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Message: <blockquote data-quote="an_idol_mind" data-source="post: 6184910" data-attributes="member: 43749">I think I disagree (perhaps uneducatedly) with the premise of the original article. I don't necessarily think that gamers as a whole look for off-ramps. Their tastes do change, and some gamers do want to keep hopping from system to system, but I think a lot of people are content to settle into the game they see as their niche.(By "people" in this post, I mean, "my guess at a majority of customers," not "everybody.")Stuff like 13th Age and Numenera isn't something that many gamers look for because they're fatigued with the current system, but rather they represent systems that offer something that their fanbases wanted out of a previous game but never got. In other words, I don't think people who switch from Pathfinder to 13th Age are looking for a new game, but rather have been folks who wanted something out of their games that Pathfinder wasn't offering. They might be thinking, "Man, I wish magic were less mundane in Pathfinder," then along comes 13th Age that gives them that and much more.I think one of the reasons that D&D has lost momentum in recent years is less because people are consciously looking for something new and more because WotC was never really satisfied with the game they've presented, and it shows. Maybe this is a result of turnover in staff or new creative directions, but they've been constantly overhauling the system. We had 3rd edition, which then quickly gave way to 3.5. 3.5 products were constantly trying to patch the game or change its subsystems with things like Tome of Battle. 4th edition was a major change, and that too got a bunch of patches in the form of Essentials. Now 5th edition is on its way and is another radical change from what came before. I think WotC has failed to really grab and hold onto a singular vision for D&D, which has led to a lot of changes and also a lot of gamers looking for new games.While Pathfinder will certainly plateau and even decline eventually, I think it is probably benefiting from a clearer plan put forth by Paizo. There's been errata and a few large-scale changes (such as the Stealth skill), but not the major system changes that WotC has made to the different versions of D&D. They've also been pretty up-front with the style of game they want to produce, and their adventures and other products all feed into that feel/style. Overall, I think they have a stronger clarity of vision with what they want out of Pathfinder that is serving them well and which will possibly extend the life of the game beyond what many people expect.</blockquote>

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