3rd Party Products - Do You Care?

[Morrus]

One "Adventure Path" does not make a "line of adventures." Rather, it is a "line of adventure."

I'm now not only sad, but now my head hurts, too...!

 

[ggroy]

Ok, is it that weird that I know about Adamant's PF products yet of the entire list of 4e-products, the only ones I recognize was both Wraith Recon and Goodman's modules?

Seriously, there are _THAT_ many 4e products?

Bloody hell, where have I been?

I also didn't know there were that many 4E 3pp titles either. Many of those 4E 3pp titles look like they were pdf or print-on-demand only.

I've only seen the print 4E 3pp stuff from Mongoose, Expeditious Retreat Press, and Goodman at FLGS. I've only purchased the Goodman 4E modules so far. The other print 4E 3pp offerings have been somewhat underwhelming so far.

 

[Umbran]

I'm now not only sad, but now my head hurts, too...!

It makes sense, Morrus. One adventure path can be seen as one product. What he's looking for is not one product, but a product line of adventures.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Yes, I see the difference betweeen an adventure path and a line of unconnected or semi-connected adventures.

And I vastly prefer the latter.


I mostly play online, so whenever I see a DM say something like, "We will start at first and I hope to go all the way to 20(3.x)" or now 30(4E) I cringe, knowing that it will take about that many years or at best twop-thirds of that number of years.

Yes, I could happen, but honestly......? What are the odds?

I like concentrated little adventures that have a strong theme and setting. I would pay for them wheter 4E or 3.5 as I run both.

 

[Glyfair]

It makes sense, Morrus. One adventure path can be seen as one product. What he's looking for is not one product, but a product line of adventures.

Exactly. When I start looking for adventures, I am looking for something that fits into my current, preexisting campaign. Having one story told over several "products" means that is effectively one product for my purposes (and a pretty expensive one at that). I want a lot of choices.

I will also note, that I have never been a big fan of the adventure paths, and actively started to dislike their prevalence once Savage Tide started. The first was interesting and I liked the concept. Age of Worms showed that Paizo/WotC had learned some things from the first and did it better. Savage Tide showed that once they found a good thing they were going to drive it into the ground, and take a good percentage of a year's Dungeon with it.

 

[Glyfair]

I like concentrated little adventures that have a strong theme and setting. I would pay for them wheter 4E or 3.5 as I run both.

Also, most long term campaigns I have played in and run have developed based on what the PCs do. Even if there was one overarching storyline (and I have never played in that long term), the player character's actions in the first set of adventures determine what is going to happen in the middle and later set of adventures. High level adventures are often things the player characters set in motion, rather than things they follow because those adventures are "next."

If my players decide to raid one of the bad guys temples because they think that will put pressure on them, I will be looking for an adventure with an evil temple in it. That's what about half the adventures I buy were the result of.

 

[N0Man]

If I'm going to buy 3rd Products, they are going to either be Adventures, or maybe an accessory of some sort.

Honestly, the flood of really spotty quality OGL books in 3E really turned me off from a lot of 3rd party products. They too frequently seemed to be filled with poorly written source books, poorly designed prestige classes, unbalanced feats, broken mechanics... even more so than the official books did. In 4E, just like in 3E, the character option books don't interest me at all.

However, adventures, stories, gaming accessories, those I could be sold on.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

Honestly, no, I'm not really interested in 3rd PP. I understand that alot of good came from the OGL, but I only bought about 5 3 PP in the existance of 3.X, and two of those were from Dragonlance.

I will admit I almost always look over adventures, so those are the one product I would actually look at. Even then, I'm much more likely to steal individual encounters than run adventures straight from the book.

 

[The_Gneech]

I will also note, that I have never been a big fan of the adventure paths, and actively started to dislike their prevalence once Savage Tide started. The first was interesting and I liked the concept. Age of Worms showed that Paizo/WotC had learned some things from the first and did it better. Savage Tide showed that once they found a good thing they were going to drive it into the ground, and take a good percentage of a year's Dungeon with it.

Agreed. That's one of my big problems with Pathfinder, too ... if you're not interested in the theme of the adventure path, that's six-plus modules from them you'll never buy. I've bought some of the stand-alones, tho, because that's what I'm looking for.

-The Gneech

 

[Treebore]

Yeah, I used to worry about the Pathfinder series being a waste, but then I realized it was pretty easy to "disconnect" them and turn them into stand alones. Still, I think after the "King Maker" series I will end my subscription. Not because I don't like them, I think they have been the finest module writing I have ever seen. I am thinking of stopping because I will have over 30 of the things. That is already a heck of a lot of gaming I am already years behind on.