Still on the fence as to whether mistakes were made or it's all going according to plan, which just may be their plan.
So WoTC say:
"we wanted the ability to prevent the use of D&D content from being included in hateful and discriminatory products".
They also have this disclaimer on products for most versions of D&D they sell on DriveThru:
"We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time."
Apparently, it's OK for WoTC to make money from hateful and discriminatory products. It's only a problem when other people do that.
What's more they'll refuse to identify what they consider to be problematic in their own work if asked. It's whatever the customers who complain
tell them it is.
On one hand, it is their product they should be able to do what they want. On the other hand, people have been working with a good faith understanding that the original OGL would not change.
Here's the thing. All WotC had to do was stop declaring new material as Open Content. The entire OneDnD/6e ruleset could have put behind a wall, with an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT license (the one they want the OGL to be) governing it's use. Who would have complained?
The only reason Paizo and the other big 3PPs balked is because they perceived a threat to their brand. If the OGL was left alone and new license agreement invented, I don't think any of this would be as big as it is now. Whoever is in charge at WotC is really fukken stupid.
They don't understand
why the OGL increased sales, only that it
did, and therefore they need one, even if it isn't.
If I were a shareholder I would want corporate officer and management heads to roll.
Imagine if folks bought shares of #Hasbro instead of doing... whatever else it is they're doing.
I think Brad Walker on his blog wrote an interesting alternate take on the situation:
https://bradfordcwalker.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-business-wankers-leadership-got.html
Equal parts reasonable and unhinged.
When #WotC said 'we' both won, they weren't kidding. The fans got a community to rally behind, and #WotC got to identify all the problematic customers who were a threat to their brand, but I'm not sure this is going to turn out like anyone expects.