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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 6216635" data-attributes="member: 37579">WotC does suffer due to having several different brands, so there's a whole other layer of management added. And WotC is run by Hasbro suits who are not gamers, so the attitude inside the company is very different. Paizo has great communication with its fans and encourages staff to interact with the players via the message boards. These do make the company great for supporting the hobby. Gaming is a niche activity so having a strong relationship with your fans is advantageous. But Paizo has some other advantages. While Pathfinder lacks the name recognition of D&D it also lacks the negative stereotypes of the name, the continual baggage from the '80s that also keeps books out of many box store shelves. Pathfinder is reaching a pretty heavy level of rules bloat though. It's lasting longer than 3.5e before becoming an inescapable black hole of content - because the accessories are being driven by the Adventure Paths - but it's closing in on that mark. The GenCon 2014 product release seems pretty "bloaty". The one thing WotC has is settings. But this is a... mixed blessing. Multiple setting support really hurt TSR back in the day, so Paizo is deliberately focusing on a single setting and will likely never add a second.  But the growth of the company has limits. Gaming is a niche hobby so Paizo will only expand so far before growth slows. It's able to offset this a little by branching out into side products like the card game, and it might eventually have some luck with board games. (I'm very surprised we haven't see more Pathfinder specific board games.) But eventually gaming fans will be unable to continue paying money to support the company, having exhausted their disposable incomes. Even then I don't see Paizo becoming more like WotC due to the personalities of the management. Paizo is trying to make money, but they're trying to do so by giving us products we want. It has not become a pure profit buisness. If the owners and CEO of Paizo sell, I can see this happening. Once they bring in someone who is not personally invested in the company to run things that will change the tone from "act of love" to "business to make as much money as possible." Heck, the CEO once laid herself off and worked for free for a time (during the magazine days) because she didn't want to lay off employees while not being willing to give up her own job.</blockquote>

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