Pathfinder 1E Paizo/Pathfinder Subscriptions Service

[Qualidar]

Pathfinder succeeding by D&D's methods was kind of the point of this thread.

I guess that's true, now that you mention it!

But my point is that it's never going to happen, and one man's "WotC Scraps" is another's "Thriving and Successful Business".

 

[Erik Mona]

Belen,

Thanks for the feedback!

I think it really depends on the store. Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Sentry Box, in Calgary Alberta, and they stocked almost the entire line of Pathfinder products. I know they're selling pretty well for them, because two copies of the hardcover campaign setting and a deck of Harrow cards went out the door while I was visiting the store.

Other stores probably do have a difficult time competing with the subscriptions, or Amazon, or don't have an active crowd of "sticking with 3.5" folks in their area. I have heard anecdotal reports from stores around America, Canada, and the UK, and unsurprisingly, the results seem to be that if there are "Pathfinder customers" in town, the books sell. If not, they might not, or the store owner might not stock them.

We recently launched the Pathfinder Society organized play campaign to help promote Pathfinder and build a stronger community of Pathfinder players. Stores can get the necessary materials to run these adventures completely free, and we will soon launch a retail locator at Paizo.com that will point to stores running Pathfinder events.

We also have several marketing things in the hopper (posters, point of purchase displays, etc.). We made the Pathfinder Beta print edition available exclusively from brick-and-mortar retail shops, cutting out the mass market completely and pushing additional traffic to retail stores. Our distributor sold out our entire print run about two months earlier than we had anticipated, so there is definitely support for the Pathfinder system in the local game stores.

Lastly, we are about to announce our product for Free RPG Day next year. This will be the very first in-print official Pathfinder RPG system product, and I have reason to believe there will be a great deal of demand for it. While we will be selling a few remaining copies on our website, the product itself will not be available through distribution, and the only way to get it will be to attend a Free RPG Day event at a local gaming store.

We continue to explore ways to help retail stores sell Pathfinder products, and I look forward to even more exciting and robust ideas and programs along this line in the future.

--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC

 

[darjr]

My LFGS has the Beta, and other paizo and pathfinder products. Living campaigns are pretty big around here, and I think there are folks chomping at the bit for Paizo's.

I think the living campaign will go a long way for Paizo.

And finally, thank you for supporting free RPG Day. Last Free RPG Day is still paying dividends in game time and new friends.

 

[Agamon]

I think it really depends on the store. Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Sentry Box, in Calgary Alberta, and they stocked almost the entire line of Pathfinder products. I know they're selling pretty well for them, because two copies of the hardcover campaign setting and a deck of Harrow cards went out the door while I was visiting the store.

Pretty cool store, hey Erik? They stock everything, it seems.

I bought my copy of the Harcover CS at my FLGS as I no longer have a subscription. I tried to resist, as it would be the 3rd campaign book I've bought in the last 4 months, but it's pretty awesome, I had to have it.

 

[meomwt]

Lastly, we are about to announce our product for Free RPG Day next year. This will be the very first in-print official Pathfinder RPG system product, and I have reason to believe there will be a great deal of demand for it. While we will be selling a few remaining copies on our website, the product itself will not be available through distribution, and the only way to get it will be to attend a Free RPG Day event at a local gaming store.

--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC

Hi Erik,

Just a quick request: please, please, please make sure that stuff for Free RPG Day can be obtained in FLGS's in the UK. I'd hate to have to pay shipping charges to a scalper in the USA via ebay or whatever.

Thanks.

PS Am keeping a watching eye on your Pathfinder RPG project and liking what I'm seeing. Good work, fella!

 

[Belen]

Belen,

Thanks for the feedback!

--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Publishing, LLC

Thanks for posting Erik. I was hoping you would. One idea I wanted to throw out there was store subscriptions. A store could offer Paizo subscriptions for willing customers. I think you'd need to give stores an additional break on price so that they could pass a subscription discount on to customers, but I think that would encourage stores like my FLGS to advocate for Paizo and Pathfinder.

While I think that the Pathfinder Society is great, it depends on local fans or store owners willing to spend their valuable time pushing Pathfinder.

Of course, Paizo could try starting a delegate program, but that can be an iffy proposition too.

Personally, I want to see Pathfinder succeed in a big way, so I am glad that I caught your attention.

 

[Morrus]

I know they're selling pretty well for them, because two copies of the hardcover campaign setting and a deck of Harrow cards went out the door while I was visiting the store.

Did you tap them on the shoulder and play the Geek God card?