Courtesy of Paizo's Jason Bulmahn on the Twitters -- "This is my 5,000th tweet and I can not think of a finer thing to show than this glorious book finally landing on my shelf. The team really outdid themselves on this. I can't wait for all of you to see it!"
THIS Is The Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook!
Courtesy of Paizo's Jason Bulmahn on the Twitters -- "This is my 5,000th tweet and I can not think of a finer thing to show than this glorious book finally landing on my shelf. The team really outdid themselves on this. I can't wait for all of you to see it!"
Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
Hmm... I should elaborate. It's hard for me to say that I am not drawing distinctions between the two companies, or that I am not biased towards Paizo and this new playtest. I am absolutely in the Paizo camp as WotC has fallen out of favor with me. Obviously, it's neither a big loss or gain for either company. I'm just one customer.
What I found interesting is how their recent tweets for their respective upcoming products reveal such a stark contrast. And it brings to light (for me, anyway) how the two companies appeal to their audiences (i.e. customers) differently.
One picture reveals small clues and red herrings on a page of doodles, and a mysterious book cover partially concealed. A game or "guess what it is" ensues, usually for months until they finally announce it. Big reveal.
The other picture is more straightforward, and presents a more refined, if not sophisticated, display. The books are here. We can't wait for you to see them. I'm having a drink. How are you going to celebrate?
Contrast. Not really announcements, but preludes to big releases for both companies. Who wins? Who cares! Everyone gets obsessed about who is in first place and measuring by the wrong standards. I don't like Wizard's approach with "guessing games" every time a new product is coming, but it works for others. Neither a win nor loss, just a personal preference. And if Paizo starts doing it, I'm not gonna like it any better. But then again, Paizo has a tendency to be pretty straightforward about everything they have done. Contrast.
It is good we see such differences, though. I don't want to see Wizard's adapt Paizo's approach anymore than I want to see PF2 emulate 5e. We need choices in this market. We need both, and we need more. If we can't distinguish between two or more companies or their products, why have more than one?
What I found interesting is how their recent tweets for their respective upcoming products reveal such a stark contrast. And it brings to light (for me, anyway) how the two companies appeal to their audiences (i.e. customers) differently.
One picture reveals small clues and red herrings on a page of doodles, and a mysterious book cover partially concealed. A game or "guess what it is" ensues, usually for months until they finally announce it. Big reveal.
The other picture is more straightforward, and presents a more refined, if not sophisticated, display. The books are here. We can't wait for you to see them. I'm having a drink. How are you going to celebrate?
Contrast. Not really announcements, but preludes to big releases for both companies. Who wins? Who cares! Everyone gets obsessed about who is in first place and measuring by the wrong standards. I don't like Wizard's approach with "guessing games" every time a new product is coming, but it works for others. Neither a win nor loss, just a personal preference. And if Paizo starts doing it, I'm not gonna like it any better. But then again, Paizo has a tendency to be pretty straightforward about everything they have done. Contrast.
It is good we see such differences, though. I don't want to see Wizard's adapt Paizo's approach anymore than I want to see PF2 emulate 5e. We need choices in this market. We need both, and we need more. If we can't distinguish between two or more companies or their products, why have more than one?
Jester David
Hero
I believe Lightningsource has NZ distributors. Presumably it would at least be comparable to having the physical book shipped from Paizo, if not still cheaper as the book would be half the price...
Jester David
Hero
This is apples and oranges.
What you're discussing isn't an announcement from Paizo. We got the Pathfinder 2 announcement back in March, leading to teasing articles giving a taste of mechanics every few days as they slowly build to the PDF/book release.
WotC did the same thing with 5e. One morning, no warning, 5e announcement with news of a playtest.
Even the previews of the next book's content and blog articles on design wasn't that different from how WotC did their edition change. Or even how they do their new physical book releases. Previews and the like.
And the shot of the first printing on a designers desk on a social media feed is pretty common among the industry. We saw that for Tome of Foes. And pretty much every single release since social media accounts were created. The "hey, look what I got today!"
Okay, so you don't like the doodles and teasing. The social media guessing games that proceeded the reveal of Waterdeep. *shrug* Then don't pay attention. That's super easy to ignore by just not participating.
Personally, I prefer the slow burn and public reveals to Paizo's method of "announcing" new accessories, which is either announcing them at a panel at PaizoCon, where you need to find a transcript made by someone at the panel or banquet. Typically paired with blurry off-center photos.
Or the product just appears as a preorder on their website and sits there until it's noticed.
But the "guessing game" as you refer to it has never gone on for months. The #nostoneunturned thing went on a little less than a month. And this current teasing was to hype something less than a week away. T
hat also has more to do with WotC not announcing their products and storylines a year ahead. We already know the schedule for Pathfinder adventures from now to July 2019, and Player Companions & Campaign setting books until January.
I imagine the rate of release also makes an impact. You can't make a big deal about your new release when you have almost two dozen small products coming out over the next six months.
There's also the less official teasing, where the team makes a vague hint and the fans spend the next several months guessing. But that happens even without the hints, when fans find listings for books online. That's less WotC and more then fans looking for clues everywhere; I think WotC is teasing because they know the fans are looking for hints and will invent hints where there was none. They really just need to say "I don't want to give anything away..." and people will jump over their next sentence or the look on their face and pick it apart for clues.
That's less on the company and more on the fanbase.
I heard Jester mentioned on the Friday fireside chat episode 
. As far as the possible alt covers for the core books, I'm probably down with picking this up, mainly for the errata printing compared to my first edition printing books.
. As far as the possible alt covers for the core books, I'm probably down with picking this up, mainly for the errata printing compared to my first edition printing books.Anthony Tench
First Post
Jester David
Hero
Yup. That was my tweet at roughly the 20 minute mark, quoting a [MENTION=7006]DEFCON 1[/MENTION] comment.I heard Jester mentioned on the Friday fireside chat episode
Ah man... you guys are gonna make me listen to the whole Chat now on YouTube just to hear it, aren't you? Thanks a lot!
Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
Not really. You and I are apples and oranges. But what I was trying to illustrate was the contrast between the two companies in their general approach. These last particular tweets just happen to coincide within the same week. Paizo seems pretty upfront when it comes to any upcoming product, while Wizards has made a habit of putting up clues and easter eggs. It wasn't always that way, but as you pointed out, their fans need something to talk about between the 4-6 (or however long) month wait between products released. That's not a complaint, that's just an observation. But by admitting that I'm not a fan makes it sound like it must be a complaint. I could care less because I am no longer their customer. Moving on.
This seems highly unnecessary. And yet, I see comments like this all the time on this site from so many self-appointed gatekeepers. Not just from you, and not just directed at me. Someone expresses their displeasure about something, and someone else will surely chime in with advice like this as if it were a stroke of genius. I'll accept your rebuttal and engage in a good discussion. But I draw the line where you (or anyone else) suggest that I (or anyone else) should leave the sandbox.
Jester David
Hero
You're comparing the publisher showing off an early copy of their book with teasing for a yet unreleased book. That is very, very, very different. As I said earlier, if you go through the social media of WotC staff, you'll see pictures similar to Bulhman's of "look what just arrived in the office".
WotC does the exact same thing.
And it's not like Paizo doesn't tease or hint. If you follow people like Jason Bulhman or James Jacobs on the Paizo forums or listen to their GenCon and PaizoCon panels, they'll also occasionally drop teasing hints of future projects. It's not even that WotC included seeds and Easter eggs for future storylines in their core rulebooks: there are lots of seeds to Adventures Paths in the Inner Sea World Guide, and lots of hooks they plan to run with at later dates. They just haven't always decided the time is right to tell those stores, or the people who want to do those APs aren't free to work on them (if they're even still with the company).
Heck, they're teasing the effects of the next two APs already and how they lead to goblins becoming player character races!
It not even like there's no speculation of what Paizo is going to do next. Fans are always speculating on the next APs or new hardcovers. You can bet the fans are wondering if there's a fall and spring hardcover or not.
The difference is the Paizo staff largely engages with fans via their message boards and at convention panels, rather than Twitter or Twitch, which is a little less visible and easier to ignore.
It's not gatekeeping to suggest if someone doesn't like something they shouldn't partake.
I don't like pineapples on my pizza so I don't order them. It's not gatekeeping for someone to suggest I not order Hawaiian pizza if I'm just going to complain.
Okay, you don't like the fan speculation and hype of products. That's okay. You don't have to: it doesn't affect the final product. It is literally irrelevant if you don't like it. And given the vast majority of D&D fans (let alone D&D players) do not follow the WotC team's social media, most of them very much do ignore that hype & teasing, simply learning of the products from other news sites or when they go to a local game store. But it's there for the people who do like it.
Again, what I take umbrage to is point to one thing Paizo is doing and pointing to something completely unrelated and using it as an example of how Paizo handles releases completely differently, when they're not *that* different.
Similar Threads
