3.5 Player's Handbook Outselling 4E PH!!

[Dice4Hire]

It doesn't have any meaning. It's interesting.

Nice that you do, but taking numbers out of context to make a point is an old trick.

 

[proto128]

Nice that you do, but taking numbers out of context to make a point is an old trick.

That's kind of what this whole thread has been about, yes.

 

[Belorin]

Of course if you take into effect that the sales are over the books lifetime, yes 3.5 has sold more. Also, check the prices of 3.5 vs. 4E books.

Bel

 

[El Mahdi]

A little part of me dies every time one of these threads pops up.

-O

I just add another bruise to my forehead from the old facepalm, or lose a few more hairs from my rapidly thinning dome from rubbing it in confusion*.


(*That is, confusion as to why this matters.)

 

[vazanar]

It would be interesting to see whether the Pathfinder books take the place of the 3.5E core books in Amazon's top 25 list of gaming type books. If the Pathfinder core and bestiary books become "evergreen", there might be something to this meme of the "staying power" and popularity of the 3.5E rules at the expense of 4E in terms of book sales.

I like Pathfinder but I don't see it out selling 4e. Ignoring that I imagine a lot of people buying Pathfinder will subscribe if only for the first couple of rule books to get the pdfs with them. Do a lot of people buy Pathfinder modules/ap/chronicles from amazon?

 

[Dice4Hire]

I like Pathfinder but I don't see it out selling 4e. Ignoring that I imagine a lot of people buying Pathfinder will subscribe if only for the first couple of rule books to get the pdfs with them. Do a lot of people buy Pathfinder modules/ap/chronicles from amazon?

If this thread required hard nuymbers (and apparently it does not) I would not answer.

Well, surprisingly, Pathfinder is/will be available from Amazon.jp, which is pretty unusual for 3pp. At least the first couple of books, that is. I saw some of the original Runelords books available here, as well as the upcoming Pathfinder RPG, whereas msot other books I see touted on this site are jsut not available, period. (Yes, I can get them from AMerica for high shipping costs)

But will they sell well. I dunno. I follow the pathfinder stuff here, and it seems a vocal min ority who psot in most of the same threads, so it seems to me that it is not strongly supported, at least inteh mainstream.

On the other hand, Paizo is still in business and seemingly doing well 10 months after losing the Dungeon/Dragon gravy train, so their sales must be all right. I do think the new Pathfinder RPG will increase their sales, as it seems well done, and should attract new fans.

 

[vazanar]

But will they sell well. I dunno. I follow the pathfinder stuff here, and it seems a vocal min ority who psot in most of the same threads, so it seems to me that it is not strongly supported, at least inteh mainstream.

On the other hand, Paizo is still in business and seemingly doing well 10 months after losing the Dungeon/Dragon gravy train, so their sales must be all right. I do think the new Pathfinder RPG will increase their sales, as it seems well done, and should attract new fans.

I meant more most people wouldn't buy it from amazon. The majority of the minority who get pathfinder order it direct. I imagine amazon's discount is greater but I tend to like the pdfs with the books (and subscribers get the pdfs for free).

 

[ggroy]

At several local FLGS in town and in other nearby cities, the store managers mentioned they typically have around 2 or 3 customers every month who regularly purchase new Pathfinder stuff (ie. AP, chronicles, companion, modules, etc ...). Besides these particular regular customers at each store, the managers mentioned there isn't much demand for Pathfinder stuff in general compared to 4E D&D books. (They even mentioned that the 4E books haven't been selling very well since the three core books were released last year).

At three of these FLGS stores, the managers were willing to mention that these people who have been regularly purchasing Pathfinder stuff were typically guys who were over age 35 or 40. So far they have not had anybody under age 25 or 30 purchasing any Pathfinder stuff. The under age 25 or 30 crowds are more interested in purchasing card games and video games, than pen and paper RPGs or comic books. (At several of these local FLGS, they stock all kinds of other stuff like used video games, comic books, manga, sports cards, etc ... which do a lot more business than pen and paper RPGs).

 

[Erik Mona]

We sell the majority of our product direct to consumers through Paizo.com and through local game stores. As a result, our stuff has never tracked particularly well on Amazon. It doesn't help that a lot of our stuff is categorized as "books" and not games over there, but in my experience any attempt to draw any meaningful information from Amazon sales ranks and lists is an exercise in futility.

--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC

 

[Kinneus]

Of course if you take into effect that the sales are over the books lifetime, yes 3.5 has sold more.

That might have something to do with the fact that 3.5 has been in existence for about six years, while 4e has only been in existence for about 1. You have to let 4e have a lifetime before you compare lifetime sales.