OGL 1.1 Phone Campaign

[xiphumor]

Thought I would post this here. Basically the OP’s proposal is to get the higher-ups’ attention with a civil phone campaign to WotC.

EDIT: Here’s a script if you feel nervous, unsure of what to say, or are prone to lose your temper:

“Hi! My name is X, and I would like to express my concerns about the next iteration of the Open Gaming License. I believe that the proposed changes to IP protections and royalty collection will do significant harm to the Dungeons & Dragons community, as well as negatively impact the value of the game itself. Above all, I believe that the language revoking the previous OGL significantly harms the public image of Wizards and Hasbro, as it represents act of bad faith to the Creator Community. If the new OGL is published without such protections, it will significantly impact my decision to support Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro in the future. I thank you for your time and your patience while listening to my concerns. Goodbye!”

As someone who works in a call center myself, please be civil and remember that the person who answers the phone likely has very little power or influence over the situation. Remember that the person you will be speaking with is not really the person you want to hear you. The representative on the phone is most likely overworked, underpaid, and just trying to survive to the next bathroom break.

That being said, here’s the link and photos of the post:

 

[HammerMan]

Don’t do this.
The people making non wage taking your calls are not making decisions. And the people who manage them are not either.

The people who ARE making the choices you don’t like do not (most likely) interact with the call center at all.

Imagine tomorrow Walmart issued a new rule akin to no shirt no shoes no service… but instead required everyone to wear a bow tie. No one in the store cares or has ANY control over that policy. Most likely not even the store manager. So don’t bug every cart pusher door greeter and cashier you find. They didn’t make the rule they can’t change it. They have enough trouble every day without you adding “get mad for something they can’t control” to the list.

 

[xiphumor]

Don’t do this.
The people making non wage taking your calls are not making decisions. And the people who manage them are not either.

The people who ARE making the choices you don’t like do not (most likely) interact with the call center at all.

Imagine tomorrow Walmart issued a new rule akin to no shirt no shoes no service… but instead required everyone to wear a bow tie. No one in the store cares or has ANY control over that policy. Most likely not even the store manager. So don’t bug every cart pusher door greeter and cashier you find. They didn’t make the rule they can’t change it. They have enough trouble every day without you adding “get mad for something they can’t control” to the list.

I believe I did note that I intend to be civil and that I ask everyone else to be as well. I also noted that I work at a call center myself, and I know exactly how little influence the person on the phone or their manager has over the situation. I also know how it feels to be on the receiving end of customer complaints with no ability to solve the issue. Nonetheless, aggregate information is passed up the line.

If you have a more productive suggestion, I would love to hear it. I am concerned that social media buzz won’t be sufficient to get their attention for such a critical decision.

 

[Mecheon]

The people who ARE making the choices you don’t like do not (most likely) interact with the call center at all.

They do get feedback from the call center though, and if the call center is experiencing unseasonably high call volumes over one event? That news is going to get passed along quickly. Going to need to force them to get more people on the phones to handle it. Which in turn means more feedback can be sent along.

Be polite to who you get but make it abdantly clear why you're calling so the feedback gets pushed along

 

[xiphumor]

Also, if you’re sent any kind of survey after the call, please leave high reviews insofar as they pertain to how your call was handled. That can affect the phone rep’s stats and compensation, assuming their company is anything like mine.

 

[Xethreau]

Remember that non-violent direct action necessarily precludes harassment. Do what is reasonable and right for you to do as an individual, and as a group, disrupt. There is no reason for anyone on a phone zap to be anything less than polite. Cause no harm.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Strong disagree. Not a good idea.

Non-believable assumption that in this hoped for high call volume event that any caller that has waited a long time to get through will behave anything definable as polite. Extremely likely such a person will leave a dump review based on the call wait time.

Though I do wonder what the next Unearthed Arcana survey feedback will look like, at least that will be seen by people directly involved in the game design.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Though I do wonder what the next Unearthed Arcana survey feedback will look like, at least that will be seen by people directly involved in the game design.

I'm not keen on phone/fax stuff or letter-writing even, I think that's all a bit... last century... and kind of rude. But it is clear on the 1D&D reddit that people are going to be a lot more negative and harsher about stuff, and some people are planning to one-star everything.

That plus opinions souring may significantly degrade the quality and signal-to-noise ratio of the 1D&D feedback. Which I think is fine. Actions have consequences. You can't expect to piss you core audience, who are giving you most of the feedback, and then for it to be fine.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I feel for the WoTC employees like I felt for the Twitter employees. It’s no fun when senior leadership comes in and makes your life hard for a job you have to have just to pay the bills.

I don’t know how large WoTC call center is, but it’s probably small. I would be surprised if they had software integration that tracks and reports reasons for the call like larger companies have.

Honestly, there are only two things I see really getting the attention of the execs. Losing a lawsuit about revoking the old OGL, or literally having no one sigh on to the new one.

I guarantee you it will get attention if no one uses the new OGL, no one reports earnings, and no one reports products. Stakeholders will have questions they will demand answers to, since the whole reason was to further monetize the brand and no one ends up using it.

 

[Lojaan]

Strong disagree. Not an good idea.

Non-believable assumption that in this hoped for high call volume event that any caller that has waited a long time to get through will behave anything definable as polite. Extremely likely such a person will leave a dump review based on the call wait time.

Though I do wonder what the next Unearthed Arcana survey feedback will look like, at least that will be seen by people directly involved in the game design.

I worked in a call centre for many years. If you swamp their phone lines they will pay attention because it starts to cost them money