Pathfinder 2e: Going Forward

I still play Pathfinder 1e, and my copy of 2e is back on the shelf. I had a few issues wrapping my head around 2e, especially the tag system, but I am pushing through and learning this with the excellent Beginner Box game.

I can't deal with D&D anymore. I pick up the books, and I feel sadness and hurt towards the broken promises made to creators who weren't even on the same level as Wizards and Hasbro. Garage and basement operations, many orders of magnitude smaller, were crushed by the corporate doublespeak and threatened with contract law.

And it didn't even need to happen. They weren't even threats to the brand. They kept people in the hobby.

And Wall Street still can't see that.

It isn't surprising. Blindness is a symptom of greed.

Good and talented people still work there, and I feel bad for them too. All I can say is look for opportunities elsewhere, and I look forward to seeing your work with other creators - as my sales won't be happening with who you work for anymore, and I suspect many others feel the same way. It is not their fault, and they have to clean up the mess being handed to them by the higher-ups.

I have been there in companies where the stress and pressure come down from the top. Lots of tears, ruined health, deep sighs at random moments, and that feeling of pain inside you can't ignore. And you go Joan of Arc and try to improve the situation, taking it all upon yourself to make things right. The stress will likely ruin people's health and be too much for a few.

And it is a quixotic endeavor, a fool's errand, and you can't make the hurt done to so many any better.

I know.

Oh, do I know...

This is a disaster for everyone.

D&D and the worlds they built are dead to me. I no longer see the classic adventures as classics; at best, they are memories that fed a nostalgia addiction. 40 years of my life gaming are at an end, and I accept that. That is a lot of pain to process, and I am moving on, selling my books, and never looking back. I needed to move on anyway, as I felt that clinging onto the past was hurting me more than helping.

A New Beginning

So I am looking forward to new beginnings and new adventures.

I go back to Pathfinder 1e and play 2e to have fun and learn, and I have room for both in my life. I also have Starfinder and GURPS for anything else, and those are my games. I put C&C and ACKS to the side for a while just to avoid that feeling of clinging to things too similar to the past. I still support them and love them too.

Then why are you still playing Pathfinder 1e?

Well, 3.5 was a great system and abandoned; that game did not deserve the fate it was handed, and like a phoenix, it was reborn into something beautiful in Pathfinder 1e - the children of which became Pathfinder 2e. I don't consider Pathfinder 1e even 3.5-is anymore; it is the early 2000s roleplaying, and Paizo owns 3.5 because they earned it.

There is the concept of someone owning something just due to the amount of joy and happiness they create in the world, a sort of destiny created by the people of the world and the love they give back to creators and artists. This is like the love of music and your favorite songs and bands. There comes the point where the world owns something, and it is more than just money.

We love it so much. It is a part of who we are.

And then there is the concept of owning something because of law and money, and the power of governments and eventually armed force and violence to enforce the will of paper wealth. You can put all the nice words, friendly faces, and social media spin on that system and sweep violent enforcement under the rug, but it still is what it is.

You must decide which side your soul is on and what you are comfortable supporting.

To me, this is like the revelation of a truth I knew but could never really accept.

Until it hit home.