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<blockquote data-quote="Felix" data-source="post: 5766934" data-attributes="member: 3929">You should ask Hasbro if Paizo is allowed to put &quot;Dungeons and Dragons&quot; on their books' covers. I suspect their legal folks would say no.As a brand, then, Pathfinder is certainly not D&amp;D.So I'd think you're trying to use D&amp;D more as a catch-all, rather like the term RPG, though perhaps the metric you're using is one of feel rather than structure.As for feel, D&amp;D can encompass a wide range of styles, from grim Hyborian adventures to magic-saturated high fantasy quests; because of this wide range, D&amp;D may capture the feel of many different systems, like Pathfinder or Pendragon, but in its breadth it loses specificity. In the end, if you define D&amp;D such that it includes Pathfinder, then what does &quot;I play D&amp;D&quot; really mean? It would only mean something to folks who don't play, and who aren't familiar with the broad spectrum of systems and styles of play in the RPG market; you may as well say &quot;I play RPG's&quot; Effectively, it becomes meaningless for anyone involved in the hobby, requiring further elaboration. &quot;I play D&amp;D.&quot;&quot;Oh, so you play 4E?&quot;&quot;Not actually, I play:Choose Option:
--Pathfinder
--3.5
--3.X
--2nd Edition
--Iron Heroes
--You Get The PointIf we're not treating D&amp;D as a brand, then it's either specific enough to connote meaning (in which case Pathfinder /= D&amp;D), or it's so broad as to lose all meaning.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Felix, post: 5766934, member: 3929"] You should ask Hasbro if Paizo is allowed to put "Dungeons and Dragons" on their books' covers. I suspect their legal folks would say no. As a brand, then, Pathfinder is certainly not D&D. So I'd think you're trying to use D&D more as a catch-all, rather like the term RPG, though perhaps the metric you're using is one of [i]feel[/i] rather than structure. As for feel, D&D can encompass a wide range of styles, from grim Hyborian adventures to magic-saturated high fantasy quests; because of this wide range, D&D may capture the feel of many different systems, like Pathfinder or Pendragon, but in its breadth it loses specificity. In the end, if you define D&D such that it includes Pathfinder, then what does "I play D&D" really mean? It would only mean something to folks who don't play, and who aren't familiar with the broad spectrum of systems and styles of play in the RPG market; you may as well say "I play RPG's" Effectively, it becomes meaningless for anyone involved in the hobby, requiring further elaboration. "I play D&D." "Oh, so you play 4E?" "Not actually, I play: [INDENT]Choose Option: --Pathfinder --3.5 --3.X --2nd Edition --Iron Heroes --You Get The Point[/INDENT] If we're not treating D&D as a brand, then it's either specific enough to connote meaning (in which case Pathfinder /= D&D), or it's so broad as to lose all meaning. [/QUOTE]

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