Why do I complain about 4E?

[Greylock]

If people want support of 3.5 then talk about 3.5

Aside from Pathfinder and Whiterock. there has been little talk on these boards about the new 3.5 stuff we have seen in the past year.

Then help me out here.... I've seen hardly any new 3.x material. very little at my local FLGS since the announcement of 4.0. None at any of the other book stores. Wizards went out of their way to kill all 3.x releases. What do we have to talk about? Pathfinder and precious little else, but it's been decreed around here that Pathifinder is inadmissible in the General Forum.

 

[Rechan]

Wizards went out of their way to kill all 3.x releases.

Eh, what? What do you mean, they went out of their way? They just stopped printing them.

They stopped publishing 3.x. Yes. Just like you know, when Nintendo goes to a new generation of console, they stop making the old games.

Other companies are welcome to publish 3.5 material. They just can't publish 4e and 3.5 in the same product line.

So how did they kill it?

 

[Tsyr]

Eh, what? What do you mean, they went out of their way? They just stopped printing them.

They stopped publishing 3.x. Yes. Just like you know, when Nintendo goes to a new generation of console, they stop making the old games.

Not WotC 3.x released; 3rd party 3.x releases.

 

[Rechan]

Not WotC 3.x released; 3rd party 3.x releases.

Other companies are fully capable of producing 3.x books.

So again, how'd they kill the 3rd party stuff?

 

[Tsyr]

Other companies are welcome to publish 3.5 material. They just can't publish 4e and 3.5 in the same product line.

So how did they kill it?

You don't think that's a pretty good way to help ensure it dies? Forcing smaller publishers to chose between which group to support? Heck, one of the major strengths of OGL D20, I felt, was the various "crossover" products like Fading Suns or Deadlands, that got people into interesting settings that they might never have before.

 

[Tsyr]

Other companies are fully capable of producing 3.x books.

So again, how'd they kill the 3rd party stuff?

Capable of producing 3.x books, but under a restricted license. There's no way a company can, for example, support it's loyal 3.x users for a year or two and still start putting out their old product lines for the 4.0 adopters. It's either or. So a company has to make a choice... Do I take Product X to 4.0, where there will probably be more users in two years (or whatever), or support 3.x, which will be a dwindling, but probably increasingly loyal, market?

Most are probably going to chose option A, which leads to the "killing" of 3.x material.

 

[Rechan]

You don't think that's a pretty good way to help ensure it dies?

No. Because a company doesn't have to swear allegiance. It simply has to decide which system a product line will be published in.

 

[Rechan]

Capable of producing 3.x books, but under a restricted license. There's no way a company can, for example, support it's loyal 3.x users for a year or two and still start putting out their old product lines for the 4.0 adopters. It's either or.

No, it's not.

Paizo could have decided to produce Pathfinder APs as 3.5, and produce their Game Mastery modules in 4.0, for instance, because both are different product lines.

Where's the dilemma for the company?

 

[Tsyr]

No. Because a company doesn't have to swear allegiance. It simply has to decide which system a product line will be published in.

It kinda does, in many cases, force a company to effectivly "Swear allegiance". If you're a smaller publisher, and you've got a lot invested in one product line, are you going to be eager to re-invent a new product line? No, you're going to want to continue your existing one... But you have to "swear allegiance", to your term, to one system for it.

This is a relevant question even for a bigger company that can afford to start up new product lines - all your old product lines are still valuable, what are you going to do with them?

 

[Rechan]

It kinda does, in many cases, force a company to effectivly "Swear allegiance". If you're a smaller publisher, and you've got a lot invested in one product line, are you going to be eager to re-invent a new product line? No, you're going to want to continue your existing one... But you have to "swear allegiance", to your term, to one system for it.

I don't see it. Looking at many third party companies, they had several product lines to begin with. Even the small ones.

So no, I do not think that it threatens 3.x publishers in the least.