Pathfinder on the bookstore shelves? Forked Thread: The 3.5 renaissance!

[JoeGKushner]

Having a vampire game out when stuff like Twilight hits is also a huge plus.

To be fair though White Wolf made a name for itself through the games it sold: Vampire (I get to play a Vampire?) Wherewolf (I get to play a werewolf?) and not through the name White Wolf.

Pathfinder... I get to find paths?

At the time Vampires and such were pretty big then, so I think the live action version had a little more help catching on (recognition wise) with the outside public because goth kids got to dress up and play vampires.

So while I agree, Pathfinder could stand to take a lions share of gamers who play 4e if 4e goes under (and I dissagree with your gut feeling) I don't think it will ever have the recognition that D&D has... Or that Whitewolf games have.

Not because I think it's a bad game, but because I don't see anything on the outside factoring in. (Like D&D being new, and negative publicity, and Vampire being about vampires in a time when people were into vampires. And its own share of negative publicity)

If that makes any sense.

 

[BryonD]

Having a vampire game out when stuff like Twilight hits is also a huge plus.

Or when the Interview, Lestadt series is all the rage....

 

[Cadfan]

Yes, but then again the vast majority of consumers of any product could be generously described as mindless.

Ever since I started DMing, I strove to add a level of... difficulty, forcing my players to outdo themselves in the level of teamwork they display. I just don't think I can do that anymore in fourth.

1HP goblins is way too far gone. Halflings being sea-faring barge traders? Gnomes no longer a base race, same with half-orcs? Laaaaaame.

Plus it has, seriously, been dumbed down way, way, too far.

Ironically, a game with solid table top elements and tactical combat would probably best satisfy you.

 

[Zil]

I once built a house out of hate; with nails of spite, wood of scorn and bile-filled insulation. The forced hot air was fueled by jealousy, and the water table flooded the basement with vitriol. Inside all was badwrongfun! No edition was safe from out scorn!

I quite like this... it could be an interesting theme for a Planescape or Ravenloft adventure - both metaphorically and literally. I suppose it could also fit in one of the darker Paizo adventure paths.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Or when the Interview, Lestadt series is all the rage....

I agree. Anee Rice was very popular for a while there (may still be, I'm outta the loop) and her movie with Brad Pitt I'm sure sent many a goth to the world of Role Playing through Vampire. In many ways, Vampire was a massive template for a whole slew of supernatural books that generally aren't around in their initial form (if at all.) while Vampire itself still is.

Pathfinder? Doesn't have quite the same catch pharsing. In terms of the OP's thinking that Dungeons and Dragons will just go away... not seeing it. Even if WoTC is sold by Hasb ro and the D&D RPG itself is sold, the name value is too high to laggar in limbo. Following some wild theory of that nature, Paizo could buy the name and remove Pathfinder and become Dungeons and Dragons powered by Pathfinder or something. I don't see that ever happening but stranger things have probably happened.

 

[ProfessorPain]

I agree. Anee Rice was very popular for a while there (may still be, I'm outta the loop) and her movie with Brad Pitt I'm sure sent many a goth to the world of Role Playing through Vampire. In many ways, Vampire was a massive template for a whole slew of supernatural books that generally aren't around in their initial form (if at all.) while Vampire itself still is.

.

Interview definitely helped out Vampire. But then, we had a boom of movies around 2000 for fantasy; that must of helped D&D sales. And in the early 80s there was a fantasy boom, and I recall D&D being pretty huge then.

 

[pawsplay]

I can't help but be a little annoyed by this thread, which muses wishfully at the ascension of a game liked by the OP made possible by the death of the game I like and play.

Well, yeah. I remember months of that stuff when 4e was announced. It is a little annoying, but it's something that hopefully can be tolerated.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Yes, but then again the vast majority of consumers of any product could be generously described as mindless.

Ever since I started DMing, I strove to add a level of... difficulty, forcing my players to outdo themselves in the level of teamwork they display. I just don't think I can do that anymore in fourth.

1HP goblins is way too far gone. Halflings being sea-faring barge traders? Gnomes no longer a base race, same with half-orcs? Laaaaaame.

Plus it has, seriously, been dumbed down way, way, too far.

Thank you so much for your refreshing, original, and above all polite critique of Fourth Edition D&D. It's such a rare thing to find an incisive, intelligent analysis of the game around here - I'm sure you'll have a long and productive posting career if this is the sort of keen wit you'll apply to every comment in the future.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I concurr, Pathfinder maybe the best thing that has happened to Paizo and it may actually keep em alive and well in the business for a long time.

I think this is absolutely right, and I'm glad that Paizo has its own game to publish even if it's not a game I want to play. In all likelihood, it's a healthier direction long-term, and it lets them make their own decisions about what to publish and when rather than relying on Wizards of the Coast's schedules as they did during the magazine era.

As for replacing D&D , there is no chance.

Ja. If for no other reason than that "wildly successful performance for Paizo" is most likely somewhere within "troublingly poor performance for Wizards of the Coast" - the scale is just too different.

 

[Jack99]

Well, yeah. I remember months of that stuff when 4e was announced. It is a little annoying, but it's something that hopefully can be tolerated.

Yes, because being excited about 4e = wishing the death of 3.x. Clearly the same.