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According to a story at io9, it looks as though WOTC is trying to put the OGL genie back into the bottle: https://gizmodo.com/dnd-wizards-of-the-coast-ogl-1-1-open-gaming-license-1849950634

The biggest (and most egregious) change — it claims to “de-authorize” the previous version of the OGL (something which goes against the original language of the OGL, which is perpetual).

I wonder what “unauthorizing” the OGL 1.0 will mean for the non-WOTC-derived content — since other rules systems were released under it, by other companies. (D6, FATE, Runequest, Traveller, etc.). I suspect that the “unauthorization” (on it’s face a violation of the original terms of the OGL) will only apply to D&D content, so if you’re producing D&D material you MUST use 1.1.

Funny thing, WOTC originally addressed the question of changes to the OGL back in 2004 (from the internet archive): https://web.archive.org/web/20040307094152/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/oglfaq/20040123f

To quote:

Q: Can’t Wizards of the Coast change the License in a way that I wouldn’t like?

A: Yes, it could. However, the License already defines what will happen to content that has been previously distributed using an earlier version, in Section 9. As a result, even if Wizards made a change you disagreed with, you could continue to use an earlier, acceptable version at your option. In other words, there’s no reason for Wizards to ever make a change that the community of people using the Open Gaming License would object to, because the community would just ignore the change anyway.

I suppose we’ll wait and see, but one thing is for sure — the tabletop games industry is about to experience some Interesting Times.

January is the month where I am finally undergoing some long-neglected dental care.

For those of you who aren’t American — for Reasons ™, dental care isn’t considered part of your health insurance. You have to have separate dental insurance, which doesn’t cover nearly as much of the cost. For this reason, my wife Laura and I bitterly joke and refer to teeth as “Luxury Mouth Bones.” Taking care of your teeth COSTS.

I’ve already had some work done today, and at the end of the month I’ll be getting an extensive amount done (partial dentures, in fact), which will hopefully cover me for some time. And, because I’m over 50, I’m *also* scheduled for a colonoscopy late in the month.

I don’t like having this much work done — my wallet definitely doesn’t like it, and in the case of the dental stuff, it butts up against some pretty hard-wired phobias of mine — but over the past year I’ve seen colleagues suffer strokes and heart attacks, and I know that the route to better health passes through these medical adventures, so I’ll suck it up.

This probably qualifies as TMI, but I’m laying it all out on the table here, in the hopes that somebody will read it and make the decision to take batter care of themselves. The costs and aggravation and anxiety are a pain in the ass, sure, but the results are better than the alternative.

As I reflect upon the year that comes to a close in the next 10 hours, I find that only one thing really stands out to me.

2022 is the year when I finally finished the manuscript for FAR WEST, after struggling with it through what turned out to be the hardest decade of my life. Finishing it, and turning it over to my partner Eric Trautmann for layout, is not only the biggest accomplishment I had in 2022, but the biggest milestone in my life for YEARS.

What remains, in 2023, is to finally distribute the game, not only to my amazingly patient Kickstarter backers, but to the general gaming public as well.

Beyond that? 2023 awaits. We’ll see what else it brings.