Sticking w/ 3.5: Any Publishers?

[Aus_Snow]

I am rather looking forward to the FantasyCraft supplement for Spycraft, which in Theory (a lovely country, I'd like to visit it some day) is due out in May.

Hehe. Poor ol' Crafty. They do cop a lot of that. I know why, but still. . .

Also looking forward to seeing how that one pans out. May, eh? That would be ballsy, if it's to be believed.

 

[Mark]

Lest anyone get the idea that there's no market for 3.5 material, I'm here to tell you that it simply isn't true.

Been pretty steady for CMG, too, though I have never been one of the heavy hitters, nor do I put out the volume that others do.

 

[haakon1]

I've heard this from a lot of quarters, but in the interest of providing a full picture, I've got to report that Paizo's sales have not seen significant drops since the 4.0 announcement.

I've bought a LOT of Paizo stuff recently. The new modules are pretty awesome. I'm VERY happy with Conquest of the Bloodsworn Vale. Crown of the Kobold King is interesting too, as is the Pathfinder series.

 

[cougent]

Most publishers (myself included) have seen our 3.5 sales drop off to almost non-existant since the 4th Edition announcement. An uptick in sales would go a long way towards showing us that there is still a market out there interested in 3.5.

Lest anyone get the idea that there's no market for 3.5 material, I'm here to tell you that it simply isn't true.

Doing my best to stretch the plastic as far as possible. War of the Burning Sky, The Book of Experimental Might, Pathfinder subscription... all I can say is that I don't have any plans to buy anything WotC or 4Eish for 2008. Whatever my pitiful contribution can be will be all to 3rd parties and 3Eish.

Later this year when it comes time to evaluate "Totally new games" and decide for 2009, then I will look at 4E, and C&C, and M&M, and HM and tons of others as well. I may switch or I may continue to buy whatever I can for 3E into 2009, 2010, etc. Can't say for sure yet.

 

[GMSkarka]

I've got to report that Paizo's sales have not seen significant drops since the 4.0 announcement.

Lest anyone get the idea that there's no market for 3.5 material, I'm here to tell you that it simply isn't true.

I have no doubt that Paizo occupies a special category, given the quasi-official status that DRAGON and DUNGEON afforded, but even with that.....that's very interesting, Erik.

Very interesting indeed....

 

[Filcher]

If you have a weblink for any 3.5 material due to be released June or later, please feel free to post it here. I'd love to get a checklist of products to peruse/pick up. Sifting through all the 4E D&D stuff looking for 3.5 releases will be a chore very soon.

 

[Tetsubo]

If you have a weblink for any 3.5 material due to be released June or later, please feel free to post it here. I'd love to get a checklist of products to peruse/pick up. Sifting through all the 4E D&D stuff looking for 3.5 releases will be a chore very soon.

I'm sure that anyone selling 3.5 material will put that right in the product announcement. It wold be the main selling point of the product after all. Very shortly (much to my regret) the term D&D is going to mean 4E.

To borrow a naming style from White Wolf, 4E: The Unwanted.

 

[drothgery]

Given the GSL terms as orignally announced, it seems likely that most publishers who put out any D&D-compatible material in 2008 will be putting out 3.5-compatible material. There are only a few publishers that could even consider ponying up $5K for a six month head start, and some of them won't.

I'd expect an avalanche of 4e-compatible material on January 1, 2009, though.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I'm almost positive that smaller PDF publishers who stick to 3.5 after the release of 4E will do well for themselves. My prediction is that a sizable minority of the people playing 3.5 will wish to continue playing 3.5, and in a market that completely lacks official WotC support for these materials, people will flock to the publishers who continue to do 3.5 well. It may take some time for a new leader to emerge from the pack as the big players migrate to 4E, but I'm almost positive that it will happen, and whichever publisher(s) does the best job will suddenly find themselves a much stronger company than before.

I could be totally off base, it certainly wouldn't be the first time, but I really think that consumer skepticism will come into play in a major way this time around. A lot of people simply don't want to have to go through a major rules change every four years (on average).

 

[Tetsubo]

I'm almost positive that smaller PDF publishers who stick to 3.5 after the release of 4E will do well for themselves. My prediction is that a sizable minority of the people playing 3.5 will wish to continue playing 3.5, and in a market that completely lacks official WotC support for these materials, people will flock to the publishers who continue to do 3.5 well. It may take some time for a new leader to emerge from the pack as the big players migrate to 4E, but I'm almost positive that it will happen, and whichever publisher(s) does the best job will suddenly find themselves a much stronger company than before.

I could be totally off base, it certainly wouldn't be the first time, but I really think that consumer skepticism will come into play in a major way this time around. A lot of people simply don't want to have to go through a major rules change every four years (on average).

My only problem with this is that I don't like PDFs. I prefer dead tree versions of gaming books. I have had too many problems with trying to get a PDF printed and bound to want to do that on my own. When I want a gaming book, I want to hold it in my hands.