Pathfinder 1E You're the CEO of PAIZO. Now What?

[Qualidar]

Green Ronin produces True20 conversions for the Rise of the Runelords AP. Why doesn't WotC pony up some money and get a license from Paizo to do the same for 4E?

In a more serious vein: I think that Paizo (my favorite company) has my least favorite website. I'd love for it to be upgraded to be as functional and feature rich as, say, ENWorld.

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

If I recall the website is how it is due to in house programing. They run a store from that site and the more common and used the features and programing are they easier it is to get hacked. I mean if they get hacked they do not just lose the boards but but peoples credit card info as well.

On another note, I keep hearing that brought up but I have never found the interface to be an issue? Just what is wrong with the site?

 

[Dannager]

Green Ronin produces True20 conversions for the Rise of the Runelords AP. Why doesn't WotC pony up some money and get a license from Paizo to do the same for 4E?

Hmmm, I hadn't considered looking at it from that angle. Now that I think about it, WotC would be way better than Paizo at designing new encounters to make the adventures flow smoothly in 4e. They already have some experience in adventure conversion from the free conversions they've put up (of entire published books). It'd have to be worth WotC's time, though. As much of an audience as official 4e conversions would have, I'm having a hard time seeing this being a profitable venture.

 

[Knightfall]

• First, update the forums a little bit. Right now, they are not user friendly.
  
• Second, do a playtest for PFRPG psionics and then for epic rules. Finish, psionics before starting the epic process. For epic, combine the best aspects of the Epic SRD and the Divine SRD, and leave the rest on the cutting room floor. Let Pathfinder fans help build the psionics and epic rules they want. And don't worry about compatibility with v.3.5. Build the rules based on what now exists for the PFRPG.
  
• Third, create a campaign setting that does for The Great Beyond what Planescape did for The Great Wheel.

 

[BryonD]

I'm having a hard time seeing this being a profitable venture.

So now you are making excuses?

Maybe Mistwell can come along and challenge WotC on whether or not they have picked up the phone to try to buy this license from Paizo.




And just in case it doesn't come through 100% clear, both of the above statements are intended to be absurd. Though they are, unfortunately, no less absurd pointed at WotC than they are when pointed at Paizo.

 

[Betote]

To be fair, Wizards of the Coast did not "unilaterally revoke" Paizo's license to produce Dragon and Dungeon magazines. They decided not to renew the license at the end of the term, which is a fish of a different color.

Thanks for the clarification, and sorry for the misunderstanding. I remembered than something happened with WotC not wanting you to continue publishing Dungeon and Dragon, but not the details, and I was too lazy to look it up

But I do think it is fair to say that our past experiences with publishing licensed products (not just with Wizards of the Coast) has made us MUCH more interested in producing our own material and living or dying by OUR choices rather than the choices of other entities whose business goals may not line up with (or have anything whatsoever to do with) ours.

That's exactly what I meant. You're in control of your own destiny now, and you're doing a damn good job at it

 

[Raven Crowking]

We hardly ever agree

Sure we do. We agree all the time.



RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

Truth hurts.
Paizo doesn't owe you anything. But they get hounded and hounded.

Indeed. One wonders why these same 4e fans don't hound and hound WotC to release 4e under the OGL, which would open up 3pp support? After all, it was initially announced that 4e would be published under an OGL. Or why these same 4e fans don't hound WotC to produce better materials? After all, WotC could certainly change their writers guidelines to do so. Or why these same 4e fans don't simply convert materials to 4e, since it is supposed to be so easy to do?

What is it with people dismissing Paizo's reasons as excuses?

It is easier to ask someone else to take the risk than to take the risk yourself. Also, perhaps, a bit of envy over the high quality adventure materials fans of some other games get to enjoy.

Although, I am constantly told that 4e encounters are easy to write up, so I have to wonder why the Pathfinder APs cannot be easily converted to 4e by individual DMs.

I mean, I am running a completely different system, yet I have no trouble converting Paizo materials or WotC 4e materials. Can this really be so difficult?



RC

 

[Wicht]

An excuse is not being able to make the kind of adventures we want to make. Get it now?

Actually I don't see that as an excuse at all. I see that as a genuinely valid reason not to use a particular ruleset. It is a polite way of expressing disatisfaction with fundamental changes to both the fluff and the underlying assumptions of the game.

The thing is, when people ask Paizo why they are not doing 4e, there are several reasons, all of them valid. Just because they might individually or collectively mention only one or two on a particular occassion does not mean they do not have the others in mind as well. But to rehash the whole issue everytime someone brings it up would be truly time consuming and after the first couple times, incredibly dull and pointless.

To sum up: Not wanting to use the GSL is a perfectly good reason to avoid 4e. It is also the simplest explanation to use in a conversation. Just because it is the simplest however, does not mean it is the only reason and just because it may be the only reason given at any particular time does not mean that the other issues are not still in play.

 

[Wicht]

On another note, I keep hearing that brought up but I have never found the interface to be an issue? Just what is wrong with the site?

Except for those times it is down or slow, I never have any problems with their messageboards. I keep wondering as well what is so bad about them that it drives people to distraction. T