Mark CMG
Creative Mountain Games
At this stage, someone would have to be crazy to believe any position at WotC is permanent.
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Pathfinder 1E Pathfinder outselling D&D
- Thread starter Kzach
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At this stage, someone would have to be crazy to believe any position at WotC is permanent.
Aeolius
Adventurer
Remember all the talk from WotC about "Now is the time to wrap up your 'old and busted' and get ready for the 'new hawtness' "? It didn't sit well, with me. Besides, my undersea game would have taken a lot of work to convert, as the 4e MM is woefully devoid of undersea beasties. I even thought of running my "Nature of the Beast" campaign with 4e, but alas the first 3 books had no druids, greenhags, or Awaken spells.
Yes, I could convert all of the monsters, magics, and whatnot on my own time, but there comes a point where sticking with 3.5e or using the Pathfinder Conversion Guide is simply easier.
Jack Daniel
dice-universe.blogspot.com
All I have to say about this.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_z0EcY3ok]YouTube - White Micheal Jackson Vs. Black Micheal Jackson[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_z0EcY3ok]YouTube - White Micheal Jackson Vs. Black Micheal Jackson[/ame]
re
I've done my share to help Paizo sales. They've overall done a good job on Pathfinder. There are still some weak spots in high level play I wish they would work on since it is easier to get to high level with adventure paths. But their books are high quality and I always feel I get my money's worth out of anything I buy from them.
For myself the biggest draw is the Adventure Paths. It fuels everything else. I have never in my entire 25 years plus of D&D read such consistently interesting and well-designed adventure modules. There have been some gems here and there over the years that I've enjoyed. But never have modules been as consistently interesting, well-designed, and enjoyable to read and run as the Paizo Adventure Paths.
I have to say Kingmaker has been a pleasure to run. It is the first lvl 20 campaign I have run in probably 20 years. And the first consistent campaign I've run in 10 years. Their modules provide a framework and the material within has really inspired me in encounter creation.
Rise of the Runelords is also a blast to run.
I'm looking forward to running Carrion Crown.
The guys at Paizo like what I like in terms of authors and source material. It shows in the adventure design.
Now if they could only do a better job vetting those nasty little no save, encounter destroying spells, the game would be about perfect.
I've done my share to help Paizo sales. They've overall done a good job on Pathfinder. There are still some weak spots in high level play I wish they would work on since it is easier to get to high level with adventure paths. But their books are high quality and I always feel I get my money's worth out of anything I buy from them.
For myself the biggest draw is the Adventure Paths. It fuels everything else. I have never in my entire 25 years plus of D&D read such consistently interesting and well-designed adventure modules. There have been some gems here and there over the years that I've enjoyed. But never have modules been as consistently interesting, well-designed, and enjoyable to read and run as the Paizo Adventure Paths.
I have to say Kingmaker has been a pleasure to run. It is the first lvl 20 campaign I have run in probably 20 years. And the first consistent campaign I've run in 10 years. Their modules provide a framework and the material within has really inspired me in encounter creation.
Rise of the Runelords is also a blast to run.
I'm looking forward to running Carrion Crown.
The guys at Paizo like what I like in terms of authors and source material. It shows in the adventure design.
Now if they could only do a better job vetting those nasty little no save, encounter destroying spells, the game would be about perfect.
No, it's pretty reasonable, and might even be on the low side. A good senior guy will cost ~$100K in salary, and a lot more beyond that. The actual cost of an employee to a business in the US is generally about twice his or her salary on average (between benefits, maintaining their work space, and the employer portion of Social Security taxes), and it's about the same deal if you hire consultants (the consulting company will bill for about twice what the programmer takes home -- discovering this when I was a young consultant was kind of... interesting).
Dannager
First Post
It's tough to misremember something that has continued to occur on a regular basis over the last three years. And, really, I'd love to provide you with oodles of links illustrating my point (and, actually, the poster who brought this topic up referred to one of the threads I would have linked to), but the ENWorld staff doesn't like that sort of thing.
You'll have to take my word for it.
Or not.
Last edited:
Dannager
First Post
This is no longer an option, as the updated Character Builder is now online only. Apparently a lot of people were getting around the subscription model by doing exactly what you suggest.
Sort of. The studio they originally hired to produce their DDI suite of applications utterly failed to deliver. They dropped the outside studio and hired a group of internal developers, who have been responsible for the applications we've seen to date. "If you want something done right..." and all that.
However, a lot of project work like this you can get contractors for, so you don't have to pay benefits and the like.
Pour
First Post
It's not hard to believe the news, despite me finding it just a tad inflammatory on Lisa's part. I mean it's exciting and they should be proud of their quality products, but being vocal with your community is one thing and being vocal with sales, idk, seems a little beneath Paizo. I'm sure it wasn't meant in that way, and they are D&D's competitor so I guess it's fair game, but still.
Paizo has been ramping up the last few years, producing a ton of great material, hiring out of the fan base and unemployed designers, and only strengthening their rep amongst hobbyists of all systems. Their whole business model is predicated on print sales, whereas WotC is exploring quite the opposite avenue. This is a clear milestone for Paizo, maybe a spot they'll not surrender from here on out, but one to be expected I think as they forge ahead with paper and WotC goes through the birthing pains of the digital initiative.
This is funny timing given Steve's editorial about the new digital age of Dungeon and Dragon and the scare of leaping off the tire swing. We're seeing the direct results of it now. I'm just wondering when we'll see the digital model blossom. The potential is definitely there, it's just not actualized yet, despite really, really wishing it was!
Paizo has been ramping up the last few years, producing a ton of great material, hiring out of the fan base and unemployed designers, and only strengthening their rep amongst hobbyists of all systems. Their whole business model is predicated on print sales, whereas WotC is exploring quite the opposite avenue. This is a clear milestone for Paizo, maybe a spot they'll not surrender from here on out, but one to be expected I think as they forge ahead with paper and WotC goes through the birthing pains of the digital initiative.
This is funny timing given Steve's editorial about the new digital age of Dungeon and Dragon and the scare of leaping off the tire swing. We're seeing the direct results of it now. I'm just wondering when we'll see the digital model blossom. The potential is definitely there, it's just not actualized yet, despite really, really wishing it was!
re
The model will be actualized when devices are made at a reasonable price that can provide the same experience as a book, character sheet, and dice at the table. Right now, that kind of investment is still far too high and the devices not as easy to use as a character sheet.
Almost all my players do their characters online. But they like having their character sheets and their books at the table for easy reference. They like them right in front of them. For the standard table with minis and drawn maps on a fold out map, a bunch of laptops on the table would create a space problem.
The main advantage I've found with online tools and PDFs is as a DM. I can do most of my prep using online tools, which greatly lessens my prep time. And since I play Pathfinder, online resources for copy and paste and monster creation are a huge boon as prep time is longer. The online tools have available for Pathfinder have made high level prep time a breeze.
I could probably put all my books on laptop and bring it to the game. I might do this at some point as one laptop on the table would probably save room. Even then I might need a DM screen as the search function based on words is a pain. A well-designed PDF DM screen/index screen constantly updated would be a huge boon if I bought all the Pathfinder books online. Then I could easily type in a word in the index, get the page number and book quickly, then go to the book page and find what I want. As well as a condensed version of all the tables.
I think I might try DMing from my laptop next time. Though I will probably stilly buy print books.
The one thing about a D&D book that a digital copy doesn't seem to equal is the artwork. There's something I enjoy that never feels the same on a digital copy as perusing a book and looking at the great artwork. D&D has always had some great artists and Paizo continued that tradition in Pathfinder.
People really underestimate the effect of cool artwork in a roleplaying product. Sometimes the artwork alone can make you want to buy a product. And having that picture in your hand rather than on a digital copy is so much more satisfying.
Who can forget images like Count Strahd on the cover of Ravenloft or A Paladin In Hell. Or even the original image of the thief stealing the eye out of the Efreeti statue on the cover of the 1st edition Player's Handbook. Or the numerous awsome drawings you randomly come across in roleplaying books over the years. It enhances the overall experience of the book.
The model will be actualized when devices are made at a reasonable price that can provide the same experience as a book, character sheet, and dice at the table. Right now, that kind of investment is still far too high and the devices not as easy to use as a character sheet.
Almost all my players do their characters online. But they like having their character sheets and their books at the table for easy reference. They like them right in front of them. For the standard table with minis and drawn maps on a fold out map, a bunch of laptops on the table would create a space problem.
The main advantage I've found with online tools and PDFs is as a DM. I can do most of my prep using online tools, which greatly lessens my prep time. And since I play Pathfinder, online resources for copy and paste and monster creation are a huge boon as prep time is longer. The online tools have available for Pathfinder have made high level prep time a breeze.
I could probably put all my books on laptop and bring it to the game. I might do this at some point as one laptop on the table would probably save room. Even then I might need a DM screen as the search function based on words is a pain. A well-designed PDF DM screen/index screen constantly updated would be a huge boon if I bought all the Pathfinder books online. Then I could easily type in a word in the index, get the page number and book quickly, then go to the book page and find what I want. As well as a condensed version of all the tables.
I think I might try DMing from my laptop next time. Though I will probably stilly buy print books.
The one thing about a D&D book that a digital copy doesn't seem to equal is the artwork. There's something I enjoy that never feels the same on a digital copy as perusing a book and looking at the great artwork. D&D has always had some great artists and Paizo continued that tradition in Pathfinder.
People really underestimate the effect of cool artwork in a roleplaying product. Sometimes the artwork alone can make you want to buy a product. And having that picture in your hand rather than on a digital copy is so much more satisfying.
Who can forget images like Count Strahd on the cover of Ravenloft or A Paladin In Hell. Or even the original image of the thief stealing the eye out of the Efreeti statue on the cover of the 1st edition Player's Handbook. Or the numerous awsome drawings you randomly come across in roleplaying books over the years. It enhances the overall experience of the book.
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