It really reminds me of Battletech vs. Robotech vs. Macross. Pathfinder took their material from someone else, profited big time on it, and now the original source is going after them for it.
In the same respect, it's like Digimon vs. Pokemon. Anytime you have a successful story, game, etc. that makes hugely big bucks, others are going to try to copy you and maybe even do it better. Is it right? Should WotC just let other people constantly profit off of their material?
Depends, quite frankly. We're talking RPGs, here, people. Their primary profits come from rulebooks and sourcebooks, and any other items they can sell to compliment the game. With everything being digital, physical dice and maps and lead figures are going away, and that was a HUGE RPG staple. With computers replacing everything, it's got to be hard to keep making money. Once you've bought all the rulebooks and sourcebooks and a single software program to manage dice and initiative and such, that's it. No more sales.
On the other hand, allowing others to create their own D&Dish versions keeps the genre alive and thriving and people hungering for more. The more GOOD fantasy games that are made that appeal to a wider audience, the more fans of the whole genre they create. The more fans, the more customers, even if what you are creating in particular isn't exactly what they're looking for.
I don't know. I wouldn't want to be the people who has to make the decisions on this stuff.
