Dungeons & Dragons Scraps plans to update its open game license

Wizards of the Coast, publisher of Dungeons and Dragons, announced today that that will no longer seek the disavowal of the Open Gaming License 1.0a, abandonment of the plans previously indicated in the project ogl 1.2. This statement comes after unrelenting fan reaction against the disavowal decision that was later revealed io9 reported an OGL 1.1 leak. After three weeks of near-constant pressure, it seems Wizards of the Coast is paying attention to the fanbase.

The deprecation of OGL 1.0a was a big sticking point for fans and third-party publishers who made their living off a license that was granted nearly two decades ago. Opinions varied on whether or not Wizards of the Coast could legally disavow, with many people—including Ryan Dancey, one of the original architects of OGL 1.0a—aarguing that it was never intended to be disavowed, plaster the very act of doing so was not included in the legal wording of the license.

Dungeons and Dragons Executive producer Kyle Brink said in the statement that “the results of this live poll are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. He wants irrevocability. Do you like Creative Commons? This sentiment was expressed so overwhelmingly in the OGL 1.2 playtest that Wizards of the Coast had to pay attention. originally was he’s going to keep the playtest open for two weeks; Nevertheless, Brink writes, “the volume of feedback is so high and your direction is so clear that we are acting now.”

The Wizards Awards and D&D do in this ad are huge: they will not attempt to defeat OGL 1.0a; that is place the entire Systems Reference Document for D&D 5.1 in Creative Commons; forks abandoning his previous stated intentions for Virtual Tabletops.

One thing to note is that Brink claims that putting the entire 400-page SRD into Creative Commons means fans don’t need to “take [Dungeons & Dragons’] word for it.” That Brink explicitly acknowledges the lack of trust between fans and publishers and Wizards of the Coast is incredible.

Finally, the company ended the statement with an olive branch, publishing the SRD immediately and saying: “Here is a PDF of SRD 5.1 under the Creative Commons license. By simply publishing it, we place it under an irrevocable Creative Commons license. We’ll put you up in a more convenient place next week. It was important that we take this step now, so there is no question.”

Since the rumors about OGL 1.1 began circulating at the end of November 2022third-party content publishers and fans of Dungeons and Dragons started to mobilize After the leaks, the setbacks and the general confusion, everyone was ready to defend their fans. And they did. Fans rallied around hashtags, influencers, Y journalists while looking to open D&D and preserve OGL 1.0a and its legacy. Yes Dungeons and Dragons keep going with all your promises in this statement, they may be able to restore the goodwill that lost between then and now.

Ultimately, this is a huge win for the fans. And while the battle is won, the war may not be over: everyone is hoping to see all four corners of the contract, despite the SRD’s entry into the CC. But the fans are ready. And Wizards of the Coast will think twice before prodding that particular dragon.

[Editor’s Note: This article is part of the developing story. The information cited on this page may change as the breaking story unfolds.]

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