I think an OGL is good for the hobby. It may not be good for a certain business, but I feel it is for the hobby as a whole.I think in the long run it was good for the community, but I dunno if that was true at first. The early years of 3.0 (and running into the first few years of 3.5 as well) saw a glut of some pretty crappy OGL releases.
Not to mention the push (seemingly spearheaded by Monte Cook) for d20 to be the ONLY system. Seriously, how many great (or even mediocre) games had inferior d20 editions published? :P
*cough* Deadlands *cough*
*cough* Deadlands *cough*
The horror... *shudder*
so instead of alienation we get division and warring. I'm not convinced the latter is a better option. People still play 2nd Edition today, just as people still play 3.0, v3.5, and 4E. And when Pathfinder his critical mass, it's going to be very interesting to see how that plays out as Paizo decides how to proceed going forward. I think even a small departure from current PF rules will result in a civil war between those who want to push forward with a better system and those who've invested far too much and are now going to be left out in the cold (who possibly will create a spin-off of Pathfinder of their own considering it's all OGL).
Diffan, they are already starting to release certain books that are gearing everyone up to an Edition change of Pathfinder. Paizo's planning a release of a book that has a lot of different rules for Pathfinder. It's called the Pathfinder Unchained.
Wisely, I think its mislabeled as a "Strategy Guide" for a purpose. They want to see how we'd react to alternate rule changes to many of the sacred cows in the game. Actually, I think the majority of the people are ready for a change, and we are getting a chance to see how the game will evolve in one direction.
Although if 5e is getting a System Reference Document and an OGL, we may see Pathfinder evolve even more differently.
EDIT: Sorry, I lied and said that the Strategy Guide is book that has rules that breaks Pathfinder. But it's PATHFINDER UNCHAINED that is the actual book.
EltonJ, the book you are thinking of with alternate versions of some of the classes is Pathfinder Unchained. The Strategy Guide is a book for beginners and has no new rules in it.
FWIW, the Paizo staff has flatly denied that Unchained is a step toward 2.0, but you're free to surmise what you want about it. The Strategy Guide is absolutely not what you're talking about, though.
Edited to fix link.
I already corrected my post. :) But thanks for pointing out my mistake.
FWIW, the Paizo staff has flatly denied that Unchained is a step toward 2.0, but you're free to surmise what you want about it. The Strategy Guide is absolutely not what you're talking about, though.
Edited to fix link.
[skeptic]
I remember WotC singing the same song six years ago. Sorry, but I can't go with Eric on that one. I heard the same song before, and a month later we ended up with a new Dungeons and Dragons that didn't feel like D&D.[/skeptic]
FWIW, the Paizo staff has flatly denied that Unchained is a step toward 2.0, but you're free to surmise what you want about it.
I would be surprised if Unchained didn't take them a step closer to 2.0, but I would be surprised if it did so anymore than any other book they've put out. It seems to me to be similar to Unearthed Arcana, with a bunch of alternate rules, many of which I'm sure will show up again if they prove to be popular enough, which is a step towards a new edition, but I don't get the vibe that they are actively testing anything in particular for a new edition.
Pathfinder 2.0 or 1.5? If there is anything that was learn in the last 14 years is that compatibility and continuity help when there is an edition change.
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Pathfinder 2.0 or 1.5? If there is anything that was learn in the last 14 years is that compatibility and continuity help when there is an edition change.Which is why the change from 2E to 3.0 was such a disaster.
There was nothing disastrous about throwing off the shackles of 2nd ed. I gratefully trash canned all my 2nd ed stuff. I hadn't used it since 1994 anyway when 3rd ed came out.
Or didn't use the word disaster... Ah the strawman, the internet's best friend!
Anyway, I hardly see Paizo making a new edition of PF that isn't somewhat compatible with the current version. They do continue publishing their rules like they did with 3.5. Although I can't think of a compagnie who is in the same situation they were in 2007. Experienced staff composed of a lot of ex-WotC employees, a good reputation among gamers and a following (the magazine subscribers). Except for WotC. Now that would be funny.
Of course, thejeff was being sarcastic when he said what he did. Or, that's how I took it.
It means "bad star"; it's Latin. :P
Like Dispater means bad dad in latin.