When WotC finally backed down and dual-licensed the SRD OGL 1.0a and Creative Commons, I decided to end my boycott. They were cooperating with the community's demands. (Finally.)
And then they sent the Pinkertons after one of their MTG customers.
So, fuck Hasbro. (Hasbro owns WotC.) I'm not giving them another dime. I DM a 5e game, but I'm not purchasing anything 5e again.
I have less investment in the Unity situation, but fuck those assholes too.
I highly recommend Pathfinder 2e if you want something else. I think the action system is a lot of fun and gives ample room for roleplaying. Having played both, I don't think I'll ever go back to 5e
The action system is definitely way better. It's simultaneously simpler and more flexible. No confusion about whether something is an action vs bonus action (and how movement ties in). You just have multiple action units and abilities have a written number of action units they use (and some are variable).
I also like how Pathfinder approaches levels. Proficiency bonuses add your character level in, so higher level characters feel much more powerful at what they're supposed to be good at.
And critical success/failure is neat. You need 10 over/under DC to have a crit success/failure respectively, but nat 20/1 moves you up a class. If you're 10 over DC, a nat 1 becomes a normal success. Plus many abilities have modifiers on crits success/fail.
I played Pathfinder (1e) before I played Dnd 5e. It's more complicated, but even then it was the better system. From what I've seen of 2e it's even better. 5e is easier for new players and has name recognition though. I hope more people switch to Pathfinder evenentually. They deserve it far more.
Our longtime TTRPG group just started a PF2E campaign and it's been a whole lot of fun!
There are so many options available to you - everything feels really fresh and new, while still being familiar. The action economy especially feels so much better compared to 5e.
Do you happen to know any way to find an online game to join? There was a whole discord for d&beyond so I'm wondering if you knew of anything similar for P2e?
I've played D&D for years but after this latest bs I've been looking to jump to Pathfinder. Listening to the Glass Cannon podcast has also been very motivating to make the switch
I just don't know why you would forgive a corporate entity, especially one that already tried to fuck you over, on some promise they'll never do it again?
My thought process for deciding to end my boycott (before doubling back down on my boycott) was that the point of a boycott was to get a company to change its behavior. They changed their behavior and continuing to punish them would eliminate any reason they had to continue to cooperate with the community.
Roughly speaking, every company is evil. But there are companies I boycott and companies I don't. The difference is (and I don't think this is an unreasonable way to think of it) that some boycotts have a chance of making a difference and some don't. (And even if changing behavior isn't likely, putting a company out of business or reducing it to perpetual irrelevance can be a very positive difference.)
The OGL1.1 boycott did make a positive difference. 5e is safer than it was before. ORC is a thing. The better-licensed Pathfinder 2e got a huge bump in popularity.
In short, I guess I feel justified in having ended (and reestablished) my boycott. That said, while I was decided not to boycott any more, I didn't actually buy anything from or otherwise patronize Hasbro. So in practice, I have been boycotting consistently since the OGL1.1 BS went down.
I guess I find it weird to 'reward' a company for just doing what they should be doing anyway, if anything their reward is they don't continue to lose customers, rather than get the old ones to return. Companies never have your best interests at heart, and in my view forgiving them is just putting yourself in that vulnerable position to be abused again later down the line.
I understand your reasoning though, and I'm happy you stuck by your principles.
I never bought anything official anyways. Always used my own models and stuff not form WoTC and torrented all the books I wanted. Switched to Pathfinder when the situation started since even that felt like supporting them.