Pathfinder 1E Paizo no longer publishing Dungeon and Dragon

Crothian · Apr 19, 2007

Wow, I'm just shocked. It's like hearing a beloved pet has died. Those magazines have been part of gaming for ever it seems. In the early 80's they were the only way I knew what was going on in gaming. I don't know much about Pathfinder but I'm tempted just to get it to support Piazo and what they are having to do. They've done such an amazing job with the magazines I want them to succeed in the future.

Sir Brennen · Apr 19, 2007

Zaukrie said:
Um, actually, e-zines have been a vast wasteland of failure on the Internet for many, many reasons. So, I'm not sure how WotC expects to pull this off when others have failed, not only in the gamin world, but nearly everywhere it has been tried.

There are so many obstacles, not the first of which is how do people that don't know about the service even find it to buy?

By putting a big, fat ad with the URL in your physical, published products. Most other e-zines don't have the advantage of a real-world marketing tool like this. Ads on their homepage. Emails to convention attendees. All current magazine subscribers are going to be aware of it, and word-of-mouth will get the info to their gaming buddies who don't subscribe for an initial push.

Most smaller e-zines have to build a potential subscriber base from scratch or near-scratch. Not so for WotC. D&D is not some brand new game or content provider no-one's ever heard of. They have such a large player base that even if just 2% subscribe (to pull a percent out-me-butt), it'll probably be much more profitable for them than 2% of a much smaller game.

Also, many such online publications fail because they can't produce substainable content. WotC will be able to have a full time team dedicated to gathering and publishing material.

Yes, there are many obstacles to online publishing. However, WotC won't have to deal with many of them, just by virtue of being the 800 lb gorilla that they are. WotC does market research. I'm pretty sure they've asked these questions and have a solid game plan for carrying this out.

Maggan · Apr 19, 2007

Zaukrie said:
Um, actually, e-zines have been a vast wasteland of failure on the Internet for many, many reasons. So, I'm not sure how WotC expects to pull this off when others have failed, not only in the gamin world, but nearly everywhere it has been tried.

There are so many obstacles, not the first of which is how do people that don't know about the service even find it to buy?

1. WotC expects to pull this off because they are in possession of one of the strongest brands in gaming. That's not a guarantee for success, but that's their strongest asset in this strategy.

2. They'll probably place an ad in every single book they produce. I believe that many of the books reach a lot more people than Dragon and/or Dungeon does. And when they launch 4e, they'll just push the online service in the PH, DMG and MM, which a majority of those playing playing D& will buy.

/M

TroyXavier · Apr 19, 2007

Sad to hear. I was thinking about doing a resub to Dragon and subbing to Dungeon again. Well, best of luck to Paizo on their new journey.

jasin · Apr 19, 2007

Is this the big happy exciting news from Erik that's been mentioned here a few months ago or so? The Pathfinder?

It sound pretty cool, actually, on its own. But coupled with the rest, it's the same kind of cool like someone offering you a piece of candy after slapping you across the face.

The_Universe · Apr 19, 2007

Dreadful pricing of Pathfinder aside, I transitioned the remaining issues of my Dungeon subscription to the new publication so that I could at least see what it looks like. I'll miss Dragon when it's gone, but Dungeon is a terrible loss for me. My very first game publication was in Dungeon 127!

I wish this wasn't happening, but I'm inclined to believe that Paizo will end up on top - they're one of my favorite publishers!

Emirikol · Apr 19, 2007

Riley said:
I have many words to say on this, but none of them are fit for print.
Frak.

DAMIT!

I can't express what this did to my blood pressure!

DAMIT!

jh

JoshuaFrost · Apr 19, 2007

JoeGKushner said:
I think that needs to be another thread because in this very thread, it's been mentioned that they don't do another magazine is because of the distribution and the benefit from doing books and getting into bookstores. FLGS is no longer the standard I think.

Paizo has been and will always be committed to the hobby chain and the FLGS. We are selling everything we create into hobby, even our Planet Stories line. The bookstore channel is relatively new for us and, while successful, doesn't have the track record that the hobby channel does on RPG-related materials.

Pathfinder is a book like any supplement released from Necromancer, White Wolf, or Wizards is a book. It'll be sold everywhere books are available.

Shemeska · Apr 19, 2007

When I get home tonight, I'm getting out a small bottle of scotch that's about five years older than D&D, and I'm treating myself to a shot. This sucks, and I feel like I just got punched in the gut.

Both magazines were in a bono-fide silver age under Paizo, looking better than I'd ever seen them. I'd managed to finally get something into print in Dragon too. And now WotC yanks the license. Looks like we won't ever get to see a 'loth article in Dragon. For shame.

And as a reactionary, very bitter and kneejerk response, I just cancelled a trio of preorders I had on Amazon for upcoming WotC books.

Cthulhudrew · Apr 19, 2007

What I'm curious about is- didn't WotC originally give the license to Paizo because they were discontinuing the magazines due to lack of support staff to produce the content monthly themselves? Is a switch to digital format really going to make it that much simpler for them to put these magazines out on a regular basis, or are they simply making a decision to add or move staff over to a magazine department for whatever reason suddenly? (Presumably some marketing survey that shows it will be profitable enough to get back into).

Anyone in the publishing industry have any insights as to the change in attitude?