D&D 5E Will you continue to give WotC D&D your $$$

[David Britten]

left

 

[Aldarc]

Again I don't see your point.

Free League and Paizo pitch most of their games to virtually the same age group. Furthermore, whether someone prefers one or the other says nothing about the maturity level of the players themselves.

So people aren't supposed to express a preference and explain why a game appeals to them? I really don't see the conflict here, what does it matter if I think Pathfinder looks like a Nintendo game guide?

People are supposed to express their opinions and preferences with civility, respect, and politeness towards others.

 

[David Britten]

left

 

[UngeheuerLich]

My first poll; So exciting!

By all means continue to use the books you have, and enjoy what you and your group are doing. Nothing wrong with that.

That being said; Given the current OGL kerfuffle...

... and not a good poll. You only have two extreme options

I voted for yes, because right now I am undecided and tend towards yes, because I don't use 3PP because it usually is not my cup of tea.
I don't need OGL 1.0a and I don't care who goes, as long as OGL 2.0 is still a fair deal.

 

[Aldarc]

I disagree with this. I didn't say mature, I said they are pitched at adults as opposed to games pitched at kids.

You certainly seem to insinuate it (emphasis in bold, mine):

Free League make RPGs for adults. The themes, art and writing are designed for adults to do in-depth and morally complex roleplaying. Path Finder and D&D are pitched at 13 year old boys. The art is cartoonish, the morality is black and white and the rules are combat focussed.

I have no desire to return to my childhood or explore childlike experiences. I'm 50 years old. I want complexity and high art, I don't want to live in a state of perpetual arrested development. Why can't I have products pitched at the older gamer. Why do we all have to live in the mass market youth obsessed gaming sphere?

There is a lot of loaded, derogatory language about other game preferences and implications about people with other preferences here. It may not be your intent to insult others, but I hope you can understand how people reading along would certainly get that impression.

Much like South park is pitched at adults and avatar is pitched at kids. Both can enjoy either but they aren't pitched to the same audience.

South Park is rated TV-MA, meaning for mature audiences. Avatar the Last Airbender is rated Y7+, meaning for ages 7 and up. However, the manufacturers' suggested age range for Free League and Paizo's games are virtually the same: i.e., ages 14+ vs. ages 13+, respectfully.

You may believe that Free League does a better job at handling mature content than Pathfinder. That's fine. But it's also true that Free League, Paizo, and WotC all pitch their games to teenagers and older, which we know as per the manufacturer's recommended age ratings for these products much in the same way that the ratings tell us about the suggested age recommendations for South Park and Avatar, respectively.

Wanting adult focussed gaming isn't offending anyone.

I agree that "Wanting adult focused gaming isn't offending anyone." However, making generalized and implied claims about Pathfinder and D&D's audience is. There are innumerate ways to state your preferences without insulting giant swaths of other people.

 

[David Britten]

left

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Honestly I think you're just looking to find offence where none exists

I feel like you're doing a bit at this point.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

Imho trying to age categorize roleplaying games is just silly. It's the people who play the game that decide how the game will play, no matter if it's marketed for 7 year olds or adults.

At my table, no matter what system we are using, most games tend to lean to politics, intrigue, social pillar and heavy roleplaying. We enjoy those themes, probably because we are old farts who all are active in politics and have a perhaps larger than average interest in societal, governmental and interrelational aspects. If 10 year olds played the same games it might choose a different way of playing.

It's true that certain games have more mechanical and thematic support for certain game styles. That doesn't mean that there is only one category of people who will play it or that it will only be played in one style or with one theme.

 

[David Britten]

left

 

[schneeland]

What does Free League do that's so good? I haven't read their stuff--or, honestly, any Pathfinder stuff, so I don't know the differences between them.

Ignoring the 90s discourse flashback for a moment: Free League games have high production values combined with a straightforward, low (e.g. Tales from the Loop) to medium (e.g. Forbidden Lands) crunch system, in which combat is de-emphasized compared to D&D (again varying per concrete game). While they do have a house system (Year Zero engine), they typically customize it quite a bit for the individual title, and they also have a few games with other underlying system (e.g. Symbaroum or The One Ring).
All in all, at least for me, while still recognizable as a Free League game, each of their games feels fresh and their excellent illustrations often draw me into the game immediately.