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

kenmarable said:
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.

It's not just marketing. If I tell people I'm going to run an adventure path, they know I mean I'm running a series of modules from first to an end point. It's not an open ended campaign. There will be an overarching plot, developed by a third party, and it will not be something the DM has developed on his own. It will guide the entire course of the campaign.

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

It should be a term that both publishers and consumers can use to communicate with each effectively when identifying a product type.

kenmarable said:
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.

You might be.

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

I disagree. It's not brand identity. Pathfinder Chronicles is a brand. GameMastery is a brand. Adventure path is not a brand, it's a term used to describe a series of modules that encapsulates a campaign.

kenmarable said:
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.

Adventure path IS a generic term. It's been used before. It's not like Kleenex, where they're taking an original name (like Pathfinder Chronicles or GameMastery) and establishing a brand. They're taking a term that describes a small but growing type of product, an arc of all-inclusive modules for a campaign, and removing its use by the industry.

kenmarable said:
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.

It hampers our ability to find these products easily.

kenmarable said:
Where is the confusion in the community?

Name recognition is important in finding available products to compare. Having a set of key words like "adventure path" attached to a type of product makes it easier for the community trying to buy, sell and compare these products.

kenmarable said:
Why take the term away from Paizo in the first place?

It's neither a product type nor a term they established independently.

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

Again, it's a shared label for a product type shared by the community, not a product line produced by an individual publisher.
 
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Considering they made it successful with AoW, SC, adn ST...and with patherfinder, there is no reason they should enjoy the benefits and rewards that came from it in the regards to owning the term 'Adventure Paths'

I hope they get it. More power to them.
 

You want to know the best thing about this? Let WotC and Paizo duke it out over the name; meanwhile, I'll go trademark the word Adventure Path and let them bid against it. :)
 

Hmm.. lets see if WOTC wins the battle then they kill Paizo and steal their stuff. If piazo wins then they kill off 3rd party companies and take their stuff.. Damn...

Just as long as no one trademarks the word "campaign."
 

"Adventure Path" is filed with the Patent and Trademark Office as follows:

Word Mark ADVENTURE PATH
Goods and Services IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: Role playing game equipment in the nature of game book manuals; Series of fiction books. FIRST USE: 20030301. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20030301
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77153503
Filing Date April 10, 2007
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) Paizo Publishing, LLC LTD LIAB CO WASHINGTON 2700 Richards Road, Suite 201 Bellevue WASHINGTON 98005
Attorney of Record Brian E. Lewis
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
 

I couldn't possibly care less about this issue except to say that "You go, Paizo. Rock on. Whatever."

What is the advantage to "the community" of keeping the term non-trademarked, anyway? 'coz I'm not seeing one that's immediately obvious.
 

Yes Mistwell, I also looked that up. It's their petition, I don't think it's final yet.

Hobo said:
What is the advantage to "the community" of keeping the term non-trademarked, anyway? 'coz I'm not seeing one that's immediately obvious.

I may want to publish one day. Or someone else might.

Or I may want to setup shop as a retailer one day and advertise all of the adventure paths to potential DMs.

Or I may just want a simple, universal term that I can use to search for a series of modules that encapsulate a campaign.

They may be killing off products developed in the future by their actions today.

Pathfinder Chronicles is a brand. Gamemastery is a brand. Adventure path is a product type. I think the industry needs the name to help improve the quantity and quality of that product type.
 


Hobo said:
All of those can be accomplished with another phrase just as easily. Heck, the word Campaign works better.

A campaign is any series of sessions run by a DM, whether modules are used or not.

An adventure path is a sequential series of adventure modules that are intended to encapsulate a campaign.
 

Well, no. Not necessarily. Nocturnum, for example, is a Call of Cthulhu campaign. Says so specifically on the book, IIRC. And essentially, it's exactly what you would call an adventure path.

You're splitting hairs here that don't need to be split, IMO.
 

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