General RPG Rules DiscussionDiscuss the rules of any game except D&D or Pathfinder, such as Arcana Evolved, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars Saga, d20 Modern, and the like.
Let me begin by saying, I love the Pathfinder Adventure Paths and you guys do an amazing job. I will keep the ongoing subscription always as I love what you do with those magazines. I also was an avid fan of your products when you hosted both Dungeon and Dragon Magazines for WotC. IMO, the move WotC made was a poor decision on what they chose to do but so be it. I really miss the print editions of those magazines. However, in trying to like 4e and playing it and finding it not to be of my taste, I don't even begin to read those magazines anymore with the route they have chosen to go. However, in the design concept of Dungeon in particular, I think it does do something good to keep the fan base involved in its production. I think it is a great concept to have the fan base produce adventures that may lead to publication for others to use in there own games. It also helps to produce an even stronger following in that it gives a way for those people talented enough to do so to be discovered in some cases. I know our groups DM has had some published and it is a feat to accomplish for anyone talented enough to do so. It also was a relatively inexpensive way to receive multiple fan based adventures in a rather inexpensive way at a couple of dollars a month. It gave more and more adventures for use then just the adventure path's alone can do in the Pathfinder Adventure Path format. I am not saying stop the adventure path magazines by no means. I want those as well and love them.
Since WotC has elected to do those magazines on there own now and we are very close to having Pathfinder launch in it's final version, why would it not be a good idea for Paizo to do a magazine called Pathfinder Adventures on a monthly basis that is done along the same format that the old Dungeon was based and at the same price range? It will give those good writers and DM's a way to be found when they don't want to move forward with 4e. It would also help to build the fan base for the final version of the Pathfinder launch. Perhaps with agreements made between Paizo and WotC it may not be a possibility but does this sound like a good idea and is this something others would like to see? This may have been proposed elsewhere and I did not see it and apologize if that is the case. However it's just my $0.02 and an idea for what it's worth.
Since WotC has elected to do those magazines on there own now and we are very close to having Pathfinder launch in it's final version, why would it not be a good idea for Paizo to do a magazine called Pathfinder Adventures on a monthly basis that is done along the same format that the old Dungeon was based and at the same price range? It will give those good writers and DM's a way to be found when they don't want to move forward with 4e. It would also help to build the fan base for the final version of the Pathfinder launch. Perhaps with agreements made between Paizo and WotC it may not be a possibility but does this sound like a good idea and is this something others would like to see? This may have been proposed elsewhere and I did not see it and apologize if that is the case. However it's just my $0.02 and an idea for what it's worth.
Paizo has been asked this question many a time and the staff's answer is the same: it's not cost effective. Pathfinder just doesn't have the name recognition from bookstores, magazine stands, even FLGSs that Dungeon & Dragon's has to sell the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of issues in yearly sales to make it worthwhile.
I thought that may be the case. I just never saw it anyplace for some reason. Thanks for the reply and just disregard this post. I am happy with what they are currently doing though so be it.
Paizo has been asked this question many a time and the staff's answer is the same: it's not cost effective. Pathfinder just doesn't have the name recognition from bookstores, magazine stands, even FLGSs that Dungeon & Dragon's has to sell the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of issues in yearly sales to make it worthwhile.
Actually, the reason mostly boils down to the fact that the magazine business is not one that Paizo's interested in returning to—it's not cost effective, and this is a VERY bad time for magazines, particularly new ones that lack Dragon and Dungeon's 30 years of history and momentum and presence on the magazine racks. Although Pathfinder Adventure Path is a monthly product, it's produced as a book, not a magazine, and to distributors and publishers and stores, that's an entirely different beast.
The Pathfinder name, though, seems to be catching on; that's why we changed the "GameMastery Module" line to the "Pathfinder Module" line, after all. And our distributors seem to be QUITE excited about Pathfinder in general.
Anyway, who knows what the future might bring! For now, it's not the right time to launch a magazine alongside of what we're already doing (also because we're pretty much running at above capacity as it is), but if things continue to build at the way they are... we'll just have to wait and see!
Though I would love to see a Pathfinder magazine, and not just because of the price difference between Dragon or Dungeon and Pathfinder - I miss the advertisements. The ads gave an idea of what was on the horizon or hitting the shelves that might interest me. It was how I was introduced to WARMACHINE as an example.
And I am sadly aware that magazines just don't get the distribution that they once did, I suspect that even if WotC wanted to reintroduce Dragon as a print magazine they would find it an uphill battle.
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Actually, the reason mostly boils down to the fact that the magazine business is not one that Paizo's interested in returning to—it's not cost effective, and this is a VERY bad time for magazines, particularly new ones that lack Dragon and Dungeon's 30 years of history and momentum and presence on the magazine racks. Although Pathfinder Adventure Path is a monthly product, it's produced as a book, not a magazine, and to distributors and publishers and stores, that's an entirely different beast.
Maybe you might want to do a smaller monthly PDF version of what you did with Dragon and Dungeon (32 pages), sell it directly online from your site then collect them at the end of the year and print and sell it as a huge book (384 pages) or two half books (192 pages)? The PDF versions would pay for the inital product cost of the writing and art and the actual physical book version would pay for the print run. Just a thought...
Maybe you might want to do a smaller monthly PDF version of what you did with Dragon and Dungeon (32 pages), sell it directly online from your site then collect them at the end of the year and print and sell it as a huge book (384 pages) or two half books (192 pages)? The PDF versions would pay for the inital product cost of the writing and art and the actual physical book version would pay for the print run. Just a thought...
That would be interesting. However, I suspect Paizo won't do so for similar reasons you won't see a collected Rise of the Runelord or any other AP compendium. Erik Mona (James Jacob?) said something to the effect they feared subscriptions -- which pays the monthly bills -- would fall if gamers knew they could wait for compendiums. They apparently have some sorta data to support this train of thought.
That would be interesting. However, I suspect Paizo won't do so for similar reasons you won't see a collected Rise of the Runelord or any other AP compendium. Erik Mona (James Jacob?) said something to the effect they feared subscriptions -- which pays the monthly bills -- would fall if gamers knew they could wait for compendiums. They apparently have some sorta data to support this train of thought.
Now I am thinkg about this, it might be better for a small third party publisher to work directly with Paizo on this. The 3PP gets the rights to do the PDF version and sales, and Paizo takes the right to do the compliation and print version then they will split the renenue with the 3PP. A win / win in my book. I think I might have to make a call to Paizo on Monday...
That would be interesting. However, I suspect Paizo won't do so for similar reasons you won't see a collected Rise of the Runelord or any other AP compendium. Erik Mona (James Jacob?) said something to the effect they feared subscriptions -- which pays the monthly bills -- would fall if gamers knew they could wait for compendiums. They apparently have some sorta data to support this train of thought.
Considering what "waiting for the trades" did to the comic industry(though there were plenty of other factors at work), it's really the smartest move.
Still, there's always Kobold Quarterly. At least one official Pathfinder article has shown up there already.
Now I am thinkg about this, it might be better for a small third party publisher to work directly with Paizo on this. The 3PP gets the rights to do the PDF version and sales, and Paizo takes the right to do the compliation and print version then they will split the renenue with the 3PP. A win / win in my book. I think I might have to make a call to Paizo on Monday...
Thanks for the post James to clarify on Paizo's thinking of why it wouldn't be cost effective. It certainly makes sense. Maybe sometime things will change. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy what is being done with the quality you guys always manage to achieve. Maybe a 3pp could do this eventually when we see how the final PF version sells and is taken in by all of us. I hope it sells beyond expectations.
OK I have been working on this a little bit behind the scenes and I think I have come up with something that might fit perfectly doing a magazine for the Pathfinder Role Playing Game in a very unusal format. This one looks kind of good. I hope to announce something on it soon.
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I was refering to the original sourcefiles. :P
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The ads gave an idea of what was on the horizon or hitting the shelves that might interest me. It was how I was introduced to WARMACHINE as an example.
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