D&D Beyond Twitter Account says OGL will be addressed soon

[Vaalingrade]

The Empire announces it's plans for its new space station will be released to the jungle moon of Yavin IV as soon as it clears Yavin.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

If they've been taking their cues from Hollywood, that's not the worst case. They double down, blame the fans for not liking the OGL 1.1, and call everyone racists or sexists or something (Williams is a woman after all... although maybe its presumptuous these days to assume that) and get all kinds of media outlets to write hit pieces on the "toxic fandom" at ENWorld specifically, which cherry-picked quotes from you personally that make their case.

It can always get worse.

I think this is a really outdated opinion. And that's being kind lol. The last time "Hollywood" said anything like that was 2016.*

That's like, 10 years ago man. I mean, it's not, but the pandemic sure makes it feel that way! And culturally it IS a long time ago, like or not. It's pretty much a different era.

Also, let's be real, even 90% of people mad about the OGL don't know who Cynthia Williams is, so the idea that WotC is going to take her, their top corporate exec, and force her OUT FRONT to be the figurehead/lightning rod for people's anger about such a comment is well... it's a profound misunderstanding of corporations.

I think it's much more likely that, lightning rod-wise, if anyone's name gets put out there, it'll be either Crawford/Perkins (unfair, I don't believe they came up with this or necessarily even approve of it), or Dan Rawson (totally fair, as VP of D&D he 100% signed off on this, and may well have managed the team that came up with it).

* = I'm talking about actual things said by actual Hollywood people, not imaginary nonsense fans/clickbait YouTubers imagined into existence or desperately tried to read into a straightforward two-sentence statement over the course of a 90 minute video, like tons of stuff involving Kathleen Kennedy lol. God the number of one-sides idiot videos about that sort of thing on YouTube. Thank god they improved the algorithm so when I kept dismissing that crap it actually went away.

 

[Desdichado]

I think this is a really outdated opinion. And that's being kind lol. The last time "Hollywood" said anything like that was 2016.*

That's like, 10 years ago man. I mean, it's not, but the pandemic sure makes it feel that way! And culturally it IS a long time ago, like or not. It's pretty much a different era.

Also, let's be real, even 90% of people mad about the OGL don't know who Cynthia Williams is, so the idea that WotC is going to take her, their top corporate exec, and force her OUT FRONT to be the figurehead/lightning rod for people's anger about such a comment is well... it's a profound misunderstanding of corporations.

I think it's much more likely that, lightning rod-wise, if anyone's name gets put out there, it'll be either Crawford/Perkins (unfair, I don't believe they came up with this or necessarily even approve of it), or Dan Rawson (totally fair, as VP of D&D he 100% signed off on this, and may well have managed the team that came up with it).

* = I'm talking about actual things said by actual Hollywood people, not imaginary nonsense fans/clickbait YouTubers imagined into existence or desperately tried to read into a straightforward two-sentence statement over the course of a 90 minute video, like tons of stuff involving Kathleen Kennedy lol. God the number of one-sides idiot videos about that sort of thing on YouTube. Thank god they improved the algorithm so when I kept dismissing that crap it actually went away.

Uh... no. I've seen it already half a dozen times in the last three months. And it's kinda funny that this "imaginary nonsense" comes straight out of mainstream journalism, and literally out of the mouths of the actors, directors, showrunners, and more. It's not out of date at all, in fact it's WORSE than it was even a couple of years ago.

But maybe you don't pay attention to obscure little indie titles like The Rings of Power or She-Hulk or The Woman King, or The Witcher, or tons of others.

Bros, for all of its intentions and hopes, was pretty obscure, I'll admit. But yeah; your response is so dead wrong that it's the polar opposite of correct.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Uh... no. I've seen it already half a dozen times in the last three months.

Not from Hollywood about current Hollywood movies, no, you haven't.

Because it hasn't happened.

From randos, sure. From people talking about sexism in general, sure. But not the same thing you're talking about with WotC, which requires the studio etc. to be involved.

But maybe you don't pay attention to obscure little indie titles like The Rings of Power or She-Hulk or The Woman King, or The Witcher, or tons of others.

None of them had what you're talking about happen. The studio didn't come out fighting and starting accusing people of stuff. Don't pretend.

Also all of them were pretty well-received. Your Witcher example particularly demonstrates you're not being at all real about this, because it's been an absolutely huge success for Netflix.

The last time something like you're discussing even arguably happened was the terrible Ghostbusters reboot.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I think this is a really outdated opinion. And that's being kind lol. The last time "Hollywood" said anything like that was 2016.*

In situations where there really were racists and sexists mixed in. SarahZ has a great video about the phenomenon of terrible people making it hard to be critical of media lest you get lumped in with the guys hurling death threats for the crime of not being born like them.

 

[Vaalingrade]

But maybe you don't pay attention to obscure little indie titles like The Rings of Power.

Like I said...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

In situations where there really were racists and sexists mixed in. SarahZ has a great video about the phenomenon of terrible people making it hard to be critical of media lest you get lumped in with the guys hurling death threats for the crime of not being born like them.

Yeah but even there I feel like it's vastly less of an issue than it used to be a few years ago.

Rings of Power criticism was a lot cleaner for example, than previous stuff, with the racists/sexists tending to really quickly out themselves with inarguably comments on gender/skin colour and so on. Whereas criticism of the acting, writing, etc. tended to avoid saying any of that bollocks and focus on what was actually worth criticising.

Witcher has been particularly obvious too. It's been hugely successful and certainly the vast majority of fans have been keen. At no point has the studio/director been like "EVERYONE CRITICISING US IS SEXIST/RACIST!!!" or the like. That doesn't mean it doesn't get discussed (but it really hasn't been very much), but what was being suggested would happen is the owners of the proper (so Netflix or w/e in that case) would marshal an offensive against critics on that basis. Which again, with Witcher is demonstrably false, because Netflix don't need to marshal against critics when their show is extremely well-received and very popular!

 

[Composer99]

There actually were bigoted backlashes against shows such as The Rings of Power, She-Hulk, etc. There's nothing wrong in studios, showrunners, actors, etc., pushing back against such things.

In any case, what's going on in Hollywood (or not) is neither here nor there as far as WotC's eventual OGL statement goes, so probably best not to turn this thread into an argument about Hollywood, lest we (rightly) draw the ire from the mods.

 

[humble minion]

I think this is a really outdated opinion. And that's being kind lol. The last time "Hollywood" said anything like that was 2016.*

It's still 100% standard procedure in fields like sport and media where i live, at least. Bad-faith crisis management 101. When you've stuffed up and you know it, find the handful of accounts on twitter who've been the most unacceptably sexist and awful (and I'll 100% bet you that Williams has been the target of foul personal abuse SOMEWHERE in the past week) then act as if they're the spokespeople and leaders of the entire movement calling you out for your behaviour.

Criticism is real. Abuse is real. The two aren't the same thing, but it can sometimes be real convenient to pretend they are.

Mind you, WotC will find it a lot harder to manage this current crisis in this way given 2/3 of the respected names in the industry are on the other side to them, and the rest are probably just waiting for the NDAs to expire to join them.

 

[Desdichado]

Not from Hollywood about current Hollywood movies, no, you haven't.

Because it hasn't happened.

Yes, I have. Because it has. Repeatedly, blatantly, obviously, consistently, persistently, and ubiquitously. Are you suggesting that I should believe you instead of my own lying eyes? C'mon.

From randos, sure. From people talking about sexism in general, sure. But not the same thing you're talking about with WotC, which requires the studio etc. to be involved.

None of them had what you're talking about happen. The studio didn't come out fighting and starting accusing people of stuff. Don't pretend.

Also all of them were pretty well-received.

The last time something like you're discussing even arguably happened was the terrible Ghostbusters reboot.

No, that was the FIRST time it happened. Factually completely incorrect. Speaking of which, weren't you the guy trying to claim that Rise of Skywalker and Force Awakens had about the same box office, and NOT a nearly 50% drop-off? I'm pretty sure that nothing you say about pop culture can be trusted, because you're not paying a lick of attention and aren't even capable of a basic Google search or box office mojo check of your statements before you make them.

In any case, I referenced the WIDESPREAD PHENOMENA as a joke, but for some reason you seem to have been seriously triggered by my observation of reality that I've seen first-hand, so .... I'm dropping it.