The Gamological Soceity (an offshoot of the AV Club, the pop-culture and entertainment review site that's part of The Onion) just posted an article about Pathfinder.
The article specifically compares the coporate trajectories of Paizo vs. Wizards of the Coast.
It's an interesting article, although I think it suffered a bit by not giving more details about the Open Game License (which is a big part of the story, IMO).
I almost posted a link to that myself, but it was just so half-assed (like most Gamelogical Society content) I couldn't quite do it. There's not much to discuss and absolutely no new information.
Well, there's no new information for people who already know that information, but that's tautologically true about every article ever written. :-)
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I almost posted a link to that myself, but it was just so half-assed (like most Gamelogical Society content) I couldn't quite do it. There's not much to discuss and absolutely no new information.Well, there's no new information for people who already know that information, but that's tautologically true about every article ever written. :-)
Fair enough. I still find the Gamelogical Society to be painfully half-assed, but I suppose it's not fair to complain that they have an article aimed at outsiders which doesn't offer any new information to those who followed the developments as they happened.
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the comment thread on that article went hilariously fast into edition warring
It's not surprising that an article that speculates on the relative success and/or popularity of two version of D&D will attract differing points of view on that central point in the comments.
The only important thing I learned from this article was that Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition is scheduled for release November 15th.
*cheer*
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I'm personally in doubt of any digital details making any huge differences in any particular line. Having it is certainly a benefit for certain people but I don't think that you'll get a lot of people who are sold on a selling point of not having to "lug around heavy books."
Written by someone who obviously lives in the "Everyone has a Tablet" universe that I don't happen to reside in. Annoying to see it crop up.
Yeah though Fig in another thread is right, years late overall.
From another thread...
This article seems to be a few years too late. It has some bits of value in it, but nothing that Forbes, Marketplace and the New York Times haven't broken weeks and years earlier.
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Most of what I get are pdfs...I have an unstable employment position that might require me to make multiple cross country moves in the next few years. I can fit all my Pathfinder material on a flashdrive, which takes a tad less room and cost than boxing and shipping that stuff hardback.
Only exception would be hardcover rulebooks. I am not a huge fan of having to read through 300 pdf pages.
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I'm personally in doubt of any digital details making any huge differences in any particular line. Having it is certainly a benefit for certain people but I don't think that you'll get a lot of people who are sold on a selling point of not having to "lug around heavy books."
I must disagree, having failed to see a game in the past few years without at least one laptop or other mobile form of computer.
Let alone getting the information instantly, even if not used in that format for play, is pretty convenient. It helps people plan and pore over information before having to digest it at the table.But that's all anecdotal thoughts.
Though I'd hardly call expecting an already existing market (people who enjoyed the 3.5 system) to support further catering toward that market "a hunch", seems like something you'd logically conclude.
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Okay, so your telling me honestly that the product being available in a digital format is one of the main reasons you would purchase it?
For me, a product not being available in digital means I won't buy it. I'm only buying digital gaming books these days.
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Okay, so your telling me honestly that the product being available in a digital format is one of the main reasons you would purchase it?
I can agree with that sentiment. My gaming table has laptops and tablets everywhere. Playing a game as complex as Pathfinder is a lot easier when you can hit a search button on a term you're looking for.
At this point I buy books more for decoration than for table usage.
Okay, so your telling me honestly that the product being available in a digital format is one of the main reasons you would purchase it?For me, a product not being available in digital means I won't buy it. I'm only buying digital gaming books these days.
This so much. I can't have anything shipped to my current location, and even if I could, I much prefer browsing PDFs on my computer to shelving and unshelving books looking for that thing I wanted.
I want Visions of WAR so badly. But it only comes in print format, not PDF. And Paizo staff have made it clear that - at least for the foreseeable future - there will not be a PDF version.
So I can't get it.
In other news, I'm kind of surprised how much the comments on that article have a hate-on for the OGL. I think "Ryan Dancey was an egotistical dick who wanted to make a name for himself and the OGL ruined 3E/d20/WOTC/gaming" are some of the tamer comments on the subject.
Meanwhile over here at Paizo I can't think of a single thread on that topic that hasn't had multiple people praising the OGL and very few if any negative comments at all.
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Hrmmm, I don't seem to be getting my point across... It's more an statement that selling points for something like a game should have a lot more to do with the actual use or content of that game rather then the delivery of the game.
I honestly had no idea that apparently that is a huge issue for most of you or that you will try anything sole because it is available on PDF. My mistake and I apologize for it.
That kind of technology isn't seen where I game at or with who I play with, or even in my every day life so I hope you can understand my ignorance.
It's less "will try anything on PDF" and more "can't/won't get anything in print so if it's not available on PDF we don't/can't get it at all".
In other news, I'm kind of surprised how much the comments on that article have a hate-on for the OGL. I think "Ryan Dancey was an egotistical dick who wanted to make a name for himself and the OGL ruined 3E/d20/WOTC/gaming" are some of the tamer comments on the subject.
Meanwhile over here at Paizo I can't think of a single thread on that topic that hasn't had multiple people praising the OGL and very few if any negative comments at all.
Well to be honest I think Pathfinder fans are going to be more supportive of the OGL than 4E people, and you are not going to get too many people complaining about the OGL on the company website for a game that owes it's existence to OGL
That said, I think the OGL was good for GAMING, but probably not good for the WOTC/DnD brand.
Oh yeah I agree. I'm just surprised to see it I guess, especially from so many people, and with such a virulent and near-universal (in that context) opinion that it's nothing but bad for the industry.
Of course, I should probably just avoid reading comments period. Like one must do on YouTube.
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Hrmmm, I don't seem to be getting my point across... It's more an statement that selling points for something like a game should have a lot more to do with the actual use or content of that game rather then the delivery of the game.
I honestly had no idea that apparently that is a huge issue for most of you or that you will try anything sole because it is available on PDF. My mistake and I apologize for it.
That kind of technology isn't seen where I game at or with who I play with, or even in my every day life so I hope you can understand my ignorance.
To be fair, writing should be a primary reason. But the premise that the availability of the digital format is an incentive doesn't rule it as the main reason.
I'd rather fork out on a hard copy of Lord of the Rings than an eBook format of Twilight, to give literature as an example. It's a benefit that act as a heavy incentive; but one that wouldn't exist if Paizo wrote utter rubbish.I suppose a better explanation is you can have a desktop PC with a set of specifications or a laptop with the same specifications at no difference in cost (some of the fiddly annoyances of laptops not withstanding). The laptop is, in that situation, a massively preferable option because of the sheer mobility in comparison.
On the OGL hate - the level of virulence shouldn't really be surprising given the sheer hate people seem to be capable of over minor changes in how x feature works in any d20 system. Quoth Einstein: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Not that I'm equating emotionally charged opinion with stupid, nope, never. Although, in a weak defence for opponents of the OGL - unless you sat down, read and agreed with the information and conclusions (surmisable as "any growth in a hobby industry provides returns for the industry leader") that led to the OGL being adopted - it makes absolutely no sense.
I quite honestly cannot play an RPG if I don't have the physical books. I will often use the PDFs of those same books in order to avoid breaking my elbows (or those fantastic fully linked tools for tablets), but I have what you very well may call OCD when it comes to having actual books.
Plus they give atmosphere to the game. Not having books at the table would be like not having dice!
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Generally speaking, I use books and paper at the table and all-digital for my prep work. I can sit at work and bash together monster and NPC stat blocks, study up on the spells and abilities I'll need to know about for next session, and pull art out of the PDFs to show to my players at the table.
Then I print everything off (except for the pictures -- I have a tablet just for them) and take it to the game.
For my players, two of them use online tools at the table (fantastic for full spellcasters), and all the rest use plain ol' paper. I bring all my books if they need to look something up.
If there was no OGL, there would be no d20pfsrd.com, and thus my prep work would be WAY harder.