PETITION: Keep the term 'Adventure Path' Open Source!

takasi said:
It's used all over the WotC site, going back to 2001 now that I look around. Some examples:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/881670000

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/iw/iw20011007a

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/tt/20060418a

The term was clearly used for the Sunless Citadel series before Dungeon Magazine.

Thanks for the links. It's obviously been a fair amount of time, but I believe that when Paizo announced the Shackled City adventure path, my response was "Well, I hope they do a better job than the WotC adventure path" I do think that the term adventure path for a series of RPG adventures leading from 1st to 20th level was used for the WotC line of adventures starting in Sunless Citadel. I would think that would hurt Paizo's case, but I'm no intellectual property lawyer.
 

log in or register to remove this ad


takasi said:
Why confuse the community?

Why take the term away from Dungeon Magazine in the first place?

Why not support the open gaming community by giving us that term to us?
The community has dealt with far more confusing issues with no problem, this is really not that confusing. Most of the community already associates the term with Paizo anyway.

Because despite "version numbers" and other platitudes, Dungeon *magazine* is dead. All hail the new Dungeon *ezine* but it is not the same. Someone should tell the emperor that he is running around naked.

As is often cited for why WotC is now going to start charging for everything they can... if Paizo invented it, and if they do own it, why give it away for free? Unless you are a publisher and want to confuse the buying public that your new adventure series is related to a Paizo product line, why would you even want the phrase anyway? Now that might be confusing to the community.
 

theredrobedwizard said:
A 900 pound Guerrilla would no longer be a harrier or highly mobile fighting person and as such would no longer be a Guerrilla.

Hmmmm Mental image of a 900 lb person in combat fatigues sitting on a dog. Yea, that wouldn't work that well. We'll do it your way then ;) Gorilla it is.
 

cougent said:
As is often cited for why WotC is now going to start charging for everything they can... if Paizo invented it, and if they do own it, why give it away for free? Unless you are a publisher and want to confuse the buying public that your new adventure series is related to a Paizo product line, why would you even want the phrase anyway? Now that might be confusing to the community.

It seems like it was always a generic term though.

"Adventure Path". Now Pathfinder Chronicles, that seems a little more specific. Or GameMastery. Those brands are solid, no one could confuse them with other products. But "Adventure Path"?

Adventure path is a useful term for describing a series of modules meant to be run throughout the entire lifespan of a campaign. Seems like it was used by WotC before and now the RPGA is using it. I would love to see more products distinguish themselves as "adventure paths" instead of just modules or even a series of modules. It's hard for the community to support that though if the term is being taken away from them.
 

takasi said:
Why confuse the community?

Why take the term away from Dungeon Magazine in the first place?

Why not support the open gaming community by giving us that term to us?
How does that term help the open gaming community? Really, I am interested to hear how it does help. It's a marketing term, nothing more, nothing less.

First off, is it the publishers or the consumers? Two very different groups that could fall under the "open gaming community" label.

As for publishers, is EN Publishing losing sales because people are saying "You know, those books sound interesting, but I really wish it were an adventure path." I don't see using the generic term as having any significant impact on publishers.

Paizo has some brand identity there, and it helps them to trademark it and build that brand identity.

Allowing other companies to use that term dilutes Paizo's brand, but doesn't really lift the other companies up at all. I would see that as a net loss. There is far more value produced if the term is a trademark that Paizo can build upon than if it is a generic term that any company can use. There are many, many generic terms that can be used for this same purpose.

As for consumers, a registered trademark in no way takes it away from us. It doesn't restrict our use anymore than asking someone to give me a Kleenex. To think that we as consumers are somehow harmed by this is pretty silly in my opinion.

So to flip it around, here are my questions:

Where is the confusion in the community?

Why take the term away from Paizo in the first place?

How does this support the open gaming community if they give the term to other publishers?
 

takasi said:
It's come to my attention over on the Paizo boards that they're trying to make the term 'Adventure Path' a registered trademark. Their staff is trying to prevent all publishers and even consumers from using it to describe non Paizo products.

. . .

I ask Paizo that at the bare minimum to please give back to the open gaming community what they've founded their business on. Please give us the term "Adventure Path". It's a "sacred cow" to me, as a gamer. Shackled City, Age of Worms and Savage Tide are just as much "Dungeon" as they are "Paizo". I want to see future Dungeon Adventure Paths, as well as other Adventure Paths from third party publishers.

Rubbish. Paizo created the "adventure path" concept. It is fairly their IP and they should trademark it.
 

I can't believe this is an issue to get worked up over. For all we know, WoTC gave Paizo the "right" (or told them they have no intention to use the term themselves) to trademark "Adventure Path" when the magazines were terminated. If something like that is the case, then yes, Paizo better be aggressive in trademarking that before someone else does.

If trademarking and possibly licensing the use out gives Paizo just a small bit of extra survivability in what is currently a very volatile market more power to them.

Just because some consumers associate the term with "any" string of linked adventures does not mean the term belongs to the community or allows the use of the term by other publishers. Consumers can use the term generically... much as many use "DM" for "GM" interchangeably.
 

takasi said:
It seems like it was always a generic term though.

"Adventure Path". Now Pathfinder Chronicles, that seems a little more specific. Or GameMastery. Those brands are solid, no one could confuse them with other products. But "Adventure Path"?

Adventure path is a useful term for describing a series of modules meant to be run throughout the entire lifespan of a campaign. Seems like it was used by WotC before and now the RPGA is using it. I would love to see more products distinguish themselves as "adventure paths" instead of just modules or even a series of modules. It's hard for the community to support that though if the term is being taken away from them.
So, is your argument that the term is too generic already, so that Paizo legally cannot register it as a trademark?

Or that, since Paizo has based their business on using WotC's open content, they should, in the spirit of openness, let others use the term?

Or both?

The first argument, I think has merit, but it's up to lawyers to sort that out, not people posting on a messageboard.

The second argument, that there is a moral imperative that Paizo let "us" have the term, to me, seems to be one that many, myself included, would argue with.

Just trying to clarify things a bit so that people aren't jumping between the Legal Argument and the Moral Argument. (I knew those philosophy degrees would be handy someday.) :)
 

If Adventure Path becomes a registered trademark, that still leaves open Path of Adventure, Adventursome Path, Adventurer's Path, and a host of other variations. I think when compared to the apparent total lack of 3.0/3.5 to 4E compatability the status of a single two word combination is rather insignificant.
 

Pets & Sidekicks

Remove ads

Top