When it comes to the tabletop RPG world, there’s Dungeons & Dragons, and then everything else. Indeed, Dungeons & Dragons’ market dominance is so complete that you could argue that most D&D players don’t even realize that there is an alternative – similar to Pokemon and its imitators. .
However, in recent weeks, the owner of the D&D Wizards of the Coast franchise has done almost all it can to scare away players and partners who favor it – and according to a report, it obviously took one final wave of unsubscribes to convince the company to reverse course. So what is the source of the conflict, and why are so many loyal D&D fans so willing to turn to lesser-known rivals like Pathfinder and 13th Age? As usual, it’s about money and market dynamics, and for many D&D players, it can be a case of too little, too late.
humble beginnings
When Dungeons & Dragons was introduced in 1974, it was the world’s first commercial tabletop role-playing game, and it took full advantage of that. While some things have changed over the years, D&D has always captured a large portion of the market, and its 5th edition (now almost a decade old) has seen an explosion in popularity. greatest popularity in the venerable history of this hobby. Late last year, when Wizards of the Coast announced a sequel to 5e, titled “One D&D,” some fans worried that Wizards would take a more exclusive approach to licensing D&D content. third-party to increase revenue for parent company Hasbro.
The main agreement that defines the relationship between Wizards of the Coast and third-party content creators is called the Open Game License (OGL) and it is at the heart of this controversy. For most of D&D’s history, third-party companies have been allowed to create modules, monsters, and other unofficial content for the existing D&D rule set without paying Wizards licensing fees or any other any other compensation. However, when stores like Comic contacted Wizards of the Coast in response to these rumors, Wizards said that OGL “will continue to grow” along with the One D&D rules, which only fueled the flames of conflict.
The real controversy started when io9 report on a leaked draft of a new OGL. Called “OGL 1.1,” the deal will “de-license” the original OGL, place new restrictions on new third-party content and require companies to pay 25% royalties to Wizards of the Coast on all sales in excess of $750,000 per-year markup. The draft immediately received a negative global response from players and third-party companies, who denounced it as a power grab from the biggest player in the space.
backlash
It didn’t take long for the tablet community to react to Wizards of the Coast’s surprising intentions. A group of third-party publishers brings together #OpenDND The campaign, called Manuscript Wizard, was an attempt to “dismantle” the tablet industry. The open letter describes Wizard’s conduct as “anti-competitive” and “monopoly”. It also says the draft OGL is designed to “crush small businesses” a fraction of the size of Wizards of the Coast, which has already raked in more than a billion dollars in revenue by 2021.
While only a handful of companies create enough D&D content to qualify for royalties, the proposed OGL has introduced many other negative provisions that could make even the most modest of hobbyists also not satisfied. First, it includes language that can grant Wizards a license to use any third-party D&D content for any purpose without paying the creator. The previous OGL “de-licensing” proposal, if implemented, would put hundreds of old modules and rule sets for sale in legal jeopardy. This will cause headaches for companies like Pathfinder publisher Paizo, which may have challenged Wizard’s attempt to revoke the settlement in court.
Before Wizards could put together their own response to this leak, many of the most notable tablet RPG publishers revealed sweeping new policies. Kobold . Press. Wizards’ unpopularity. Notable 5e content creator Matt Colville says he will also create his own system. Finally, several major RPG companies, led by Paizo, announced the Open RPG Innovation License, or ORCis intended as a permanent and irreplaceable replacement for the old OGL.
Backlash to Backlash
Wizards of the Coast finally responded to the controversy in mid-January. However, while it declare covering all the premises of the company, it did not extinguish the fire – rather the opposite. In a post on D&D Beyond, Wizards admitted that the OGL draft is indeed legal, and that the new draft is motivated by a desire to support content creators and designers rather than “large corporations”. “, apparently referring to Paizo and his associates.
The statement also indicated a desire to remove D&D content from “hateful and discriminatory products”, as well as shut down those who attempt to create D&D and NFT blockchain games. While both of these moves are widely supported by the current tablet community, they are seen by many as a cover for Wizards’ profit-seeking behavior.
Wizards of the Coast further added that the new OGL will not contain any controversial provisions in the draft, including the royalty structure, reverse licensing agreement or “deauthorization” of previous OGL versions. there. While this is good news for the RPG community, Wizards added that they and the community “win” as they always plan to “gather community input before any update to OGL.” .” It goes as far as to state that the leaked drafts were an expected part of that review process, a strange claim that round as a measure to save face for the company.
At this point, it’s unclear how exactly the tablet community will react to this new statement from Wizards or any other OGL drafts that may emerge in the coming months. report from Gizmodo suggested that a fan campaign to unsubscribe from D&D Beyond in bulk was what ultimately led Wizards of the Coast to abandon its plans, rather than public pressure from content creators or publishers. another company. Regardless of whether the Wizards followed through on their promises, you could argue that the damage was done, as key partners like Kobold Press abandoned the ship.
Make no mistake: Even if this controversy continues for months and Wizards of the Coast keeps firing players, D&D will still be the number one board role-playing game. The company’s dominance in the industry is such that it can overcome even a major blow like this. However, the vision Wizards has of the future of RPGs, where D&D controls the entire market forever, doesn’t seem feasible. Instead, the hobby’s long-term trajectory is likely toward fragmentation, with many players preferring indie RPGs produced by companies even smaller than Paizo.
As a hobby, board games have a relatively low entry cost–all you need are a few dice, a few books to share, and your imagination. In fact, you could say it’s one of the best attributes of the hobby. Wizards of the Coast seems to want to create a future for D&D where you pay dearly subscription fee for resources and services that other games offer for free, from character boards to its own proprietary virtual tablet software.
While D&D may always be the biggest player in the TRPG industry, if Wizards continue in this direction, players will eventually realize that there are better deals elsewhere. Most of the TRPG community seems to agree that it’s not a healthy approach for the long-term viability of D&D or TRPG as a hobby. Unfortunately for D&D players, it doesn’t seem like anyone can really stop it – except perhaps Wizards of the Coast themselves.
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