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I have a strong suspicion that Noble Knight is simply underestimating the weight of the book, and either sending them improperly, or paying more than they realize to ship them.
They do, They don't follow the rules for most of their shipping, including sending books with advertisements in Media Mail.
I too find that Paizo is a bit on the expencive side when it comes to shipping. (I live in Norway)
I also find that by subscribing and getting the free PDFs that balances out nicely. :)
If I were to buy just one product, I'd probably shop somewhere else though. (well, I say that, but it's probably not true. I'd rather my money went to paizo then Amazon taking a cut, for example.)
I too find that Paizo is a bit on the expencive side when it comes to shipping. (I live in Norway)
I also find that by subscribing and getting the free PDFs that balances out nicely. :)
My thoughts exactly. (I live in Germany)
If I were to buy just one product, I'd probably shop somewhere else though. (well, I say that, but it's probably not true. I'd rather my money went to paizo then Amazon taking a cut, for example.)
I buy the hardcover rulebooks via my FLGS or the local paizo distributor (Ulisses Spiele, in my case), as shipping them from the US is too expensive and not balancing with getting the pdfs.
Stefan
I too find that Paizo is a bit on the expencive side when it comes to shipping. (I live in Norway)
I also find that by subscribing and getting the free PDFs that balances out nicely. :)
My thoughts exactly. (I live in Germany)
If I were to buy just one product, I'd probably shop somewhere else though. (well, I say that, but it's probably not true. I'd rather my money went to paizo then Amazon taking a cut, for example.)I buy the hardcover rulebooks via my FLGS or the local paizo distributor (Ulisses Spiele, in my case), as shipping them from the US is too expensive and not balancing with getting the pdfs.
Stefan
Yep. That's also a reason why I unsubbed from the RPG line. AP's justify their expensive shipping with the inclusion of the PDF, but the larger and much more expensive-to-ship hardcovers don't.
Yep. That's also a reason why I unsubbed from the RPG line. AP's justify their expensive shipping with the inclusion of the PDF, but the larger and much more expensive-to-ship hardcovers don't.I too find that Paizo is a bit on the expencive side when it comes to shipping. (I live in Norway)
I also find that by subscribing and getting the free PDFs that balances out nicely. :)
My thoughts exactly. (I live in Germany)
If I were to buy just one product, I'd probably shop somewhere else though. (well, I say that, but it's probably not true. I'd rather my money went to paizo then Amazon taking a cut, for example.)I buy the hardcover rulebooks via my FLGS or the local paizo distributor (Ulisses Spiele, in my case), as shipping them from the US is too expensive and not balancing with getting the pdfs.
Stefan
Same here. I can't really justify the expense of the RPG products to myself in terms of shipping, especially when I can let a UK store like Orcs Nest or Infinity Games take the pain. I want to support Paizo though, both for their peerless service and amazing customer relationship attitude, hence the AP sub.
I buy the hardcover rulebooks via my FLGS or the local paizo distributor (Ulisses Spiele, in my case), as shipping them from the US is too expensive and not balancing with getting the pdfs.
Have you looked into amazon.de or .co.uk?
I don't know about books, but amazon.co.uk is great for computer/video games.
Bladeace: I also live in NZ and buy most of my stuff from thebookdepository.co.uk which has free shipping worldwide. Not actually sure how they turn a profit though.
I checked it out, it seems weird, seems I can order the Core, APG, bestiary 1/2 for 112,48 euro with free delivery...
I buy the hardcover rulebooks via my FLGS or the local paizo distributor (Ulisses Spiele, in my case), as shipping them from the US is too expensive and not balancing with getting the pdfs.
Have you looked into amazon.de or .co.uk?
I don't know about books, but amazon.co.uk is great for computer/video games.
I personally purchase my english computer games from Direct2Drive, so it's just a download. Saves shipping from the UK. :p
And while Amazon.de ships for free, they often have much higher prices than Amazon.co.uk and also have delivery times of four weeks for Paizo products. Amazon.co.uk in most cases will ship much faster.
I personally purchase my english computer games from Direct2Drive, so it's just a download. Saves shipping from the UK. :p
They don't have every game. And sometimes, it's problematic to get the right version from other shops where you can get digital games.
Plus, with the crappy connection I have here, It would probably take longer to download today's games than for them to be shipped...
Plus, with the crappy connection I have here, It would probably take longer to download today's games than for them to be shipped...
Yeah, that is a problem. For my good luck I live in Hamburg and we got good DSL service here. ^^
Plus, with the crappy connection I have here, It would probably take longer to download today's games than for them to be shipped...Yeah, that is a problem. For my good luck I live in Hamburg and we got good DSL service here. ^^
I was living somewhere else for two years until Jan, and I had cable there. Now that's sweet.
And, of course, just when I went to their site to get the number so I could call them about cancelling, I saw that they increased the speed in SB here. So instead of having 1/16th of what I had before, I have 1/25th of what I could have.
I'm curious, what delivery service will ship 4.2 lbs from the U.S. to New Zealand for $15?
I live in Australia and with Amazon it roughly works out to each order has a flat fee of $7 postage, plus $5 per item. So if I order a single book postage is about $12. If I purchase 10 books, postage is about $57.
Yeah- amazon has the advantage of having distribution centers on multiple continents. If the Australian center doesn't have what you want they will let you order it anyway for normal shipping price and then they will ship it to the Australian warehouse with their next bulk restock shipment. It may end up taking you much longer than you expected to get it, but it will arrive with less shipping cost.
Based on how long it takes books to arrive from Amazon (comic books, D&D books, science fiction and fantasy novels) they never have the items in stock at the local centre. I do realise advocating buying through Amazon causes Paizo to lose money, but I am spending close to $200 on Pathfinder next month and plan to spend an additional $217 in May so I don't feel particularly guilty about it. I feel buying their books (as long as I don't buy them from a guy down the street who got them off the back of a truck) to be supporting Paizo regardless from whom I purchase them.
Long live PDFs!
I love ebooks, largely because I'm having issues with storing books. I'm at 2 and a half full sized bookcases and my growing interest in Pathfinder is simply growing out of hand. I'm going to need to need to start storing books in my cupboard shelves again, with me eventually needing to buy a third bookcase sometime in the future.
So I was quite eager to switch to PDFs with my interest in Paizo. However the iPad simply isn't big enough to properly display the books, nor does it render the some of the fonts correctly. I'm also finding I'm getting much quicker to reference items in a physical book then I am in a PDF as I use the books more and more. That said I happily use the Spellbook app for the iPad, which is much faster then pouring through the physical books when looking for a particular spell (it also takes up less room at a game table).
Of course, if all you can point out is the "Pathfinder Fighter Thread," that isn't strictly about PF and more about why melee classes suck when compared to magic classes. That is an age-old debate that I can fit into any system out there.
Not 4th ed :D (I'm not meaning to start a flamewar. I like both systems. 4th ed builds upon my roleplaying experiences independent of Dungeons & Dragons, whereas Pathfinder offers a much more simulationist approach which has its advantages and disadvantages. Pathfinder's biggest advantage is it's quality adventure paths. So much so I'm considering converting some of them for my 4th ed group).
D&D 4.0 might be looking the best for me so far, but I'm still far from commited on that one. I love the idea of melee classes being more balanced with the casters. That's a big deal to me and from what I've heard so far it seems pathfinder RPG has a big problem in that regard like D&D 3.5 did?
As someone who has been playing roleplaying games since 2002 but was new to Dungeons and Dragons with 4th ed, here are my experiences. I hope they're not too off topic.
4th ed Pros:
* Rules are simple and easy to learn.
* Because the rules are largely divorced from the fluff, it's easy to set the rules aside and simply roleplay, and to then bring the rules back when a combat is iniated (this is how I'm accustomed to roleplaying. With combat rules simple from the perspective of a player which 4th ed's combat rules certainly are).
* Easy to learn how to DM (I felt after 5 months I was able to DM 4th ed).
* Easier to build adventures from scratch.
* Easy to reflavour mechanics for the purposes of the story.
* Easy to build characters that don't require much thought.
4th ed Cons:
* Building adventures from scratch, while easier, still takes a lot of time.
* Adventure Paths as written take a lot of work to make enjoyable.
* Limited number of Adventure Paths from Wizards of the Coast. In fact there's two (I've looked into 3PP adventure paths. They didn't particularly thrill me and felt like they were built for 3rd edition). They do release "Super Adventures" on a yearly basis. But these don't always include enough XP in order to level up purely on the material that's provided.
* Paragon tier combats take more and more time as you level up.
* 4th ed is dead and has been replaced by Essentials (this can cause a long and protracted argument. Essentials is built with the premise of being compatible with 4th ed. But the people in my 4th ed group agree with me in saying it's a new edition. This could just be like-minded people hanging around each other. I'd say it's about comparable to how compatible Pathfinder is with 3.5e)
Pathfinder Pros:
* Mechanics and fluff are deeply intertwined. This allows the mechanics to support the fluff (for example I have created a nobleman in Pathfinder and I have created a nobleman in 4th ed. With 4th ed the DM and I simply handwaved the effects of having an estate, having servants, having resources at my fingertips and said it was purely for roleplaying purposes only. In contrast with Pathfinder I created a nobleman and there were rules for having an estate, having servants and what resources I would have available to me. I was able to follow these rules AND have a level 1 nobleman with the appropriate amount of noble trappings).
* Fluff and lore are provided by Paizo in quite a bit of detail.
* It takes a simulationist approach that does simplify stuff over 3.5e.
* You can build characters that feel extremely different without needing to buy several different books (APG and Pathfinder Core Rulebook should be enough to get a number of unique and different characters from a mechanical standpoint).
* Paizo releases 2 adventure paths each year that are of good quality without much work on the DM's part (I won't comment on Paizo's 3.5e adventure paths as my exposure to them has been limited).
* Combat doesn't appear to take more time as you grow in level (the highest level character I've got is a level 10 and combat seems to take as long now as it did back at 4th level).
Pathfinder Cons:
* The rules can be quite complex.
* Classes can be quite complex to manage and learn how to play correctly (after 12 months I felt comfortable enough with the rules to play a Wizard, but even then I poured over the rules in the months before).
* It's easy to build boring characters utilising certain classes (I made a ranger but grew bored of him after a few levels. I would like to one day try to make an interesting fighter. But it will require a fair bit of work on my part).
* Due to the complexities of the rule system, DMing a Pathfinder game can be quite daunting (only after 14 months of playing Pathfinder do I feel I am able to DM it).