BarretWallace

Yup and that’s also true of Hero. Ideally there should be a way to be able to objectively able to compare games. I do know that D&D is easier to pick up if you all start at first level and you limit what is available. You can start the game and level as things progress. There is less analysis paralysis. The same with Hero if people would embrace for new players and GMs a “first level” and then introduce options would be the best. I find now, especially older, that on paper some of those options aren’t worth adding for my group. And that is another key point about Hero that seems to be lost in the shuffle. Your group. If hit locations work for you great use them. But if they don’t then don’t use them or tell other groups that they must be used if doing normals. 

At its very root, Hero is a much easier game to tweak than any other, I'd say. But that doesn't mean the book, and I'm refering to the 6e books because those are the only ones I have, aren't lethally confusing. I don't mean that the layout is especially bad or anything like that, there's just way too much fancy bologna going on in Hero system to wrap your brain around as a new player. Things like the Follower perk and multipowers are extremely unintuitive, seemingly creating character points out of thin air; Talents that simply do things outside the otherwise intuitive powers and characteristics systems; Trying to figure out exactly what should be paid for with character points, where does one draw the line between mere possessions and fundamental aspects of one's character, how are we meant to make those distinctions on the fly. ETC. I have been in love with Hero for a few years now, but only distantly. I've never actually played because of running into confusions like this, despite buying several books. Hero demands an enormous amount of gaming wisdom be afforded up front, and if you don't have much experience with actual play, like myself and my brother, it's prohibitively difficult to understand.

Well, if Twitter is anything to go by right now...

It seems as though they are going down the same road that video games went down. Difference is that there's more companies making those games and they did it over a period of several years, not all at one time. Even in video games,  if they pulled the trick WOTC did,  players would have protested,  possibly to the point of not buying the product. Let's see what happens to WOTC now with both buyers and developers. Those developers are where they make the majority of their products, hence the greatest portion of their sales and income. 

Also being able to smack a player with the sourcebook if they deserve it.

I prefer to own that which I purchase. This "digital only" future isn't all sunshine and rainbows. After the BS WOTC once pulled with their PDFs, I have zero interest in trusting them with insubstantial content.
 
Plus, part of the charm of tabletop gaming is thumbing through a tome...that organic factor.

The biggest advantage of the subscription model is convenience and comprehensivity. Nobody who values those things (read: the people who are going to be subscribing to these services) is going to copy out materials. These are literally the opposite types of players. It's probably a super great deal for nerds patient enough to hand copy their own materials.
 
 Hero's fatal flaw isn't the perceived learning curve, it's the frontloading of all of the creative work on top of the learning curve. It's not even really a game, it's a game system. A system that lets you (read: requires that you) define all the basic assumptions and parameters of your game before you can even start character creation. You've got to learn the game so you can make the game so you can finally play the game.

An opinion from the EFF (who know a thing or two about open source licenses) interprets the OGL 1.0 as less of a license than a mutually agreed-upon contract.  That would make it irrevocable, at least unilaterally.

That guy again....
 
 
Subscription model?
 
 
Print screen.
Print screen.
Print screen.
Print screen.
 
 
Many years ago, I _bought_ a pdf of a repair manual for an old Royal Enfield; I had a buddy that owned one and was absolutely terrified of bending his own wrenches, so....
 
 
He'd need something done to the bike (because it was a Royal Enfield), and he'd swing by.  I'd pull up the site, the PDF, search a bit, and take notes (torque specs and the like), shut it a down and get to work.
About four years later, they adopted a subscription model, and suddenly I couldnt access the book I had _paid_ forty-eight buck for!
 
The message said that my subscription had run out, but for only eight bucks a month (yeah; do the math), I could access an entire library of repair manuals.
 
So I chipped in eight bucks for a "thirty-day trial," and spent the next Saturday night hitting "print to PDF" repeatedly,
 
 
Just sayin.
 
Now you know I actively work against piracy.  I had _bought and paid for_ that book.  That Extra eight bucks to access a book I paid for in full was, from where I sit, simple robbery.
 
 
 

Honestly?  A lot of GMs will never say no.  For many, TTRPG means WotC D&D, full stop.  For others, TTRPG means d20, and they're terrified of learning any other systems, so they'll follow along.  If I had to guess I'd say that a majority of d20 players fall into one of these categories.
 
For thirty years I've watched these guys bitch and moan about d20 rules, only for them to turn around and viciously mock me when I helpfully suggest that other RPG systems exist.  The lock-in is real, and while I feel awful for the people whose livelihoods are at stake here, I have no love for the d20 ecosystem.
 
However evil the OGL 1.1 may be, it is not clear to me at all that it is the wrong decision for WotC legally or financially, at least in the short term.  In the long term, they are basing their future monopoly on online TTRPG on their specific ruleset, which may or may not work out for them. 

I’m not very sure it will work out, and just talk of things changing so radically seems to be blowing up in their faces. I haven’t seen anyone saying this is a great idea. Not one.
 
Adding a subscription model and micropayments to monetize people is one of many things enraging the fan base, not to mention likely destroying popular smaller publishers adding to the hate. As things stand, you buy a rule book and some dice as a player, a few more books as a DM and go from there, maybe not buying anything more for years unless you are a DM. 5th Edition is already experiencing a shortage of DMs willing to adjudicate the rules. Their market seems to already be imploding.
 
I suspect DrivethruRPG is going to melt down this week as word continues to spread and people download their entire libraries to make sure they have the latest PDFs in case they can’t after the next few days.

This isn't only the job of the GM. Fate Core said it best, "Both players and gamemasters have a secondary job: Make everyone around you look awesome!" It's everybody's responsibility to be looking out for ways to make every player at the table feel like their character has a place in the story.

And, another interesting one!  Sorry folks, I normally ignore this kind of thing, but TheyWhoShallNotBeNamed is leaving me rather miffed.  If they're not careful, I might upgrade to peeved.
 
https://www.inverse.com/gaming/dnd-dungeons-dragons-ogl-11-homebrew-changes-opendnd?fbclid=IwAR3rCI-zgIsp036YLxHDM3ITjKgk2CP-XFcw6NpT5tNfGDrbS61O5C9hrNU

And, another interesting one!  Sorry folks, I normally ignore this kind of thing, but TheyWhoShallNotBeNamed is leaving me rather miffed.  If they're not careful, I might upgrade to peeved.
 
https://www.inverse.com/gaming/dnd-dungeons-dragons-ogl-11-homebrew-changes-opendnd?fbclid=IwAR3rCI-zgIsp036YLxHDM3ITjKgk2CP-XFcw6NpT5tNfGDrbS61O5C9hrNU

I thought this was interesting too.

https://mikeshea.net/thoughts_on_the_ogl_1_1.html

I thought this was interesting too.

https://mikeshea.net/thoughts_on_the_ogl_1_1.html

I thought this was kinda funny too:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/NonOGLFantasy

I thought this was kinda funny too:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/NonOGLFantasy

I cannot see any way to get pay to win to work in a real RPG, since the GM is in charge.  I mean every gaming group tries to bribe the GM with treats and food but that's a different story.

Ted Lieu getting ready to attend yesterday's shenanigans.
 

 
I hope he brought a bigger bag today.