Pathfinder RPG took the Dungeons and Dragons OGL for v3.5 and expanded on the rules, fixed the rules and updated the rules in varying degrees. Inevitably, there will be a revision to the Pathfinder RPG at some point in the form of a new edition, where that is in 5, 10 or 15 years. The strength of Pathfinder RPG is its backwards compatibility with previous 3.0 and 3.5 material.
My question is, would you feel comfortable if the next 'edition' completely overhauled the system? Not in the degree that was the difference between v3.5 and v4.0, but enough where Paizo didn't feel restricted to 3.5?
When they make Pathfinder 2, I think such an overhaul is a necessity.
Keeping to 3.5 compatibility will also mean Pathfinder compatibility, in which case the product is not going to be different enough to necessitate that we buy a lot of different core- and sourcebooks.
IMO, it must be one of greatest headaches of a RPG-company. Having a product that you are satisfied with (and which is popular), but knowing that at some point, your sales are going to drop to the point where investing in something else becomes the favorably choice.
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To be honest, when (if) PFRPG v2 will be in the works, I expect it to undergo a very, very serious overhaul.
Its roots in the 3.X are currently both a strenght and a limiting factor, for reasons already discussed to death and beyond.
I'd rather see a change equiparable to the one experienced with the switch from AD&D 2e to 3.0. Anything less (or anything too far off), and I'd be less than interested.
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Personally I wish the current edition of Pathfinder RPG had been less constrained by backwards compatibility than it was, and had made more fundamental changes to the rules to made me actually want to use the rules. I still have not read the PF book cover to cover like I do with most RPG books I own, and instead have just picked up my knowledge of the system from reading forum posts, playing in PFS games and referencing specific bits of the book (and of course using my knowledge of 3.5 as a base).
However, unless Pathfinder Society is the only living campaign in town at the time PF 2e comes out I likely won't be upgrading unless it really does something major that makes me want to use the rules over and above any other system I have.
If its just another set of tweaks that means I would need to again lose whatever system knowledge I had built up of PF but without much benefit I will likely just quit PFS at that point and sell off my PF books - I only play PF for PFS, the setting is not of great appeal to me and I am happy with 3.5 and 4e for other games.
I personally never want another edition of the game. I wish paizo could just keep supporting Pathfinder, expanding on their Golarion campaign setting and keep bringing out those sweet sweet AP's
I mean there is nothing wrong with the game as is imo. Just because WotC was/is unimaginative and keep pumping out new editions of their game every few years doesn't mean paizo has too. Getting fed up with this policy is one of the main reasons I switched to pathfinder in the first place.
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inevitably there will have to be a Pathfinder 2.
The third edition and Pathfinder became too heavy, so over bloated with rules that a good story cannot necessarily be told without some rules lawyer questioning the rules behind the story.
The Witchfire Trilogy comes to mind. A great adventure, imaginative, fun and challenging. It won many awards. And interestingly could not happen because of the rules.
There are rules for drowning and rules for suffocating. Is there such a great demand that they be separate?
New players, none of whom has ever played a real RPG before, will almost certainly be intimidated by the massive tome we so love. They will look at the thick book, its plethora of vaguely phrased rules that raise more questions than answers, and decide to go play World of Warcraft instead.
WOTC is not stupid. They made a mistake, a misstep, to be sure. But they are not stupid. I guarantee you the current management is analyzing the popularity of Pathfinder, searching for its weaknesses and strengths, and are rebuilding D&D. The next version of D&D will be simple and complex, old and new.
If Paizo hopes to have a future, they cannot rest on their laurels. The 3.x mechanics works to tell a story, but it also works to bind the hands of the story teller. Paizo will need to shed some weight, make Pathfinder leaner and meaner, able to adapt to the needs of the storyteller and the player. Right now the rules favor the players while limiting the imagination of the storyteller. Unless, of course the GM just decides to ignore the rules altogether (how many of you have house rules?) in which case, just exactly what good are the rules to begin with?
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if a PF 2nd ed. came in like 50 years I would be fine with it.
For right now though, and the forseeable future I don't think the rules are anywhere near too complex.
Hopefully Paizo don't need to keep selling rulebooks to stay profitable, because the we might have the next edition way to soon.
It will be interesting to see what happens once D&D Next hits the shelves, but I think there will still be room for PF. It really has become it's own thing now and feels separate from D&D despite its roots and the fact that it is an OGL based game. I imagine eventually they will want to do a new edition, but I have read that their main moneymaker is the AP books that they put out. Since Paizo is really talented at writing good adventures I think it would be a while before a new edition is brought out.
if a PF 2nd ed. came in like 50 years I would be fine with it.
For right now though, and the forseeable future I don't think the rules are anywhere near too complex.
Hopefully Paizo don't need to keep selling rulebooks to stay profitable, because the we might have the next edition way to soon.
My thought is that Paizo wants to earn a living by producing setting material and adventures, not by eternally shoving rules out the door; take, for example, how they wanted to front-load their publishing with all of the base classes. They don't plan on making any more.
With the recent publication of Distant Worlds and the Tian Xia support, I think they've got fertile ground for years of setting material, and I suspect that's the way they like it.