Vapourware WOTC restricting content creation in new OGL - Paizo launches competing OGL - lol cancelled

[Fedora Master]

It's a simple enough question.

 

[JamesDixon]

 

[Stella Brando]

That guy is a nerd, Tricky Dixon.

 

[HeroMarine]

I hate this thread for reminding me that WotC and Hasbro still exist.

 

[Average Manatee]

Not sure what this guy's on about. The issue isn't whether the license is revokable. Even if it was, WotC would then have to pay the damages other companies suffered from revoking the license (which would be immense). The issue is whether they are legally required to continue offering the license in perpetuity. I'm 95% certain that if it came down to an argument in court, the answer would be "no".

Put another way, if I put a game on sale for the price of $0, I'm offering everyone a free, irrevokable license to play that game. If I then take it off sale and you didn't get it when it was free then you have no argument that I'm forced to continue offering it for the price of free. You didn't take me up on the offer when it was free, therefore you aren't under any contract terms with me. You don't make contracts with the world at large, you make them with individual people/corporations/legal entities/etc.

It's a little more complex when it comes to people using the OGL for products that have ongoing releases and stuff, but the idea that they are forced to offer the OGL license terms forever is almost certainly not legally correct.

 

[S.torch]

It's a simple enough question.

The only replies to a thread that are worth reading are autistic ones.

Aside from that, Dixon was right about everything. People never needed the OGL, you can create your own thing from scratch, from setting to mechanics. With this and being a complete woke-mutant nu-D&D will lost what little influence had left. And it was about time honestly.

 

[Fedora Master]

It's a simple enough question.

The only replies to a thread that are worth reading are autistic ones.

Aside from that, Dixon was right about everything. People never needed the OGL, you can create your own thing from scratch, from setting to mechanics. With this and being a complete woke-mutant nu-D&D will lost what little influence had left. And it was about time honestly.

Fair answer but he needs to learn to post 5 sentences or less

 

[J1M]

Not sure what this guy's on about. The issue isn't whether the license is revokable. Even if it was, WotC would then have to pay the damages other companies suffered from revoking the license (which would be immense). The issue is whether they are legally required to continue offering the license in perpetuity. I'm 95% certain that if it came down to an argument in court, the answer would be "no".

Put another way, if I put a game on sale for the price of $0, I'm offering everyone a free, irrevokable license to play that game. If I then take it off sale and you didn't get it when it was free then you have no argument that I'm forced to continue offering it for the price of free. You didn't take me up on the offer when it was free, therefore you aren't under any contract terms with me. You don't make contracts with the world at large, you make them with individual people/corporations/legal entities/etc.

It's a little more complex when it comes to people using the OGL for products that have ongoing releases and stuff, but the idea that they are forced to offer the OGL license terms forever is almost certainly not legally correct.

Did you advertise for 20 years that you were perpetually giving away copies of the software? And then decide after 20 years that you didn't know what perpetual means?

Your comparison is dumb. Especially when we are talking about people who are in the middle of software projects that cost millions of dollars that were greenlit based on said perpetual license being perpetual.

 

[Average Manatee]

Did you advertise for 20 years that you were perpetually giving away copies of the software? And then decide after 20 years that you didn't know what perpetual means?

It doesn't matter because there's no contractual relationship.

Your comparison is dumb. Especially when we are talking about people who are in the middle of software projects that cost millions of dollars that were greenlit based on said perpetual license being perpetual.

In this case you're still under the original agreement. You're using it, you have a contractual relationship. If WotC revoked it then they'd have to compensate you for all damages (assuming a court agreed that it could be revoked).

 

[JamesDixon]

It's a simple enough question.

The only replies to a thread that are worth reading are autistic ones.

Aside from that, Dixon was right about everything. People never needed the OGL, you can create your own thing from scratch, from setting to mechanics. With this and being a complete woke-mutant nu-D&D will lost what little influence had left. And it was about time honestly.

Fair answer but he needs to learn to post 5 sentences or less

You need to be able to calm your ADHD to be able to read in depth answers to in depth problems.

 

[JamesDixon]

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

 

[Larianshill]

B-b-based Paizo?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

B-b-based Paizo?

Or attempt to spring that trap later.

 

[mediocrepoet]

B-b-based Paizo?

Or attempt to spring that trap later.

I doubt it if they do the things they talked about like handing it off. More likely they realize that they'd have no chance in hell of winning a lawsuit over whether they find your non-wheelchair accessible dungeons objectionable, so are scoring some free brownie points now because WotC is too stupid to do so. The wheelchair ramp requirement and mandatory trans-lesbian quotas will be limited to their first party offerings.

 

[JamesDixon]

B-b-based Paizo?

You don't need a license to game mechanics or stuff for existing game systems, so this is just another marketing stunt by a leftist company that hates your guts.

 

[HeroMarine]

You may want to save this before WOTC deletes it https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Annis

 

[JamesDixon]

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Morality clause is a fucking stupid idea and no sane adult would join ORC if it was implemented. Whoever controls what is and isn't allowed would be able to pretty much kick out anyone he wants at any time. Competing company releases a good horror game? Gore no longer allowed as it's too triggering to people.

 

[RPK]

Morality clause is a fucking stupid idea and no sane adult would join ORC if it was implemented. Whoever controls what is and isn't allowed would be able to pretty much kick out anyone he wants at any time. Competing company releases a good horror game? Gore no longer allowed as it's too triggering to people.

I believe you're referring to the OGL. the ORC doesn't have a morality clause that I'm aware of. I thought the response the the paizo-prosed ORC had been pretty positive.

 

[JamesDixon]

Morality clause is a fucking stupid idea and no sane adult would join ORC if it was implemented. Whoever controls what is and isn't allowed would be able to pretty much kick out anyone he wants at any time. Competing company releases a good horror game? Gore no longer allowed as it's too triggering to people.

I believe you're referring to the OGL. the ORC doesn't have a morality clause that I'm aware of. I thought the response the the paizo-prosed ORC had been pretty positive.

That's because they're all fucking retarded and a bunch of coonsuummmerrrss. Here's hoping the vaxx kills them all and cleans the gene pool.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Morality clause is a fucking stupid idea and no sane adult would join ORC if it was implemented. Whoever controls what is and isn't allowed would be able to pretty much kick out anyone he wants at any time. Competing company releases a good horror game? Gore no longer allowed as it's too triggering to people.

I believe you're referring to the OGL. the ORC doesn't have a morality clause that I'm aware of. I thought the response the the paizo-prosed ORC had been pretty positive.

According to video there were some people who wanted it to be implemented, and they only confirmed that it won't be in the first draft so I wanted to point out why people who wanted it to be a thing are delusional.

 

[deuxhero]

For the Krauts: DSA mechanics will be licensed under (German law compatible version of) ORC.

 

[JamesDixon]

For the Krauts: DSA mechanics will be licensed under (German law compatible version of) ORC.

He looks like he's enthused to suck corporate cock and already swallowed two hundred gallons of jizz.

 

[deuxhero]

The man in the thumbnail is the channel host. I think Plotz and the Josh Sawyer look-alike are employees of the company talking about about it.

Here's the official reveal.

https://ulisses-spiele.de/offizielle-ankuendigung-ulisses-und-die-orc/

Hello dear Pen & Paper fan,

you probably haven't missed the unrest that has been going on in the roleplaying community for the last 14 days due to the events surrounding the OGL and ORC license announcements. If you have, you can find all the information you need in the video to at least get a rough idea of the situation. And what's happening right now is nothing less than contemporary history playing out right before our eyes in real time.

Through insider leaks, a plan by Wizards of the Coast (part of Hasbro and the company behind Magic: The Gathering and D&D) has become public to end the Open Gaming License (OGL) and replace it with a new, more Hasbro-friendly version. This change would be a massive challenge for large parts of the pen & paper creators, for many probably even the economic end. For over 20 years, the OGL was the legal foundation through which publishers could dock their products to the rules core of D&D, for example. A foundation on which Pathfinder, for example, but also the numerous 5E products are based.

Here you can see the first video
Besides considerable fan protests, numerous companies, large and small, from our industry have already reacted to this changed situation. After all, until 14 days ago, OGL 1.0a was considered to be a secure foundation and irrevocable. In this wake, Paizo (Pathfinder/Starfinder), as the largest pen & paper company after Wizards of the Coast, has taken a decisive step and announced that they will create a new open game license that will be made available to the entire industry.

Click here to read Paizo's blog post
The Open RPG Creative License (ORC) is intended to be everything the OGL once was, while avoiding its inherent flaws to ensure that a situation like the one we're currently experiencing can never arise again. Thus, while the ORC will be funded and created by Paizo, it will be overseen by an independent law firm until it is finalized, after which it is to be turned over to a non-profit organization for administration.

Further, the ORC is intended to be not only perpetual, but also irrevocable. As we have learned in recent weeks, a small but important word in this context.

Last but not least, Paizo has teamed up with other industry giants for this move, including Chaosium and Kobold Press. All other publishers have been invited to become part of this initiative as well.

And now for the big announcement ...

Ulisses Spiele has also decided to join this movement, which is for the good of the entire pen & paper community. We will do our part and make sure that the ORC works under German law as well and, if necessary, convert it into legal German (this all depends on what our lawyers say). Ulisses Spiele will pay for all costs arising from this and then make the ORC available to all German publishers, content creators and interested parties.

And then we will go one giant step further! Ulisses will place all rule systems of its own roleplaying game lines, for which we are legally able to do so, under the ORC and, if necessary, create an adapted version compatible with German law. This means that after the publication of the ORC and our joining, everyone who does so under the rules of the ORC may freely use our rules systems. Explicitly also for the development of own, commercial roleplaying material. Everything completely free of charge, everything as legally secure as possible. And for all times.

In order to separate the rule systems 100% clearly from the copyrighted world content, we will create System Reference Documents (SRD) for the individual rule systems, which contain everything that can be used under the ORC.

Unfortunately, I can't give you an exact schedule for this at this point in time, because as written above, there is still a lot of work to be done. Especially all legal aspects need a maximum of care, because there simply must not be any mistakes. But I promise you that we are working with full commitment to implement this venture as soon as possible and to make the ORC also accessible to the German community. Unaffected by this and still usable under the established rules are our fan platforms like the Scriptorium Aventuris, the Scriptorium for HeXXen 1733 or the Infiniverse Exchange.

Finally, I would like to invite all Pen & Paper publishers, creators and hobbyists to use the possibilities of the ORC. Ulisses would like to start a new movement in Germany, which will bring more openness and commonality into our scene and hopefully lead to a new blossoming of our common hobby and also of creativity in this area. We are experiencing nothing less than a turning point in time and this is only the beginning!

P.S.: I am aware that you have a lot of questions about this topic. I will try to answer all of them as soon as possible, but this also takes some time. Therefore, I would be glad if you would send me your questions to Feedback@ulisses-spiele.de. Colleagues there will collect all the questions so that we can answer them in a bundle so that the whole community is informed.

Also, to understand exactly what the ORC is and what it is not, I can recommend you the following video. Yes, it is long, but I promise it is worth it!