Wizards of the Coast reports its DnD OGL 1.2 draft survey has received more than 10,000 responses from players, and the feedback has resulted in more apologetic statements from the publisher. “We want to thank the community for continuing to share their OGL 1.2 feedback with us”, D&DBeyond tweeted on January 25. “So far, survey responses have made it clear that this draft of OGL 1.2 hasn’t hit the mark for our community.”
A leaked document from earlier in January showed changes to the D&D Open Gaming License, and this received widespread criticism from TTRPG fans and publishers. Wizards of the Coast issued a statement (and subsequent apology) in response, and then announced it would be accepting fan feedback on its next draft of the document.
OGL 1.2 stands firm on Wizards’ restrictions of NFTs and hateful content, and it sticks to plans to deauthorise OGL 1.0. However, the draft scraps all mention of potential royalty payments, and it attempts to clear up concerns that Wizards could use third-party creators’ ideas as its own. These were both controversial points in the leaked 1.1 draft. The document also says that OGL 1.2 (mostly) cannot be modified, and content licensed under it can never be withdrawn from the OGL 1.2 licence specifically.
The OGL 1.2 draft also included a new virtual tabletop (VTT) policy. The document allows VTTs to display “static SRD content” such as rules for DnD classes and DnD races, but it draws the line at NFTs, as well as visual depictions and animations that Wizards says are “more like a videogame”.
According to the D&DBeyond tweets from Wednesday, this policy was not received well. “Thanks to direct feedback from you and our virtual tabletop partners it’s also clear the draft VTT policy missed the mark”, Wizards says. “Animations were clearly the wrong focus. We’ll do better next round.”
Despite the apparent negative feedback, Wizards urges fans of the tabletop RPG to continue sharing their thoughts. “Already more than 10,000 of you have responded to the survey, which will close on February 3”, the Twitter thread says. “Please continue to share your thoughts”, Wizards adds.