| cibet44 |
In episode 53 of the 2d6 podcast the hosts talk extensively about Pathfinder (the product line and RPG). One of the hosts is in the RPG retail industry (I think he manages a game store) the other is an uber gamer. They seem like intelligent and well versed gamers but they totally miss the boat on what Pathfinder is and why it's popular. I'm not sure where they get their perspective from but some of the assumptions they make about the game and product line could not be more wrong.
They have the impression that the main point of the PFRPG was to make 1st level characters more powerful. They also have the impression that PFRPG and 4E are "very similar" games with the same design goals (more powerful 1st level characters). No discussion of OGL, full compatibility with 3.5, or keeping the spirit of D&D alive.
They genuinely seemed baffled at the popularity of Pathfinder and could not figure out why it won so many Ennies at GenCon. Since at least one of the hosts is a frequent 4E player I think they were trying to make it seem like PFRPG and 4E were in some way compatible or at least very similar. Why they never mention that PFRPG is simply 3.5 continued and OGL compliant I have no idea. That would seem to sum it up nicely.
Regardless of how anyone feels about 3.5/PF or 4E there is no way you could say they are games with the same design goals. I don't think anyone would argue that the whole point of 4E was to take D&D in a DIFFERENT design direction then 3.5. Whether or not you want to GO in that direction is the whole edition war discussion. Funny how these guys totally miss that especially since one of them seems to have control over what a game store keeps in stock. Until the Ennies sweep he says he never gave much thought to stocking Pathfinder products, now he does, and they are selling briskly.