One of the things WotC has in its favor is that it owns D&D the label, and that there are now .... let's count:
ChainMail
OD&D
Advanced D&D
BECMI
AD&D 2.0
D&D3
D&D3.5
D&D4
D&D5
That's about nine versions. Yet they fundamentally make money on generational turnover: another bunch of grade and high schoolers reach the RPG demographic and someone buys them "the latest D&D". No one is going to wade through nine previous versions of D&D and figure out which one they want to use, not before a large amount of the "new gen" is on whatever re-splat they've published.
RE-generationalizing actually doesn't dilute the brand anymore, it actually increases and sustains it paradoxically.
I'm glad there will be a legal battle over it, might formalize it more for the neckbeard people that kind of are the foundation for RPG across generations. OGL doesn't really do anything for grassroots people. This is a fight between corporations.
Also, is the OGL/SRD just for 3.0 mechanics and stat blocks? I would think it would be effortless for WOTC to simply re-license at any generational break, which they've already done themselves about 3.5 times (yuk yuk).
I mean, what is needed by the community at this point? Just the rough Gygax notion of dungeon, elf, dwarf, orc, goblin, dragon, undead, cleric, wizard, Vancian magic, thief skills is generally open source? Is that already the case with Tolkien and other fantasy fiction prior art? Do MMORPGs or console RPGs pay any royalty for the use of those concepts (and they use all of them ... A LOT!)?
ChainMail
OD&D
Advanced D&D
BECMI
AD&D 2.0
D&D3
D&D3.5
D&D4
D&D5
That's about nine versions. Yet they fundamentally make money on generational turnover: another bunch of grade and high schoolers reach the RPG demographic and someone buys them "the latest D&D". No one is going to wade through nine previous versions of D&D and figure out which one they want to use, not before a large amount of the "new gen" is on whatever re-splat they've published.
RE-generationalizing actually doesn't dilute the brand anymore, it actually increases and sustains it paradoxically.
I'm glad there will be a legal battle over it, might formalize it more for the neckbeard people that kind of are the foundation for RPG across generations. OGL doesn't really do anything for grassroots people. This is a fight between corporations.
Also, is the OGL/SRD just for 3.0 mechanics and stat blocks? I would think it would be effortless for WOTC to simply re-license at any generational break, which they've already done themselves about 3.5 times (yuk yuk).
I mean, what is needed by the community at this point? Just the rough Gygax notion of dungeon, elf, dwarf, orc, goblin, dragon, undead, cleric, wizard, Vancian magic, thief skills is generally open source? Is that already the case with Tolkien and other fantasy fiction prior art? Do MMORPGs or console RPGs pay any royalty for the use of those concepts (and they use all of them ... A LOT!)?