I think the OGL is a failure in terms of its ability to communicate the will of its users. Look through the archives and you will notice how many publishers still expect to receive notice above and beyond what is called for in the license or who are threatened by the notion of someone using their OGC!
And all the pubs who say they would like to receive notice know they are not entitled to such notice, they are just banking on fellowship and goodwill to carry the day. Same goes for reuse of OGC. This has nothing to do with how well the OGL communicates and more to do with a small, close-knit group of initial publishers who felt a certain comradery that has always existed historically in the RPG business. Friendly competition in a small market is normal especially one where everyone is constantly vying for the same talent pool.
I call your arguments strawmen attacks. Attack the language of the OGL because it is vague. We agree there. But that has no bearing on its degree of success or failure.
This will probably inspire a lot of people to chime in about how great they think the OGL is. I think it's great too. But should it be imitated? If so, what parts? And why?
What is the need for imitation when the original is not a failure? While it would be nice to have a cleaner license, unless and until you can get WotC to agree to use this hypothetical license, it is just so much noise. Noise that you will also find those same archives you were pointing towards looking for failure. There are other open content licenses. In the RPG business they have not met with even a tenth the success the OGL has.
Don't take me wrong. If you have something new to add to the "Woe are we!!! The OGL is broken!" lament that has been going on since the beginning of this archive, please add away. But there is no reason to start on a false premise. The OGL isn't a failure. It's sole purpose in existence is to allow highly unequal rivals to share without added legal fees for the big guy. Mission accomplished.
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