Thank you! OGL and D&D Update (Jan 28th 2023). RPG Creator/Designer Thoughts!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- As I said in the video, I really just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for the support, kindness and understanding shown in my last video. And another HUGER thank you for everyone who gave feedback to Wizards, filled in the survey, shared info and generally, helped make the very positive result yesterday happen!
Big love to you all!
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Little Addendum RE the OGL 1.0a and SRD Creative Commons! Please Read! (PINNED COMMENT)
A few folks have pointed out to me that whilst the SRD 5.1 being under Creative Commons means we can make 5th Edition D&D Content freely now, there is still a chance that Wizards will amend or try to revoke the 1.0a OGL (they have said they won't but we shouldn't take anything like this at face value) and that WILL affect content made for older editions of D&D and possibly games built on/around it (citation needed on that second bit).
This is a great point, one I overlooked because I don't make published content for those editions but a lot of folks do! Sorry about that!
I'd love to see those editions Basic Rules/SRDs added to Creative Commons as well (I played a ton of 3rd/3.5 and 4th and liked parts from all of them), OR the 1.0a OGL modified to be 100% irrevocable and perpetual without question.
Definitely agree re previous rules/SRDs being put into a CC license Especially the 3.5 SRD.
to play a little bit devil's advocate here (dw, i'm not advocating anything remotely close to their previous attempts):
i never want a legal document to be unchangeabe, or at least not unammendable
let me explain
something written with even the best foresight in the world can't always account for the future, even if it seems completely benign and fair
a law written in the 1800s for example could hardly account for let's say the internet, and might suddenly screw over the very thing it was trying to protect
new loopholes, exploits and other unintended abuses, even if only through ambiguity (language changes over time, and it's easy to loose meaning), can easily come up
basically i'm all for keeping the ogl 1.0a and protecting it, just maybe we should be careful with our wording as well when we try to do so
hope this can add to the discussion in a constructive manner
And the OSR use stuff from the OGL to keep even older TSR editions alive
1. they cant actually revoke this whole thing. if it goes to court they will fail.
2. i would be rather careful. they can pretty much empty the SRD 5.1 from content and on top dont CC the next version (6 or whatever it is) and fuck everryone from behind.
I think with the 5e being put in CC removes any reason for WotC to deauthorize the 1.0a OGL since 5e is the edition they care about. Moving forward they will probably not add to the SRD so 6e/One D&D will not likely be put under an open license, but i think past editions should be safe.
we all love you Mark, glad to see you well rested and happier.
Now please promise us one thing:
Make Trott's life a living hell no matter what ruleset you use
Always.
Dear Mark. In regards to how you said you did not expect this much support to your channel.
You have spent years making a community, it does not matter how rarely you upload. You have already made the D&D community a better place by your contribution.
Unite we stand, divided we fall, always has been, always will be.... 💜💜
As we all know - you never split the party.
Our Battlecry will never be forgotten. An Untold army Unleashed against Impossible odds.
General Kenobi!
For real though, seeing the backpeddling from Wizards over this made me happy, yet cautious. I imagine they'll see the scars of this for a while...but at least it has been rectified.
The scars don't deserve to go away. Wizards, and the rest of the industry needs to know that it's the community that makes this hobby, not one publisher.
I'm really excited to see so many new PF2 players having just started driving into it just before all this kicked off.
@@pnlrogue1 I won't single out PF2 but will say that I'm glad people are FINALLY actually checking out other RPGs in general!
@@JacksonOwex absolutely and I'm personally really pleased to see so many new PF2 players as well as looking forward to seeing what Black Flag is like
Thank you Mark for being a level headed voice in all this. It is good to have, even as we come out of the storm WotC kicked up this month. And it is good to see you well. You and High Rollers have been big inspirations for my own DMing, and I am glad that is much safer now. So I look forward, finally with a bit of hope, to what the year has in store. Cheers, Mark!
Aww thank you so much! Means a lot to hear folks refer to me as a level-head, having done a lot of Community Management and always striving to listen and be fair and kind, its good to know people feel that way about me! :D
Well put Kale, I second this. High Rollers is an inspiration for me and my GMing too. Mark really comes across as caring, a good listener and level headed.
You and the HR crew are the reason I play DnD … I’m so glad the out pouring of support helped you … stay healthy Mark looking forward to the end of aerios and the start of campaign 3
They listened. This is a win.
Stay vigilant.
Thank you, Mark. ♥️
We won the battle not the war. I find it hard to believe they're just going to 100% give up on this. They'll try something else.
@@042Decoy true, but I win so rarely that I'll take this.
@@kohakuaiko what a mood
Happy to hear that you gotten some good rest, could tell the joy of spreading this new for friends who had lots of concern of D&Ds future - all is well in the end.
Looking for the positive future ahead of us this year.
I can’t wait to see your system!! I have such respect for you as a GM and storyteller. When you publish it I will absolutely build you a giant shrine in my game store!
You again put into words exactly how I’ve been feeling about all this. 😊💙💚💜
Thank you!!!
Great news and glad you are doing well! I’m excited for the future!
Glad you're doing better! This whole thing has been such a nailbiter, and even though there's still a need to be vigilant, it's nice to breathe a sigh of relief that I don't need to take down my DM's Guild content or stop selling journals! Take care of yourself; you've always been such a positive force in the community!
1000% this. Vigilance is key, but man we all deserve a fucking break and a bit of relief from worry. Thanks for the support, Kate! Love your stuff!
Thank you Mark for all content you make. Hoping for your TTRPG one day.
One day! I've got some of the basics locked down, but it's always going to be the details (things like equipment, spells, magic items, monsters, etc) that take some time!
Glad to hear you're feeling better. It's amazing how cathartic putting something genuine out there can really feel. Thank you for the update!
You encapsulated exactly how I've been feeling about the sudden shift from yesterday. Definitely hard to entirely quit completely but also impossible for me to just forgive and forget at the moment.
I get it bud. Stay vigilant, but let's at least relax and enjoy the win for now.
For me this feels like a Pyrrhic victory, we as a community won in keeping the OGL 1.0a. There was a major cost, in our trust of WOTC, and damage done to the community and by the community. Even with my own group, some just didn't care others were strongly of the opinion that WOTC had the right to change the OGL how ever they wanted, going so far as to blame the layoffs on the OGL drama.
I can see that for sure. Gaining the CC on SRD is a win for creators, but I definitely wouldn't say the whole thing was "won". Like I said in my last video, just feels like everyone lost. We just managed to salvage a little ground at the very end.
I have so much love and respect for you. You're an amazing person and DM. Your presence in this community is a warm and positive thing.
Well done and thanks for being one of those helping provide our community with a voice. Glad to see you feeling more upbeat, stay well 👍
Appreciate the support, thanks!
Mark, thank you again for being such a level headed voice in the storm of opinions. I’m excited to see what you create, as you are a major inspiration to me in my own work as a GM. After the big Mighty Nein announcement Wednesday, I’m also eagerly awaiting a certain sorceress making her animated debut!!!
Glad you are doing better!
Thank you! I am very much!
@@SherlockHulmesDM Remember, self-care is a thing! (And an important one at that! You can't help others if you're stretched too thin to care for yourself!)
Although this has been an awful, fraught time, it seems to have been the catalyst for lots of people to take the leap into making their own systems, which is a good thing. I'm so glad that WotC saw sense (whatever their reasonings may have been) and so proud of the community for fighting together to achieve this win.
Same!
Glad you're doing ok! Whatever you choose to do in the future will be great
Honestly having so many folks tell me they didn't care what system I ran, or what content I made they would support me was something I really, really needed to hear. It's been a HUGE help for my mental health in general, beyond all this OGL stuff.
Barely four minutes in but I'm just so so relieved to see Mark happy and healthy.
He's back, baby! Step aside and let the GM do his do!
We are here to learn and be guided. We trust you because you have shown us that you deserve that trust. Integrity is hard fought and easily lost. You've shown us the strength of your conviction and the love in your heart.
That will not be forgotten.
Now, let's get that new system going cause I can only learn so many. Love you!
Glad to see them seeing some sense. Hopefully this won’t happen again but as this isn’t the first time they’ve tried to screw their community over who knows… I hope this allows for some serious growth for the TTRPG community. Good luck to all you players and GMs out there in these trying times.
Great video. We support you Mark. I look forward to seeing your ideas for a new RPG. I can’t wait to see more of your game mechanics for difficult non-combat tasks like winching the sails or turning the knobs in the right order. I also enjoy it when bad guys run away when they know they are going to lose. Anyway, keep up the great work. 😊
If Knights of Eveningstar has proven anything, it’s that you have a good mind and a keen eye from taking parts and pieces of several different things, smashing them together and making gold appear out of scraps. Keep up the great work. That show has showed me just how talented you are at your craft. Thank you again and as always please keep up the good work.
Glad to have this update from WotC. I think the main thing they have achieved with all this is that many of us have opened our eyes to other systems and worlds beyond D&D. I'm excited to see the Highrollers bringing their chemistry to other TTRPGs & settings off the back of this. Much love
Very well said. It is a good sign that Wizards backed off from their initial plans, but as you pointed out, the leadership that thinks that D&D is undermonetized and has it's future in more digital assets and video game-like resources are still there. Seeing how they handle the next edition will be quite telling I think, as well as what they do with D&D Beyond.
As always, take care. :)
Thanks for the update Mark. So glad to hear you’re feeling better about things 🥰
You are in good company, sitting in uncertainty as to how to proceed-- and in your position as someone who is planning on creating their own TTRPG to better suit your paradigm for fantasy roleplaying design and gameplay, as well. I, personally, am not quite going so far as creating an entirely new game, but I'm well into creating a hack for (or a massive revision of) 5e D&D which will revamp the majority of the player and DM-side systems, as well as add on additional systems and subsystems on top of it for the sake of creating a more rich and diverse gameplay experience. As someone who similarly comes from a background of homebrewing 5e and expanding what the basic game's system puts in the DM's hands, I very much look forward to seeing what you'll come up with, and what sort of new RPG world we and similarly minded people can bring forth in this new era of freedom and openness that has come with WotC's capitulation.
I'm so stoked with this update. Your video was the first i saw on the matter and it really opened my eyes. I'm glad this seems to have a happy ending.
A happier ending maybe, but definitely still cautious about WotC does next! Excited for NEW things though and hope more folks try out different systems and games still!
You got me DMing Mark. Its great to see you hopeful and motivated and I can't wait to see what comes next for you!
If I've helped bring more DMs to the table and helped people discover this hobby I love, I am a happy, happy, person. Appreciate the support!
Thanks for everything Mark!
Watching High rollers Curse of Strahd really opened my eye to running modules as your own story! This is what truly allowed me to settle into the role of a forever DM for the last 5 years. I have an now graduated to running my own stories, and the high is like no other.
@@SherlockHulmesDM Same! Nights of Eveningstar brought me back to D&D, and I wouldn't have gotten the courage to start DMing if it wasn't for your show. I still just run pre-written modules, but I've definitely been inspired by some of your customizations for NoE (especially your crit rules). Thanks for all you've done for the D&D community!
It so good to see you looking and feeling better. :) I thought it was good to express your feelings when all this was happening. And with such reserve. Something we all needed during the weeks previous. Thank you so much for showing us a calm we all need as we move forward. HUGS!
It's good seeing you up and going again mark.
And can only agree while my group will stick to 5e. We'll look to third party stuff and trying out other systems.
Again thank you for putting your thoughts out there and for us to keep vigilant
much love and respect brother
Thanks for covering this!
The White Walkers have retreated, and we have built the Wall. Now we join the Night's Watch, ever vigilant to their further advances
Not a Game of Thrones guy, but I think I get the reference. XD
When people talk about earning trust back, I'm not sure what WotC could do at this point. They completely backed down. I think that deserves praise, because without that companies won't be incentivized to make fan-demanded U-turns like this.
There's a world where they're still so harmed by this reputationally, that it ends up being a bad move for the company and they never make a U-turn again. We don't want that world to exist.
I mean, sure, keep a watchful eye. But listening to the community deserves praise, even if the issue was self-inflicted.
I hope to see a lot more of your wisdom advice and personality on TH-cam Mark.
This has left me very wary of platforms Wizards control. I won't be buying digital content on d&d beyond for example but if they make a good book then I might buy it but it will have to be really good the bar is high Kobold Press, ghostfire and others make really good product and there are other games I want to try. So wizards need to invest a lot of effort and make really great stuff. And if 6th edition isn't open I think I'll skip it.
Thanks again Mark, see you soon.
I know that I won't be supporting first party content for The foreseeable future.
But for better or worse base 5e is open to all now.
Totally fair. Outside of something I had already agreed to do before all this (can't talk about it yet) I am in the same mindset. So much great 3rd Party Content, so many great systems out there to support.
More clear and measured thinking from Sherlock! (with credit to same from Ginny Di). Thanks for presenting wisdom to the storm!
Hey mark letting you know, that i can clearly hear your hand gestures against your table. Had a few shock moments wondering who was knocking on my walls :D
Great to hear you are doing better! And great video as always. Personally I’m hopeful but guarded, I’m still going to run my Netherdeep campaign and my Masks of Nyarlathotep game but I’m prodding at Runequest and setting up a roll20 for it mostly as a vision board 😀. Hope to see you at empire again you were very nice when you shopped at our Varushkan Night market stall
🎊 So happy to see you feeling more confident, We all love you Mark, Personally I'm in the same place on the whole trust, Love the game, and am willing to be convinced to try new editions, but yeah, will continue to vote with my wallet if they don't show me something worth while.
Just got here! showing love!
" Hello there! " Well, hello... we got the HIGH ground!!
So glad to hear you're doing better, Mark!
I have so much respect for you. You are such a valuable and well-spoken member of this community. I love how you keep it real, sharing both your worries and your hopes and acknowledging the things that we will only really know with time.
I for one, would be happy to watch some mini-campaigns using different RPG systems on High Rollers. Also, you making your own game system is really exciting! From seeing your homebrew creations during a High Rollers, it is always super inventive and cinematic. Your boss fights especially stick out in my mind. Having the PCs gain stacks of a special effect, unique to the character of the boss, as the fight goes on and requiring certain actions to remove those stacks and/or spend them for an advantage in the fight is just... *chef's kiss*
I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavours!
Very well said mark, much love to everyone in the community
I dont play dnd but you shut makke more vidoes or dnd live vidoes
Glad to see you and hear you are well. Play on! :)
Me and my friends are moving over to Pathfinder 2e. Personally, I hope people never forget the language that was used to try and push out the OGL 1.1 and 1.2 as I’m sure they’ll use it again later. Being “good stewards” of the game and throwing out every social justice cause they could to try and monopolize and control the core mechanics of a game and forcibly shape a community and the content they were allowed to create.
More important than any other aspect of these videos is the trust that I and everyone else in the HR community have of you Mark. We believe you aren’t jumping on the band wagon of the scandal and that you have no ulterior motives. That totality of trust is earned, and you should be proud of both what you’ve done and how you’ve done it. Thank you.
Thanks Mark for using your voice to support the community and other third party creators. I really appreciate your videos have been focused on clearly communicating what was going on and setting out your views without engaging in hyperbole. Thanks for being such a great person in TTRPGs.
I'm so happy you are feeling better. I love everything you do, and look forward to seeing what you come up with.
You are one of the few creators I genuinely love. Thanks so much for your words and actions in this community.
You should do more vids always love to hear your voice
- Hello there!
- General Hulmes!
Shoutout to the community for REFUSING to back down at any opportunity, and continue pressuring WOTC for the sake of 3rd Party creators everywhere.
I tried the link for discord but it said it wasn't valid. I am not sure if it is patreon exclusive. Could someone please let me know? Thank you. Also is your high rollers content on youtube?
Thanks for letting me know, I'll look into it and fix it. And yes, you can find Highrollers here; www.youtube.com/@HighRollersDnD
Thanks for being willing to so earnestly share your thoughts and feelings on all this! For smaller creators like myself, it really helps ease the nerves! Very grateful!
Hey Mark, would you be willing to share some of the mechanics you dislike about D&D and what you might look for instead with a different system?
I think as I get further along with my system, I'll make videos and share my design philosphy and approach in some videos which would include this kind of stuff!
The situation is certainly improving and thats good but i will probably never go back to fully trusting Wotc after how they spoke about the community.
Honestly if you make your own system, id happily playtest (as would all of the community if i had to guess). We'd support your choices no matter what stupid decisions some corporation makes.
Out of curiosity how has this affected high rollers campaign 3? Any plans to use a different system or your own?
For HighRollers it's still something we need to decide. Some of the players aren't as involved in the industry as me and only really know 5th Edition, so a new system would be a big change for them. They've said they are happy to do whatever works best for me, but I also want to do what's most fun for them. :P So eternal cycle!
I think at least now we have lots of options! We're going to try some different systems in mini-campaigns over the next year or so. I'm going to work on my own game. I think Campaign 3 may remain 5e, but it will be a shorter campaign than Aerois or Lightfall, so maybe by the end of the year we'll begin to transition to something else for the next campaign or story arc in that world.
The TH-camrs were the generals of this battle.
Oh for sure, but I don't think I was one of them. Maybe more like a Lieutenant following the General's orders. :P I think Linda's article of Gizmodo, the third party publishers who said NO to the sweetheart deals and leaked the 1.1 OGL document, and the legal experts like Noah, were the real stars of this whole thing. They brought so much to light, they sounded the Horn of Gondor.
I’m a bit shocked they actually acquiesced. Makes me so curious about how devastating the monetary losses must’ve been. I still don’t think the lost trust will/should be given back and that it’s a good time to just try out other systems.
Awesome work from the community!
I imagine it was a battle on two fronts for them; with the fans/community attacking them from without and their own employees attacking from within.
I'm sure that you and a lot of people creating things under the OGL or for D&D are breathing a sigh of relief now. I too am surprised at how quickly and completely Wizards backed down off this. It's not behavior normally seen in large companies. Due to the fact that the community, players and creators alike, all came together with an uncompromising No to the changes and hit them in their profits. Much like yourself, I thought we were in for the long haul of them trying to give up as little as possible to satisfy people into accepting the changes, even if they didn't like them. For them to say 'Okay fine, you win' is a big shock, especially given their earlier attitude. And the fact that they put all of the SRD under Creative Commons, essentially giving it all away and removing the ability for them to do this again for SRD 5.1 is especially surprising. But I think the minimum they needed to do for the community to even start to trust them again. They've shown that just saying 'Trust us bro, we won't take advantage of you' isn't going to cut it anymore when they say something, then back back door in clauses to get around what they said in the same document. So all in all, surprising and unexpected, but welcome.
But we're still not going to just trust them fully and we're going to watch every move they make like a hawk, deservedly so. Their intentions to further monetize D&D and their brand is something I am sure they aren't going to give up on. They just realized that going about it this way wasn't going to work, and they would lose more than they gain. At least we know that existing and future content for 5e is safe from their meddling. But that doesn't mean they won't try something similar when OneD&D/6e comes out. In fact, with 5e reaching the end of it's life cycle I think that may be why they were so willing to give it up to the Creative Commons license. Because they don't intend to use it going forward.
This is pure guesswork on my part, but I have a suspicion they might try to go full 4e on us with One D&D. They might abandon the idea of making it backwards compatible with 5e, making enough changes that they can publish a new SRD and OGL to go with it. At which point, the community will have less ammunition to fight about 'changing' the OGL since it will be a new one. That's still a dangerous game for Wizards to play though, because people could just decide not to play the new version and stick with 5e, or create Paizo-like spin off companies.
But then again, a lot of companies are already doing that because of the OGL 1.1 leak. Once again, they created their own competition as a number of companies recently announced they were going with plans to produce their own core game system. And making a point that it would be open for others to create with. I think that Wizards had to make this decision now, or suffer a major loss of interest over the next couple of years as these new, more open games came along. It remains to be seen if Wizards actually learned a good lesson from this, or are just planning on waiting longer to try again with the new version.
I just keep thinking “if only they just put the SRD under a CC from the start before all this OGL de-auth rubbish”. People would be ecstatic, but once bitten twice shy
I was feeling really good about this until I heard "We don't need the OGL anymore." My stomach sank to the floor as I realized people apparently still don't understand how important the OGL is and that by releasing everything under Creative Commons, they still have a shot at convincing people not to fight for it the next time they try to remove the OGL, the only thing standing between them and whatever their goals are.
It’s great to hear that you’re doing better and I’m really looking forward to potentially seeing one shots in other systems. Any chance you‘ll look into anything Cthulhu or Warhammer related? Somehow the idea of seeing the HR crew in either of those settings is absolutely hilarious to me.
Warhammer Fantasy RPG is gonna be our first mini-campaign! Tom and I have played a few sessions of it and really like it! And I got the CoC Starter Set at Pax Unplugged so definitely want to run that as well!
@@SherlockHulmesDM I couldn't have asked for more. Really looking forward to this. And cheers for the reply.
Things are quiet. Too quiet. I would like to check for traps.
Stay vigilant, but the SRD CC move has a lot of folks making Perception checks and it LOOKS pretty good! If nothing else, thats a great win!
Oh, and additionally, something you have mentioned before is that different systems are good at different things. Like dnd 5e being a good system for making fantasy super heroes. Vampire the Masquerade is good for making a story with occult themes and personal horror, etc.
Maybe that would be a good video, or series of videos, that you could make? Maybe with collaborators too, if you want to bring in someone more knowledgeable for a particular system and go through its pros and cons.
General kenobi
Mark : "Hello there."
My first thought : "General Sherlocki..."
Nice to see you doing a bit better though, in all seriousness, Mark. Last video was kinda heartbreaking.
What great summary of the experience and situation. Thank you.
A silver lining for me in all this has been finding and subscribing to your channel. I love your kind, generous, yet grounded perspective. It is good to have videos like this to signpost the history of what happened here. I have seen this cycle before in the decades playing the game and the role of the watchful participants is key.
Like you, I had thought this would play out over months or longer. I would not have been surprised if courts got involved. I thought that WotC had more bark than bite legally, but was afraid they’d force it to the test. I’m glad they didn’t, hope that it’s at least in part because of those on the inside who saw the risks of legal failure, and hope they will put internal learning in place to help them break the cycle of corporate forgetfulness of where the value lies.
Only time will tell. Tonight, we celebrate.
i definitely feel like we arent out of the water just yet. We have to continue to hold WOTC accountable, or else it WILL be tried again.
Absolutely agree. It's why I am staying vigilant, doing my own thing but staying connected to D&D as a game and will work with WotC as a creator to try and prevent or minimise damage like this from happening again.
@@SherlockHulmesDM No matter what the future holds for you, I will continue to watch and support. I don't watch your content because I like DND, I watch it because I like you.
Not convinced they'll try this again. A company doesn't take the kind of beating WotC just took, do a 180 reversal, and then wait two years, rinse and repeat.
The only way I see that happening is if so many people leave D&D anyway, that they just have to milk the cow a little before it dies. Which if that's the case, that's very bad for all of us regardless.
Come over to Savage Worlds, we've got lots of room. 😃 But, seriously, I wish you the best of luck with your channels and content. I really felt for you and you were right about not taking our anger out on the non-WotC creators. I'm glad for all of us that they changed. And it goes to show that competition creates a drive in the whole community to create superior content that sells more than someone else's content. But, I am going to be a fanboy tool who buys their 50th anniversary D&D books next year. But that might be the end of my association with WotC. And I do not trust them.
I need to check out Savage Worlds, I've heard good things!
@@SherlockHulmesDM I'd be willing to run a virtual game for you and some friends. Let me know... I just ran for BSer Con and last fall for the Hollerween 3 con. All virtual.
For a lot of small time content creators like myself I really was debating what to do over this. I new my players are comfortable with 5E but I was not comfortable giving any money to Hasbro/WOTC anymore. The SRD move is great and keeps some really awesome and beloved choices like Tieflings and Dragonborn protected from copyright which is amazing.
I came to the conclusion that I would continue to play 5E with my players and the story we are telling. The focus being on moving away from Wizards and towards smaller publishers like Kobald Press who have made some awesome stuff. As well I have joined the flood of others who bought Pathfinder 2E and will give it a go.
In the past I have played a number of different TTRPG and my worlds are mine and I usually arch away from the D&D world gen games. I really love Evil Hat's Fate game as it is more RP driven but that is strictly something I enjoy for the simplicity. Given all of that thank you Mark your commitment in this space is fantastic and I look forward to seeing what you might create.
Great video Mark.
That is all.
Well said yet again! The groups I play in were already experimenting with other systems (Gary Gygax's Lejendary Adventure & a purely homebrewed Old West themed game based on the Desperados CRPG), but we were planning on moving back to D&D 5e for our next campaign. We decided that in spite of the stunning reversal yesterday that we are still not willing to reward their bad behavior, and for now we're going to give PF2 or Cypher System a shot next. Our campaigns typically last for 1.5-2 years, so we'll have plenty of time to evaluate where WotC goes from here.
I know this isnt the best forum for it, but you mentioned using this scare as a reason to explore new systems. I'd love to put forth an RPG named Fabula Ultima. It's a TTJRPG, based on all the best JRPGs you know and love. Its flexible, and really REALLY enjoyable! I'd love to hear your opinions, or see the High Rollers crew take on it!
I'm going to do what I've always done: check out new content, if I like it, I'll buy it, if not, I won't. I've never just bought anything from Wizards because they made it. If WOTC wants my money, they'll have to earn it. But I am looking forward to the D&D movie and hope that all TTRPG fans will go to it. If it's good, we might get more, if it's bad then we'll have more to complain about. Don't let this unpleasantness cause you to knee jerk reject it. Sword & Sorcery films are rare and D&D films are even rarer. Don't let your spite for the company spoil your enjoyment (hopefully) of this movie.
Alta Capital, a hedge fund and institution investor, publicly criticized WOTC and Hasbro over this mess two days ago. That's the Real Money, and just like the swift turnaround after the Beyond cancellations hit WOTC, again only took action when the money talked.
Only this time it was the Real Money, so that action was not glad-handing BS. This is real and substantial action, but I still would not call it a win.
WOTC cut its losses. It can afford to do this _because it will not be relevant soon._ The plans for the next edition, and the pivot out of the tabletop RPG business, has not been changed at all. The next edition will still be Game-as-Service, still take all that Beyond is about and doubling-down on it, still aiming to gut or remove human DMs, still has Network Effects in its favor- and thus still has every reason to believe that Normies will sign on to New D&D when it is launched and leave 5e behind, especially if it is even more convenient and easy to play.
_Nothing_ happened until the money talked. _Nothing_ of substance happened until Real Money talked. Popular complaints did NOTHING.
At the end of the day, all of this debacle seems to come from someone at WotC believing that the future of D&D is VTTs, especailly their 3D VTT with animated spells and micro transactions like a video game.... And it makes me wonder. Do they actually have metrics to estimate that or just a belief ? It reminds me of Joe Quesada at Marvel Comics insisting that Spider-Man had to be single and couldn't possibly be with Mary Jane.... It turned out to be just a belief by this creator and one that, at the time, was heavily criticized by fans. Since then, they made great things with that character, but those great things they made would have still been possible with a married Peter Parker.... So, going back to d&d, ultimately, are VTTs the future of D&D ? My belief is that it's not, and that Wotc is making a huge mistake in banking that it will be. Although, VTTs will have their place and part in the game, the core of the game (and even the brand) will always be a group of people throwing dice around a table ; most d&d players won't want their d&d campaign to become a video game. I like video games, but when I play a TTRPG it's to experience something that I don't find in video games.
I had wanted to watch your original video when it first came out, Mark. I feel bad that I didn't, and couldn't offer support when you needed it most.
I guess I could make an excuse; I've been dealing with the news myself, and didn't want to have to hear more of the sins Hasbro and Wizards were committing with smiles on their faces, and how it was hurting content creators I've come to respect and enjoy listening to.
But the fact remains that I didn't offer support, then. All I can do is apologize.
I'm glad to hear you're doing better. Often, we are at our best after we tell others we are at our worst. (That's catharsis, in a nutshell.) And I find that you have explained my viewpoint on DnD very well. This system is what introduced me to this world--_you_ introduced me to roleplaying. It wasn't Critical Role, not Dungeon Dudes. It was you and High Rollers. (And I owe you a debt of gratitude for that, which makes my inaction, however slight, feel worse in retrospect.) It inspired me to DM my own campaign with a Destiny-based setting (thanks, Velvet Fang for brewing up the system) that uses 5e mechanics. And hearing Wizards attempt to pull another corporate bid for money, while disguising it as defense against NFTs and rivals, was depressing--but it gave me the realization that it's not Wizards that you and I support when playing 5e; we are supporting the game itself and the community that's grown around it.
Yesterday was a victory for fairness and justice, but we shouldn't let our guard down, now that the top brass at Hasbro have explicitly shown their true intents that overshadow the well-meaning people working under them. And extrapolating on what you said, we need to hold them accountable whenever they try anything else--and punish their wallets when they overstep their bounds. We can only hope and pray that in time, Hasbro will eventually filter into the hands of those that truly care for the community--and balance the need to make a living off of it, too. (Not an easy prospect, I know.)
Thank you for keeping faith, Mark. Thank you for holding out. God bless.
If you haven’t yet please check out Mouse Guard! It’s such an over looked rpg, but it’s amazing in its simplicity! It’s cute, but don’t be fooled - we who’ve seen Secret of Nimh or An American Tail know… ^_^
WotC thought they were playstation, now they find out, they are "Eldenring". they are not the platform, they are the game. They pretty much cracked the high fantasy - heroic style formula. I hope that this change in the community brings out new games for other formulas. like low fantasy - adventure style (Lord of the rings esque). Or science fiction - Crew of a ship style (star trek) or sci-fi-fantasy - Rebels against an empire style (star wars). many systems did really good attemps, but none have cracked their genres like D&D did theirs. So my hope is, that with all the creative people now spreading their wings, we will find the other games that can really deliver on our "platform" TTRPGs.
Hey Mark! Im going to ComicCon this year but I'll miss your show on Friday. Just wanted to say youve been an inspiration to me as a DM and learning from your DM style has been an enriching experience for me. Best of Luck at ComicCon, hope all goes smoothly, Its gonna be a Cracker!
The power of a community. ❤
We’ve seen it with Sonic the Hedgehog. Now we’ve seen it with DnD. Good job everyone, perhaps the little guys can make a difference after all
I intend to keep playing my existing 5e games as-is, but moving forward I doubt I'll be buying into the Wizards products. As someone who likes homebrewing for my own players and has entertained the idea of posting some of what I've made for others to see, I can't support a company who's willing to do what Wizards attempted to do.
As you said, my faith in them has been shaken and I can't go back to how it was before. It's time to move on and find other games to play.
I'm glad Wizards backed off and I'm glad the SRD is in the Creative Commons. That's not enough for me to come back right away. It may never be enough.
A great, thoughtful video!
One of the best things to come out of WOTC/Hasbro's attempt to decommission OGL 1.0a is people looking at other games to see what other experiences are out there.
Another one is a lot of 3rd party creators & content creators looking to develop their own systems. Diversity is a strength when we look at communities. Different people come with their own experiences and perspectives.
By welcoming them into our communities and bnuilding our communities to support them, we grow and become better versions of ourselves. A lot of indie creators have different backgrounds, often marginalised in different ways. Their experiences and perspectives influence their game design which make for more empathetic play experiences.
There is a probability that many people who railed against the Ampersand Corporation's attempted changes will be mollified by their capitulation and go back to playing D&D. But I'm hopeful that some folks will branch out, and find a new game that teaches them something about themselves and others.
I hope that creators' content exploring non-D&D & indie games gets as much presence on platforms as D&Drama did. I know I will be hunting for it from creators with renewed vigor.
One important thing I want to add (& the main reason I'll still play some 5e, although not as much as pre this shit show) is that them making this right can't be for naught. If this backflip from wizards to safeguard at least the SRD 5.1 (so that we can always make 5e content) makes no impact & everyone just leaves it sets a very bad precedent.
In these situations, we always hope that a company will do the right thing and change their minds. But if they can point to this to prove that reversing course doesn't do anything, they aren't going to. It would make them look weak/admit they were wrong & they still won't get anything out of it. No sane company would do that.
Now we shouldn't completely forgive Wizards. We need to remain vigilant to ensure nothing nefarious is going on behind the scenes, but burning the bridge with D&D & Wizards seems like it will have some unfortunate consequences.
It's a damn shame it took WotC self-immolating to achieve what's technically a net positive. Everyone else has pointed this out, but they accidentally made Beholders, Mind Flayers, and Strahd von Zahrovich Creative Commons. So we actually got a little extra. But at a hell of a price.
Damn I'm happy for the D&D community and the power you have shown!
I just hope you don't forget that it is MONEY that talks... And that there is plethora other RPG games out there to try out.
Really glad you r doing ok.
I want to take this for what it is
...but I have a strong suspicion they are going to have a plan b. Trust is finite, and mine is exhausted.
I understand the suspicion, I am the same. But I can sleep a bit easier knowing that under CC, the 5.1 SRD is pretty much untouchable as far as I know. Which means we can use it, and do what we want with it. So WotC needs to CONVINCE us to play their next edition, to use their new OGL. And that is going to be a hard sell, so they gotta work for it.
@@SherlockHulmesDM I hear you, it helps the community not one bit if an exodus occurs, infact it may well play into their alternative plans.
Mainly tho I am just glad to see ppl like yourself getting a little respite. It's been awesome to see you guys taking the moment to make a leap to other things, diversity can only be a good thing, and will force WotC - HASBRO to work smarter , hopefully.
I kept thinking that my neighbors were banging against the wall, but when I noticed my cat wasn't reacting in the slightest And then I realized it was in the video. I am notorious for bumping my mic when I record or hitting desk--glad I am not the only one!
Fantastic videos btw! I am new to your channel because of the the OGL debacle.
I'm not going to believe someone who says they won't change something after they said they would change it after they said they wouldn't change it. WotC lost A LOT of good will.
At the very least, I'm glad you're uploading again. I became aware of you only a few years ago and I love everything you appeared in. Based on your knowledge and insight, I put you up there with mcdm. Looking forward to experience your thoughts more often if possible. Thanks for both of these videos!
Once again, you've summarized my thoughts/feelings very well. Thanks Mark!
Thank you for being a voice of reason in the Chaos. Thanks to you and Ginny I feel able to make an informed choice that is right for myself and the group of Critters I have the honour to DM for. We are for now staying with 5e but, as you said, Wizards will have to convince us to move to One D&D when it is published.
We're all in the same boat, and trying to go through my late sister's (and DM) notes on her game world/campaign setting and adventures and publishing them. So I will probably remove D&D content all together!