Well, here's a point. It isn't just about carrying them around. It is about prep time and work.
If you've (generic you, not N'raac, personally) bought those 12 supplements, you've probably read through them, and digested a goodly chunk of them already, just for fun. For you, checking the rules online is a referencing action, looking up a reminder.
Perhaps. I wish I had time to read every gaming supplement I buy, and I'd love it if my memory was sharp enough to remember everything in the ones I do have. I look up the monsters pretty much every time. But unquestionably, the person with those references has likely looked at them to some extent. But then, when unusual issues from the core rules come up, I reference them too. Frex, when a player takes Improved Bull Rush, or some such, I refresh and enhance my knowledge of the rules for Bull Rush, as clearly it will be coming up in play.
To someone who hasn't bought the supplements, but buys the AP, looking them up online is a *learning* operation, not a reminder.
Admittedly, how many items in which the thing is stored is not the relevant bit for an online source. But how much extra rules-stuff you have to absorb before using the adventure is still relevant.
I think the "I don't use errata with the rules, it is the rules" is a tad glib. For those working with physical rulebooks, they are separate documents. That they "are the rules" doesn't mean that you can operate without having to refer to the documents separately.
To me, it's a much greater hassle having frequent errata on line. I can print out that couple of monsters in the AP, that feat from a splatbook, etc. Having a 30 page printout to go with each of the core rulebooks, since those rules may come up any time, is a much greater hassle.
My point is, I want everything I need, other than the core rules, in the physical hardcopy adventure I bought. But that's not done (by almost anyone). So, yeah I'd have the same issue with that.
I don't know many people who would object to it being reprinted in the AP when it comes up. As I said, even if you own it, it's easier to referenced it all in one place in the thing you just bought that is referencing it. We have decades of experience in usability with adventures, and "everything right there" is often a popular thing. It might not be for everyone, but I think it's safe to say it's for an awful lot of people.
For what it's worth, I would object to paying full price for a book which is 10%, or 25%, or whatever %, reprinted material I already have, or reprinted material I did not want to buy in the first place.
I also question why, if many/most people would prefer everything be reprinted in the adventure itself, no one seems to be publishing towards that market. Have all the publishers missed the boat, or is it possible the reprint model is not as desired as you believe? Maybe Paizo should offer to sell an AP Supplement which reprints the rules from non-core products which are not contained in the AP itself, and see how many sales they get. That would test the waters pretty nicely. Or maybe they should poll the audience first and see if sales are likely.
Isn't it mostly sold on a subscription basis, sight unseen?
That's up to the buyer. Their descriptions are, I believe, posted with more than sufficient warning that I could have cancelled my subscription before WotR started if I decided I did not want an AP focused on Mythic Adventures. I bought a couple of older AP's, liked what I saw, picked up a couple of AP's as they came out because I liked the topics, then subscribed because I was pretty much liking everything upcoming as well.
Yes, the old D&D modules DID reference later books. Which is why I mentioned it earlier, and why we're on this topic in the first place.
I'm trying to get a handle on the comparison. You included the first Bestiary in your reference list but I would think that's a core book analogous to the D&D Monster Manual. I could add the Advanced GM Guide, but Pathfinder Core pretty much combines PHB and DMG. But my recollection is there's not a lot of rules in the AGG, so I'm not sure how something referenced would be essential. I haven't reviewed the module in detail to assess whether the dozen sources are essential, substantial, tangential or "for further info, if you want it, check out this book".
I also note that their policies make it clear any hardcover is fair game, which is a big chunk of that dozen references. You may still feel they should not be part of the references, of course. I'm curious how 4e handled this when books like PHB II hit the shelves. Were they off limits in other books? Or are they also doing the same thing?
On a related issue, if Paizo put up a single link to a page that JUST had all the stuff in a particular episode of a specific Adventure Path, that would be better. It still doesn't address my issue that everything you need other than the core rules should be right there in the hardcopy book you bought, it still doesn't deal with the issue of printing out all that crap and putting it in place in the hardcopy you bought, but it would be better than the mish-mash that currently exists for the online referencing.
I like the idea of a Link page. I wonder if anyone's ever pitched that to Paizo. But then, my players can now check out all the monsters in the AP in one easy stop, so maybe that would be an issue for some groups.
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