Pathfinder 1E I get the feeling Paizo isn't worried about Wizards of the Coast.

[Halivar]

Seems to me that the current edition, so far, isn't supporting those different playstyles. Seems more like they are mixing those styles together.

The current edition is 4th, so no it's not.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

The current edition is 4th, so no it's not.

*shakes head sadly*

Just wow.

 

[Halivar]

*shakes head sadly*

Just wow.

Just wow, what? Are there 5E PHB's for sale in your area?

 

[Zardnaar]

Current edition is Pathfinder. Any 4E books in print in your area? I suppose OD&D, 2nd ed or 1st ed cold also claim the throne as they have been in print recently.

 

[Jester David]

I don't know what it is, but I get the feeling that Wizards of the Coast are worried about Paizo and Pathfinder, but Paizo isn't worried about Wizards of the Coast. I've never really gotten the impression that Paizo is trying to pull customers away from D&D over to Pathfinder. It's like the company is so comfortable in their own skin that they just continue forward without a care in the world what Wizards does.

Now I could be wrong entirely, but that is the impression I am under.

Paizo almost went under shortly after they started due to the realities of the magazine publishing buisness.
Then they almost went under after they lost Star Wars Insiders.
Then they were worried about going under when they lost Dragon and Dungeon.
Then they were worried about going under when launched a line of 3.5e accessories the same time WotC announced 4e.
Then they were worried about going under when they doubled down on 3.5e and launched the Pathfinder RPG.

Now they're the leader of the pack. They have a solid and devoted fanbase. They have the largest current Organized Play program that might rival the best of the RPGA.
Even if WotC decimates their sales, they still have enough clout to keep going with their Card Game, novel line, and Adventure Paths. The APs are also potentially system neutral, so if D&D Next shatters all records they can just segue into supporting that edition, even if it's just providing conversion notes.

5e could hit Paizo hard. Really hard. The company has been growing at a steady pace buoyed by heavy sales. If WotC starts taking back sales that might lead to belt tightening at Paizo as they have to trim staff they can no longer support. But I don't think they're in danger of going under any more.

 

[Jester David]

WotC has Magic. The suits likely view the D&D brand as a unit unto itself that either performs or doesn't.

This is true. WotC has other brands that are doing quite well and likely are not worried. The D&D brand team is likely a little more nervous.

Which is good. You try harder to please when you're worried about failure. If you're cocky and confident then you're more likely to make poor decisions.

 

[Halivar]

5e could hit Paizo hard. Really hard. The company has been growing at a steady pace buoyed by heavy sales. If WotC starts taking back sales that might lead to belt tightening at Paizo as they have to trim staff they can no longer support. But I don't think they're in danger of going under any more.

I would be interested to see Paizo revenue from core books versus AP's. I suspect that if 5E was huge enough to eclipse Pathfinder core sales, Paizo's main cash cow would still remain intact.

 

[fjw70]

As I have said before I think the thing that tordepoed 4e book sales the most was DDi. Back before DDi the people I played with bought 4e books, well mainly the PHB. But once DDi hit, especially the character builder, then it was a whole new game. Suddenly the paper books were obsolete. With DDi your didn't even need a book to play the game. When you made your character with the CB and printed out the character sheet then everything you needed to play your character was on those sheets. Ever power and magic item was completely described.

On top of that you didn't even need your own account. Just log into your friend's account and update your character a few minutes before the session and you were good to go.

Then on top of that those that did have there own accounts didn't need to keep them at all time since the CB was usable offline and you only had to renew the account a couple times a year to get updates. This changed when the CB went to an online system only, except that the old offline CBs were still out there and clever fans still update it.

All of this lead to lower sales then I am sure WotC expected. And this is for the people that actually liked the game. Then those that didn't like it stopped being consumers as well.

 

[Brock Landers]

I heard D&D has become a peripheral branch of Hasbro/WotC, could be the best thing to happen to it.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

I heard D&D has become a peripheral branch of Hasbro/WotC, could be the best thing to happen to it.

D&D needs to be ran by an RPG gaming company and not by a toy company. Having lot's of money and resources does not guarantee a successful game. If TSR had good management then I believe it would have done better. To be honest, I couldn't give a monkey's ass about digital tools, fancy cards, and other types of distractions. I just want a good rules set that gives me what I am looking for. All that other stuff just takes away from the overall game and I think that's where WoTc will continue to screw up.

I view Paizo as people who genuinely want to provide you with a great game and making money is gravy, while WoTc is more worried about the money first, game second.