2019: The Year in Roleplaying
This yearly report is running very late this year, and there’s a good reason for that: on January 1, 2020, I made a big move from Berkeley, California, to Kauai, Hawaii. This move is part of some...
View Article2020: The Year in Roleplaying
2020 has certainly been the most eventful year ever, and that’s had real repercussions on the roleplaying industry, as we’ll discuss. Meanwhile, Designers & Dragons has also been eventful because...
View Article2021: The Year in Roleplaying
2021 was in many ways a long wait for normalcy — and it hasn’t arrived yet. But the roleplaying industry persevered, and maybe even grew. Meanwhile, I’ve continued to do my own work for the next set...
View ArticleThe Fall of Tékumel
Since April 2020, I’ve been visiting one or two gaming companies every month, diving into their history, the politics, and their game philosophies. I talk to the principals (or their survivors)...
View Article2022: The Year in Roleplaying
2022 was the first year that felt like it could be post-pandemic. But, some conventions remained masked, and when I traveled to the Netherlands for my first work trip since 2019 I rather assiduously...
View ArticleIs the OGL Era Over?
The OGL 1.1 Leaks The potentially company-shattering news in the roleplaying industry this morning is an alleged leak of the OGL 1.1 that Wizards previewed at the end of the year. It’s a little hard...
View ArticleIs the OGL Era Over? (Part Two)
It’s now been almost two weeks since it leaked that Wizards of the Coast would be attempting to revamp the OGL and force publishers to use their new version — something previously considered...
View ArticleIs the OGL Era Over? (Part Three)
A month after the initial leak, which revealed that Wizards of the Coast was working to revoke the OGL using highly questionable legal means, the whole saga is finally at an end (for now). Following...
View ArticleIs the OGL Era Over? (Part Four)
In January of this year, Wizards of the Coast earned the anger of a wide swath of the roleplaying industry by trying to revoke the OGL, an open license that they’d actively encouraged people to build...
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2023: The Year in Roleplaying
2023 was a year that could have easily been eclipsed by Wizards of the Coast’s constant missteps. It’s not just that they’re the biggest company in the industry, but also that their missteps were so...
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