FoxBat_'s page

Re: why there aren't more 4E types pissed at this move; half of WotC's D&D General forum thread had already turned into 5E topics. I think that was to fill the space of books not really coming out anymore during the past year. Similar reason to why 3.0 wasn't a "cash grab", leave enough dead space in product and people will want to throw money your way again. Notice how well Paizo has done with 3.75 when 3.5 earned the "cash grab" moniker, both are basically rehashes, one was timed better.

But, why is it Pathfinder Online when it isn´t really Pathfinder RPG and it more closely Golarion Online?

The ambiguity is to their advantage, as they will surely sucker more players to looking at something labeled "Pathfinder" than "Golarian." They might even think the OGL rules are somehow involved, or that the game focuses on adventurers vs themeparks/DMs instead of a PvP game. If they get you to take a look at the game in the first place, that is the point.

So just curious. Has the OP read anything at all about this specific MMO? Because while there is plenty to rant about, it's not any of the OP's points. I'll sum it up for those that can't bother to read the official FAQ:

1) No OGL. This game has zero basis in the PnP mechanics. There aren't even classes and levels FFS.

2) Themepark dungeons/raids aka WoW endgame are a sideshow in this game. The "real" content comes from players building up and competing as groups across various methods, such as economic, political, and yes combat. Conflict and content are thus generated by players, with the computer's role merely to provide systems that promote interesting player conflict. (rather than generating random content)

3) Since the game is directly or indirectly about PvP, there's definitely going to be challenge somewhere. You don't win unless someone else is getting ground into the dirt.

This above isn't what you would assume from a game labeled "Pathfinder Online" and not knowing anything else, and plenty of people (including me) have gone off on that point. They however have decided it was a good idea to do a small amount of research before posting an ill-informed wall of text.

It's just not this game at all.

1) This game isn't even "3.5ish". No classes? It's got nothing to do with D&D rules, just whatever generic flavor they were able to appropriate into Golarion. D&D rules would frankly get in the way of the kind of game they are trying to make anyway...

2) It's a fundamentally competitive game, whether that's direct player killing, acquiring space to build kingdoms, amassing gold as a merchant, climbing the guild hierarchy, etc. That is how the majority of content is generated in this game - the players create the conflict, rather than the game designers or DMs doing the job.

Neverwinter Online being developed by Cryptic is the closest thing to what you are looking for. Focus on 5 player parties, a tool for customers to building adventures, and a system for publishing those adventures to many players. And yeah it's 4th edition, but that's going to be closer to 3.5 than whatever Pathfinder Online is making.

I just find the acquisition of Pathfinder IP for this project baffling. They can talk all about carrying on the "spirit" of Pathfinder, but from where I'm standing, tabletop D&D is all adventurers characters growing into legends and heroes (or anti-heroes), not about some players setting up a merchant shop and others lording over them as kings, then sending knights to kill each other to expand the kingdom's territory and so forth. It takes alot more than D&D adventures to build a living (as opposed to themepark) world, and that's just going to look strange and disappointing to most of your tabletop fans.