WotC is to WoW as Paizo is to DAoC

Well, if you thought 4e was borrowing too heavily from MMOGs, wait till you see what Paizo is doing with their organized play:

One piece unique to our RPG organized play system is factions. Every faction has its own unique history, culture, style and specialty. Each has its own modus operandi in the ongoing struggle for control of Absalom, and each offers the Pathfinders in their service different boons. Choosing your faction is as important as choosing your character class or race. It helps define your character in the campaign and ties your Pathfinder to one particular nation's destiny.

Pathfinder Society Organized Play centers on the sprawling city of Absalom, where five factions engage in a shadow war for control of the city's politics and economy. As you play, the outcome of your adventures, actions, and deeds affect events on a global scale, turning the tide of secret wars between some of Golarion's most powerful nations. The fate of the world is literally in your hands.

During the months of June, July, and August, Nicolas Logue and I will be writing a series of blog posts to peel back the curtain surrounding our plans for Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Premiering at Gen Con this August, Pathfinder Society is Paizo's first foray into the world of RPG organized play.

Frankly, I think it's a very cool idea, and we've seen variations on this theme from Games Workshop with their world-wide campaigns for their Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 wargames. One of the joys of pen-and-paper RPGs is having your character actually have an affect on the campaign world, and this seems a great way to bring that to organized play. I'm hoping that Paizo plays on this theme by embracing the 'net and allowing organized play and competition between the factions even when there are no big conventions going on. I think the 'net offers all sorts of great opportunities for organized play, both competitive and cooperative.