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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 5298161" data-attributes="member: 20741">Without putting too fine a point on it? That's the publication schedule that Paizo Publishing currently has. Every month, Paizo releases:1 x 96 page adventure path book1 x 32 page/or 64 page campaign or player companion2 x 16-20 page PF Society ScenariosIn addition to that, the other Gamemastery product line is  good for one of the following: 1 flip mat/map pack; or,1 map folio/gamemastery card deckThis is in addition to the larger 64 page books that come about once a quarter and the hardcover releases, also once a quarter, on average.  We'll leave their new fiction line out of the picture for now.The end result is that by emphasizing adventure and campaign material for one world only and de-emphasizing new rules (at least, compared to the one-hardcover-a-month pace that WotC had for ver 3.5), Paizo currently has as robust a publication schedule as we had in the heyday of 2nd edition. All without the rules bloat that buried 3.5 in a slurry of power creep options, too.Importantly, Paizo is not releasing multiple world settings which is the one thing probably buried TSR at the relvant time. There is only Golarion in the Pathfinder Campaign setting and its many-regional/cultural-analogs-in-one-world approach to world building is what Paizo has placed its bets upon.Does it work? So far, the products are selling well and Paizo has had its most profitable year to date.Whether this publication schedule is sustainable over the long haul remains to be seen -- but provided the game is not buried under its own weight in rules  -- there is reason to be believe that this is a sustainable publication pace for now.Anyways, there seems to be a view that WotC sets the standard in terms of publication schedule. While that may once have been the case, I would argue that with Pathfinder, that is no longer the case.I would also point out that the only reason Paizo can get as aggressive as it is with publication schedules is due to their unique advantage of having subscribers to their product lines which provides Paizo with a level of guaranteed sales on product ship. Much, if not all of Paizo's printing costs are covered by their subscribers on product shipment. On some product lines, like Adventure Paths, it's a robust enough level of a subscriber base that Paizo is in the black on the product the moment it ships, every month.This is an important business advantage that Paizo has leveraged and developed from their magazine subscriber base and webstore.  It is a method of gaining direct sales, and making the most of their working capital so as to ensure longterm solvency of the company -- all in a manner that no other RPR publisher has ever enjoyed. It's what makes the aggressive publication schedule that Paizo has actually work.  If Paizo was having to front the cost of all printing all that inventory and carry it for 6 month or a year before it was profitable? It is unlikely they would have chosen to have such an aggressive publication schedule if that were the case. The subscriber base is what makes it all work for them.</blockquote>

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