this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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So, part of what it seems like they were doing was setting up their new license to begin restricting smaller creators and groups from being able to create premium content for their game system without paying exorbitant fees to WotC.
Also if they create a "preferred" VTT system or environment that they own, only release official content to this system, they kill other VTTs that their audience is already using, and push them all to their software. Notes from meetings with WotC and Hasbro all began to sound like a big push to add microtransactions to a tabletop game and corner their audience into spaces where they will get a piece of any profit being made related to D&D, which is a far cry from the open and collaborative license that we had all enjoyed up until recently. It is all just scummy corporate bs and I'm not going to give them any more of my money until they stop.
Whats VTT, virtual table top? Like a companion app to support playing sessions? Sounds like they were more open regarding custom content than they legally had to in the past and now they are taking these grants away from the community? Like using official content and names in custom adventures and selling them?
Yeah, a virtual tabletop, which due to covid, have exploded in popularity over the last few years. What it really feels like in the community was that between the "Golden Age" of D&D 3-3.5 and even the "Dark Ages" of 4th edition, the publishers at Wizards of the Coast at the time had intended to license most of the ability to make and create content for D&D and share it openly and the original Open Games License at the time was written such that it couldn't be revoked and that content for D&D would be able to be created and shared openly. The new OGL being pushed by WotC attempts to retract the previous license and includes language that states that WotC owns or has rights to any and all content published for D&D by third party homebrewers, and any profits made up to a ridiculously high number made by third parties was owed to WotC, which is a complete 180 from the previous OGL and many people were rightfully angry about it.
Thank you for explaining!