D&D 5E Who tried to end the OGL?

[Paul Farquhar]

The reason it was a dumb idea has little to do with not understanding "gaming space" and a lot to do with not understanding IP law, and why the OGL was introduced in the first place (hint: it wasn't out of charity).

But D&D's popularity is a difficult circle to square for anyone trying to run a business. You have a brand which is immensely popular, but it's very difficult to turn into the significant profit that the shareholders expect. It was a lot easier when the toy division was propping up WotC, not the other way round.

 

[Reynard]

C'mon Ben! Wait a few weeks. You are going to take the wind out of the sails of the Red Box cover warrier WizKid mini outrage.

Nah, that thing has a few days of outrage at most.

 

[mamba]

According to Ben Riggs: "Sources inside Wizards of the Coast tell me that CEO Chris Cocks himself was behind the drive to end the OGL."
Facebook

would not really surprise me

 

[Alzrius]

According to Ben Riggs: "Sources inside Wizards of the Coast tell me that CEO Chris Cocks himself was behind the drive to end the OGL."
Facebook

Any chance of a screenshot? I don't use Facebook, and you have to log in to see what's written there.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Assuming this is true (and I have no difficulty believing it is), I don't think Mr. Cocks is malicious. I just think he was foolish and believed that the average D&D player was far less invested in the general TTRPG community and far more invested in D&D-and-only-D&D. He probably thought he'd found a magic bullet for killing the "people can steal our work and republish it" monster (which Paizo so thoroughly exploited), something that would pass under the average gamer's radar.

Again, assuming this is true: He was wrong, and it blew up in his face. If he deigns to respond to this at all, it will surely be to deny it, regardless of whether it is true. It benefits him not at all to truthfully say "yes," and even less to falsely say "yes," so there's no world where he admits to this.

 

[billd91]

Am I missing something? Why are we shocked that the CEO was involved in a major decision?

Maybe yes, maybe no? If Cocks hadn’t come up to Hasbro CEO through being president of Wizards, would he have been as involved in a decision like that at the Wizards level? We don’t really know.
Or does this mean the plan was already in the works while Cocks was still at Wizards about a year before it was announced? And does this mean the vitriol directed at Cynthia Williams over the issue is misplaced? Was living in Cocks’s shadow a contributor to Williams’s abrupt resignation? And will future Wizards presidents have to deal with the same dynamic?

And yes, he sure did skewer any credibility as the ‘cool gamer CEO’ because he showed he really didn’t understand the community in the market and its utterly predictable reaction.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I flat out do not believe it. If someone that senior was behind it, it would have gone through. If a CEO put their prestige on the line only the board could really stop him.

 

[Corinnguard]

It was me. I did it! And I would have gotten away with it, if...

If it wasn't for those meddling juvenile adventurers and their canine familiar.

 

[KYRON45]

I'm still mad about new Coke!!!

 

[Oofta]

So is it time to pull out the torches and pitchforks? Ooh, maybe tar and feathers? After all we have an unsubstantiated rumor that someone posted on Facebook! If it's on Facebook, it must be true.