Are WotC Sticking Their Dicks in a Blender with the new OGL?

With the leak of what might be the new not quite Open Game License version 1.1, Wizards of the Coast appear to be trying to force the genie back into the bottle. 

At this link you can read the full text, and hopefully you'll have enough legal knowledge to pick through it without straining you eyes or brain. http://ogl.battlezoo.com/

If you want to here some perspective from a contract lawyer check this out on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDuHjpwx5Q4

Among the things controversial about the leaked OGL 1.1 are WotC's attempt to retroactively invalidate earlier versions. I'm no lawyer, but this sounds like a very difficult, if not a legally enforceable trick to pull off. Were they to call the next edition 6th edition and applied the new license to it and any editions going forward, it would likely work without a problem, but they aren't planning to call 6th edition 6th edition.

Further, they reserve the right to take a creator's material and resell it themselves without compensating the creator, who also is on the hook for destroying existing inventory. If you crowd-funded the project and are about to ship to backers when that letter arrives, you and your backers are fucked in so many ways.

Then there are royalty tiers that are damned expensive. Most creators don't have a profit margin even approaching the 20 to 25 percent cut WotC is asking for.

They have VTTs (virtual table tops) in their sights as well. Now that they are building their own after acquiring D&D Beyond, they are going to interfere with what these other VTTs can use of the game. Since I use Vorpal Board with my Dwarven Forge terrain while I DM, this won't impact me unless I play in someone else's game.

We already have some idea where Kobold Press stand on the issue. They announced today that they will be developing their own Fantasy TTRPG system. https://koboldpress.com/raising-our-flag/

I can't wait to find out what WotC told Critical Role regarding profiting from D&D. What CR says back could be even more interesting. Critical Role can be directly credited with driving some of the increased popularity of D&D over the past few years, as well as Stranger Things (will they go after the show as well?). Trying to cut a leg off of a cash cow that it still producing is a damned fool idea.

Since the launch of 5th edition Wizards of the Coast have generated a hell of a lot of good will among the public and fan base. Now they're looking to piss in everyone's cereal bowl. That's a dick move Wizards. There's a very good chance it will hurt rather than help your bottom line.

Vorpal Board

Just signed up for Vorpal Board virtual table top. The plan is to use this to run my new campaign group through adventures using the live streaming features and my Dwarven Forge terrain. 

Drawbacks to other VTTs include the amount of time it takes to artistically design maps and other materials to import, or to find some that are close enough to what you want, especially for homebrewed campaigns. That isn't as big a problem when dealing with published campaigns that make their maps compatible with whatever Virtual Table Top you are using, assuming you use one they make their stuff compatible with. 

Vorpal Board overcomes that issue by using your phone camera to display maps or terrain. Users of detailed terrain will be pleased that they can continue to use it and their miniatures even when the game is being played remotely. 

So far, during our testing it was discovered that players can upload things to the viewing area. This needs to be changed to let the host toggle that ability on or off to avoid having unrelated or unwelcome material tossed up on the screen. With limited screen real-estate, limiting crowding is important.

Also the host needs to be able to mute individual players. Someone like me with hearing loss might want to focus on an individual for a moment to make sure I don't miss something important. Also, if a player starts piping in distracting sounds it can be muted for however long is necessary. 

One feature that works great for playing board games is the ability for players to flip over face down cards on the screen. This is problematic for role-playing however since the DM may be keeping prepared elements concealed to prevent spoilers. A toggle off/on option is needed.

While those items might seem to indicate negative aspects, they really aren't a big issue when dealing with friendly and reasonable adults. Hopefully your game group fall into that category.

Something that is a big issue for me is the Mouse-Wheel Mayhem. Vorpal Board unfortunately allows anyone to use their mouse wheel to resize the screen. This would be fine if it only affect the individual user's screen, but no, it affects EVERYONE'S screen. This causes the images on the screen to also be displaced requiring you to arrange them again. Pain in the ass.

Don't let these issues dissuade you from giving Vorpal Board a try. The creators are working to address a lot of the things brought to their attention and I will absolutely be bringing these to their attention.

That said, I look forward to getting going with my new campaign using Vorpal Board.