"These live survey results are clear" - Dungeons & Dragons' Kyle Brink confirms that OGL 1.0 is here to stay and more

The recently leaked Dungeons & Dragons changes to the OGL 1.0 certainly infuriated fans of the franchise. As the leak came to light, the developers, Wizards of the Coast, posted a survey asking the fans what they were looking for. An overwhelming 88% did not want to publish content under their revised OGL, OGL 1.2.

According to Kyle Brink, Executive Producer of Dungeons & Dragons, the company is taking the community's feedback seriously and will act accordingly. With that in mind, OGL 1.0 won't be de-authorized and the entire SRD (Systems Resource Document) of D&D 5.1 are going to be in Creative Commons. But what does this mean for players?

“These live survey results are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. You want irrevocability. You like Creative Commons. The feedback is in such high volume and its direction is so plain that we're acting now.”

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Dungeons & Dragons has walked back on the recent teased changes to OGL and more

The major problem that fans had with the leaked information was the de-authorization and changing of OGL 1.0a. The notion that Wizards of the Coast could alter something that was decades-old and start making negative changes resulted in significant outrage across the tabletop community. It took several days for the company to finally respond, and their secondary response wasn't met with much joy or hope from the community.

This latest announcement has given players hope for the future of the hobby. In a recent D&D Beyond post, Kyle Brink made several promises to the fans, with the first being that the OGL 1.0a will be left untouched.

The entirety of SRD 5.1 will also be available under a Creative Commons license. Content creators can choose which license they want to put their content under. The SRD is the Systems Resource Document and is basically a version of the Players’ Handbook.

It doesn’t have trademarked terms from Dungeons & Dragons, so content creators can use it to publish their own work with D&D systems. Content creators can also remove parts that they don’t like and add whatever they want without fear or threat of litigation.

In general, it's a monumental move to publish the SRD 5.1. When they placed the SRD under a Creative Commons license, according to Brink, there’s no going back.

The Dungeons & Dragons Beyond site features a PDF of the entire SRD 5.1, which includes important legal information. It states that the document is free and can be used in any way as long as attribution is given to Wizards of the Coast via a brief statement.

While it hasn’t completely won back the trust of Dungeons & Dragons fans, it has done a lot to assuage many fans’ fears. Essentially, Wizards of the Coast completely walked back the leaked elements that were upsetting and scaring fans and content creators. Clearly, this is a major move for Wizards of the Coast, as they ensure that fans and businesses alike can enjoy the game the way it was meant to be played.

As many fans spoke out about how they feel, Paizo, creators of the ORC, addressed the matter as well. Although the community was generally happy to see Wizards walk back these leaked changes, they still felt the need for an irrevocable and independent system. That is why the ORC will continue on as planned; to give people a choice.

Fans were overwhelmingly vocal in what they wanted from the company, and so far, it seems like Wizards of the Coast is delivering. There's certainly hope for the future of the tabletop game and that the Dungeons & Dragons developers mean what they say.