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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenmarable" data-source="post: 3849582" data-attributes="member: 40359">Maybe I'm getting too old, but I find it hard to accept that a product marketing term they started using only 4 years ago is on the same level as a "sacred cow" as some things like the Great Wheel cosmology. Fans started using it only a couple years before they did. It's not like it's a deep part of the D&D history as some of the other "sacred cows" are. I'm tempted to quote Princess Bride here ("That word doesn't mean what you think it means...") but I guess opinions vary on what is and isn't important. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Personally, it's just a phrase to me and doesn't affect my gaming or my purchasing either way. Dungeon Master is a registered trademark, but I don't see WotC coming after consumers for using saying "the latest product from Publisher X is great for DMs!". Yeah, publishers avoid it, but not consumers. I don't see Paizo cracking down on an individual if they say in a review "the new adventure path from Publisher X is really cool!". As for preventing other publishers from using the term, it may be in their best interest as a business to do that. EN Publishing has their Campaign Saga (very cool, go buy it, shameless plug). I don't think it's crippling to their marketing to call it a "campaign saga" rather than an "adventure path". In fact, somewhere on these boards is a thread where Ryan Nock asked for ideas for that term. Plenty got thrown around, so it's not like there is no way you can refer to a series of adventures by any other terms.They are not taking a patent out on the idea of a linked series of adventures starting at level 1 and ending at level 20 (or 15 or whichever). It's just a trademark on that specific phrase. Nothing prevents other publishers, including WotC, from publishing adventure paths/campaign sagas/etc. So you won't lose those at all. That's a non-issue.Ultimately, it seems to Paizo that it's in their best interests as a business to trademark the phrase. Since I love their products, it's in my interest that they remain profitable and flourish as a business. Therefore, I support them in this. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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