OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons - The SRD 5.1 is now under the CCA in its entirety!!

[The Perilous Dreamer]

OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons

OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons
by Kyle Brink
1 hour ago
D&D NEWS D&D BEYOND STUDIO BLOG
When you give us playtest feedback, we take it seriously.

Already more than 15,000 of you have filled out the survey. Here's what you said:

88% do not want to publish TTRPG content under OGL 1.2.
90% would have to change some aspect of their business to accommodate OGL 1.2.
89% are dissatisfied with deauthorizing OGL 1.0a.
86% are dissatisfied with the draft VTT policy.
62% are satisfied with including Systems Reference Document (SRD) content in Creative Commons, and the majority of those who were dissatisfied asked for more SRD content in Creative Commons.
These live survey results are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. You want irrevocability. You like Creative Commons.

The feedback is in such high volume and its direction is so plain that we're acting now.

We are leaving OGL 1.0a in place, as is. Untouched.
We are also making the entire SRD 5.1 available under a Creative Commons license.
You choose which you prefer to use.
This Creative Commons license makes the content freely available for any use. We don't control that license and cannot alter or revoke it. It's open and irrevocable in a way that doesn't require you to take our word for it. And its openness means there's no need for a VTT policy. Placing the SRD under a Creative Commons license is a one-way door. There's no going back.

Our goal here is to deliver on what you wanted.

So, what about the goals that drove us when we started this process?

We wanted to protect the D&D play experience into the future. We still want to do that with your help. We're grateful that this community is passionate and active because we'll need your help protecting the game's inclusive and welcoming nature.

We wanted to limit the OGL to TTRPGs. With this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play.

Here's a PDF of SRD 5.1 with the Creative Commons license. By simply publishing it, we place it under an irrevocable Creative Commons license. We'll get it hosted in a more convenient place next week. It was important that we take this step now, so there's no question.

SRD 5.1-CC
We'll be closing the OGL 1.2 survey now.

We'll keep talking with you about how we can better support our players and creators. Thanks as always for continuing to share your thoughts.

Kyle Brink

Executive Producer, Dungeons & Dragons

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

The voices were heard! I'm still interested in Project Black Flag & what these other companies are doing. I still don't trust the Hasbro powers that be. Interesting development and quickly reached.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

More Info

Dungeons & Dragons Scraps Plans to Update Its Open Game License

In a surprise statement today, Kyle Brink announced that Wizards of the Coast will preserve the OGL 1.0a and move more of D&D into the Creative Commons.
By Linda Codega

Wizards of the Coast, publisher of Dungeons & Dragons, announced today that it will no longer be pursuing deauthorization of the Open Gaming License 1.0a, abandoning plans previously stated in the drafted OGL 1.2. This statement comes after relentless fan backlash against the decision to deauthorize that was revealed after io9 reported on a leaked OGL 1.1. After three weeks of near constant pressure, it appears as if Wizards of the Coast is fully paying attention to the fanbase.

... ...

Dungeons & Dragons executive producer Kyle Brink said in the statement that “these live survey results are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. You want irrevocability. You like Creative Commons.” This sentiment was expressed so overwhelmingly in the playtest OGL 1.2 that Wizards of the Coast had to pay attention. Originally it was going to keep the playtest open for two weeks; however, Brink writes, “the feedback is in such high volume and its direction is so plain that we’re acting now.”

... ...

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

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Jan 27, 2023 16:29:55 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

The voices were heard! I'm still interested in Project Black Flag & what these other companies are doing. I still don't trust the Hasbro powers that be. Interesting development and quickly reached.

That is the thing, with the entire SRD 5.1 under the CCA we don't have to trust them.

And the backlash means that they will not dare to touch the OGL 1.0a anytime soon and that means everyone has plenty of time to migrate everything for D&D to the CCA.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Besides the survey was telling them they were losing a massive chunk of their customer base and some of it will not be back. Here is where they should have started.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

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

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Jan 27, 2023 16:35:13 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

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

Downloaded!

[The Perilous Dreamer]

I made 1,427 Tweets on Twitter the last 16 days. I think I did my share of lifting on this.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Jan 27, 2023 16:34:28 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Besides the survey was telling them they were losing a massive chunk of their customer base and some of it will not be back. Here is where they should have started.

They definitely did things bass-ackwards!

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Jan 27, 2023 16:32:50 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Jan 27, 2023 16:29:55 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

The voices were heard! I'm still interested in Project Black Flag & what these other companies are doing. I still don't trust the Hasbro powers that be. Interesting development and quickly reached.

That is the thing, with the entire SRD 5.1 under the CCA we don't have to trust them.

And the backlash means that they will not dare to touch the OGL 1.0a anytime soon and that means everyone has plenty of time to migrate everything for D&D to the CCA.

EXACTLY! That's a BIG, BIG win.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Dungeons and Dragons: Wizards of the Coast Backs Down, Won't Deauthorize Original OGL

In a shocking turn of events, Wizards of the Coast has backed down on its attempts to deauthorize its original Open Game License for Dungeons and Dragons. By doing so, the months-long struggle between Wizards of the Coast and its community over the future of Dungeons and Dragons has come to a tentative end.

Recently, several drafts for a new Dungeons and Dragons OGL came to light through leaks and official statements. The first draft introduced greater control over third-party content creators and included royalties and license-back clauses. The second draft walked these decisions back, but still had some troubling sections many players feared would be used to police third-party products.

However, in a surprise decision, Wizards of the Coast has backed down on its push to revoke the old OGL and replace it with a new one. Recent survey results showed about 90% of Dungeons and Dragons players were dissatisfied with the new OGL, and wanted to preserve the original document as is. Rather than publishing a new draft, Wizards of the Coast has abandoned the new OGL project and has promised to leave the original version as is, even pulling the survey early in the process.

If preserving the original OGL was not a big enough victory, Dungeons and Dragons also just published a huge 5.1 SRD under the Creative Commons license. This 400-page document is more than twice the size of the content originally suggested by the OGL 1.2 and contains virtually everything in the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook, including species, classes, items, and even some monster stat blocks. It has already shared this PDF under Creative Commons, meaning it can never revoke its free use by players in the future.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Jan 27, 2023 20:38:24 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Dungeons and Dragons: Wizards of the Coast Backs Down, Won't Deauthorize Original OGL

In a shocking turn of events, Wizards of the Coast has backed down on its attempts to deauthorize its original Open Game License for Dungeons and Dragons. By doing so, the months-long struggle between Wizards of the Coast and its community over the future of Dungeons and Dragons has come to a tentative end.

Recently, several drafts for a new Dungeons and Dragons OGL came to light through leaks and official statements. The first draft introduced greater control over third-party content creators and included royalties and license-back clauses. The second draft walked these decisions back, but still had some troubling sections many players feared would be used to police third-party products.

However, in a surprise decision, Wizards of the Coast has backed down on its push to revoke the old OGL and replace it with a new one. Recent survey results showed about 90% of Dungeons and Dragons players were dissatisfied with the new OGL, and wanted to preserve the original document as is. Rather than publishing a new draft, Wizards of the Coast has abandoned the new OGL project and has promised to leave the original version as is, even pulling the survey early in the process.

If preserving the original OGL was not a big enough victory, Dungeons and Dragons also just published a huge 5.1 SRD under the Creative Commons license. This 400-page document is more than twice the size of the content originally suggested by the OGL 1.2 and contains virtually everything in the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook, including species, classes, items, and even some monster stat blocks. It has already shared this PDF under Creative Commons, meaning it can never revoke its free use by players in the future.

Huzzah!

[simrion]

I don't pretend to understand a fraction of this whole situation but I'm happy they appear to have listened to the community. Just saddens me that the game is moving away from what I have traditionally enjoyed, away from in person interaction and further towards the detested (by me) and assumed desirability of digital platforms.

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Jan 31, 2023 5:47:27 GMT -5 simrion said:

I don't pretend to understand a fraction of this whole situation but I'm happy they appear to have listened to the community. Just saddens me that the game is moving away from what I have traditionally enjoyed, away from in person interaction and further towards the detested (by me) and assumed desirability of digital platforms.

Well they listened enough to back off for now, but that unfortunately does not mean they are not up to something. I think their "one" D&D is now not going to be backward compatible with 5E (not that that really means a lot to me) and they will optimize it for VTT and probably for a full on video game. But it remains to be seen if they can make a video game that will compete against all of the well established video games. But the VTT and video game marketing does not have anyone over 30, maybe even over 25, for their target market. Their market is everyone that is addicted to instant gratification and almost never looks away from their smart phone, their market is the people who sit next to each other and instead of talking they text back and forth. All of those people who have spending money are already addicted to microtransactions. They think they can make more money from those people, than from their current customer base.

That is one reason I think the forums are important. Places like here are preserving the knowledge of how to play and how to do "old school" face to face gaming. They wheel may not come back around in my lifetime. But it may in the lifetime of those that are 20 years or more younger than I. So I hope to add a ton of stuff to the sight from all of us, so that it will be there when the wheel comes back around.

That is why I encourage everybody to claim a sub-forum from the Admin and post about your campaign, your world, your house rules and how you run your game.

I think they day will come in the future when people rebel against the digital world and the in person interaction will come back to the fore, I just won't be around to see it. It is like when OD&D goes out of copyright (at least under current law) on January 1st 2070, I would be 114 when that happens and I was 18 in 1974. That is how unreasonable copyright is. And someone will probably still own the trademarks. But at that time you can republish the entire verbiage of OD&D legally, but you will have to slap another name on it.

I am very, very slowly working on my writeup of the OD&D rules and when that day rolls around I hope my version is published the next day on whatever POD is available then. I hope that someone in my family (not likely) or one of the younger folks here is out of the gate first when the time comes.