Be it laptops displaying maps from a mounted projector, or online applets like Maptool, more and more people are turning to digital resources for their gaming sessions.
In my mind, Wizards of the Coast is doing plenty of things that aren't in the best interest of the community, including alienating developers such as Paizo by withholding life-giving rules. One thing that WotC is trying to do is step boldly into the digital age and, up until now, I feel as if Paizo has had them beat on that subject. Paizo offers PDFs for all of their Pathfinder products, making it a breeze to reference them. With only minor technical wizardry involved, I can export any map from said files for use in applets such as Maptools, making gameplay set up fast and fun.
Obviously both parties can expand their influence upon this particular crowd of gamers by taking different steps, but from what I can see only WotC is looking to do so (though perhaps only in an attempt to play catch-up). With the announcement of The Pathfinder RPG, I wonder less about rules and more about what direction of availability Paizo is going to be looking at with their products. Wizards is boasting an online game tabletop, and honestly I can't expect Paizo to offer one themselves (nor would I want it with free, robust alternatives readily available), but with promises of online content available for download with every hard-cover book purchased, I suspect WotC may be taking a note from Paizo's wisdom. Maps, clear of annotation, strike me as the biggest benefit here; images of monsters, NPCs and items would be taking what has been, up until now, a Paizo exclusive as well. Ultimately we will not know until such service goes live with Wizards, but it could definitely sway a few votes towards 4.0 and their products if they get savvy to offering their customers these resources.
From the moment I discovered Paizo, I was impressed with their eagerness to work beyond what was required. Putting out web enhancements for Dungeon magazine helped me and countless others in ways I cannot describe. When Wizards decided to move to a new format for encounters (read: Eyes of the Lich Queen Eberron Adventure) with the hopes of making it easier for the DM to use, they managed to do the opposite entirely. Paizo stuck true to the mold and now they hope to expand upon it. I can only hope they look to cull what does not work, and emphasize what does.
So as I see this new ruleset take it's first baby-steps, I'd just like to remind Paizo of some of the things I absolutely love about playing D&D in the Digital Age:
- Large maps, preferably both annotated and non-annotated, in a high enough resolution to print or use in online map applets.
- Artwork from the supplements. Wizards used to have an online gallery. Maybe limit it to the customers, but if it's in the book, I wanna have a .png or .jpg of it!
- There was talk of a Pathfinder RPG player sheet; beat WotC to the punch and make that baby a form-fillable PDF!
- If you intend to offer any of the content under the OGL, look into getting it easily referenced like so many online resources have with 3.5; perhaps offer customers quick online reference tools to products they have purchased, if content is not OGL, via snap-in modules to said online reference tool.
You've already done so much to embrace the Digital Age with these forums, IRC channels, web enhancements, and PDF support. Not to mention the amazing amount of customer-company feedback that goes on. I cannot expect myself to ever drop support from WotC or Paizo, no matter what you do, but I have a feeling by this time next year, I will be sorely wishing one had the resources of the other. Hopefully it wont take a wisdom check to determine which one that will be :)
