Pathfinder 1E Paizo Annoucement!

[catsclaw]

Really, I don't see the problem some people are having. Sure, I'm pro-4E, but I fully accept that a percentage of current 3.5e players won't want to switch. This gives them an option, and Paizo the chance to keep making money. It's not like it's adding a split to the market that wasn't already coming anyway.

But it is making that split worse. There are a number of people that were willing to go whichever way Paizo went. Paizo could have brought more people over to 4e. Instead, they're preventing people from switching.

I have no idea if this was a good business decision, because I honestly don't have any idea what the market is going to look like. I do know about 80% of the non-WotC market for 3.5 was pretty substandard, in both polish and content. Paizo was once of the consistently superior producers, so if they're sinking the bulk of their energy into not supporting 4e, that's a loss for 4e. I'm sure Paizo would have liked to see the GSL and the rules before they made their decision, and they just didn't feel they could wait any longer.

But that still doesn't exactly make this a win-win for everyone.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Oh, no. I rue the idea of SAGA-ized skill points.

Hmm. This seems to be exactly the kind of changes that I thought would always make it difficult to create a 3.75 alongside 4E. But then, maybe the downwards compatibility won't make this a problem...

 

[BryonD]

In 1-2 years, Paizo *will* have the GSL and *will* move to 4E.

You do understand that they have stated that PF will be released "officially" in August 2009 (right in the middle of your 1-2 year window) and then they plan to START fully supporting that game.

While a small but vocal group of individual customers are pleased with Paizo's decision,

Easy to say, much harder to demonstrate.

the hobby customer base as a whole suffers. Why?

2) The gaming base is further fractured, a result that - unless 4E brings in wholly new gamers - our hobby can little withstand.

The people who are happy were already fractured by WotC's changes. Pazio is simply seeing that there is enough audience outside of 4e to go after them. And yes, I agree the lack of GSL is a key part. But that only makes them NOT go 4e. If the 3e fan base was not already in place, PF would also not be an option.

Paizo didn't fracture the fan base. WotC did. Paizo is supporting a segment that WotC would probably prefer to see left adrift.

But you are correct that it is a significant fracturing. Much smaller than 4E, of course. But far from the wishful thinking of "small but vocal".

 

[grimslade]

Good Luck Paizo!

I think this is a smart move for Paizo. It cashes in on their loyal fans who want to stay 3.5, while offering to fix some of the clunky bits to draw in other customers. Looking over the alpha rules for Pathfinder, I am not blown away, but it is an alpha. The real test will be in Aug '09 when the Pathfinder modules go to PRPG rules.
The best part is that Necromancer will keep the 4E brands cooking while Pathfinder is developed. Plus, a lot of Paizo authors, like WotCs, are freelance. They will write mods for 4E and 3.5. This keeps Paizo nimble to react in case Pathfinder or 4E flops. Or both surge.

Personally, I will be switching to 4E in June. I love Paizo modules and how they ran Dungeon and Dragon. Mona, Jacobs and Buhlman are good people who will labor to bring the best product they can. I wish them all the luck in the world. And more than luck, I will continue to buy Paizo products and convert what needs to convert. Of course, I will most likely buy more Necromancer products than Paizo, but they aren't losing my ducats by this move.

 

[Pinotage]

The danger for Paizo when/if they go 4E is that other companies may have snapped up the 4E niche that they could have filled, and by the time they make the switch (if they do) people may ask "Paizo who?"

There'll always be a good market for adventures and campaign settings, irrespective of the setting. Looking at Paizo's current range of products, I don't see niche products, but rather products that can always be published. Nobody can fill the entire niche of adventures, campaign settings or even visual aids. I think Paizo have got it covered.

Pinotage

 

[AllisterH]

I'm wishing best of luck for Paizo.

Personally, I'm interested in seeing the open beta. I'm honestly trying to see how Paizo keeps compatible with 3.x yet "fixes" certain issues.

 

[vagabundo]

The market will sort this out. I'm sure they made a sound business decision with the information they had. However if there is not enough of a 3.5 user base to support Pathfinder, they will either start creating 4e products in tandem or maybe create dual-edition pathfinder products.

They haven't really closed any doors and if pathfinder doesn't work out they can change tack quite quickly.

 

[Toryx]

I'm proud of Paizo. It's definitely a brave move, and a potentially risky one. It's the move I was hoping someone would make though, and I wish them all the best. I've never bought any of their products before, but depending on my forthcoming read of the free material they've just provided I'll likely become a new customer.

Good luck with the new direction, Paizo gang! I'm happy to see you have the guts to follow your instincts.

 

[catsclaw]

They haven't really closed any doors and if pathfinder doesn't work out they can change tack quite quickly.

Not all that quickly.

Keep in mind the PRPG Guide is due out in 18 months. That means they've basically committed to 2 years at a minimum. And since they're quickly locking up not just the anti-4e crowd but the "YOU'LL PRY THIRD EDITION FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS" crowd, that's going to make switching even more difficult.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

Even before 4th was announced, like a year or two before, I was talking with my wife about the OGL. The gist of the conversation was the fact that with so much material being Open someone could take the 3.x rules and keep that system alive whenever WotC decided a switch to 4th. I thought it would really be interesting how that would work with the market and what kind of things would happen - things like fracturing fan base, or the support of other 3.x OGL publishers.

With 4th being so different from third, the fanbase is fractured already. I know many a person in RL who do not plan on going 4th because they have so many 3.x books, and run their own adventures/worlds that they never have to change.

So here comes Piazo and does what I was thinking about all those years ago. They saw a segment of the market that was not being served by WotC (the 3.x fan who isn't interested in switching to 4th) and decided that market was big enough to support with books.

I can't wait to see how all this falls out. I hope the best for Piazo - I really hope it works, and is really successful for them. I want to see the largest game that was released as open continue and succeed.


I stopped playing D&D myself a couple of years ago (it was my secondary system the whole time I played it to begin with), but I like a lot of concepts in it. I fully expect the same from 4th - I plan to buy the rulebooks and adapt those things I like. So I say all this as an interested outsider. I think it will be interesting to see just what all develops.