I actually rather hope that Paradox doesn't lean on oWoD when making its games. nWoD may not have a long-run metaplot, but it's a fucking great toolbox to work with to make their own universe for a line of video games.
Mmmm... Onyx Path don't seem worried about it, their FB post was quite congratulatory. And there is actually another licensee - The guys who make the new Mind's Eye Theater.
I think Paradox are smart enough to understand Onyx Path are doing a fine job (minus delays and the whole Exalted 3 fiasco) and are the best guys around to continue the P&P side of things.
Honestly, I would just but them as well and just make them White Wolf. It's not like there's an actual company around...
I think the licensing talk is more about video games.
I hope that these guys kick By Night Studios (the guys who make the Mind's Eye Theatre books) in the ass a bit. They have a licence that they've barely used whatsoever, while people are clamouring for more MET rulebooks because the dice system in LARP doesn't work as well as it needs to.
The main three lines are probably better in the old World of Darkness (Awakening might be better than Ascension), but all the minor lines are superior in the new WoD. If game lines like Vigil and The Lost get nixed then this was a bad deal. Old World of Darkness is not strictly better and it would be a shame to see things left to die in order to consolidate two different universes.
Might be? No, Awakening IS better than Ascension, mechanically and in setting. Ascension was basically a game that resembles discourse on the internet: "If you don't agree with my world view, you are my sworn enemy!!" Barf. It was fun, but had broken open mechanics and the setting issues were hard to ignore.
And all the nWoD games are getting essentially a re-write with a 2nd edition that improves them dramatically, even the minor lines like Promethean, both in mechanics and setting changes.
I wouldn't say that they're objectively better - they're very different games after all. Each of the core three games in nWoD is radically different in tone from their oWoD counterparts. Even Vampire, which at first glance seems similar, takes a more personal and moody approach in nWoD (which is vaguely in line with VtM 2nd edition, but then Revised happened and everyone was Blade). Requiem 2nd edition takes it even further by finally introducing worthwhile antagonists for vampires. I guess it's just a matter of preference - you either like the modular approach (nWoD) or a linear one with heavy reliance on metaplot (oWoD).
Sometimes, that tonal change really helped the games function as a whole. Mummy (despite being a VERY dry game, pun intended), Hunter and to a certain extent Demon all benefitted from a change in tone. And I thought the concept of Changeling's fetches, fake creatures made to fill in for you while Fae horrors took you away to toy with you, brings such a strong existential dilemma to that game that I couldn't not appreciate it. Shame about some of the mechanics in that game, though.
The only game that was truly made worse for the change to nWoD was Werewolf, but 2nd edition seeks to fix some of its most glaring issues.
