In case you haven't heard the news, D&D fifth edition has just been released for the OGL. My reaction is less than enthusiastic. Why? Because official D&D hasn't been my game of choice for some time now (since the switch form 3 to 3.5). The sucker punch of the official switch from one edition to another after so short of a time scale (only two years between my purchase of the 3rd Ed books and the 3.5 roll out) turned me off trying to stay current. I liked 3 rd edition just fine, but 4th just left me cold. Way too over complicated, tactically focused and just plain weird. I don't know what to think about 5th yet as I haven't absorbed it yet. But one thing I can say is that it's not my D&D. Some time ago I discovered the OSR community and found many of whom shared the desire to retain a simpler form of the rules.
What did the OGL do for 3rd ed? Did it improve the game? Did it make it more accessible? These questions will most likely be asked of 5th ed and time will tell. But for me I see nothing but a glut of 5th ed material choking off some other possibly more creative stuff. I don't think its really good for the hobby. I see many game producers ditching their independent projects to crank out more OGL stuff. Soon the 5th ed like the Borg of Star Trek will assimilate all. Crazy talk? Maybe but one thing is for sure, the new OGL doesn't matter much to me. You can always check out the SRD and judge for yourself. But as for me, Meh.
P.S. hopefully this post marks a return to me posting regularly
