Pathfinder 2E Kingmaker Anniversary Edition delayed again.

[Glade Riven]

I am not surprised but I am angry and disappointed. Paizo really should learn from Enworld on how to run a crowdfunding campaign.

Now if they have hard copies for sale at Gencon before I at LEAST get my PDFs, I will be full on enraged. Right now I am venting on Twitter, which is not something I normally do.

 

[This Effin’ GM]

I am not surprised but I am angry and disappointed. Paizo really should learn from Enworld on how to run a crowdfunding campaign.

Now if they have hard copies for sale at Gencon before I at LEAST get my PDFs, I will be full on enraged. Right now I am venting on Twitter, which is not something I normally do.

I had gotten excited about the 5e conversion and was putting together a campaign before I saw it was delayed so I put my plans on hold….2+ years ago. Sigh.

 

[Glade Riven]

Several times I've had plans postponed, but it isn't just that. It's the stalling, the lack of communication, the "bad news late on the day Friday so we can avoid it coming out in the press until Monday." There was one point where it took 3 months for their "monthly" update.

 

[teitan]

I am not surprised but I am angry and disappointed. Paizo really should learn from Enworld on how to run a crowdfunding campaign.

Now if they have hard copies for sale at Gencon before I at LEAST get my PDFs, I will be full on enraged. Right now I am venting on Twitter, which is not something I normally do.

You are aware that Paizo had a strike and work stoppage from staff and freelancers that delayed everything and nothing was turned in for a handful of months yes? Every product line got hit with delays including nearly finished books like the new tech book for Starfinder etc.

 

[Glade Riven]

Funny you say that...I actually got a response from Brian Bauman regarding it.

To the best of my knowledge, Kingmaker delays are not caused by the unionization process. Unionization requires a lot of ongoing physical, mental and emotional effort, so some indirect effects are possible, but there is little to no direct conflict between the two efforts.

I'm not close enough to the Kingmaker process itself to comment usefully on delays, aside from denying that @PaizoWorkers is a likely underlying cause.

Let's compare and contrast Kingmaker's development vs. Grimmerspace, since both projects were launched around the same time. Grimmerspace is being led by one of the developers of Starfinder under an "indie" label. It made $188k out of a goal of $10k. They are also a bit behind, but there are key differences between how Paizo and how Iron GM Games is handling it. Iron GM makes monthly updates, interacts with their backers, and has actually delivered some of their content (a bestiary and a small adventure).

To contrast, Kingmaker made $25,000,000. The original timetable of a year to delivery was, honestly, never realistic because I don't think they realized how much stuff Owl Cat Games added. Kingmaker did have front loaded Pathfinder 1e content as a backer bonus, but the cost on that was negligible since it was all PDFs of older content. There were times when it was almost 3 months between updates.

Then there was the news that it was being delayed until April 2022 - which was first announced behind a paywall at Paizocon 2021 (late May). The delay was annoying, but hiding it behind a paywall was infuriating. We didn't get an official announcement until over a month later. At least this time they didn't hide the delay behind a paywall, but all I've gotten as a backer are excuses, a couple of full page spread previews, and a photo of my pawns sitting in a warehouse. PDFs aren't scheduled to be released until the physicals are being sent out, and it seems the books are stuck in editing hell right now.

If it were just delays, that'd be one thing, but it's also how they've handled backers through the whole process. I'm allowed to be angry.

 

[dave2008]

To contrast, Kingmaker made $25,000,000.

Where did you get this number? I just looked it up and it was much less:

Am I missing something?

 

[Glade Riven]

I think what you are looking at is the Owlcat Games Kickstarter Kingmaker project, but Games on Tabletop is now displaying a different number raised than what they did before I posted this thing. I swear it was displaying $25 million before the news came out, but now it's showing around half a million.

 

[Alzrius]

Nuts. I really want the PF1E Bestiary book that they're making as part of this; hopefully we'll see it before the end of the year.

 

[dave2008]

I think what you are looking at is the Owlcat Games Kickstarter Kingmaker project, but Games on Tabletop is now displaying a different number raised than what they did before I posted this thing. I swear it was displaying $25 million before the news came out, but now it's showing around half a million.

I don't know, but I would think it would have made a lot more waves if it made $25 mill. I truly don't think it broke the $1mill rank.

 

[gss000]

I don't know, but I would think it would have made a lot more waves if it made $25 mill. I truly don't think it broke the $1mill rank.

$25 million would have made it the top Kickstarter of all time, which I only know because of Brandon Sanderson breaking the record around $20 million with his "I accidentally wrote five extra novels during the pandemic" kickstarter.

I think the original point is still valid. I've seen a lot of projects hurt by being too successful, which requires good communication and updates. Even then, it is reasonable to be frustrated when they don't deliver, no matter the reasons.