The Gamer Guide's Tabletop Corner Dungeons and dragons

The OGL debacle

Anyone who is a Dungeons and Dragons fan is probably well aware of the OGL situation that occurred recently, but for those who are unaware of it, lets do a little recap!

This entire situation had the D&D community in total uproar, and for good reason, for it impacts countless small and big businesses alike. D&D has operated under the Open Game License (dubbed OGL 1.0a) for a long time. It essentially allows third parties to create written products such as campaigns or rulebooks using the D&D system owned by Wizards of The Coast. Although there were some restrictions with this license, such as utilizing ideas from things like Baldur’s Gate, it was a very fair license that was loved by all fans, for it allowed them to create their own worlds and share them with others. Many small businesses were founded on this license, some of which have become larger businesses like Pathfinder.

However, in January 2023, a revised version of the OGL was leaked to the internet, revealing that they had plans to dramatically change the permissions of the use of D&D content in third party businesses. At the time of the leak, the new OGL:

• Invalidated the original OGL, meaning it could no longer be used

• Stated that D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast must be notified about and receive a report on the earnings of all monetised content

• Said that products using the OGL which earn over $750,000 per year must pay Wizards a royalty fee of 25% (or 20% if funded through Kickstarter) for all income beyond that point

• Claimed the right to use all OGL content in any way Wizards of the Coast saw fit

• Stopped D&D-related NFTs and blockchain

• Allowed termination of the license for content that is “blatantly racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, bigoted or otherwise discriminatory”

This caused a HUGE uproar in the community, not for just fans of the game, but for countless industry figures and businesses as well. An open letter comdemning the change was created and gained over 60,000 signatures in record time, with the larger third party publishers such as Paizo announcing that they were going to be severing their ties with the brand and creating their own game system. Thousands of fans were immeditately cancelling their D&D Beyond subscriptions to the point that the website actually crashed, with others getting rid of their many D&D products and cancelling any preorders for future campaigns and merchandise. One of the other ways that fans were damaging the brand was announcing their boycotting of the upcoming movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, which would have been another financial hit on the company. There were many questioning whether it was actually legal for them to completetely cancel the original OGL license when so many things were founded within it.

Wizards of The Coast were silent for quite some time before they finally put out an official response to the chaos, claiming that the license that was leaked was just a “draft”. An altered version of the D&D OGL soon followed with the following changes:

• Would not contain a royalty structure, or royalty fees

• Didn’t include financial reporting or registration requirements

• Clarified that creators own their content

• Stated that anything already released under the original OGL would be unaffected

• Said that livestreams, virtual tabletops, and actual plays aren’t affected

Wizards then decided to release this draft with a survey attached to it in order to obtain feedback from their fans before anything was officially launched. Many questioned why this wasn’t done in the first place, as there were clearly no plans to previously do this. The draft and survey were released in early February. Fans had up until the 3rd to read the draft OGL and provide their opinions on it, with Wizards then making their official response on the 17th.

The public response to the OGL draft was EXTREMELY telling, with 88% of those surveyed not wanting to use the new OGL, 89% were dissatisfied with jettisoning the old one, and the “live survery results are clear. You want [the original OGL]. You want irrevocability.” What came next was honestly the most surprising part of this whole debacle. Wizards actually listened. They announced that they were going to be backing down and not changing the OGL, along with making the entire Systems Reference Document (containing the classes, races and mechanics) freely available under the Creative Commons.

“We wanted to protect the D&D play experience into the future,” the blog post read. “We still want to do that with your help. We’re grateful that this community is passionate and active because we’ll need your help protecting the game’s inclusive and welcoming nature. We wanted to limit the OGL to TTRPGs. With this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play.”

This reaction was absolutely astounding to all of us, though the question still stands: Has the damage already been done?

To a lot of people, yes it has. Many previous fans have decided to stick to their guns and back away from D&D as a whole now, including Pathfinder’s Paizo, who still plans to make their own system. May fans are concerned that Wizards are only backing down NOW, and may potentially try something like this again in the future. It’s an entirely understandable concern, especially if ones business is on the line. The issue is that Wizards of The Coast previously had a pretty good relationship with it’s community. The community was built upon the freedoms that the license allowed, and this entire situation has definitely caused a HUGE amount of damage in terms of trust between the company and its fans.

Quite a few people have speculated that Hasbro had a hand in all of this, due to the fact that Wizards didn’t seem to show any signs of changing the OGL until the huge multi-million dollar company got a hold of them. Though, that is purely speculation. The fact that Wizards of The Coast actually listened to the feedback does speak volumes, but they now have A LOT of work to do in regards to building that trust with the community again. Let’s hope that they stick to their word!

We were lucky enough to catch up with Alex (Europe Managing Director) over at Mighty Jaxx for a quick interview about Mighty Jaxx and what makes them stand out and more unique than their competition, for those who are unfamiliar with Mighty Jaxx Alex will cover on who what and where they are. You can read below what Sawyer and Alex discussed about.

Hey Alex! Thanks for speaking with us! Firstly, could you provide me with some insight into your history in terms of career, how you came to be in, not only the collectibles industry, but also the gaming industry and what made you decide that these industries are right for you?

Hey, thanks for having me! I’ve worked in the collectibles industry for over 15 years. I worked for a company called Eaglemoss that started off in publishing and over time became more specialised in value-for-money collectibles. I always loved the fact that we had the power to create something that appealed to a fan’s passion. This crossed over from comic books to sci fi to anime or gaming and was not restricted by geographic boundaries with products on sale in over 50 countries. At Eaglemoss I worked a fair bit with legacy games like Sonic and more recent titles from Bethesda Studios like Fallout and at Mighty Jaxx we’re fortunate to work with the folks at Gearbox. Here there was something pretty ambitious undertaken, which was to launch a collectible alongside a new game release (Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands), which has shift codes within the product. This was a leap for a toy company to do something so innovative and really showed the ability to merge the physical and digital worlds to unlock more than the sum of its parts.

That’s some veteran status in the collectibles world and some very big studios to work with, we can see why Mighty Jaxx is doing so well with you on board. Could you briefly introduce us to Mighty Jaxx? What was the deciding factor to diversify into Collectibles? E.g. a brief overview of the company, your main focus, products, locations etc.

Mighty Jaxx is a Singapore based toy and collectibles company that has been going for over 10 years. It’s founder led and Jackson the principal owner is extremely passionate about what we do. He’s a fanboy at heart and doesn’t settle, which means fans can expect a very high standard with our range of toys. Mighty Jaxx has always been well thought of for its design and quirky look and feel, but in the past 5 years this has been extended into licensed products too.

When the chance arose to come on board at Mighty Jaxx I had little hesitation. It was clear from the start that design and brand were at the forefront of everything they did. In addition, there was a clear vision of how they felt the collectibles industry could develop in the future starting with the phygital attributes of every Mighty Jaxx product. In Europe, the brand had only an ‘ITK’ recognition among fans and collectors so I felt there was a lot of potential to introduce the unique products to wider audiences in the UK and across Europe. We’re just scratching the surface of this right now and I’m really excited about where it’s going to lead.

Seems like a great mindset within the business and some great plans ahead, We too being based out of the UK wasn’t very familiar with Mighty Jaxx until last year when we had the pleasure to see them in full swing at EGX which was amazing and great to see, now we see them everywhere that being either social media or in stores and we are all for it. What for you, differentiates Mighty Jaxx from other similar companies operating within the same industries as yourselves? We know you have a variety of products for collectors, how do you make your products stand out?

I’ve genuinely never seen a collectibles company with such a diverse range of products and price points. We produce toys and collectibles for multiple fandoms from music to sport and entertainment to gaming.

We’re also very well known for our art toys so can serve both mass markets and hyper limited edition collector markets with equal measure. In addition, the list of materials for our collectibles is exhaustive from resin to vinyl to porcelain to wood or even bronze and chrome! These products range from 3 inches to lifesize so we really believe in trying to create something that differs from the rest.

We are with you on that front, Mighty Jaxx is very unique and great for all collectors, not only that the sport stuff on top of gaming and anime is next to some of the best we’ve seen. After testing out your products we can really see that you do set the bar very high and the quality is great. As an established company, how do you ensure growth moving forward? How important is innovation, how do you keep up with the advancements in collectibles and current trends?

The company has been on an upward trajectory for a number of years now. It started in South East Asia and the US and has spread to China and now Europe. From what I’ve experienced, Mighty Jaxx has had a great ability to assess the market and reinvent itself or push in different directions whether that’s product type, design, material or technology. We are constantly on the lookout for trendy IPs, finding ways to expand our product offerings, and providing fresh and new experiences to fans.

Innovation certainly plays a big role in the direction of the business and the fact that our limited edition ranges sell through very quickly means we have no time to rest on our laurels as there’s a continuous quest to find the next cool thing.

We can safely say the directions in which mighty Jaxx goes is very much needed and welcomed within the community, the unique collectables are really eye-catching for anyone’s collections. On the subject of your products, we managed to try and test out some of your collectibles which showed some pretty intense detail, great structure and unique designs, so on that please explain what went into perfecting such collectibles?

There’s an amazing design and product development team back in Singapore who are accustomed to working on a wide array of products and materials. From 2D concept to 3D rendering, they make sure our designs are perfected inhouse prior to production and this takes rounds of testing and adjustments.

Big shout out to the design team, continue doing what you guys do because from our take it seems flawless. I personally loved the Optimus Prime you sent over to us. The design was perfectly thought out, very unique and rare not only that it was very strong and well kept. Please tell us where this idea came from and did you run through plenty of designs beforehand before perfecting things like this collectible?

Interestingly, this is one of the things that the licensors love about Mighty Jaxx. There’s never someone else doing the same treatment, which isn’t the case for all of their partners! I’m still slightly shocked that Hasbro let us dissect a My Little Pony!

With regards to Optimus Prime, it was done in collaboration with Quiccs, an artist from the Philippines, who strives to push visual boundaries in his own unique way. Partnering with various artists creates a unique twist and helps create the distinctive look and feel that Mighty Jaxx is renowned for.

The collaborations you do with these artists is very much appreciated because their talent plus mighty Jaxx’s team really perfects a product and no way Hasbro let you do that that’s so cool!. So tell us from start to finish how long it would take to design and create a new product?

As we work with various licensors, it does take a while sometimes to get certain approvals but generally speaking around 12 months from product conception to being on a shelf somewhere. We can move faster when required and are able to work with 3D renders to create assets for presales. Very reasonable time scale to get everything rolling into place glad to see it and can’t wait to see more new unique designs. Are there any past projects or achievements that you’re particularly proud of at Mighty Jaxx which you’d like to highlight in the article?

I was the first hire for our UK office and prior to that, Mighty Jaxx did not have much brand presence in Europe. While it was a long process, we’ve finally managed to get our products on several EU-centric sites and marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon, showcase our collectibles at events such as the MCM Comic Con, have proper store retail presence, grow to a team of 4 and this is only the beginning. I am very excited to continue building the business in Europe and hope to bring some localised products and experiences to the region soon!

It’s great to see you all come and show us Europe lot some love. We did see your stall at EGX and it stood out from all the rest so the marketing team is doing a fantastic job. We see you also have a range of NFT related products, what made you decide to delve into the world of NFTS?

When NFTs came about, it was a natural progression for us to explore digital collectibles as we are able to go to market a lot quicker with digital assets. We did our first launch with Binance whereby our NFT collection sold out within seconds. However, we did not want to simply release digital collection after collection, but instead, find ways to use NFTs to amplify our company as a whole.

We explored several use cases for NFTs, one of them being NFT ticketing. Blockchain technology is something that we already have as all of our collectibles are embedded with an NFC chip. We wanted to capitalise on this and use NFT ticketing as a form of distribution for the mass market 2.0 fans, whereby they can use it as passes to enter our in real life experience centres, and within these experiences, we integrate our NFC chip in them to link fans to the physical product. This NFT ticket can also be traded in the secondary market. This truly allows us to create a platform to build a whole end-to-end journey with physical products, digital products and in-real-life experiences that both web2.0 and web3.0 fans alike can easily access.

This is very interesting as a newbie to the NFT world, I was pretty shocked to see Mighty Jaxx diving into this but it’s done really well and I’m all for it. On the subject of NFTs can you explain a little more about NFTs for our readers? And what was the deciding factor to start producing this and what was the idea/process behind it?

We like to view our NFTs more as digital collectibles as we appeal to true fans of the IP and less so crypto speculators. NFTs are digital collectibles that exist on a blockchain and cannot be replicated and some can represent real world items such as art paintings or even real estate.

As we are already partnered up with various top-tier IPs and artists, we wanted to explore a different medium to appeal to fans and collectors, and digital collectibles was something that we could produce to expand our product offerings. I think the lightbulb moment was when our first few releases were snapped up very quickly that we knew that we had something there.

However, the next step will be to integrate the technology into our business and develop products and experiences that can impact our customers in meaningful ways. Our first in-real-life experience of a fan-favourite IP will be launched in SEA very soon via NFT ticketing. I think that it’s a great concept that fans in Europe will enjoy and hope to be able to bring the experience here in future!

Sounds like something really cool upcoming NFT related features and the minds behind it really have got it working well. Thank you for this information as I said I was newbie to NFTs and I love to learn this stuff and I’m sure our readers do too. We can see how quickly your NFT ranges sell out, please tell us how these have become so popular and successful for Mighty Jaxx?

We provide real world utility for our NFTs, whereby owners of the NFT can purchase the physical version of the NFT, amplifying its value. This allows our product to appeal to both physical and digital collectors.

We have also capitalised on location-exclusive releases and our NFTs were only sold exclusively at certain events. For example, our Inked Stories:Eve NFT was only available for purchase at DesignerCon LA, and only attendees of the event had access to purchase the digital collectible (and in turn have access to the physical version). This was very successful as it not only creates a FOMO effect, but serves as a memento for attendees for the event.

That’s great to hear, I hope to see more on the rise and we wish you all the best with the NFTs. Mighty Jaxx works with some amazing partners like Formula 1, Hasbro & Toei Animation, please tell us a little bit about partnering with such big brands for example what went into this and how you managed to make a connection via unique collectibles.

We have a fantastic licensing team who are adept at working with big brands and artists alike. They’re well aware of our strengths and the things we’re aspiring to push the boundaries of physical and digital within our product offering. This means that when selecting licensing partners we’re looking for those who are also willing to create an ambitious look and feel for collectibles.

With Toei this means we have products ranging from £13 to £1500 and with F1 we’ve defined a range of collectibles that transverse what fans would usually expect from a sports collection. No one has really focused on the limited-edition, premium market and this is where we like to play.

Yeah it’s good to have a range for all natures of clientele and well we all know sports fans those collectibles themselves have a real tight niche and the price ranges are very much so premium. Is there a specific product which may be your favourite at Mighty Jaxx and if so which one and why?

Personally, I love our Mr Monopoly Off Werk product. The concept is essentially ‘what does he do on his day off’. It’s pretty out there as a licensed proposition, which I’m not sure any other toy company would have ever come up with! And shows off the cheeky flair that Mighty Jaxx has to lead where others would follow. Our range of dissected statues with Jason Freeny have quickly become iconic and are an easy conversation starter with fans and partners alike! h ttps://mightyjaxx.com/products/off_werk-mrmonopoly

Okay now that’s a pretty damn cool Mr Monopoly, I am not surprised you chose this one, we are all for the cheeky flair so do keep this up. Looking ahead, what are the plans and projects for 2023?

2023 is going to be a huge year for us in Europe in particular. I believe that it’ll be the year that Mighty Jaxx is well and truly introduced to audiences here and I think the niche we operate in has the potential to be absolutely huge. We’re in a unique and fortunate position that we’ll be bringing some bestseller products from other territories and brand new developments to the market simultaneously. Even in the last 3 months of 2022 we saw a fantastic market reaction to our product, as it hit shelves and online retail and that’s really snowballed so far this year.

We can’t wait to see more from Mighty Jaxx throughout 2023 and wish you all the best in reaching those goals and who knows we might just catch up at comic con this year and recap on something new. With your brand name, and position in the industry, do you run a sponsorship or brand ambassador programme? If so, could you name a few, and how important are they to the growth and success of the business?

We launched our Friends of Mighty Jaxx programme last year and engaged several influencers from key geographies such as UK, USA, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Canada and more to promote our products via social media posts and unboxing videos. These influencers are our brand ambassadors and we apply a product seeding strategy to build our brand presence online.

Engaging influencers to become our brand ambassadors both in local and overseas markets has been crucial in helping us build brand awareness and drive sales, especially in entering greener markets such as the EU.

We work with many influencers big and small and we are 100% behind this with you, it’s a great thing to have and do as one of those makes you go viral, people will be queuing for miles just to get the latest collectible. On another note, as we specific a lot on gaming would you say that you are a gamer? And if so what is your gaming platform choice, what is your go to game, and what really excites you about the gaming world?

Sadly I don’t play, I’m so old… that my favourite games are linked to my childhood/ uni days. I loved some of the classic games like Sensible Soccer, NBA Jam, Sonic, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, Goldeneye and Mario Kart. I’m secretly hoping my kids get into it so that I have a chance to start playing again!

Hey we are never too old, we see grandmas playing Skyrim nowadays or grandads rocking GTA. So, one more gaming related question, could you list us your top three all-time favourite games and why?

Top 3: Sensible Soccer (Amiga); Street Fighter II, Mario Kart!

Super classics right there and as you mentioned you’re not much of a gamer these are some solid classics. And finally Is there anything else that you feel you would like to mention that we may not have covered?

Firstly, thank you for your time, I had a great time sharing more about Mighty Jaxx with you. I like to give a shout-out to our readers as well - do follow us on our socials for the latest updates! I promise a ton of unique, exciting releases that will make a great addition to your collection, or if you do not own any collectibles at the moment, it’s time to grab your first from Mighty Jaxx!

The pleasure has been all ours Alex, Thank you so much for speaking with us today this interview was great you’ve covered many topics and well in depth too so we thank you for this, and new stuff coming we will sure but keeping our eyes open for this i really really want Gears of war stuff *hint hint* have a great 2023 we hope to catch up at an event soon.

On that note if you would like to check out Mighty Jaxx and all of their socials you can do so below, for now thats me Sawyer signing off, Peace.

Instagram: @mightyjaxx

Facebook: @mightyjaxxtoys

Tiktok: @mightyjaxx

Youtube: @mightyjaxx

Twitter: @mightyjaxx

LinkedIn: @mightyjaxx