Don't Stop Posting About the Open Gaming License

I am a small D&D content creator and I am really worried about the future of Dungeons & Dragons.

"Trust not wizards bearing legal documents." - Merlin... Probably.

If you are not caught up here is what is going on . About 20 years ago, the company that owns D&D, Wizards of the Coast, realized that they were never going to stop people from selling third party content for their game so they made a brilliant business move. They released the "Open Gaming License" (OGL). It is a legal document that lets third parties use some of Wizards of the Coast's intellectual property so long as they a) include the license in their work and b) stick to using only the property allowed in the license.

The reason this was such a good business decision was that it helped Wizards of the Coast keep third party content legally distinct from their products while also allowing getting them TONS of free marketing and dissuading all of the clever little game designers who liked D&D from just making their own games and vastly increasing competition. It was also a pretty good deal for third parties. They got to keep making D&D content without having to fight legal battles or get degrees in intellectual property law. Basically, a win win.

Then, last month, we found out that Wizards of the Coast was planning on "updating" the license and a new version was leaked. It was really bad. The leaked license included a corporate bucket list of money rules that would have killed the community around D&D. After a lot of backlash where people unsubscribed from D&DBeyond, loudly blasted the company online, and generally stood firm in the face of overwhelming corporate gaslighting, Wizard's backed off slightly and released a "playtest" version of their new "Open Gaming License 1.2".

At first glance, it seemed ok. A lot of the issues that the D&D community had with the leaked version were removed or watered down but on a deeper read, the core issues with the leaked version remained. Here are three problems with OGL 1.2 that I consider to be the main issues and they are the reason I am worried about the future of D&D.

(Just a quick note, for a more thorough breakdown, I HIGHLY recommend reading Noah Down's article on the subject.)

OGL 1.2's Main Issues

1. Wizard's can cancel the license over "Hateful Content". There is no appeal.

I don't have an issue with this conceptually. I don't believe there is any place in TTRPGs for racism, misogyny, homophobia, or being an asshole of any kind. But when you read this section of OGL 1.2 it states that Wizard's of the Coast gets to be the arbiter of what is hateful. That is an issue. It essentially gives them carte blanche to shut down anyone they dislike and call it hateful.

Would they do it? Maybe. Frankly, I don't want to give that power to an organization that has, historically, put short-term profit ahead of the interests of the community.

So what is the solution for this one? It is just my two cents but I think that they should form an independent board that exists outside of Wizard's to adjudicate those decisions. Wizard's can come to the board, say "Hey, we think this is hateful." If the majority of the board agrees, then the license is cancelled and everyone (except for the hateful asshole) is happy. I am sure there are members of the community who would be happy to volunteer to sit on such a board. The only rules would be, no one who has had their license cancelled for hateful content and no one with financial ties to Wizards or their parent company.

2. The Virtual Table Top (VTT) exceptions do not go far enough and leave a lot of beloved tools out in the rain.

One of the more controversial aspects of the leaked license is that it essentially banned any "non-static" content. OGL 1.2 kind of addresses that but it leaves an important part out. What happens to searchable databases/random generators/non-static non-VTT tools like Donjon, Kobold Fight Club, and even my own monster and magic item tools? Those are not static as far as I can tell, they would not be allowed under OGL 2.1. These are tools that we, as DMs and GMs use everyday when we do session prep and in game.

So what is the solution? Remove the part about "non-static" content. The justification used by Wizard's is that it was to prevent people from minting NFTs based on their intellectual property (something which rings a little false given that they had plans to do the same exact thing last year) if that is true, just say "no one is allowed to make D&D NFTs" and be done with it. I am sure they will claim that this is also protecting "the brand" from whatever horrible future technologies their fellow capitalists will come up with but frankly, I don't see how trading "never being able to use an online treasure generator again" for "never having to be annoyed some stupid picture mimic" is worth it.

3. Despite using the word "irrevocable" it is not, in fact, irrevocable nor does it state that they will never charge royalties.

This is the big one. The way that OGL 1.2 is framed makes it seem like they can never take it away or charge third party creators royalties but reading the actual text of the document reveals quite the opposite. There are several loopholes which would allow them to revoke the license or documents which the license references that do not fall under the same rules as the license itself (such as the VTT policy). This makes OGL 1.2 inherently unstable. If third party creators cannot rely on an OGL to shield us from corporate greed then we cannot safely continue to make content.

Solutions? Close the loopholes and place the documents they refer to into the creative commons or within the protections of the OGL itself.

There are a LOT of other issues with this license and I encourage you to read through it and take part in the discussion around them. Especially the issues surrounding what they are entering into the creative commons.

So What is the Headline All About?

Wizard's is also planning to release a survey to solicit feedback on the new license. I encourage all of you to go fill out that survey and let them know that we need a truly open license. But I also want you to go farther than that. We have only gotten them to back down this far because we, as a community, have flooded their social media channels, phone lines, and unsubscribe queues with our demands.

KEEP DOING THAT!

They might own the intellectual property but they don't own the game. We do. Everyone who gets together with their friends to crawl through a dungeon or explore a new world with nothing but some imagination and dice. Everyone who homebrews a magic item or comes up with a new idea for a monster. You all are the beating heart of this game and without you it would disappear into nothing. You have defeated Dragons and Terrasques and Liches. Compared to that, what are a few wizards?

#opendnd