Spin gets a lot of flack, some of it deserved, but this sounds like solid insight.  If you're an amateur who just wants to get published, or you're a new writer hoping to establish a reputation the OGL ain't that bad.  If you're established and/or successful I'd think twice or thrice before using it.

Quote from: estar on January 13, 2023, 03:59:40 PM

Quote from: hedgehobbit on January 13, 2023, 09:46:14 AM
This is one complaint about the new OGL that I don't understand. If you release content under the current OGL 1.0a, then that content is Open Gaming Content which means that Wizards of the Coast and everyone else on Earth can copy your open content and sell it themselves. So the OGL 1.1 is only spelling out what is already true.

And I find it a big hypocritical to complain about WotC having a perpetual, royalty free right to copy your material without your permission while simultaneously arguing that you have a perpetual, royalty free right to copy D&D without WotC's permission.

You are missing the part where if Wizards did that, their resulting work would have to open content as well. Which mean I and everybody else would get to copy and remix that content ourselves.

I don't think that's right. Under v1.0a, they aren't required to open anything except other people's open content and derivatives of that.

And WotC *did* do that twice. For example, the Monster Manual II for 3E featured two monsters from White Wolf's Creature Collection, but nothing else in MMII was open content. They made very clear that the *only* open content in MMII was those two creatures.

Quote from: Reckall on January 13, 2023, 08:43:52 AMIt is only our beloved Spinachcat in action after finally being potty trained The discussion between adults can now resume.

Gotcha. You're literally too fucking stupid to understand business realities.

Not a surprise. You've always been drooling retard on this forum.

Just wait for the 6e release. Whatever WotC wants signed, will be signed. Not by the "big names" who MIGHT be able to survive Palladium Books style via their own fanbases, but certainly by the guys on DriveThru cranking out the "101 New Elf Feats" and "Dangerous Dungeons #124"

Quote from: Mishihari on January 13, 2023, 04:24:55 PM
Spin gets a lot of flack, some of it deserved, but this sounds like solid insight.  If you're an amateur who just wants to get published, or you're a new writer hoping to establish a reputation the OGL ain't that bad.  If you're established and/or successful I'd think twice or thrice before using it.

Or if you're neither but feel an innate revulsion at the tought of being some megacorp's bitch.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 13, 2023, 10:00:13 AMI don't think you will get any bragging rights from WoTC stealing your shit unless they credit you in some major way. Which they don't have too.

It doesn't matter if WotC credits you. It would be nice, but not necessary.

You know you published your magical new "orc" monster on Day X. When WotC steals it and publishes your "orc" on Day X + Y, then you have the bragging rights - with proof - to crow about in regards to all your future marketing.

Your social media sig becomes "D&D author who created the Orc. Follow me for more Orcs"

Quote from: Spinachcat on January 13, 2023, 10:50:20 PM

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 13, 2023, 10:00:13 AMI don't think you will get any bragging rights from WoTC stealing your shit unless they credit you in some major way. Which they don't have too.

It doesn't matter if WotC credits you. It would be nice, but not necessary.

You know you published your magical new "orc" monster on Day X. When WotC steals it and publishes your "orc" on Day X + Y, then you have the bragging rights - with proof - to crow about in regards to all your future marketing.

Your social media sig becomes "D&D author who created the Orc. Follow me for more Orcs"

This is correct.

Quote from: Mistwell on January 13, 2023, 10:00:38 AMThat doesn't make WOTC not a bunch of assholes for trying to de-authorize what came before.

Woketards of the Coast have been total assholes for years. This is just them shitting on the most productive part of the fandom. It's absolutely an asshole move, but that's the perks of being the 500lb Gorilla in a marketplace. RPGs are a tiny pond and they're the only big fish.

Plenty of employers suck and devour their employee's creativity and efforts for very little compensation. WotC is just upping the ante and having their "volunteer authors" get paid zero from WotC for the pleasure of being mistreated by WotC.

It's not nice, it's not fair, but it's reality. And if anyone doesn't like that reality, they can just not write Approved D&D products and try their luck in the wilderness with the rest of the rogues.

 

Quote from: tenbones on January 13, 2023, 10:32:55 AMPeople want to play TTRPG's in a traditional manner. I know very few GM's that actually want to do VTT's to the degree that WotC is proposing, because that's not really what TTRPG's are about - they're proposing a videogame with "DM assistance" (plus all that monetization)... which is really a clunky videogame. Meanwhile, for us, we're going to have the run of the place, with the responsibilities to curate the TTRPG experience based on our own products.

The successs of OneD&D's digital walled garden plan depends on data we don't have. Perhaps WotC does have the data. They are clearly not interested in older fans nor traditional gamers, and perhaps that is because they are stupid and just chasing the dream of digital dollars OR it's because they have the data about GenZ gaming preferences.

Unless we can somehow access the data on the digital player base (especially their spending behaviors), we won't know why Woketards are betting so heavily on VTT D&D.

Quote from: Spinachcat on January 13, 2023, 10:50:20 PMIt doesn't matter if WotC credits you. It would be nice, but not necessary.

This is what I disagree on. I think the "bragging rights" as to having made something that WOTC can just toss into it's books somewhere won't really serve as a strong attraction to anything else you had made.

WotC can also just make thier own Orc content as well., at which point my "bragging rights" are pointless.This feels like a suckers option. So yes, most people but still.

Quote from: Spinachcat on January 13, 2023, 10:50:20 PM

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 13, 2023, 10:00:13 AMI don't think you will get any bragging rights from WoTC stealing your shit unless they credit you in some major way. Which they don't have too.

It doesn't matter if WotC credits you. It would be nice, but not necessary.

You know you published your magical new "orc" monster on Day X. When WotC steals it and publishes your "orc" on Day X + Y, then you have the bragging rights - with proof - to crow about in regards to all your future marketing.

Your social media sig becomes "D&D author who created the Orc. Follow me for more Orcs"

I can't imagine literally anyone caring about that.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 14, 2023, 08:17:13 AMThis is what I disagree on. I think the "bragging rights" as to having made something that WOTC can just toss into it's books somewhere won't really serve as a strong attraction to anything else you had made.

I'm still bragging that Hero Games used an idea of mine for Champions 2. And that was 40 years ago!

Quote from: hedgehobbit on January 14, 2023, 10:38:06 AMI'm still bragging that Hero Games used an idea of mine for Champions 2. And that was 40 years ago!

Exactly. Getting fan content into a main release is generally pleasant. Primarily when you're actually credited. It's another if that's your job, and your given a cease and dissist as property vampires eat your stuff.

I basically agree with Spinichcat that 'This sucks, nothing we can likely do about it and sheep are gonna continue being sheep'. But I don't agree with his '-And here is how thats a GOOD thing!'.

Quote from: Bruwulf on January 13, 2023, 10:43:12 AM

Quote from: tenbones on January 13, 2023, 10:32:55 AM

People want to play TTRPG's in a traditional manner. I know very few GM's that actually want to do VTT's to the degree that WotC is proposing, because that's not really what TTRPG's are about - they're proposing a videogame with "DM assistance" (plus all that monetization)... which is really a clunky videogame. Meanwhile, for us, we're going to have the run of the place, with the responsibilities to curate the TTRPG experience based on our own products.

That's always sorta been where I am. I don't "get" the VTT craze on a fundamental level.

I've played RPGs online for years. I remember playing Rifts in a chat room back around ~2000, I even played play-by-post Star Wars D6  before that on fricking Prodigy of all things.

I never needed the VTT crap. And trying to deal with that shit just takes up time and is frustrating and limiting.

But then again, I'm also not one of these GMs that invests in hundreds to thousands of dollars of elaborate 3D terrain for battle maps and has a stable of hundreds of painted miniatures. When I use them at all - and I don't, always - my battle map is one of those erasable vinyl grid maps that I sketch a scene on quick. My miniatures - for the most part - are glass craft stones in various colors for mooks and a few random things for more serious/unique encounters.

D&D is not my arts and crafts outlet, basically.

So maybe I'm the wrong market entirely, but I know more GMs like me than the alternative, by a long shot.

Here is where VTT is super helpful. You and your players all have families and busy lives. You don't have time to create a setting and adventures, they don't have time between sessions to do much on D&D either. You find an adventure path you like from WOTC (and despite claims to the contrary there are actually quite a number of good adventures from them these days, and some stinkers, and it's not that hard to discern which are which).

So you access the adventure on D&D Beyond (if you want), and you buy it for your VTT of choice (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, Foundry, etc..). Players make their PCs on D&DBeyond as well, making the same choices as always but seeing all options you've approved for your game (including homebrew ones) so they have the full array of options in front of them rather than spread through dozens of books.

And the VTT does all the hard stuff for you. Every map, every room, every object, every player handout, every picture you might want to show your players, every monster, every NPC, all terrain, ALL of that is neatly placed automatically for you in the VTT. And it's all placed on the right layer so for example your players don't see a monster unless you click it and move it from the GM layer to the player layer if it's hiding or something. And it's all properly traced so that shadowing and darkness and light sources will all properly function, and all light sources are programmed in there so a torch casts bright light in X radius and dim light in Y radius and that's what that particular player can actually see unless there are other light sources, with objects like pillars properly blocking light as well.

So when it comes to game night, the only thing you need to do is plop your PC's avatars into the game. Even their character sheets from DNDBeyond will automatically move over with the Beyond20 free Chrome tool. Every spell is programmed to function with the touch of a button, every weapon, every skill, all of it is mapped properly.

And all of this is tweak-able for you if you want. You can easily change out challenges or treasure or even terrain and draw new stuff on it, in advance or on the fly.

But all the fiddly stuff is just taken care of for you. All that stuff that seems minor but can take hours to do right. And your time can be devoted to just playing.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 14, 2023, 11:36:19 AMI basically agree with Spinichcat that 'This sucks, nothing we can likely do about it and sheep are gonna continue being sheep'. But I don't agree with his '-And here is how thats a GOOD thing!'.

It's a "good thing" if you're remotely interested in putting out content for D&D, I guess. Since IDGAF about D&D beyond B/X or AD&D and haven't for many years, and have zero plans to do any publishing for the system, it's pretty much irrelevant to me. There was a whole little cottage industry of dopey $1 kewl-new-race crap type stuff on DMs Guild for the longest time, and I always thought it was sort of retarded because anyone who actually runs games could figure out something as good, if not better, in about five minutes. BUT the reality is 99% of the mouth breathers who play D&D literally do not care about making up anything unless it is approved by WotC. No amount of bitching on a messageboard with maybe 100 active members will change this undeniable fact: PEOPLE ARE LAZY AND WANT TO BE TOLD WHAT TO PLAY. If WotC comes out with D&D: The Retard Edition, you can bet your ass it'll be the only game in most stores that still even sell RPGs, regardless of how stupid it is. That is reality.

So, if you interpret "good thing" in the way the average moron does, then yes, any sort of acknowledgement of your stuff being used by WotC might actually be the ultimate payoff. It sucks for anyone unwilling to play along, though.

Quote from: Mistwell on January 14, 2023, 11:45:11 AM

But all the fiddly stuff is just taken care of for you. All that stuff that seems minor but can take hours to do right. And your time can be devoted to just playing.

... Why am I, the GM, there, then? If everything is done for me, what is my role?

On a very, deeply fundamental level, what you are describing is not the roleplaying hobby I am a part of. It feels like you're explaining to me why TV dinners will help me cook dinner every night.