Obvious Troll
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Meh.
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Pathfinder 1E Paizo Announcement and Prognostication
- Thread starter billd91
- Start date
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him)
Looking at my posts in the initial thread, I figured Paizo would have launched a line of 4e adventures by now. But then I didn't know how problematic the GSL was going to be for some of the 3rd party producers.
In the end, I'm content Paizo stuck to their guns, launched Pathfinder, and then concentrated on it. I think they've shown that's an excellent path to success (and nine more Ennies this year to boot) and they did not need to hitch their wagon to the WotC 4e train.
I'm a bit surprised to the extent I've stopped using my 3.5 stuff. I like the degree of backward compatibility PF has with 3.5 (I have used a few modules with it with very little change necessary), I just don't feel I need to use my 3.5 splatbooks to play the D&D I want to play with PF (+APG and soon to add Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat).
In the end, I'm content Paizo stuck to their guns, launched Pathfinder, and then concentrated on it. I think they've shown that's an excellent path to success (and nine more Ennies this year to boot) and they did not need to hitch their wagon to the WotC 4e train.
I'm a bit surprised to the extent I've stopped using my 3.5 stuff. I like the degree of backward compatibility PF has with 3.5 (I have used a few modules with it with very little change necessary), I just don't feel I need to use my 3.5 splatbooks to play the D&D I want to play with PF (+APG and soon to add Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat).
While it could be a "rub your faces in it" if you choose to go that route, I don't think gaining a little perspective is a bad thing.
Regardless of how you felt about the announcement at the time or how you feel about 4e or Pathfinder in general, looking through the lens of now-vs-then that thread is a gold mine for demonstrating that the absolutism applied to opinions and then posing them as truths doesn't accomplish much. It's a showcase for presenting opinion grounded more in emotion than considered thinking.
And based on how the recent "Pathfinder outselling D&D" thread rapidly devloved into 50+ pages of people talking past one another, I'd like to see everyone in the community (present company included) have a little more perspective and a lot less emotion.
But if I were a betting man...
Regardless of how you felt about the announcement at the time or how you feel about 4e or Pathfinder in general, looking through the lens of now-vs-then that thread is a gold mine for demonstrating that the absolutism applied to opinions and then posing them as truths doesn't accomplish much. It's a showcase for presenting opinion grounded more in emotion than considered thinking.
And based on how the recent "Pathfinder outselling D&D" thread rapidly devloved into 50+ pages of people talking past one another, I'd like to see everyone in the community (present company included) have a little more perspective and a lot less emotion.
But if I were a betting man...
ShinHakkaider
Adventurer
exactly.
Treebore
First Post
I was pretty spot on, I am deleting part of my quote to avoid sparking any edition wars:
"Uh, very successful, ...delete... They will sell very successfully as long as the consumers buy it.
So the real question is how big will the 3E market be, and how long will it stay big enough?
That will be how long PAIZO stays with 3E.
PAIZO is not led by business idiots. They will ride the 3E wave as long as it keeps them afloat. If the wave dies out too much they will just jump to the 4E wave.
Simple. Smart. Keeps them viable."
"Uh, very successful, ...delete... They will sell very successfully as long as the consumers buy it.
So the real question is how big will the 3E market be, and how long will it stay big enough?
That will be how long PAIZO stays with 3E.
PAIZO is not led by business idiots. They will ride the 3E wave as long as it keeps them afloat. If the wave dies out too much they will just jump to the 4E wave.
Simple. Smart. Keeps them viable."
Mournblade94
Adventurer
I personally think the best thing to happen to Dungeons and Dragons was the OGL and WOTC counting short the influence of the legacy fans. They were banking on the fact older fans had no where else to go besides their old books. They banked wrong.
It allowed for another company to come along and make an even better product.
It allowed for another company to come along and make an even better product.
Ahnehnois
First Post
I don't guess there exists a similar thread of people talking about the OGL.
That said, it's amazing what we've seen in the time of Pathfinder. Not just the renaming of one version of D&D, and it's continued widespread popularity, but the rise of other non-D&D rpgs (Cortex and Dragon Age being my personal favorites). The D&D brand name is no longer monopolozing the tabletop rpg market.
Certainly, this announcement was a turning point in the rpg industry.
That said, it's amazing what we've seen in the time of Pathfinder. Not just the renaming of one version of D&D, and it's continued widespread popularity, but the rise of other non-D&D rpgs (Cortex and Dragon Age being my personal favorites). The D&D brand name is no longer monopolozing the tabletop rpg market.
Certainly, this announcement was a turning point in the rpg industry.
Dannager
First Post
There were other times when D&D didn't have a monopoly on tabletop RPGs - notably, the White Wolf era. Games like Cortex and Dragon Age are nothing new from a state-of-the-industry standpoint. The only truly unprecedented non-D&D development has been Pathfinder. It is something new, and the gaming community is still trying to figure out what it all means.
I think the biggest surprise to me is that nobody else really tried to take up the banner of the open form of 3e D&D. Paizo actually benefited from the lack of competition. (And also having staff and freelancers who were involved with 3e D&D and having the connection to their past).
If this happened in 2003 or 2006 I would have expected at least 2-3 other competitors.
Any remaining competitors are more moderately different from the baseline OGL SRD, so as to be their own brands not really "classic D&D".
If this happened in 2003 or 2006 I would have expected at least 2-3 other competitors.
Any remaining competitors are more moderately different from the baseline OGL SRD, so as to be their own brands not really "classic D&D".
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