Pathfinder 1E Paizo no longer publishing Dungeon and Dragon

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

For what it's worth, which admitedly ain't much, here is my email to customer service and their response:

<snip>

Please contact them and let them know how you feel. Let them know you are upset and why. We've got to let them know that their customers are unhappy.

Did you use the 'you must register and log in' Customer Service webpage, or is there an email address somewhere?

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Oh, please. Speaking as a (former) RPG freelancer, suggesting that we as customers should reward a decision we don't like because someone else isn't going to get their 4 cents a word is just ridiculous. Getting work is nice and all, but a freelancer can't expect people to spend money just to prop them up. And they certainly shouldn't expect people to support *horrid* decisions by a company.

I'm not saying "reward", I'm saying "keep an open mind" and "consider who you're actually hurting." WoTC isn't a big faceless behemoth, its made up of lots of designers and people who we all know and, for the most part, respect. Guys like Andy Collins and Mike Mearls and dozens of others. Lets not lose track of that.

Speaking for myself, I will take a look at WoTC's Digital offerings and make a decision based on what they offer. I don't object categorically for paying for online content - I pay around $40 a year for a subscription to Baseball Prospectus' website. On the other hand, no matter how much I like Rob Neyer and Pater Gammons, I don't feel that $5 a month (or whatever it is now) is worth it for ESPN Insider. If its worth it, I'll buy it, if not I won't.

 

[DaveyJones]

Did you use the 'you must register and log in' Customer Service webpage, or is there an email address somewhere?

you have to register and log in.

provide a birthdate too.

 

[Askaval30]

So very, very sad to pay witness to an end of an era...

 

[Maggan]

Chuck got an email from me too.

edit: Dear WotC,
I am a long time gamer. I am very upset with your decision to revoke Paizo's license. I will miss Dungeon and Dragon Magazines.

Until such time as you renew the license I must lodge my formal protest. I realize this is funny to you. But as much as it is my own personal opinion, please feel free to consider me lost to you. I spent on average $200 per month on your products.

Feel free to tell me when you renew the license,
David Temporado
diaglo "OD&D(1974) is the only true game. All the other editions are just poor imitations of the real thing"

I thought you stopped buying stuff from WotC a long time ago? I seem to remember similar posts ...

/m

 

[The_Gneech]

From: John Robey (thegneech@gmail.com)
to: corporateinfo@wizards.com
date: Apr 20, 2007 10:47 AM
subject: Hurt by the Cancellation of Dragon / Dungeon Magazines

I will be sending a paper copy of this letter as well, but I wanted to make sure this was received quickly.

I want to let you know that I am stunned, angry, and hurt that you are planning to discontinue Dragon and Dungeon magazines -- and I feel that this is a very bad move both for Wizards of the Coast, and for the gaming community at large.

D&D is the flagship of tabletop RPGs, and always has been -- and its support magazines are vital to the gaming community. Even in the pre-3e days when I wouldn't play D&D, I would still regularly buy the magazines. Being on magazine racks and in bookstores, Dragon and Dungeon are the face of gaming as a whole that is seen by the general public -- who will not be going to the Wizards website, and most assuredly not be subscribing to the website content. By removing this from the public eye, you make gaming (which is already a niche market) even MORE obscure. How can this possibly grow the hobby -- and with it your business?

I suggest you peruse the WotC, Paizo, and ENWorld message boards if you have not already done so, to see just how personal a connection these magazines have for people. For many, myself included, Dragon magazine in particular was their introduction to D&D and to roleplaying games generally. Even before I bought my first gaming product, I was reading issues of Dragon that I managed to get from my older brother or my friends' older brothers.

A website is a passive communication channel -- it depends on people coming to you. Magazines are active -- they reach out. I won't begin to talk about the profit or lack thereof involved in the magazines, because I don't have the numbers. I have read that Erik Mona says the magazines were in the black, and that should be more than enough. Because the magazines are not a revenue stream, they are a marketing channel! People are PAYING YOU TO GIVE THEM YOUR ADVERTISEMENT, for crying out loud. By all rights, the magazines should be considered an expense, and yet they're making a profit. You would throw that away? I'm flabbergasted!

Even if I were inclined to pay for exclusive online content (which I emphatically am NOT), I would not take part in this vague "electronic initiative" that Dragon and Dungeon are being killed to make room for. My remaining subscription credit will instead go to Paizo's "Pathfinder" series, which is the closest thing I see to a true successor to Dragon and Dungeon. If and when Dragon and Dungeon return, you'll get my business again -- but not before.

On top of everything else, Dragon and Dungeon have a history that should be honored, not simply thrown away on the whim of an "electronic publishing" fad. I hope it doesn't fall on deaf ears when I say that owning the rights to "Dungeons and Dragons" is not merely "managing a brand" -- but that it makes you heirs to a legacy. Long-term, "hard core" gamers -- your best, highest-paying customers -- have a love for the game and its traditions, and to simply decide one day that those traditions are old hat is a slap in the face.

Please reverse this ill-advised course of action as soon as possible. I can easily believe that you did not realize just how negative a reaction this would get, nor how personally the gaming community might take it. But as I have said elsewhere, this feels like you've killed an old friend of mine.

Thank you for your time.

-John "The Gneech" Robey

 

[DaveMage]

I wonder if part of the reason for this is to eliminate a medium for people to learn about competing products, such as Reaper's upcoming non-randomized prepainted plastic miniatures, or other RPG products that compete with WotC.

I'll say this, though, as long as people at Paizo who create gaming products I love (Erik, James, etc.), I'll continue to support them through my purchases.

 

[DaveyJones]

I thought you stopped buying stuff from WotC a long time ago? I seem to remember similar posts ...

i gave up not in anger but in frustration before. i went cold turkey for almost 3 months.

and then i started buying again.

 

[Reynard]

I'll say this, though, as long as people at Paizo who create gaming products I love (Erik, James, etc.), I'll continue to support them through my purchases.

This isn't so much directed at DaveMage as it is generally directed at folks who have suggested they will not buy WotC products but will support the Paizo team:

If James Jacobs and Erik Mona (frex) team up on a WotC book, will you buy it? What if they team up for some online content? Will you subscribe?

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Some idiot at the BBC actually canceled Doctor Who once. Then when the idiot was gone, the show came back.

And it only took about twenty years for that to happen.

(I get your point, and I agree with it, but maybe not the best example to use. )