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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 5322600" data-attributes="member: 2525">I agree that a setting is not the same as the underlying rules.But, I suspect even if Paizo did come out with another edition of the Pathfinder rules, or a larger amount of errata that could trigger a "this is a new edition" type reaction in some, they would probably get less ire from the RPG community.And, I think there are a variety of factors behind that:1) Paizo is a much smaller company, and so in general they are given some more leeway in decisions they make (which I think is wise).  If Paizo doesn't do what they need to do, to make the money they need to make to at least break even, then they are at much more risk of going belly-up than a company backed by a large corporation like Hasbro.  So, we should cut them some slack if they make unexpected decisions they think are crucial to their bottom line.  A bigger company should also make decisions with their bottom line in mind, but I think it's fair to cut them less slack if they make unexpected decisions, since they have more time (backed by more money) to transition those changes and test them with their customer base.2) Paizo, as a niche company, has a more hardcore fan base.  Somewhat like Apple computer fans, or fans of the canceled TV show Firefly, companies that go after a niche of the market rather than a general market tend to get more dedicated fans.  Dedicated fans, in general, will cut their favored creators more slack than more generalized fans.  3) The monetary investment by fans into Pathfinder is (so far) significantly less than it could be for fans of 4th Edition (so far).  In other words, the most one could have spent investing in every Pathfinder book to have come out so far is less than the most one could have invested in every 4th edition book to come out so far.  It's understandable if reactions change as monetary investment changes.  There is a factor I can see which would result in a more negative reaction to an unexpected big change to the Pathfinder underlying rules (if that were to happen - which as far as I know it hasn't happened).  And that is the investment some fans made into helping craft those rules to begin with, with the beta testing that went on.  If Paizo made an unexpected big change to the current rules, I think some fans might feel slighted because of that intellectual investment they made.  However, I doubt we'll be seeing any unexpected big changes.  So far, Paizo transitions things pretty openly, and slowly.  If they were to come out with a new edition of Pathfinder that was significantly different than the current one, I bet we'd know about it well in advance, and there might even be another opportunity to openly beta test it and take suggestions from the fans.</blockquote>

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