DnD 3.5 vs. Pathfinder 3.75

The goings on in DnD land are interesting, with Wizard's reprints of 3.5 with errata, and of course Pathfinder and its huge world. Is it the RPG equivalent of the Kristen Stewart and Robert Patterson breakup? Both companies make great stuff, and I don't really see this as a fight. One company is forging ahead on its own path, and Wizards seems to be tipping its hat at their success, while moving forward with DnD5.

Pathfinder and Paizo built an incredible world, with majestic support in their adventure paths. From all the things Paizo has said, Wizards has been very gracious with the timing of the breakup on Paizo and DnD, and letting the company forge ahead with their new direction. There were pain points where Paizo was left to fend for themselves, and ambiguity around DnD4, which seemed to have hurt. Paizo has built an incredible brand and customer loyalty, and that isn't going to change.

Wizards is in a position where they seem to be rebuilding bridges, and trying to hand out olive branches to fans of all editions. They reprinted the classic AD&D books, and have also went forward with the 3.5 reprints (with updates and errata, very nice touch). Wizards is focused on DnD5, but that seems a long time off, so the best route they can take to shepard the brand is to rebuild loyalty, and reprint old editions as favors to the community. It's a great move, and I love to see this.

I would love to see most every classic TSR and Wizards edition, module, and support book to be released as paid-for PDFs. Paizo's PDF support is great, and Wizards should step up with their back catalog. We live in the world of iPads and tablet readers, and cracking open a classic "Tomb of Horrors" module via PDF to play with the reprint AD&D hardcovers would be a treat. Let's add in TSR's back catalog of games like Star Frontiers, Top Secret, Gangbusters, Gamma World, and even the old TSR minigames to the mix as well - the more gaming history for sale the better.

I don't see having a huge back catalog of TSR and Wizards PDFs as hurting the demand for a DnD5, the DnD3 theory of "network effect" takes over - the more people playing any version of DnD, or similar RPG the higher the demand will be for the newest versions of the game. Availability drives interest, and keeping the old-school core players happy gives Wizards a solid base of advocates and heavy users. New players will always gravitate towards new editions of the game, to check out the new stuff, be cool, or differentiate themselves from the old-school crowd.

Instead of obsoleting old editions such as the DnD3.5 to 4 shift; celebrate the past, and support the communities around the older games with low-support-cost PDFs. Don't pull the 'older system' life support from your old-timers and force them to play the new edition; support them, sell to them, and let them be the wise old wizards that guide the next generation to roleplaying enlightenment.