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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Because you weren’t confused enough: WotC modifies the D&D 4 license deal
Announcement. The upshot as far as I can tell is that the SRD will now be free, to someone anyway, and the go date for publishing 4E GSL-licensed material will be October, not January 2009 or whatever it was. That is, the associated SRD will be free for download on 6/6, and a few hand-picked folks are getting it early. And guess what: something called a D20 license (in this case, a D20 GSL) will be coming back, for the benefit of third parties who’d like to do non-fantasy material. Still no word, from what I can tell, on what either GSL’s terms actually are.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Paizo using Pathfinder RPG to stick with 3.5
Paizo Publishing, former publisher of Dragon and Dungeon and the company behind the Pathfinder d20 product line, announced today its plan to produce the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, due to release August 2009. Perhaps more significant was the company’s decision to stick with the D&D 3.5 ruleset as its foundation. Paizo intends for the game to be “designed with backward compatibility as one of its primary goals, so players will continue to enjoy their lifelong fantasy gaming hobby without invalidating their entire game library.” This move could be designed to help Paizo absorb any D&D fans who end up dissatisfied with 4th Edition once it arrives, and additional thunder-stealing is on the horizon - Paizo already has a free 65-page preview PDF available, and plans to release a full-color softcover Pathfinder RPG Beta release book this August for $24.99.
Multiple announcements accompanied the press release (below), including a statement from Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens. Stevens elaborated on the decision to stick with 3.5: “After careful evaluation of our options, we believe that the 3.5 core will continue to be the best system to tell the stories we’ve got planned for Pathfinder. […] We’re sure that lots of roleplayers are going to be thrilled with Wizards of the Coast’s upcoming 4th Edition, and we’re also looking forward to the 4th Edition products that our partner Necromancer Games will be creating. Paizo may also publish 4th Edition products in the future, but if we do, they won’t cross over with our Pathfinder products.”
Paizo publisher Erik Mona cut right to the heart of the matter in his statement: “Basing the Pathfinder RPG on 3.5 also allows Paizo more control over our destiny than simply following along with the latest edition and the newest licensing changes.” Beyond merely taking control of its ruleset, Paizo may be establishing an in-print system that other publishers can adapt for their needs. Interesting developments in the D&D upgrade shake-out, to be sure.
[UPDATE: A follow-up press release, added here, states the free Pathfinder Alpha PDF has already been downloaded 10,000 times]
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Audio Report - Back in the saddle again
The OgreCave Audio Report is getting back up to speed with this, the first of two shows being fired off today. We’ve been talking, you just haven’t been able to hear it. Here’s the proof: our first Audio Report of the new year, recorded back when OGLs and inroads to Starbucks were all the rage. Thanks to everyone who emailed their concern over the extended, unintentional hiatus - my dead paperweight of an old machine caused considerable delays, but we’ll be all caught up fairly soon. Meanwhile, have a listen, tell us what’s on your mind, and welcome back.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
White Wolf wants you to trade up
White Wolf is making a more agressive play to bring converts from D&D to Exalted in a new promotion. The Graduate Your Game promotion will provide 2,500 copies of the Exalted: 2nd Edition rulebook in exchange for a D&D 3.5 Player’s Handbook. Consumers can either contact White Wolf directly with an order form and a book, or bring a different form to a local retailer. Here’s where it gets amusing: participating retailers must “take all D&D 3.5 Player’s Handbooks that are exchanged, tear out the pages, and return the full cover with the consumer forms”. Destroy those books! As if that weren’t enough, gamers can download a diploma “for graduation from the Third Edition Fantasy Game”. Those who want to take advantage of the trade-in offer should make arrangements soon, as retailer promo kits get mailed next week, and White Wolf anticipates a good chance that all book preorders will be spoken for well ahead of the April 28th deadline.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Gary Gygax dead at 69
Steve Chenault of Troll Lord Games has just given word on the Troll Lord forums that original D&D publisher and co-creator Gary Gygax has died in his home, last night or this morning. Details are still sketchy and the forum site is not loading so well at the moment, but here you are. We’ll get you more when we can.
Update: CNet has more. It confirms heart problems as the cause of death; Gygax mentioned an inoperable heart condition in a 2006 interview. He is survived by his wife, six children, and seven grandchildren, as well as by all of us whose lives have been shaped in some way by his creation. He will be missed.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
D&D Minis updated for 4e compatibility, rulebook now online
So just how many hands does WotC have, and do any of them know what even one of the others is doing? I mean, not to say anything bad about making the new, updated-for-4th D&D Minis rulebook free online - that’s lovely and thoughtful. What’s odd is that they’d release minis rules that have been adjusted for 4e compatibility and not even seem aware of how the 4e rules are still secret, available only for 5 large and an NDA, and madly speculated-about. Naturally, the minis rules are probably not a rosetta stone of 4e insights; they’re only going to create confusion, and WotC must know this. Hell, is that their goal at this point? Jeez.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
More OGL follies in the run-up to D&D 4th Edition
WotC is apparently so jumpy at the prospect of anyone making a D&D4e-compatible product that doesn’t meet their standards that they aren’t settling for the lack of an actual D20 license (which will go a long way to restricting the audience for third-party products to gamers in the know) - they’re charging a $5,000 cover charge for access to 4e rules before D&D 4’s street date. I guess that’s not unreasonable for advance copies of the crown jewels, really, and it’s worth remembering that before 3e was released, nobody got jerk for any price. So, while this news will likely rankle many folks, there isn’t much of a reason to be rankled. What bothers me is A) this sort of stuff is taking the place of a steady flow of competent preview marketing on WotC’s part, and B) stuff like this, from the bottom of the FAQ: “We are making the OGL stronger by better defining it. We’re rolling certain elements that used to be in the d20 license into the OGL, things like community standards and other tangible elements of the d20 license.” Uh huh. Whatever you think of that, it’s a recipe for further atomization of D&D designs and dilution of the brand. I almost wish they’d cancel the 4e SRD release altogether and just sell $5,000 licenses. Why keep taking half measures?
Monday, December 24, 2007
2007 OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide - pt 4
Just under the wire, the final installment of the 2007 OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide is here. This final list is our traditional “Eleventh Hour Special” - that is, downloadable gift suggestions, cutting that all-inhibiting shipping time delay right out of the equation. Only hours remain until folks start opening gifts, so have a look, and quickly download a gift or two, if you have the need.
That wraps up this year’s OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide (pun not intended, and stubbornly ignored). If you’re still stuck for ideas, feel free to peruse our lists from years past, our Ogre’s Choice Awards lists, or listening in on a few episodes of the OgreCave Audio Report. There, I’ve run out of things to shamelessly plug, so I’m off to bed. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Friday, December 21, 2007
2007 OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide - pt 3
Yeah, I know: there’s hardly any shopping time left before Christmas (the only thing that saved me from getting sick with the rest of the family was all the extra hours at work), but we’re still plowing ahead with our annual OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide! In our third list of 2007 gift suggestions, we’ve gathered Twelve Games Under the d20, our choices of the best products for fans of the waning d20 System. With just a few days left, we hope you’ve already finished buying gifts, but in case you’re still playing catch-up (like us), we hope our gift picks will help out - or provide ideas to aim your post-holiday gift certificates toward. Naturally, our previous lists are still full of worthwhile suggestions, so have at them!
We’ll have one more list - the last minute, downloadable products - in a day or two. As long as we aren’t waylaid by anything else, that is…
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
State of the Mongoose ‘07: aggressive and hungry
For everyone’s safety, we try to keep tabs on any snake-eating mammals lurking nearby, and come to grips with what Mongoose Publishing plans to unleash on gamers in the year ahead. The traditional State of the Mongoose address was posted today, this time as a temporary forum, and so far, we’ve learned the following: Read More…
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