Zarathos's page

http://www.change.org/petitions/wizards-of-the-coast-support-all-current-an d-past-editions-of-dungeons-dragons#share

I found this petition to WOTC and to Mike Mearls specifically. At this point, I really believe this is the direction that WOTC should go in. In fact, it is likely the only way I can see that I will support the D&D brand in the future.

It is definitely worth a look; even a diehard Pathfinder fan may find it worth supporting.

Here is a copy of the letter that would be sent below:

WotC: Support all current and past editions of Dungeons & Dragons!

Dear Mr. Mearls,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Wizards of the Coast, LLC.

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After only four years since last edition of Dungeons & Dragons (4E) was released, Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have made the decision to stop supporting it, despite its popularity with numbers older gamers as well as a noteworthy population of new gamers. As a replacement, it has been decided that a new edition of D&D would be designed for the gaming community, based upon a retro-clone model, despite a glut in the game market of heroic-fantasy-D&D-like clones. Furthermore, DDI support features which had been promised for the current retiring edition, such as the Virtual Table Top (VTT), Character Visualizer, and Encounter Builder, have all been postponed indefinitely or cancelled, in a move which was inherently detrimental to brand loyalty.

Poll data released by Wizards of the Coast and EN World have reported that approval ratings by the playtesters of the new edition’s rules are only registering at less than two-thirds (~60%). And this says nothing of those gamers in the D&D Community which show so little interest in D&D Next that they have not even bothered to sign up for the playtest and contribute to the development of the new edition.

So rather than a new edition, I urge you and Wizards of the Coast to bring back corporate support for ALL EDITIONS of Dungeons & Dragons – D&D, AD&D, 2nd Edition, OGL/3.5, and 4E - and give all D&D fans access to the massive product library from the past, and going forward into the future!

There are definite advantages to a Content-Provider Publishing Model, and they can earn profit by any and all of these methods:

• Re-publish core rulebook and sourcebooks for all previous editions of D&D.
• Re-publish all old D&D supplemental content such as modules and settings for all editions.
• Re-publish old issues of Dragon and Dungeon Magazine in POD or eBook formats.
• Use POD and eBook formats such as EPUB, PDF, and Kindle to release the vast library of D&D content without stock overhead.
• Convert modules and campaign settings originally published under one edition, and publish them under all other editions.
• Combine all material from the current 4E edition, including errata and Essentials materials, to create more streamlined version of this edition to be re-published.
• Sponsor DDI support for all four editions, including Character Builders, Monster & Encounter Designers, and Rules Compendiums. Allow fans to buy subscriptions to each support program separately, or to subscribe to bundles, or the entirety of DDI support, as desired.
• Implement the use of new technology in all editions of D&D, either through internal development or outsourcing. Publish Player and Dungeon Master apps for palm devices, tablets, and smart phones.
• Release new content for all editions in Dragon and Dungeon Webzine articles, allocating percentage of pages in proportion to DDI subscriptions for each edition.
• License all editions under a new agreement to encourage 3rd Party Publishers to support all editions of the game.
• Design and release of new supplemental content (modules, sourcebooks, campaign settings, etc.) can be published for all editions – one product sells to four consumer groups!

Supporting ALL D&D EDITIONS means supporting ALL D&D FANS!
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Sincerely,

[Your name]

Greetings,

I am new to the forum but not to Paizo. I found this site as the Pathfinder RPG was being released. Previously, I began a renewed interest in gaming starting with the 4th edition of the world's oldest RPG. I started playing at the age of ten with the Red Box and ended with 2nd edition in the early 1990s. In 2000, I bought the core books for the 3rd edition out of curiosity and nostalgia. I had never heard of Wizards of the Coast before this time. The d20 System added to the game was interesting and different. I do believe it improved the game core. I really liked the uniformity of class level gain, AC and saving throw changes, opportunity attacks and multiclass rules. I bought a few modules to check out but nothing else beyond the core.

However, there was something that bothered me about WOTC. It was the same something that bothered me about TSR in the 1990s. By the late 1990s, my interest in gaming had devolved into computer games like the Baldur's Gate series. In truth, I never really got over the force out of Gary Gygax. The 2nd edition was more unwanted change. I loved ten-sided initiative and THACO, but I hated the purging of the “controversial” elements(i.e demons & devils, later backtracked giving them stupid names). The core of 1st and 2nd edition was the same so I always took to heart that it is was my game that I could change as I saw fit. To this day, I still have the original core 1st edition books.

By the release of 3.5 edition, I had sold those original 3rd edition core books. I continued to follow the product releases on Wizard website, and looked at their free downloads. In particular, I enjoyed the 3.5 revision of the Tomb of Horrors. In 2007, near the end of this edition, I got the 3.5 core books cheaply. I wasn't playing; I just enjoyed reading the books. Neverwinter Nights was the source of 3rd edition play.

In May 2008, once more of curiosity and nostalgia, I bought the 4th edition corebook rule set. I haven't played since college during 2nd edition; I was also determined to play again. If I thought the changes from 2nd to 3rd edition were shocking, I was in for true shock and awe and not in a positive way. As I read, there were plenty of WTF!?! moments. On other hand, I have mellowed with age. Perhaps, I can be more open-minded and focus on the positive. I bought it and might as well try to play it. As I have done with the previous editions, I would stick with the core and make it my own. Even though WOTC was releasing a deluge of material during the rest of 2008 thru most of 2010, I ignored it until the release of the Essentials line.

Play was more difficult because there was only 1 GM and 1 player but technology helped. The party controlled by 1 player with my help consisted of the following: a human fighter, a dwarven cleric, a eladrin wizard, and a halfling rogue. Preparation has been easier than in the past with 1st edition. Use of a character builder and a GM tool like Masterplan have helped immensely. It is quite a different gaming experience using a laptop with a mirrored 27 in monitor. The player enjoyed 4th edition very much but to me it was better than nothing. With arrival of Essentials, I was able to simplify play further by replacing the characters with the following: a human Knight, a dwarven warpriest, and a halfling thief. I kept the eladrin wizard to keep access to rituals while excluding them from the other characters. Goodbye to martial characters with daily powers.

The original 4th edition core goes to the boneyard of the Half-Price Bookstore. At the least, Essentials should have been what the original 4th was. After all of the errata and Essentials, 4th edition revised is pretty much slighter better. With last updated version of the classic non-web-based character builder, I kept all of core material plus supplements up to Essentials. I am done with WOTC; I feel they have become creatively bankrupt. I doubt very much that I will buying anything else from them even if there is a 5th edition.

In parallel with the above, in August 2009, I bought the pdf of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. I perused the document but I really didn't study it in depth. I have done the same with Bestiary, GameMastery Guide, Advanced Player's Handbook, and the Bestiary II. I mostly bought them to support Paizo. The reason is simple. Paizo Publishing, LLC is the true successor to TSR of the late seventies to middle eighties when E. Gary Gygax was creatively in control. I enjoy the parallel of AD&D-Greyhawk with Pathfinder-Golarion. Paizo keeps the focus where it should be; this formula worked then and still works now. As a company, Paizo is far better than what TSR eventually became and WOTC is. The Pathfinder RPG is also the true successor to 3rd edition. One can argue pro and con what 4th edition is. Whatever it is, it is not D&D. WOTC slapped on the label with its IP but that's it. It can be a fun game for what is, in the same way as a board game like Risk.

So, in February 2011, I bought a copy of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook in its fourth printing from Amazon.com. Reading through it is like a breath of fresh air compared to stench of Player's Handbook 4th edition circa 2008. After I am done with 4th edition, I hope to get my single player with Pathfinder using my same formula of a core rule subset and use of technological aids. It is a more complex game with greater peril so this player may take some convincing. If I were the player instead of GM, I couldn't imagine playing anything else.

Keep up the good work, Paizo