So how soon will Paizo get OGL / SRD Versions?

[Tobus Neth]

Are you getting them this month?or in Feb sometime and can you say anything about once you read it over? (cool(Wotc new favorite word), meh, etc)
And what the hell is going to happen to Pathfinder if you got to use the gods in the players handbook and only the races/classes of the players handbook is this not going to effect your visions of Pathfinder?

[firbolg]

I know it's been mooted before, but are there solid plans to continue to offer support to 3.5/ True20 players post 4th Ed.?
I have no plans to convert over to 4th edition, though I do want to step sideways into True20 and give that a try-the free PDF conversions offered by GR have been a very clever way for many of us to continue with a familiar d20 system that will still be in print and won't leave our libraries too obsolete.

[Erik Mona]

Tobus Neth wrote:

Are you getting them this month?or in Feb sometime and can you say anything about once you read it over? (cool(Wotc new favorite word), meh, etc)

And what the hell is going to happen to Pathfinder if you got to use the gods in the players handbook and only the races/classes of the players handbook is this not going to effect your visions of Pathfinder?

Assuming we move forward, we ought to get a look at the rules by the end of the month or the first couple weeks of next month.

I do not expect the SRD to stipulate that third parties must use the core pantheon of gods. Quite the opposite, in fact.

--Erik

[Tars Tarkas]

Erik Mona wrote:

Assuming we move forward, we ought to get a look at the rules by the end of the month or the first couple weeks of next month.--Erik

Does this mean that Second Darkness will definitely be v3.5 because of writing/printing/shipping issues? (Since I'm not converting to v4.0, I'm hoping for a 'yes' for so many reasons, not the least of which is my desire for the Drow Pathfinder Adventure Path.)

[evilash]

Erik Mona wrote:

Assuming we move forward, we ought to get a look at the rules by the end of the month or the first couple weeks of next month.

I do not expect the SRD to stipulate that third parties must use the core pantheon of gods. Quite the opposite, in fact.

--Erik

IF you decide to convert to 4th edition, which will in that case be the first Pathfinder Adventure Path that uses the new rules?

[golem101]

Tars Tarkas wrote:

Erik Mona wrote:

Assuming we move forward, we ought to get a look at the rules by the end of the month or the first couple weeks of next month.--Erik

Does this mean that Second Darkness will definitely be v3.5 because of writing/printing/shipping issues? (Since I'm not converting to v4.0, I'm hoping for a 'yes' for so many reasons, not the least of which is my desire for the Drow Pathfinder Adventure Path.)

I'm interested too in this matter, as I'd really like to see the Golarion Drows and I'm planning to stay the **** out of 4E.

[Erik Mona]

Guys, it is still too early for me to make a declaration about when or if we'll switch Pathfinder to 4.0 because we haven't seen the OGL and we haven't seen 4.0.

I appreciate that people are curious about the timing on this. I sympathize, because if there's one person who wants to know what we're doing more than you do, it's me.

We will let you know when we know.

[Kruelaid]

w00t!

[evilash]

Erik Mona wrote:

Guys, it is still too early for me to make a declaration about when or if we'll switch Pathfinder to 4.0 because we haven't seen the OGL and we haven't seen 4.0.

I appreciate that people are curious about the timing on this. I sympathize, because if there's one person who wants to know what we're doing more than you do, it's me.

We will let you know when we know.

I wasn't actually looking for a commitment one way or the other. I was actually just curious whether receiving the new rules in January or February gives you enough time so you have the option to convert Second Darkness to 4th ed IF you decide to do that.

[Small Attention Span]

Wizards of the Coast wrote:

Developers purchasing the OGL Designer’s Kit will receive updated pre-publication versions of the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons core rules through the time of launch. They will also receive the right to publish OGL products on August 1, 2008, five months earlier than the general public.!

Wizards of the Coast will release the second phase of the developer materials on June 6th, 2008 with the free, public availability of the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition SRD and OGL. The SRD will be live immediately upon release. The OGL will go-live on January 1, 2009.

Those are the dates they set...

[Tobus Neth]

Thanks Erik

[Trollsmyth]

I imagine Paizo has the least to fear from the new OGL.

Paizo wants to sell adventures, and WotC wants to see adventures being sold for 4.0. The new OGL probably bends over backwards for folks like Paizo. Goodman Games has already announced that they will be an early adopter of 4.0, and this surprises nobody.

Splat books are a bit more mixed, but in general, WotC would like to see lots of them as well, as evidence of "support" for 4.0. Necromancer Games has already announced that they are an early adopter to 4.0.

New games, especially new core books, appear to be something WotC does not want to encourage. In fact, from what little I've seen, it appears to be something they'd like to stamp out. I'm no lawyer, and I've not seen it, but the new OGL appears to prohibit 4.0 versions of True20 and Conan d20. I would be very surprised if either Mongoose or Green Ronin ponies up the $5k to play early. It really depends on how the numbers look for products like "City of Freeport".

Again, this is all speculation by someone who does not work in the industry and hasn't seen the OGL. And, at the end of the day, issues like the amount of time Paizo needs to organize, craft, print, and distribute an entire adventure path might have a bigger impact on what Paizo does than the actual form of the NDA and OGL.

- Brian

[Dale McCoy Jr]

Trollsmyth wrote:

Paizo wants to sell adventures,

Paizo wants to sell 1) a series of adventures that take place in their own campaign setting and 2) their own campaign setting. These two things may or may not be allowed under the nOGL. We just don't know for sure yet.

Trollsmyth wrote:

I imagine Paizo has the least to fear from the new OGL.

Even if the OGL is solid and allows them to publish everything according to their business plan, they then have to determine if their customer base will find the new rules acceptable and will convert over quickly to 4E or just convert over eventually or never. I trust Paizo to make the call that is best for their business.

[SirUrza]

Trollsmyth wrote:

New games, especially new core books, appear to be something WotC does not want to encourage. In fact, from what little I've seen, it appears to be something they'd like to stamp out. I'm no lawyer, and I've not seen it, but the new OGL appears to prohibit 4.0 versions of True20 and Conan d20. I would be very surprised if either Mongoose or Green Ronin ponies up the $5k to play early. It really depends on how the numbers look for products like "City of Freeport".

I don't think it's so much annoyance over True20 or Conan D20, I think it's a matter being out done product after product by Monte Cooke when he left to do his own d20 products. :)

[Trollsmyth]

DMcCoy1693 wrote:

Paizo wants to sell 1) a series of adventures that take place in their own campaign setting and 2) their own campaign setting. These two things may or may not be allowed under the nOGL. We just don't know for sure yet.

We don't know, but if doing so is proscribed, I'll be so shocked, someone will probably have to take me to a hospital. WotC's intent appears to be preventing the publication of anything that might replace a core book, like the PHB. So Paizo will probably be free to create all the gods, character classes, races, spells, skills, and weapons they want, so long as they don't give you rules for creating a character or how to roll to-hit.

In short, I fully expect publishing "Paizoland: a Campaign World for Use with D&D 4.0" to be just fine. Publishing "Paizoland: the Stand-alone RPG that Happens to use the Same Mechanics as, or Mechanics Derived From, D&D 4.0" will be verboten.

DMcCoy1693 wrote:

Even if the OGL is solid and allows them to publish everything according to their business plan, they then have to determine if their customer base will find the new rules acceptable and will convert over quickly to 4E or just convert over eventually or never. I trust Paizo to make the call that is best for their business.

I think it will be in their interest to port over. I say that, however, having learned recently from Ryan Dancey that the number of folks who remained with 1st Edition AD&D after 2nd was released was far, far higher than I'd expected. And this was before the internet, PDFs, or an OGL.

I'm extremely curious to know how they'll make that choice. Accurate data on these sorts of questions isn't always easy to come by. Just as the pollsters who were trying to read the tea-leaves on the New Hampshire primaries. ;)

- Brian