Friday, June 24, 2011  The First Open Gaming Movement  The
biggest single mistake WOTC made with 4e was the elimination of
a true commitment to the OGL.  See, as much as certain people
would like it to be, tabletop RPGs are not passive forms of
entertainment. That requires engagement.  And of course, we had
been through all this before. One of the great myths I encounter
regularly in RPGs is that 3e was the first open edition of D&D.
It was most definitely not. I remember when I started gaming, in
78, I could get books like The Complete Alchemist, offering a
strange and wild new character class, modules like Evil Ruins or
Lich Lords from Role Aids, alternative gaming magazines with
classes and adventures like White Dwarf, and the city of
Sanctuary, in all its gritty glory produced by Chaosium.  Not
all of it was to my taste certainly, but its mere existence
spurred my creativity and kept me engaged in the hobby on a far
stronger level. Then, toward the end of 1e and in force in 2e,
these products started dwi