D&D 4E The Le Games - 2008 and 4e

[Knightfall]

I think pathfinder will do fine for a while, but it's hard to stop the 10,000 pound wotc-gorilla forever. As much as people complain about 4e being so different, I think in the end they will come around if it is a good system. Even people who say they are not converting will most likely purchase the DMG and PHB, which is WOTC's bread and butter.

So, what do I think about Pathfinder? I think it may do fine the six months, but the popularity and sales around it could drop significantly afterwards.

I don't think that Paizo is trying to stop that gorilla. I think they're just trying to steal some of its bananas. And so far, I like what they are doing with those bananas. They are listen to fans of 3rd Edition and giving them a real alternative to 4th Edition.

(BTW, The second version of the open Alpha playtest just went online. The tweaks they've made to the Barbarian, Paladin and Sorcerer look great, IMO. The skills have been reworked to make them more backward compatible with 3.5 and the feats section looks great. Alpha 2 also has some revised spells in it; I don't think those were in the Alpha 1 document.)

I think there is real market for the Pathfinder RPG. I'm really looking forward to the other sourcebooks that Paizo is planning, and so I've decided that if I want a new game it's going to be Pathfinder. I'm even interested in the RPGs campaign setting, which will be a separate book.

Even my FLGS is planning to support Pathfinder. Yes, it's staff is going to sell 4th Edition, but they also believe that Pathfinder will be a good seller. That speaks volumes of the reach of Paizo and its product lines.

Paizo won't stop that 800 lb. gorilla but it will dance around WotC stealing its bananas like the tough, wild orangutan it is destined to be.