[Announcement] James Mishler Games Extended Hiatus & End of the OGL Sale

UPDATE: With Hasbro's apparent change of heart, I am at this point reconsidering removing my products from DriveThruRPG. That will depend on further developments. I will not be satisfied that this is all irrevocably resolved until they release OGL 1.0b, properly adding the term "irrevocably" and properly excising the term "authorized." At that point I will consider everything properly finished to my satisfaction for the protection of all OGL products. 

In any case, I still have to wait and see what shakes out with Labyrinth Lord and Shadowdark and other games and Open Licenses and whatnot before I decide how to move forward.

Until then, the 23% off sale continues as planned. Barring another reversal of Hasbro's decision, my existing products will remain available until further notice.

After much consideration, I have decided that the simplest course forward after the OGL Debacle is to simply purge James Mishler Games of all products, go on hiatus, and return when the whole situation clears up.

I have no desire to publish new products for game lines that might be forced to disappear overnight.

I have no desire to support games that were designed to support earlier versions of games that Hasbro still owns.

Don’t get me wrong; I still love BX Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and the Labyrinth Lord/Advanced Labyrinth Lord games that were developed to support those lines.

I will never stop playing them… probably in the Advanced Labyrinth Lord format, as that is closest to how I originally played the game.

But I cannot support them anymore.

Dan Proctor is working on a new edition of an OGL-less Labyrinth Lord. I will always support Dan with his endeavors.

Kelsey Dionne is working on an updated OGL-less Shadowdark RPG. I will always support Kelsey and her work.

If possible, I will support both games with published products.

But my current product lines are going away.

I am not going to wait until Hasbro decides what to finally do with “OGL” 2.0-whatever. I have no desire to follow all the malarky anymore. They are going to do whatever they want to do, right or wrong, moral or immoral, ethical or unethical, legal or illegal, fans, long-term viability, and simple common sense be damned.

I’m just done.

The JMG End of the OGL 23% Sale Off resumes on Friday, January 27th, and will run through Friday, February 24th. 

The sale might end sooner if Hasbro puts out the new “OGL” before then.

Everything comes down that weekend. 

Everything.

All my products on DriveThruRPG. Everything, including all maps. Everything will be deleted from their system. I’m just going to purge it all and start anew.

I will have something new. A placeholder, to keep JMG active on the site.

But otherwise, everything will be completely gone. 

This is the absolute last chance to buy anything JMG from the OGL era. 

This will be your last chance to download anything you have bought.

I will also be deleting all my Dungeons & Dragons, OGL, Labyrinth Lord, and Shadowdark-related entries on my personal and company blogs. Gone.

I will return to blogging sooner than later, and once things shake out for the new Labyrinth Lord and Shadowdark and other Open License Games, I will return to publishing. That might be three months, six months, probably a year on the outside. I will be happy to support them and other RPGs that pique my interest and have a true Open Gaming License. 

I will never support Hasbro or Dungeons & Dragons again. 

They get nothing from me. Nothing. Nada. Nix. Niente.

Not so much as a bent copper.

No more print books, no more classic PDFs from Wizards. No collectibles. I will not go to the movie, and I will not watch the streaming show.

I have been a hard-core Dungeons & Dragons fan for more than 40 years. My entire adult life, my career, was chosen because of the love of games that was inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. I met most of my friends through games. I met my wife because I got a job in gaming.

For 40 years, I have been a walking, talking advertisement for Dungeons & Dragons.

But no more.

Dungeons & Dragons is dead to me.

Long live Open Gaming.

Long reign the Age of the ORC.

[James Mishler Games]: The OGL: Known Unknowns and Unknown Unknowns

I go away for less than two weeks and all Hell breaks loose.

That'll teach me to try to take a vacation!

I'm sure you've seen the news all over the place.

We know that some elements of the leaked New "OGL" are true, from statements by those who are already working with it or have negotiated to do so.

We do not know if Hasbro intends to "de-authorize" the Old OGL for everyone or only for those who opt-in on the New "OGL."

We do not know if they try to kill the Old OGL for everyone else if it would even be legal or not.

Doesn't really matter, if they intend to lawyer up and follow up C&Ds with actual lawsuits.

Might not be moral; might not be ethical; might not be legal. But that's the way the system works here.

I don't think anyone has the money or wherewithal to fight this thing; it would take years and years before anything was resolved, likely without the ability to publish under the Old OGL until it was resolved.

We don't know how this is going to work with DriveThruRPG.

We don't even know all the things we don't know yet!

But I do know one thing. I'm not going to deal with it.

Even if they don't follow through now, there is no knowing if they might try to follow through later.

And besides, I'm no fan of the way they are mistreating the community of designers and players by even toying with these ideas. No sir, I don't like it at all.

Ergo, James Mishler Games is getting out of the OGL publishing business.

Starting tomorrow morning (Saturday, January 7) most of my products will go on sale at 23% off...

Our OGL Countdown Sale.

In celebration of 23 years of the OGL, almost all our products are 23% off!

The sale is scheduled to last through January 12th. Rumors have it that the New "OGL" might be released on Friday the 13th. 

How apropos.

If so, and if there is as expected a sunset date on the Old OGL, right or wrong, legal or not, I'll have my products down on or before that date.

So, if you've been on the fence about buying my products, buy them while you still can. And download them right away, as we don't know if we can still keep them hosted after that. Then save them in several locations (backing up in multiple locations is always a good idea, anyway).

My return to publishing thereafter depends on a couple of things.

First and foremost, Kelsey Dionne of The Arcane Library has already announced that she is pivoting away from 5E and going to focus on the Shadowdark RPG, which will be rewritten to ensure it is not entangled with the OGL.

I will be supporting Shadowdark once it releases. That release is now, of course, delayed.

Unfortunately, this whole kerfuffle means that I will no longer be able to publish for Labyrinth Lord. However, Dan Proctor has already considered some options of what to do in the event that Labyrinth Lord has to go away, so I will be looking into that, as well.

Many other companies are considering creating their own RPGs and offering them in a true, non-revocable, perpetual license. I'll look and play through some of those, and then see what strikes my fancy.

Until then, as the mood strikes me, I'll probably concentrate on writing system-free products, such as encounters, NPCs, Locations, and various worlds and world elements.

I've got a LOT of Hexographer maps I can offer.

Finally, I will also look into re-writing Isle of Eldisor to be essentially system-free. That would require extensive changes and require some time. I hope to be able to offer it in the same "slot" as the original Isle of Eldisor product so that those who purchased it can simply download it. I'll have to see how that works on DriveThruRPG.

Thank you for your support for the last 10 years. None of this would have been possible without you.

This is definitely not the way I wanted things to go on the 10th Anniversary of James Mishler Games.

But sometimes, you just never know...

OGL, Licenses, and Such

Open Gaming License

OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is
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lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute;
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methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content
does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior
art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by
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