D&D fans deem January 19 OGL 1.2 draft unacceptable: “Still not good”

The Dungeons & Dragons world has been ablaze with controversy over Wizards of the Coast’s decision to release a new Open Game License (OGL), and they’ve labeled the January 19 version of the document unacceptable.

The controversy around OGL 1.2 has continually rolled since the January 5 report that revealed much of the inner workings of the new document.

After listening to player and creator feedback, WOTC announced they would be making revisions and that any new version of the OGL would come with an avenue for direct feedback.

That new draft has arrived, but communal tension is still high, and many are still not on board.

Wizards’ new OGL 1.2 update rejected by D&D fans

There are several major changes in the updated version. First is that D&D’s “core mechanics” (as defined in the System Reference Document that serves as a companion to the OGL) are being released under Creative Commons.

This means that Hasbro and WOTC would no longer have any direct authority over how those rules are used in the future, and since fan creation is its own community within the game, this is a major step for the franchise as a whole.

Starting our playtest with a Creative Commons license and an irrevocable new OGL. https://t.co/fsnasY6y4Q

— Dungeons & Dragons (@Wizards_DnD) January 19, 2023

While that part of the update has scored big across the board, there are still concerns over other content moderation policies.

In the new doc, which was released on Wizard’s-owned D&DBeyond, there is a section that reaffirms the current OGL being replaced in whole by version 1.2.

This means that content that was originally licensed under the current agreement can stay in circulation, but that any new content will be subject to a fresh batch of restraints.

“We can’t use the protective options in 1.2 if someone can just choose to publish harmful, discriminatory, or illegal content under 1.0a,” Executive Producer Kyle Brink stated.

Fans are still wary of this language, as it’s later clearly stated that WOTC will have sole control over what meets those criteria.

“It’s not protective,” one disgruntled fan claimed. “What it does do is give you the sole right to decide what gets to be published based on arbitrary ideas.”

Another commenter called this portion “ripe for misuse” and raised concerns over who gets to play “moral arbiter” in the future.

Other fans are fighting back against the idea that the current version needs to change at all, with more than one calling the whole situation “pointless” or “greedy”.

As promised, WOTC has opened a survey to assess feedback on the situation, and if the Twitter conversation is anything to judge by then further adjustments may be in store.