I'm back ... what critical RPG news have I missed?

[Umbran]

So I'm back from six months out of contact in Nogameistan ... what critical news have I missed on the RPG front?

Well, you might have missed the big Gates/Jobs announcement, but that's just piddly financial backing stuff. You probably don't care about that...

So is a pro-or-anti-Pathfinder position required at this point, or is there a cooling-off time permitted to allow one time to make up one's mind?

Time for me to be stuffily unfunny:

We don't care if you are pro- or anti- or could not care less. Just so long as you treat people well. Which generally means not being in people's face about being pro or anti.

 

[Woas]

Michael Jackson died.

 

[Voadam]

Let's see, back in March WotC pulled all their pdfs (both 4e and older D&D editions) from sale on rpgnow and paizo including access to downloading ones previously bought. They later said it was because of piracy issues.

WotC sued some people who uploaded copies of the 4e PH2 to torrent sites and got one to settle for a $100,000 judgment.

Palladium, Fantasy Flight Games, and Privateer Press have started putting their old stuff out on PDFs (including Warhammer FRP stuff).

The Pathfinder (OGL 3e variant) was released by Paizo at Gencon, also with a free web supported srd.

On the sadder side:

Dave Arneson died.

Erick Wujcik died.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Mongoose released a 25th anniversary edition of Paranoia and have relaunched the whole Paranoia line.

Olaf the Stout

 

[(un)reason]

So I'm back from six months out of contact in Nogameistan ... what critical news have I missed on the RPG front?

Though since I see the "Dragon magazine: let's read the whole run" thread is still on the front page, I'm guessing: Not much.

Hey. AD&D 2nd edition is completely different from 1st edition

Anyway. Huge .pdf wankery. Heroquest has finally got a new edition. WW has released Geist, which also seems to be fairly nifty, avoiding most of the playability issues Wraith:the Oblivion suffered from. Something called eclipse phase seems to be getting quite a bit of buzz, and I'll probably check that out at some point. WHFRP has released a new edition, which looks like generating almost as much nerdrage as the 3e/4e split due to some pretty substantial mechanics changes and a new focus on shiny playing aids. That's all that springs to mind that hasn't been mentioned yet.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Something called eclipse phase seems to be getting quite a bit of buzz, and I'll probably check that out at some point.

I've finished reading it this weekend, and it's an excellent combination of Transhumanism and Cosmic Horror. Worth checking out for anyone interested in these genres.

Note: You can actually legally download Eclipse Phase from .torrent sites - the creators put the entire book under a Creative Commons license and uploaded it to those sites themselves.

WHFRP has released a new edition, which looks like generating almost as much nerdrage as the 3e/4e split due to some pretty substantial mechanics changes and a new focus on shiny playing aids.

AFAIK it hasn't been released yet. I suspect that the nerdrage would have been less if it had - after all, there's nothing that fuels nerdrage as well as rumors and speculation as opposed to cold, hard facts.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Dark Sun 4th ed D&D was announced for 2010 WOTC release

Now, if I can just persuade them to release Spelljammer for 2011, or 2012 after Planescape or Ravenloft...