Clint_L
Legend
If Hasbro wants a win-win situation moving out of this, I suggest they do the following:
1. Commit to maintaining the terms of the OGL 1.0a going forward, forever, including for OneD&D. Sure, add a clause about hate speech, as adjudicated by an arbitration panel with representatives from OGL stakeholders.
2. Open DnDBeyond to 3PP for a reasonable licensing rate/royalty.
It's clear that Hasbro sees DnDBeyond as the future - they just paid $146 million for it, and it already has millions of subscribers. Opening it up gives them a new revenue stream from 3PP, and gives those 3PP who want it access to a MUCH larger consumer base than they currently reach.
Speaking for myself, the reason I don't buy more 3PP products is because I find DnDBeyond so convenient. If 3PP were in the DDB shop and integrated into the interface (and those could be separate licensing arrangements), I would be far, far more likely to purchase the adventure or alternate Monster Manual or whatever.
From Hasbro's perspective, this keeps D&D the epicentre of fantasy roleplaying and gives them a lot more control over content, since they would be working out licensing deals with each 3PP provider, and it adds another revenue stream. It sort of creates more competition...but they are getting a cut. And most of their product going forward won't be from publications, it'll be from the VTT, which this would make even more appealing.
From the 3PP provider's perspective, their product is now WAY more available and convenient, should they choose to go this direction. It gives them a potent new sales option, especially since most struggle to get into FLGS. On the other hand, they would be giving up some control to WotC, but just like any licensing agreement they would be able to negotiate terms that suit them, or walk away.
And gamers? And gamers get access to way more variety. Win-win-win.
Thoughts? I feel like I probably missed a bunch of obvious problems.
1. Commit to maintaining the terms of the OGL 1.0a going forward, forever, including for OneD&D. Sure, add a clause about hate speech, as adjudicated by an arbitration panel with representatives from OGL stakeholders.
2. Open DnDBeyond to 3PP for a reasonable licensing rate/royalty.
It's clear that Hasbro sees DnDBeyond as the future - they just paid $146 million for it, and it already has millions of subscribers. Opening it up gives them a new revenue stream from 3PP, and gives those 3PP who want it access to a MUCH larger consumer base than they currently reach.
Speaking for myself, the reason I don't buy more 3PP products is because I find DnDBeyond so convenient. If 3PP were in the DDB shop and integrated into the interface (and those could be separate licensing arrangements), I would be far, far more likely to purchase the adventure or alternate Monster Manual or whatever.
From Hasbro's perspective, this keeps D&D the epicentre of fantasy roleplaying and gives them a lot more control over content, since they would be working out licensing deals with each 3PP provider, and it adds another revenue stream. It sort of creates more competition...but they are getting a cut. And most of their product going forward won't be from publications, it'll be from the VTT, which this would make even more appealing.
From the 3PP provider's perspective, their product is now WAY more available and convenient, should they choose to go this direction. It gives them a potent new sales option, especially since most struggle to get into FLGS. On the other hand, they would be giving up some control to WotC, but just like any licensing agreement they would be able to negotiate terms that suit them, or walk away.
And gamers? And gamers get access to way more variety. Win-win-win.
Thoughts? I feel like I probably missed a bunch of obvious problems.