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Dungeons & Dragons released a statement today saying that the future of its open gaming license will include its core rules being placed under the purview of the Creative Commons. The Creative Commons is "a nonprofit dedicated to sharing knowledge, and it developed a set of licenses to let creators do that," says the newest update from Kyle Brink, the executive producer at Dungeons & Dragons.
This decision is a direct response to a lot of the fears the community had after io9 reported on the initial OGL 1.1 draft on January 5. The CC license will cede Wizards of the Coast's control over the base rules and mechanics of D&D to the nonprofit that stewards the license, which means that Dungeons & Dragons and WOTC will be unable to touch it and will not be able to revoke it. Likewise, content that goes beyond the remit of using core rules will fall under a new OGL, dubbed 1.2, which will contain specific language denoting the license as "irrevocable"—a massive pressure point for creators who used the original OGL 1.0 and were worried about the implications of the 30-day termination clause in the OGL 1.1.
[...] Wizards of the Coast seems committed to having a firm stance on bigoted and hateful content—something that people praised in the leaked draft. "If you include harmful, discriminatory, or illegal content (or engage in that conduct publicly), we can terminate your OGL 1.2 license to our content," reads the statement. [...]
Additionally, Brink states that "what [Dungeons & Dragons] is going for here is giving good-faith creators the same level of freedom (or greater, for the ruleset in Creative Commons) to create TTRPG content that's been so great for everyone, while giving us the tools to ensure the game continues to become ever more inclusive and welcoming." [...]
Previously: Dungeons & Dragons' New License Tightens its Grip on Competition
(Score: 4, Interesting) by darkfeline on Monday January 23 2023, @04:26AM (5 children)
They can terminate your license if you do anything they don't like. How is that irrevocable?
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 23 2023, @06:38AM (4 children)
What is meant by "irrevocable" is that they are not supposed to be able to say: "I am altering the deal. Pray I do not alter it further." Once the terms of the license have been set, then that is that. No retroactive relicensing or other shenanigans like that. You are allowed to use the licensed content only under the terms of the license though: if you violate the terms of the license yourself by doing something that they said they didn't like that's written in the text of the license, then obviously your right to use the licensed stuff is revoked, exactly according to the terms of the license itself. That is not a revocation of the license, but its upholding!
(Score: 1) by GloomMower on Monday January 23 2023, @03:24PM (1 child)
> If you include harmful, discriminatory, or illegal content (or engage in that conduct publicly), we can terminate your OGL 1.2 license to our content
Everyone has their own idea of what is harmful (especially in regard to "mental wellbing"), and it can change over time. Just ask 80s parents who thought D&D in the first place was harmful.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday January 23 2023, @10:12PM
I have a huge problem with that statement too - it's so broad in its interpretation these days as to include basically anything.
All Orcs are evil? Discriminatory - feel the wrath of my ban-hammer!
One of the enemies is a slaver? Triggering for those whose ancestors suffered under this inhuman practice - no license for you!
None of the deities in the setting are Trans? Exclusionist - to the salt mines with you!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MrGuy on Monday January 23 2023, @03:43PM (1 child)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Monday January 23 2023, @06:16PM
Not, its not.
Notice they VERY carefully don't explain WHO is the protected class.
How about the stockholders of WoTC or Hasbro as a protected class?
"We find products manufactured by Pathfinder are harmful to our shareholders thus your license is terminated. Please go out of business in a calm and orderly fashion."
Similar problem with "hateful" content. Anyone who ever publishes anything thats not total hugbox can be taken down in an instant. Legendarily, elves and dwarves don't get along, paladins and demonborn don't get along, there's tons of hate content in D+D. Or just going out there as a story line and lynching "innocent" goblins or similar mobs/NPCs who never done nothing wrong.
Technically D+D would have to remove all violence and stick to consensual furry sex to make sure there's no license violation, and even that may be a hate crime if the alphabet people get wound up enough ("what do you mean the male werewolf had secks with the female werewolf, are you some kind of biologist or just a TERF nazi?"