Pathfinder 1E Paizo no longer publishing Dungeon and Dragon

[SavageRobby]

But more seriously, they've hired dedicated professionals to work on the digital initiative. It isn't a half-baked launch product like the 3E CD or some kind of outsourced licensed project managed part-time. It's an in-house directive with instant access to the game-makers in R&D, a full team, and a full budget.

"We have top men working on it."
"Who?"
"Top. Men."


---


I'm saddened and not a little bit angered by the decision to can Dragon magazine. I had many early, early issues, and remember with glee sitting down to pore through each new in the late 70s and early 80s. Ah well. All good things. I do think I'll check out Pathfinder. Sounds interesting.

And I'm not at all hopeful about WotC producing anything online. Their site sucks, their forum sucks (doesn't even have a working search function, c'mon now) even when its actually up, they are consistently late publishing materials there ... and they think they're going to launch some brand spanking new digital initiative to replace an icon in the industry? I hope you all will pardon my skepticism.

 

[takasi]

You can get that for free now, on the WotC site. But I'm sure they are VERY happy to know you are going to be willing to pay $10 a month for what was once free content. Next up - subscriber-only errata! :/

Most of the material that's online is worth paying for. I would have bought Keith Baker's Dragonshards. I read the site every day even though it's free. So paying $10 a month is no big loss to me.

Especially now that I'm not paying a yearly subscription to Dragon and Dungeon anymore.

 

[Reynard]

A Quick Note:

I realize not everyone is saddened by this and not everyone liked Paizo or their magazines, so I started a thread so those people could have a place to express their opinion without threadcrapping here. I hope everyone who should, does, and those that don't agree with them won't threadcrap in that one.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

My initial shock and sadness aside, Pathfinder seems great. I was a little concerned about the price, but reflecting on the amount of material and considering that there are no ads within; 96 pages of goodness, available both in PDF and print for $15 for subscribers (less than a WOTC module) plus with awesome authors, sounds like a very good deal to me. I will just have to cut back a bit on my WoTC purchases.

As someone suggested, a similar subscription offering for the Gamemastery line would rock!

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Yeah, good luck with that. Clearly WotC are looking for ways to scrape the bottom of the barrel to make D&D maintain profitability. Mark my words; in a few years when D&D is a moribund trademark languishing unused in a Hasbro warehouse somewhere and we're all just buying scraps from cottage industry pdf publishers on the OGL and d20 license, we'll look back and say this was the beginning of the end.

We'll remember April 19th, 2007: The Day the Dragon Died.

Though I must say I share some other poster's optimism: It might turn out alright in the end: Hasbro/Wizards screw this one up big time, D&D will become worthless for them, they sell it, and someone else buys it and sets things right.

I feel sad because I believe Dragon and Dungeon have been producing better and better material in their magazines while WotC's material in their books have been decreasing constantly.

Yeah, and now the better and better material will be killed so people buy more of the decreasing quality stuff.

But everyone here needs to calm down and pay attention to this: Griping about what evil WotC has done and boycotting their online e-zine AND their future D&D books is only going to hurt D&D even more!

So? They've mortally wounded it already. Why not perform the mercy killing, so the Phoenix that is D&D can rise up from the ashes?

How do you know for a fact that the e-zine won't be as good as Dragon/Dungeon?

You said it yourself: Paizo has been churning out stuff that got better and better, while Wizards' stuff got worse. And Paizo won't be producing that e-zine.

I honestly don't believe the lot of you here really pack 15+ D&D books and haul them to your sessions.

No, I don't haul anything anywhere. We play in my Dungeon. Lots of paper storage facilities available.

I don't want to be forced to use a computer to read my RPG books. They're unconfortable in bed (and if I fall asleep and push it out of the bed in my sleep, it won't just have a dog-ear) and on the Throne.

I have already entered the digital age and it's about time we all should too, because that's where the future lies whether you like it or not.

Some things I prefer the good old way. Until the MultiMedia House is common (with big flat-screens in the bathroom wall and all that), I'll stick to paper.

I think the only choice we have at this point is to give full support to this WotC e-zine.

You sound like Wizards' Minister for Propaganda.

I'm always wary of people telling me I only have one choice. There's always another choice. Blindly supporting their new thing certainly isn't our sole choice, and I doubt it is even the best.

Who ever heard of subscribing to a BOOK?

You look up phone numbers in the Phone Magazine?

Anyone know of the best way to contact WOTC to voice our displeasure other than customer (dis)service?

Mailbomb?
No, seriously, I hear the best thing to do in cases like this is to write an actual letter - their online contact mechanism sucks, anyway.

And you can always "vote with your wallet". Stop buying Wizards stuff. Combine that with the letter. Maybe draw up a list with your purchases in the last 12 months, and the stuff you would have bought in the next 12 but which you will not buy now because of their politics.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

I'm thinking about the small publishers and product manufacturers who used to advertise via Dungeon and Dragon magazines. Now they've lost a hard-copy, print venue for their advertising. I don't know about you guys, but I don't click on online ads for s***. Don't trust 'em. I have a friend who was planning on advertising via Dungeon & Dragon and is now scrapping that idea.

 

[edbonny]

:-(

 

[Mercule]

Absolutely not; the core races in our new campaign world are the ones you're used to. If you pick up the PHB or just use the SRD... you'll be good to go, be it as a human, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, half-elf, or half-orc.

Is the plan to have each adventure path set in its own world or one, common world throughout? My preferrence would actually be the former, but I doubt that's the majority opinion.

I'm also assuming the paths will be generic enough that we'll be able to easily adapt them to our homebrews (or Greyhawk, FR, etc.). Is that correct?

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm thinking about the small publishers and product manufacturers who used to advertise via Dungeon and Dragon magazines. Now they've lost a hard-copy, print venue for their advertising. I don't know about you guys, but I don't click on online ads for s***. Don't trust 'em. I have a friend who was planning on advertising via Dungeon & Dragon and is now scrapping that idea.

I didn't even think of this. I'm sure it is merely a side benefit that WotC's competitors will no longer advertise with their licensed product, and not intentional. This could actually put some companies out of business. Where will these companies advertise?

 

[Cthulhudrew]

IMHO Paizo gave new life to Dragon and Dungeon and I can't help but feel WotC is jealous. I feel like WotC expected Dragon and Dungeon to perish after they spun them off to Paizo.

If that's what they really wanted to do, though, they'd never have let Paizo pick up the license in the first place, and just let the magazines end.