This has Clark Peterson’s name written all over it. 
WotC to revise D&D 4th Edition GSL and SRD
I suppose the fact that almost no large publishers were going to support 4e, and that Paizo’s Pathfinder is finding such a large, if niche, audience on the internet as well as among publishers, was something of a worry after all. The 4e GSL threatened to tear down all that was built by the OGL movement, in my opinion, so it’s good that they’re giving this another shot. Still, given WotC’s track record thusfar, do we trust the current team to deliver something worthwhile?
(Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, I released v2 of the index down in the original post. I made some key additions to the entries and enhanced the bookmarks.)
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6:37 pm on August 11th, 2008 1
Yep, I suspect that the Hand of Clark has been wiggling in the background somewhere. I hope so, anyway. If a change to the GSL means more publishers get on board and more openness when it comes to using statblocks and the like, I’ll be a happy bunny. ‘Course, if they bring out a half-way decent 4e SRD document too (like THAT’LL happen!), I’ll be several happy bunnies all rolled into one.
Repeat after me: Change is good. Goosfraba.
8:53 pm on August 11th, 2008 2
Greywulf: well any change to the GSL could only be good. It only has one direction to go.
The GSL will likely keep me away from 4e entirely, and I’ve been playing this game and buying every upgrade for 20 years. I actually *like* most of the rules changes, but I am not interested in supporting Wizards if they are not interested in supporting me as a content publisher.
I doubt the changes will be enough.
11:34 am on August 12th, 2008 3
You know the comments and issues over the GSL continue to cause me to turn my back on the gaming community, not games or game companies but the community.
I am amazed by the attitude of so many people and third party publishers. Wizards act of opening up 3E for others to use allowed dozens of campanies to grow and be successful. Companies that may have never been formed and others that might not have ever put out more than a couple of shoddy products were able to ride on Wizards back to game publishing success. Third party publishers were able to take advantage of Wizards massive marketing budget and brand name popularity to become successful in their own right.
And how does the community thank Wizards; with arrogance and a pompous sense of entitlement. Not a “thank you”. Not a “thanks for giving us the opportunity to realize our dreams”. Not a “thanks for 8 years of publishing success”. No instead its constant whinning. Truly it’s like being surrounded by a bunch rich kids who think the world owes them something.
Have a little respect. I know some of you have based your incomes and careers on third party publishing but lets be honest; your success is in part due to someone else’s labor, efforts, and generosity. And even now as Wizards responds to the community and tries to give them more of what they want (new GSL) they will still get repaid by being the “badguys”. No matter what they change many of you will still whine and complain.
People, it is their stuff, they are letting you borrow it! Show a little respect and appreciation for the opportunity to reap the fruits of someone else’s labor. Sure Wizards has benefitted too, and I know you all have labored over your products, but it was their stuff to begin with.
12:31 pm on August 19th, 2008 4
You say this as though Wizards has not benefited from this. Wizards made a book that has become the game system everyone plays.
And it was the D&D 3rd ed OGL is what made d20 a great system. It was due to the fact that you could learn this one system and play Call of Cthulhu, Spycraft, Stargate, Iron Kingdoms and others.
Wizards is acting like it owns all of those properties. After building the gaming community for 8 years, they want to control the community instead.
Their attitude is one of pride. They have assumed that all 3rd party publishers want to join in, and that they don’t have to make it attractive to them.