In a blog post published Friday (opens in new tab), Wizards of the Coast announced that it is putting an end to the Open Gaming License (OGL) 1.2 proposal in its entirety that threw the tabletop RPG community into confusion earlier this month.

Instead, Wizards will keep the previously enacted OGL 1.0 intact and place the latest D&D System Reference Document (SRD 5.1) under a Creative Commons license (thanks to GamesRadar for the tip).

With 15,000 respondents, the survey results were rather grim: 88% said they "do not want to publish TTRPG content under OGL 1.2" and 89% were "unhappy with the decertification of OGL 1.0a." 62% said they were "unhappy with Wizards' decision to put the previous SRD version under under Creative Commons, and most of the dissenters wanted more Creative Commons-protected content.

In response, Wizards of the Coast caved, keeping OGL 1.0 intact but adding the latest SRD 5.1 to the list of prior D&D materials under Creative Commons, permanently allowing its free distribution and use.

"We do not control that license and cannot change or revoke it," wrote Kyle Brink, executive producer of D&D, in the blog post above. "Placing SRD under Creative Commons is a one-way door. There is no turning back."

While Wizards of the Coast has concluded its investigation of OGL 1.2, which was a decisive victory for the community, there remains no small amount of doubt and ill will toward Wizards, which was the initial proponent of changing the OGL. PC Gamer's senior editor Robin Valentine questions whether the OGL was worth fighting for in the first place (opens in new tab) and argues that this may be a chance for a fresh start for tabletop roleplay. Robin writes, "The entire hobby is shackled to a game full of rules and assumptions that remain deeply tied to decisions made 50 years ago." 'Some are simply inconvenient, others increasingly problematic. Is that a situation worth fighting to protect?"

There also remains the issue of Paizo (opens in new tab) and the recently announced Open RPG Creative License (ORC)--this "system-agnostic" competing license, which as of last week had over 1,500 TTRPG publishers (opens in new tab Open in new tab), a mighty force that Wizards may have been too late to compete with; OGL is here to stay, but have the smaller publishers and independent creators left for good?