Pathfinder 1E Paizo Publishing Hires Sean K Reynolds

[Treebore]

Congrats to SKR and Paizo! May this lead to even better Paizo products! Which is hard for me to even imagine at this point. You guys are doing the best stuff I have ever seen in 23 years, consistently, product after product. I think only Green Ronin comes close. Even so you guys have a significant lead.

Its hard to stay at the top, so I hope SKR helps you continue to do so.


(Again, all in my opinion. If I could afford it I would subscribe to everything Paizo produces.)

 

[Greg K]

Even while I may not agree with all of his concerns or solutions, the fundamental design philosophy (fewer absolutes) is a good one.

And since, I argued for fewer absolutes in my pre-3e questionaire, I was glad to see Sean address it. To bad, it was too late to influence 3e design.

 

[Korgoth]

I agree - this ended any chance (albeit a small one) that I'd buy Paizo stuff. Ah well, I'm only one amongst many. SKR is a nice guy, I'm sure, but his philosophies on life outside of gaming are just so...um, wrong.

So... what's the deal here? I don't mean "start a political discussion that will anger the mods"; rather, I mean "give a bullet point summation of what he thinks that is controversial".

Like so:
Hates people who wear three piece suits
Voted for Kodos
Accepts Star Trek 5 as part of the continuity
Started a petition to have all Aesclepius worshippers summarily executed
Prefers New Coke to Coke Classic

etc. Don't go into why you disagree, etc., just let me know what people find objectionable, if you would be so kind.

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

Another grand meh in the direction of Pathfinder for me, I'm afraid. But then, the Alphas were pretty profoundly uninteresting to me as well, so maybe he'll do a good job of playing to this particular audience even though I definitely won't be a part of it.

 

[KingCrab]

I'm sorry! I do sincerely find this funny since my opinion for the last 3 years is that Paizo does better material than WOTC. The last year they have been clearly superior.

Again, all in my opinion, so I got a good laugh out of it. Thanks.


(Sincerely here, I really found our difference in opinion very funny, and no, I haven't been drinking or taking any drugs, other than Motrin.)

I'm not sure we have a difference in opinion. I agree with you 100% that Paizo HAS been putting out the best products. I'm playing in a Savage Tide game now that I love, and every Paizo module I've seen or played in has been great. I think you misinterpreted my post.

I think that 4e has picked up a ton of momentum and many people seem to really really like it. I think that is going to really hurt Paizo's sales, since they are sticking to 3.5 and their upcoming 3.5 variant. This is why I mentioned that it's going to be hard to compete with 4e. A lot of people are switching over to the new system, and they aren't.

 

[Jack99]

Grats to Mona and Paizo on landing yet another great designer. Now, please find the time and money to produce some kick-ass 4e products so that I can spend the money you owe me!

 

[Ant]

Well, yet more great news from the Paizo front. Good work, guys 'n gals! Very much looking forward to seeing what SKR comes up with.

 

[Psion]

Come on. Be fair.

The Fire Giant on the Sun is obviously mentioned by way of (goofy) example, and not because SKR lies awake at night worrying about that particular fringe case.

How about Knock vs locks?

That point doesn't bug me so much. But then, that's not one I was criticizing.

I don't disagree with that because it invalidates several character concepts, not because of the broader philosophy that "absolutes are bad." Absolutes aren't always bad. SOMETIMES they are bad.

Even while I may not agree with all of his concerns or solutions,

And did I not list thing's he's designed that I liked? Are we really so different here?

 

[Jhulae]

Definitely Murdock. Sean's the good kind of crazy.

Hehe.. I agree. I really like SKR, and I'm glad for Paizo.

I'd like to see how Pathfinder turns out. I've been generally impressed with Paizo's products (with the Harrow deck, however, being a HUGE disappointment).

 

[BryonD]

I think that 4e has picked up a ton of momentum and many people seem to really really like it.

Without getting into a quibble over "ton of momentum", ok.

I think that is going to really hurt Paizo's sales, since they are sticking to 3.5 and their upcoming 3.5 variant. This is why I mentioned that it's going to be hard to compete with 4e. A lot of people are switching over to the new system, and they aren't.

But a lot of people also DON'T like 4e. To a large extent they are LESS in competition now with WotC than they were before. In the past WotC and Paizo were both going after the 3E dollars. Now that money is in three camps. Paizo won't be really be going after the 4E dollars, so no competition there. And the sticking with 3E dollars are no longer going to be going WotC's way, so no competition there.* So it is just down to competition for the gaming budgets of people who play both games. I'd call that subset a pretty clearly much smaller pool of competitive dollars.

Even if we concede that the switching to 4E group is the largest, being the biggest name in the PF (FKA 3e) market is BETTER than being one of the biggest second tier 3E publishers competing against WotC a year ago. And Paizo has stated on their boards that there are seeing real results to support this. Their sales are going up steadily.

Right now this has been exactly the opposite of "hurting" Paizo's sales. And honestly, I believe that a year from now "hurting" will be even further from the truth. Paizo's pie is growing.


* - Clearly both sides will do what they can to get people to switch editions, but that is a different form of competition, and IMO won't make a big difference.