters session)
* [[Pugmire]] by Onyx Path Publishing
*"[[Spycraft]] 2.0"
*"[[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]]" '''FIRST''' Edition by Paizo Publishing
*"[[FATE System|FATE]]" aka [[FUDGE|Fudge 3.0]], "[[Spirit of the Century]]", by Evil Hat Productions
*"[[Diaspora]]" by VSCA Publishing
* [[Microlite20]]
* [[Prime Directive d20]]", "Prime Directive PD20 Modern" by Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
* The [[Book of Erotic Fantasy]]
*"Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss", "Koboldnomicon" by Bards and Sages
*"[[NeoExodus: A House Divided]]" by Louis Porter Jr. Design
* "OGL Ancients", "OGL CyberNet: [[Cyberpunk]] Roleplaying", "OGL Horror", "OGL Manga", "OGL Steampunk", "OGL Wild West", all by Mongoose Publishing
*"Ave Molech" by Morbidgames.a
*"Nuisances" by Skirmisher Publishing LLC
*"True20 Adventure Roleplaying Game", "Mutants & Masterminds" by Green Ronin Publishing
*The Black Company' Campaign Setting by Green Ronin Publishing
*[[Exodus]]" by Glutton Creeper Games
*"[[Empyrean|d20 Empyrean]] by Broken Dreams Games
*[[World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game]] by [[White Wolf|Sword & Sorcery studios]] -- ''but it's out of print, so who cares?''
*[[D6_System#OpenD6 |OpenD6 system]]

==See Also==
*[[SRD]]

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

FAIL

2023-01-27T20:33:38Z

2600:1700:D1D0:2220:6098:D106:A51F:9B9D: /* Notable Examples */

{{Fail}}
[[Image:dice2.jpg|thumb|right|Worst of them all (provided the system uses [[roll over]])]]

Here are some examples of failure. If you don't get what I mean after seeing these images then it's ironic, that you're moronic.
Oh, fail also causes [[rage]].

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="3">
File:fail2.jpg
File:epic_fail.jpg
File:PennyArcade papvp2 8.jpg
File:Lots_of_Critical_Failures.jpg

</gallery>

==Notable Examples==
* [[Citadel Combat Cards]]
* [[Finecast]]
* Official [[Citadel Miniatures]] Paint Pots, complete with poorly-made bottles and tons of stains trying to open them.
* [[Age of Sigmar]]. [[Skub|May still be, depending on your view.]]
* [[Abaddon]]
* [[Slaanesh]]
* [[Games Workshop]]
* [[Indrick Boreale]]
* [[Rogal Dorn Battle Tank]]
* [[Pyrovore]] pre-9th edition
* [[Mandrake]] pre-8th edition
* [[Racial Holy War]]
* [[VTNL]]
* [[Matt Ward]]
* [[FATAL]]
* [[Tales of Fail]]
* [[40K Rules Blooper Reel]]
* [[C.S. Goto]]
* [[Robin Cruddace]]
* 9th Edition [[Chaos Space Marines]]
* [[Robotech RPG Tactics]] specifically the Kickstarter
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjyeCdd-dl8 Fallout 76]
* [[Blizzard]]'s [[Warcraft]] III: Reforged disaster.
* [[Dawn of War III]]. Basically a mega-fail: The game was so bad, it likely killed any chance of another Dawn of War game in the future.
* [[Erda]]: Indirectly responsible for the ''entire Horus Heresy'' because she decided to go full 'Karen took the kids'. Arguably a bigger fuckup than anyone on this list.
* [[WG10: Child's Play]]
* [[N2: The Forest Oracle]]
* [[Fascist Italy]]
* [[Warhammer Plus|Warhammer+]]
* [[The Cabal]] - A terribly thought-out side plot meant to explain why the [[Alpha Legion]] "allegedly" turned traitor.
* [[OGL|OGL 1.1]] - A terrible and eventually aborted attempt to replace the original OGL 1.0a with something much more draconian.

== See also ==
* [[Derp]]
* [[Skub]]

[[category: Meme]][[Category:FAIL]]

Wizards of the Coast

2023-01-27T20:28:08Z

2600:1700:D1D0:2220:6098:D106:A51F:9B9D: /* The Life and Death of 5th Edition */

{{Publisher Infobox
|name = Wizards of the Coast
|logo = [[Image:Wizards_of_the_Coast_logo.svg.png]]
|year = 1990
|notable = [[Magic: The Gathering]], [[Dungeons and Dragons]]
|website = [http://www.wizards.com http://www.wizards.com]}}
'''Wizards of the Coast''' (Abbr: WotC), like so many luminous icons of the tabletop industry, was founded in a dingy basement in the rainy city of Seattle in 1990. Originally, they developed ''[[Magic the Gathering]]'', and, after using their patents on various cardgame staples like "tapping" and "counters" to strangle literally every other competitor but ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' out of business, they made ''so much goddamn money'' on the sucker's market that is the CCG scene that they were able to fulfill every nerd's dream of buying the dying ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' property out from under [[Lorraine Williams]], then revitalizing it with its [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|most popular edition]]. Since then, they've been themselves bought out by the [[Call of Cthulhu|cold, emotionless, alien beings taking the form of corporate suits]] at [[Hasbro]], <strike>but in recent times the corporation has adopted a more "hand-off" approach to Wizards, to mutual benefit.</strike> LOL NOT ANY MORE. Reception of their leaked 1.1 update to the OGL document had been a stinking dumpster fire.

They are a source of [[skub|civilized and respectful debate]] on /tg/, but while the [[Old School Roleplaying|old guard]] will probably [[butthurt|never forgive them]] for changing literally anything about the game from the ''[[Chainmail]]'' days, general consensus is that, as evil megacorporations in the tabletop business go, [[Games Workshop|they really could]] [[Catalyst Game Labs|be much worse]]. Besides, they got a bit better, so that's good I guess. Unfortunately nothing good ever lasts with people screaming murder over OGL update 1.1.

==Early History: Oh~ Oh~ Oh~, It's Magic!==
Wizards started out as a small-time game publisher, releasing new editions of defunct old niche games and small dribbles of their own material. They'd probably have gone the route of [[Iron Crown Enterprises]] or be languishing in obscurity today, if not for a stroke of good luck. [[Richard Garfield|Some math major]] with an eye towards game design walked into their office and pitched a board game to them. They liked it, but they didn't have the cash to produce it, so they asked him to come up with something cheaper to produce, something portable and quick to play. Well, to make a long story short, he went home, ran some numbers, and [[Magic the Gathering|the rest is history]].

''Magic: The Gathering'' was (and, if you're into the Skinner Box of CCGs, still is) a damn fine collectible card game, the first commercially successful one of its kind in the world... which isn't actually that impressive, considering the only other CCG at that point was a baseball card game from the early 1900s. Still, it started an industry, won shitloads of game-design awards, and led to Wizards using its patents on various basic card game mechanics ("tapping," counters, etc.) to ruthlessly crush all competitors. Sometimes, they were justified in protecting their IP against hacks and shovelware imitators. Sometimes, they just went after people they didn't like. Let's just say there's a ''reason'' ''L5R'' used to make you lose points if you accidentally said "tap" instead of "bow."

It also made them more money than can easily be imagined, not least because the 90s was the age of know-nothing idiots speculating on "nerd shit," a trend started in the comic-book industry. (Humorously, the cards from this time have sometimes ended up being ''[[Arabian Nights|more]]'' [[Legends|valuable]] than the pointless comics bubble ever would be.) Rather than blowing it all on hookers and blow, in the tradition of the 80's, they funneled it back into their RPG business, buying up various old games and refurbishing them, including ''Ars Magica'' from fellow swaggering new kid on the block [[White Wolf]]. Most of them had enjoyed only moderate success at best, not least because the market then was smaller than it had ever been following the fundamentalist-o-caust of the 80's purge and the company was putting its fingers into too many pies and failing to support all its games, but eventually, they managed to land the biggest fish of all.

==[[Conan the Barbarian|And so, my lord became a king by his own hand...]]==
[[File:WOTClogo.gif|300px|thumb|right|The old yellow logo.]]
As a cash-strapped and [[Lorraine Williams|internal-politics-crippled]] [[TSR]] was folding and dying, Wizards bought them and all their stuff, including the famous and venerable ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' property, for a paltry $25 million. They gave all the old TSR guys jobs, called off the lawyers and openly allowed fans to release stuff for [[Dark Sun|poorly-selling]] [[Ravenloft|but much-beloved]] [[Spelljammer|campaign settings]], and put various designers from TSR to work building the [[Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition|most popular and successful edition of D&D ever]]. [[Derp|Then paid to do it again when it needed a shitload of patching,]] leading to the silliest ''D&D'' edition name of all time (3.5). They also held a contest to design a setting that was weird and new for the new edition, ultimately settling on [[Keith Baker]]'s ''[[Eberron]]''.

Along with that edition, they put out the [[Open Gaming License]], offering free reign for other companies to use their rules and produce supplements. While this had the unfortunate side effect of sometimes putting their tacit approval on complete [[fail]], it is generally held to be one of their smartest and most fan-friendly moves ever, generating huge amounts of content for their game without paying a dime for it. Whether you want [[Microlite20|uber-minimalism]], [[Diaspora|hard sci-fi]], or [[Book of Erotic Fantasy|erotically-charged sexventures]], you can generally find it somewhere in the library of OGL content, in varying degrees of quality.

As the decade wound down, they also got the license to make a CCG for ''[[Pokémon]]'', and while we scoff now, it was a pretty good game that wasn't a complete ''Magic'' rip-off, and it probably made them about as much money as ''Magic'' for a while there. The ''Pokémon'' craze was at its height, and children everywhere begged money off their parents, worked menial lemonade-stand jobs, and, in some truly [[fail]]-tastic cases, murdered each other in cold blood for the next sweet, sweet hit of booster pack fever.

==New Management, or the Road to the Great Mistake==
At the turn of the millenium, [[Hasbro|terrible, alien intelligences]] examined our realm of existence. With minds too different from ours to comprehend their motives, and the cold, unfeeling calculations of inhuman thoughts, they reached out their slick black tentacles into our plane and acquired Wizards of the Coast. They also paid nearly ten times as much for the privilege as Wizards spent for TSR, so suck it fanboys!

What happened next is hard to conclusively prove, since nobody involved wants to stop working in the business forever by getting a rep as a fuckin' snitch, but over the course of a decade, most of Wizards' upper management was quietly replaced. Various minor aspects of the property, like GenCon and the ''Dragon'' and ''Dungeon'' magazines were portioned off and outsourced to other producers (notably, Paizo). Keeping a low overhead meant firing all the veterans to hire newbs with lower asking salaries, draining the company's talent pool. Whether these cutbacks were the fault of Wizards, a company run by enthusiasts for enthusiasts with a history of mediocre business sense, or Hasbro, a corporate giant with a history of undermining their acquired brands with needless executive interference and anti-consumer bullshit, is probably never going to be openly known. Either way, eventually, the decision was made to build an entirely new edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''.

In theory, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Third Edition and ''3.5'' had always had their flaws ([[CoDzilla|Monte Cook's traditional caster-dominance]], weak [[fighter|martial classes]], incoherent high-level play that turned into a maze of magic item abuse and extra turn stacking, a cesspool of bad character options left over from the ill-thought-out "ivory tower" game design, etc.) and the latter was starting to show its age. Furthermore, they decided that this edition wouldn't just be a revamp of the old, but a complete rebuilding of the entire ''D&D'' system from the ground up, intending to fix long-running problems and set a bold new direction for the future. No more would martials announce "I make a weapon attack" and throw a d20 round after round: they would have access to cool techniques and a varied playstyle just like the casters. No more would casters break the game over their knee and [[Cybering|don their robe and wizard hat]] to fuck its corpse: their power would be drastically scaled back, with magic now divided into limited-application combat components and longer-and-more-involved ritual spells.

Unfortunately, this well-intentioned and high-profile project was destined to go horribly wrong...

==Schism and Competition==
Despite what the [[butthurt]] fanboys will tell you, ''[[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]]'' was (and still sort-of is as they sell off the backlog) a financial success. And the hatred for it was never uniform. Even people that hate 4e will admit that it's not a [[FATAL|terrible]] [[Racial Holy War|game]], but even its fans have to admit that, in many ways, it is utterly unrecognizable from the game that preceded it. The sad truth is that 4e was worse than a bad game: it was a flawed-but-good game which just happened to have a lot of stupid drama to deal with.

To make a long story very short:

The people who love 4e love it for its tightly-defined rule set, tactical depth compared to 3.5 (no more martials flanking and power attacking every turn while the casters fly out of reach or teleport out of sight and spam save-or-die rays from their familiar), strong support for the DM via online materials, ease of play compared to the frequent RULESRULESRULES problems of earlier editions, giving every class, even former low-tier sad-sacks like the [[monk]] a fair shot at being as awesome as the previously-dominant full-casters, and for introducing some genuinely good new ideas to the lore. (Ex. [[The Raven Queen]] replacing the evil death gods as an iconic neutral death goddess, some ''great'' new books and campaign ideas for ''[[Eberron]]'', adding lots of off-beat, niche races like [[githzerai]] and [[goliath]]s to the core rulebooks, and a new, wonderfully revamped version of ''[[Dark Sun]]'' for the first time in two-and-a-half editions that not only brought back all the best parts of that gameline but sanded off all the worst ideas, like the biomechanical halfling empire and the DM taking over a character during the Dragon transformation.)

The people who hate 4e hate it for sharply segregating the game into combat and story sections, focusing heavily on the use of [[miniatures]] and battle mat combat rather than the "theater of the imagination," being hard to run without "power cards," sold separately, to keep all the abilities straight, nickle and diming consumers to try to force them to buy ''[[World of Warcraft]]''-style subscriptions for access to character generators or other online materials, shoehorning all classes into the same sets of mechanics (Leaders heal and buff their allies, Strikers hurt things, Defenders [[tank]], Controllers debuff and throw out area attacks), making a lot of gratuitous changes to D&D lore, from slaughtering the cosmology of ''[[Planescape]]'' to dropping a [[Exterminatus|Spellplague]] on the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', and releasing a castrated new version of the Open Gaming License for the game system.

Worse, it seems many of these problems were corporate mandated from above by Hasbro, seeking to create a more tightly-controlled IP and cut the Open Gaming License off at the roots. While 4e remained a modest financial success, many fans began leaving the oldest roleplaying game of all behind to go looking for other ways to scratch the itch. And many of the Hasbro-based marketeers, being, like most marketeers, dumb blood-sucking [[vampire]]s who only vaguely remember what it is to be human, made the whole situation worse by emphasizing 3.5's flaws as much as they praised 4e's features in a vindictive way that hurt feelings and created a lot of bad blood.

Paizo, the former magazine publishers, took advantage of this to start fully promoting their own D20-based RPG game, [[Pathfinder]], a sort of "D&D 3.75" that attempted to fix the problems without transforming so drastically from the 3.5 model. How successful they were is... debatable (read that page for details), but it drew in the fans like mad. Because it ran on the OGL, it soon had rafts of refugees publishing quality third-party material for its game. Riding that surge of popularity, Paizo began to become a true challenger to WoTC's former dominance over the gaming market, even outselling them at times.

This act, creating one's own worse competitor, was humiliating for Wizards and disquieting to Hasbro. The slimy, icy tendrils of the conglomerate began to withdraw. So long as Wizards did not become a financial liability, the interns through which Hasbro communicated sang (they burn out, bleeding from every orifice, after channeling a single communication and have to be replaced), it would now be free to pursue whatever direction it wished for yet another edition. But it ''must'' have another edition. The insatiable hunger of the otherworldly suits would not be satisfied with ''second place'', no matter how profitable it proved.

Yet, in many ways, as Wizards scrambled to clean up the floors under the intern and move on, this whole experience was good for Wizards. Now that they had actual competitors, product quality could be an actual defense against the bizarre demands of their alien masters, since now they stood to lose customers if they fucked up. And they could dissect what Paizo did leading up to ''Pathfinder'' and take notes.

==The Life and Death of 5th Edition==
After seeing how much success Paizo had with its open playtests for [[Pathfinder]], Wizards did something similar with the new edition of ''D&D'', which got years and years of hard, careful work and testing put into it. Wizards promised to keep the best aspects of every previous edition, distilling a better product at the end. Despite a frequently-skeptical response, it helped rebuild community confidence, and the eventual result, many years in the making, was ''[[D&D Next]]'', or, as it would inevitably eventually be known, 5e.

So far, 5e has been a roaring critical and commercial success. The game is fun, simple yet deep, streamlined without being dumbed down, and has combined the playability of the early editions with the mechanics of the d20 system and the best ideas from 4e. And with the monthly community surveys and ''Unearthed Arcana'' articles providing anyone with an Internet connection with quality, officially-sanctioned homebrew content and a genuine system of feedback, Wizards has begun to reclaim the reputation they nearly lost after the ill-advised attempt by their corporate masters to chase the MMO dollar. Even Paizo has begun to step up its game to compete, with positive results for fans of both gamelines.

The company had also been centralizing a LOT of their publication. Up until about 2015 or so, Wizards subcontracted a lot of their writing and art duties to others, like some freelancers and authors who would work for them. However, after a rocky reception to the quality of the first five D&D 5e [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Books|books]], the company hired a bunch of new graphical designers, artists, editors, and even some of the players on the official D&D podcasts (including Kate Welch and Amy Falcone) to join their main crew in Seattle. After that, all but one of the 5e books has been radically better-received, even if the release rate of splatbooks is still far lower than what most fans like.

After that step, Wizards began branching out significantly, hiring Fandom, Inc and DriveThruRPG to create officially-licensed and branded websites to augment their own online offerings for D&D and Magic: The Gathering. These sites allow players to create characters, sell adventures, track combat, design custom monsters, and otherwise homebrew material to their hearts' content, and even buy official expansions to the hardback D&D books that are legal at the table for Adventurers' League. The services also actually work, amazingly enough, although there is widespread fan [[rage|discontent]] over how the hardback books cost fifty US dollars but don't unlock their online content on D&D Beyond without spending another 25 bucks.

And then 2023 happened. Not only did the utterly disastrous 30th anniversary celebration for MTG that's seen the brand become a financial liability happen, but in preparation for their upcoming One D&D ventures, WotC created OGL 1.1. By exploiting the very literal phrasing of the OGL 1.0a, which dictates that 3rd parties or content creators operating under it are at perfect liberty to utilize any authorized versions of the OGL for their works, WotC Lawyers figured that as there's explicitly a lack of wording to make OGL 1.0a "irrevocable"; they could simply de-authorize OGL 1.0a and ''force'' all licensees to adhere to the new OGL 1.1, lest they get bullied out of the game by Hasbro's fleet of lawsuit-wielding lawyers. This is despite the intentions of 1.0a and the FAQ clarifications stating that the intent was for 1.0a to remain as a fully authorized license agreement "in perpetuity". The new OGL, of course, is ''far'' more restrictive on how D&D's SRD is utilized and demands that any individual, group or organization that makes $750k or more annually on content that falls under OGL 1.1 must report all earnings to WotC and pay a ''25%'' royalty fee (or a "paltry" 20% if using Kickstarter as the medium, WotC's "preferred" platform for crowdfunding) for all such content. To make matters worse, this OGL was to be thrown at most relevant parties in such a manner as to give them as little as ''one week'' to sign on the included contract. Way to piss off an entire online fanbase by unleashing a grip tight enough to make [[Games Workshop]] jealous. The only reason this particular plan didn't play out exactly as described is due to the honorable, well-intentioned efforts of several WotC employees who leaked OGL 1.1 ahead of schedule.

Then again, they were still making a mint off the [[Magic the Gathering|cardboard crack]] through all of this, so in hindsight we should have seen this coming. It also goes to show that WotC can't seem to genuinely learn from their mistakes, as this is playing out even more poorly than their attempt to alter the OGL during their disastrous 4th edition ventures. At the very least, thanks to an insider leak, we know they [[Capitalism|only see customers as an obstacle to their money]].

Due to the near universal backlash OGL 1.1 faced due to the leaks, WotC attempted to backpedal, claiming 1.1 was [[bullshit|merely a draft]] of the final product (despite having sent it to various 3rd parties with a contract included). Their apology was filled to the brim with fairly typical corporate condescension, gaslighting and handwaving; the new OGL 2.0 will be rephrased in a way that doesn't "scare" the community while protecting WotC's assets and interests from being preyed upon by [[what|larger corporations seeking to exploit their IP]]. It takes a special kind of small-dick energy to be intimidated by companies that don't even make 1/100th of their annual revenue, but then again, this ''is'' Hasbro we're talking about.

This open revolt led to more allegations coming out from current and former employees, including insanity like AI DMs for their proprietary VTT and intentions of ramping up the subscription prices while cutting back on perks for any tiers below the absolute top (which includes banning ''homebrew'' of all fucking things). Most damning of all is the intent for selling [[/v/|fucking lootboxes]] because Hasbro's CEO was under the delusion that the game "was undermonetized". All of this came out in the wake of a massive wave of folks cancelling their D&D Beyond subscriptions, an upset so massive that WotC tried to pull a fast one and hide the unsubscribe button, and the news merely poured a healthy dousing of gas to an already raging fire. For the record, WotC has denied everything about this except for carving apart all the books to make microtransactions, because they're banking on all those sheep still buying all the parts from their favorite books.

Another response was made about a week later that was written by the Executive Producer of D&D, one that wasn't nearly as condescending to the community as a result of the above rioting. This post promised to forward a review copy of the new OGL, one that the public can scrutinize, criticize, and ridicule as part of their desperate ploy to stop the massive bleeding wound that they inflicted on themselves. Only time will tell if they actually acknowledge the feedback listed in the surveys that they put forth or if this is just yet another pantomime to placate the fans until the heat dies down, but by this point many have already made their choice.

Ironically, WotC's intention to revoke/replace the original OGL 1.0a has spurred a significant number of its former contributors and competitors to unite under Paizo's banner to create the "Linux" of RPG Licenses referred to as the Open RPG Creative License (simply, and perhaps appropriately, referred to as the [[Orc|ORC]]). The ORC, being drafted by several of the original authors behind the OGL 1.0a, is intended to be explicitly and unmistakably irrevocable, perpetual, and once established, owned by a non-profit 3rd party so that it cannot be altered or managed by an individual/group whom might be tempted to modify the terms for personal profits. <s>Paizo is also expressly ready to defend OGL 1.0a's status in court, though it remains to be seen if it'll get to that point.</s>

In the end, Wizards of the Coast cancelled the update from 1.0a and made the announcement that it was here to stay for good, [[FAIL|after weeks upon weeks of losing every shred of goodwill trying to push the change.]] Thanks to the headwind from people abandoning the system, their biggest rival Paizo experienced record growth, all the while the community talks about boycotting the upcoming movie. Whether people will forget about this come D&D Beyond or not, who knows? What we do know however is the effect that the community has on a fanbase, and how one [[Matt Ward|Wardian]] move can cause so much harm. They're still going ahead with 5.1 SRD though, so keep watch on that.

==External Links==
* Drive to Work, episode 40 (the Wizards of the Coast episode) ,[http://media.wizards.com/podcasts/magic/drivetowork40wizardsofthecoast.mp3].
[[category:Publishers]]

Open Game License

2023-01-27T20:20:59Z

2600:1700:D1D0:2220:6098:D106:A51F:9B9D:

Introduced by [[Wizards of the Coast]] with [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition]], the '''Open Game License''' is a [[copyright|copyright license]] for [[RPG|TTRPGs]]. It rips off of the GNU Public License that made open source software so ubiquitous. The idea is that you can make [[splatbook]]s and derivative works without paying hefty royalty cheques, so long as you don't pass yourself off as "official" support material, and you let other people make stuff derived from your stuff. Plus US courts have held you can't copyright game rules, only the words used to describe them, so you don't actually lose that much.

Giving things away for free, even if it means you get truckloads of new content you didn't have to hire writers for, and it gives your product most of the market share, is still scary to execs and suits, so Wizards of the Coast "improved" the Open Gaming License in 2008 to the "Game System License," which allowed developers to use D&D trademarks like beholders, but forces them to stamp their products with WotC and D&D logos, and WotC can change the rules at any time without notice, and if they decide to sue someone the target agrees to pay the legal fees up-front. Understandably, authors said "fuck that noise" and stuck with the OGL.

Eventually Wizards realized (translation: copied from the greedy fucktards at [[Bethesda]]) that you don't have to pay writers to make lots of supplements if you let fanboys write them for you and take a hefty slice off the top, so in January 2015, they released the [http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/SRD-OGL_V1.1.pdf Systems Reference Document] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] under the OGL v. 1.0a containing just enough for supplement writers to write 5e-compatible books and created the [http://dmsguild.com/ Dungeon Master's Guild], which allows developers to use D&D trademarks (and settings like [[Forgotten Realms]]) but with Wizards taking '''''half of all revenue''''' and reserving the right to steal your shit to sell ''again'' as [[/v/|DLC for their licensed vidyas.]] This means that Wizards has successfully introduced the concept of paid mods to tabletop gaming, and this time developers seem to have taken the bait. At least you can tell them to fuck off and just use the SRD, even if it's the absolute bare minimum to work with.

When you use the OGL, the stuff that you don't want copied and passed around has to be explicitly stated (See definition 1e, and item 7 below "Product Identity".). Since Wizards retained all trademarks that can possibly refer what the hell something is supposed to be based on or compatible with, "OGL" also sees use to refer to what a system ''is''. This ''would'' be confusing, but the exact nature of the OGL means there's no real reason to use it over a very similar but legally distinct license if the product isn't ultimately a derivative of 3E D&D or, more rarely, d20 modern.

== Version 1.1 ==
{{HurfDurf}}
{{skubby}}

{{topquote| A couple of last thoughts. 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 [[Paizo|they]] won, and [[Wizards of the Coast|we]] lost because [[Bullshit|making your voices heard forced us to change our plans.]] [[What|Those people will only be half right. They won—and so did we.]] |Wizards of the Coast, trying to cover it’s tracks}}

In late 2022, an update to the OGL was leaked, no denial was forthcoming just a "coming soon Jan 13th 2023" ([[Just as planned|of course it was going to come out on Friday the 13th, the bastards)]] and it looks like Hasbro/WOTC is perched to shit the bed.
[[Games Workshop|The siren call of rent-seeking can only be abjured for so long]]. Among the [[Derp|improvements]] in this leaked document are:

* Revoking OGL 1.0a. Already-published stuff won't get retroactively changed, but after January Hasbro's lawyers won't respect new material published under OGL 1.0a.
** This is despite the fact the OGL specifically states it's perpetual, so [[Skub|this will go well in court]] because while WotC is absolutely going to try and argue perpetual =/= non-revocable, a good number of countries that aren't America (most notably the majority of the Commonwealth countries) have precedents to the opposite (mostly in the form of a perpetual lease for land, either way the use of "perpetual" in contracts has long been interpreted to be almost identical to making it non-revocable).
* "Commercial" and "Non-Commercial" versions. [[Fail|They literally state if you get paid by "your brother doing your chores for a week" then you must use the Commercial version.]]
* If you make gross revenue over $50,000 in one year from your combined OGL stuff, you must [[Blam|voluntarily]] give WOTC a copy of your ledgers for them to audit. [[Wat|They call this "leveling-up"]].
* If you make gross revenue over $750,000 in one year from your combined OGL stuff, [[Money|you gotta give Hasbro 20%-25% of whatever's above 750,000]]. Note the use of ''gross'', not ''net'' - that means it's taken before factoring in expenses, meaning that Hasbro can cuck you out of being able to pay to manufacture what got you to this level of revenue in the first place.
** This is the part of the OGL that have people rightfully worried that this is anti-competitive, which is even more serious than the aforementioned attempt to revoke a perpetual contract. [[Cyberpunk| Though given how many monopolies and oligopolies have cropped up in recent times]], [[Grimdark | Hasbro could easily just lobby out of it...]]
* WOTC owns the copyright, trademark and patent for anything licensed by OGL 1.1. So do you, but if you're good enough then Hasbro spins up the printing engines (or grants the license to any of their partners) and you get to compete against them, good fucking luck.
* No more software, not even a form-filling PDF, "games and supplements in printed media and static electronic file formats" can be made without Uncle Wizards' permission. Among the formats they explicitly name as no-go are: videos, games, novels, apps, graphic novels, music, songs, dances and [[Wat|pantomimes]]. [[Cegorach|Yeah, fuck mimes amirite?]]
* WOTC can revoke your license at any time. The license states that this is mainly aimed at "bigoted and other brand-damaging content," but considering how anti-competitive the rest of the license is and how these criteria are not spelled out, it effectively means they can revoke your license on a whim. [[SJW|Have a squeaky clean supplement but say mean things about Hasbro on twitter? They'll find an excuse to get your content pulled.]]
* Much of the new license is written from a very [[Fifteen views of Asscrack|Amerifat]] perspective and relies on clauses that are outright illegal in actual first world countries (and even a number of supposedly third world ones). See below for an example:
{{Topquote|Additionally, You waive any right to sue over Our decision on these issues. We’re aware that, if We somehow stretch Our decision of what is or is not objectionable under these clauses too far, We will receive community pushback and bad PR, and [[Bullshit|We’re more than open to being convinced that We made a wrong decision]]. But nobody gets to use the threat of a lawsuit as part of an attempt to convince Us.|Wizards of the Coast, failing to realise that a large number of countries have significant restrictions on contracts enforcing one party to waive the right to sue the other, to the extent that including such a clause may [[Fail|invalidate the entire contract]].}}

To nobody's surprise, plenty of third-party publishing houses are jumping ship, having a fire sale on their D&D-related stock and looking for alternate systems to write for, if they're not deciding to make their own games. Companies that don't make D&D content but do publish under the OGL 1.0 are experiencing their own dilemmas about how to move forward, whether it be ditching the OGL altogether or scrapping together their own licensing (whether it be making their own or seeing how Creative Commons can be applied). You can just smell the "I told you so" smug coming off [[Paizo]] right now.

Well, that smugness only amplified tenfold when Paizo broke their silence and announced that they'd be collaborating with a number of fellow RPG devs to create their own '''Open RPG Creative License''', a system-agnostic license which would keep the spirit of OGL 1.0a alive that's not owned by Paizo or any of the other collaborators, but by a law firm that's had history representing publishers and has a co-founder who helped create the damn OGL...until they find a suitable owner to take it open-source similar to how Linux operates. And to top this all off, it's also been shortened to '''''[[Orc|ORC]]''''', which might be mere coincidence, but there's no way any neckbeard savvy enough would pass up the obvious jabs made.

Because who knew that people wouldn't just accept your forced attempt to make them pay you. Surely, they wouldn't just jump ship to the numerous other alternatives already existing? [[Warhammer Plus|It's not like this has ever]] [[4E|happened before in recent memory, right?]]

As expected, [[FAIL|WOTC backpedaled in the most limp-dicked fashion imaginable]], claiming that they're changing the new OGL to be less suffocating but not removing the clause that says they can change the agreement with 30 days' notice (meaning the changes mean jack shit since the original plan could just be reinstated the moment people forget), all while crowing that this was a win for both them and the community. The community was not convinced and, following reveals of more bullshit Wizards was trying to do behind everyone's back, grew even more riotous.

=== Version 1.2 ===
A week after that shitstorm another PR apology came forth, this time from D&D Executive Producer Kyle Brink. This one didn't try to frame this all as some "misunderstanding", citing a couple major examples that wouldn't be affected by the OGL as well as proposing a draft copy for all of the public to view, scrutinize, and provide feedback on. On one hand, they managed to give ground on all the fees and mandatory earnings reports and have confirmed that certain core rules for the game are protected under the Creative Commons license and thus can never be grounds for lawsuit. On the other hand, there are still issues with the proposed license.

The concerns for this are several: The first is the whole VTT hill they're insistent on dying on, with several of the proposed restrictions being nonsensical (You can have macros to calculate things like the damage that [[Magic Missile]] does, but [[What|any visual elements that can't be replicated on the dinner table]] - codeword for any special visuals for spells, which is something most VTTs can't even support - are not considered protected under the new OGL, nor are any licensed images) and reek of trying to prevent any competitor VTTs from providing a better experience. The second is the terms for what they consider "harmful and hateful content", and we don't mean [[Racial Holy War|obvious shit]] like [[TSR#Since WotC's Buyout|someone trying to use a trademark you used to own to promote some really stupid racist shit]] or NFTs made from opportunistic grifters that aren't Hasbro. Without clear explanation on what qualifies as "harmful and hateful content" (to say nothing about how the definition can change in the blink of an eye as a result of any perceived [[SJW|cultural forever wars]]), it gives Wizards free reign to cancel whatever they see fit without owing any explanations to the affected parties - all because this new OGL being allegedly penned to protect their brand from such content. Of course, this is all on top of the great issue that Wizards can, at any point of their choosing, opt to cancel out any concessions they make by drafting a new version of the OGL since they've clearly stated their intent to cancel the 1.0a OGL and any content made once this version becomes official must use it.

Even this token effort at appeasement is under suspicion, though, as the promised way to comment and critique the proposed OGL changes ''still'' has to pass through the same system that D&D Beyond is built on, meaning surveys, and as such has '''zero''' transparency. Which is to say, if fifty thousand people voted for WotC to shove the new OGL regardless of the changes, then what's to stop them from saying publicly that, golly gee, fifty thousand folks thought the changes were swell. Yeah.

<s>Whatever the ultimate result, the effects of needing to change it at all have already eroded a massive amount of trust people have had with the company, and there's no doubt that the upcoming [[One D&D]] will only be seeing a fraction of the fan support its predecessor had.</s> They surrendered to fan demand and shut off the entire changing the OGL thing, cowering back into Hasbro's offices like a [[Troll|troll]] to a cave to figure out a Plan C.

== Version 1.0a ==
<blockquote style="border: 4px #000 double; margin: auto 0; padding: 0 10px;">
'''OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a'''

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.

<ol>
<li>Definitions:
<ol style="list-style: lower-alpha;">
<li>"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content;</li>
<li>"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted;</li>
<li>"Distribute" means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute;</li>
<li>"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity.</li>
<li>"Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content;</li>
<li>"Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor</li>
<li>"Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content.</li>
<li>"You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.</li>
<li>Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.</li>
<li>Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.</li>
<li>Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.</li>
<li>Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.</li>
<li>Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.</li>
<li>Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.</li>
<li>Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.</li>
<li>Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.</li>
<li>Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.</li>
<li>Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.</li>
<li>Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.</li>
<li>Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.</li>
<li>COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.</li>
</ol>

System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
</blockquote>

Unfortunately, this is going to be replaced by <s>the cashgrab that is 1.1</s> the half-assed appeasement that is 1.2. We'll likely retain this for posterity, to remind us of what was lost.

== Parts of D&D that are not Open Game Content ==
* The brand names "Dungeons & Dragons," "D&D," "d20 System," nor "Wizards of the Coast," Duh. That means you [[Fail|can't say "compatible with Dungeons & Dragons" nor "uses the d20 System," you have to use some bullshit like "compatible with popular fantasy role-playing games wink wink nudge nudge."]]

<blockquote>''The following items are designated Product Identity, as defined in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, and are subject to the conditions set forth in Section 7 of the OGL, and are not Open Content: [[Dungeons & Dragons]], [[D&D]], [[Player's Handbook]], [[Dungeon Master]], [[Monster Manual]], [[d20 System]], [[Wizards of the Coast]], [[d20]] (when used as a trademark), [[Forgotten Realms]], [[Faerûn]], proper names (including those used in the names of spells or items), places, [[Underdark]], [[Thay|Red Wizard of Thay]], the City of Union, [[Ysgard|Heroic Domains of Ysgard]], [[Limbo|Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo]], [[Pandemonium|Windswept Depths of Pandemonium]], [[Abyss|Infinite Layers of the Abyss]], [[Carceri|Tarterian Depths of Carceri]], [[Hades|Gray Waste of Hades]], [[Gehenna|Bleak Eternity of Gehenna]], [[Baator|Nine Hells of Baator]], [[Acheron|Infernal Battlefield of Acheron]], [[Mechanus|Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus]], [[Arcadia|Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia]], [[Celestia|Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia]], [[Bytopia|Twin Paradises of Bytopia]], [[Elysium|Blessed Fields of Elysium]], [[Beastlands|Wilderness of the Beastlands]], [[Arborea|Olympian Glades of Arborea]], [[Outlands|Concordant Domain of the Outlands]], [[Sigil]], [[Lady of Pain]], [[Book of Exalted Deeds]], [[Book of Vile Darkness]], [[beholder]], [[gauth]], [[Carrion Crawler|carrion crawler]], [[tanar'ri]], [[baatezu]], [[displacer beast]], [[githyanki]], [[githzerai]], [[mind flayer]], [[illithid]], [[Umber_Hulk|umber hulk]], [[yuan-ti]].''
—System Reference Document 5.1, Wizards of the Coast</blockquote>

Yes, they seem to have trademarked "Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo" and even Gauths, like seriously out all the interesting and not so interesting beholderkin the only one they decided to trademark was the puny insignificant Gauths? Really makes you wonder what the the guys who wrote the OGL were smoking.

== Works that use the OGL ==
This is not a complete list. Also, all of these use 1.0, so expect this list to be ''severely'' truncated once 1.1 puts on the chokehold and people jump over to the way-less-vulnerable-to-corporate-bullshit ORC.
* [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition]]
* [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] (just barely enough content to attend one Legendary Encounters session)
* [[Pugmire]] by Onyx Path Publishing
*"[[Spycraft]] 2.0"
*"[[Pathfinder Roleplaying Game]]" '''FIRST''' Edition by Paizo Publishing
*"[[FATE System|FATE]]" aka [[FUDGE|Fudge 3.0]], "[[Spirit of the Century]]", by Evil Hat Productions
*"[[Diaspora]]" by VSCA Publishing
* [[Microlite20]]
* [[Prime Directive d20]]", "Prime Directive PD20 Modern" by Amarillo Design Bureau, Inc.
* The [[Book of Erotic Fantasy]]
*"Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss", "Koboldnomicon" by Bards and Sages
*"[[NeoExodus: A House Divided]]" by Louis Porter Jr. Design
* "OGL Ancients", "OGL CyberNet: [[Cyberpunk]] Roleplaying", "OGL Horror", "OGL Manga", "OGL Steampunk", "OGL Wild West", all by Mongoose Publishing
*"Ave Molech" by Morbidgames.a
*"Nuisances" by Skirmisher Publishing LLC
*"True20 Adventure Roleplaying Game", "Mutants & Masterminds" by Green Ronin Publishing
*The Black Company' Campaign Setting by Green Ronin Publishing
*[[Exodus]]" by Glutton Creeper Games
*"[[Empyrean|d20 Empyrean]] by Broken Dreams Games
*[[World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game]] by [[White Wolf|Sword & Sorcery studios]] -- ''but it's out of print, so who cares?''
*[[D6_System#OpenD6 |OpenD6 system]]

==See Also==
*[[SRD]]

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]