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I'm a huge fan of ALL THINGS PATHFINDER. Anyone that works for Paizo can check my "order history" and see my purchases.
However, I feel like I can't keep up with so much material. Fortunately, I can afford to buy whatever gaming books I want, but I'm finding it harder and harder to justify buying more and more books due to the fact that I cannot possibly read them all before the next shipment arrives.
My "backlog" of Pathfinder books gets bigger and bigger each month. Now I have the Pathfinder Tales novels coming at me at breakneck speed, and they too are starting to pile up. I've read 3 of the novels in the past two months, and browsed over countless sourcebooks just so I can say I opened them, but the pile gets bigger and bigger.
I'm sure there are fans out there who have either more time to read than I do, or read much much faster than I do, or both. But, I have to think that a good chunk of the fan base might be feeling overwhelmed like I do.
I would love to get multiple Flip-mats and Map-packs each month, miniatures can't get here fast enough. Various card decks are awesome to have, etc. They all help my games with little or no additional time investment necessary.
I hope that the pace these books come out can slow down, just a little bit. The most important thing is to keep the quality of the artwork and writing high. Spend more time editing and proofreading the books you put out. (I hate so see books so riddled with errors like "Inner Sea Pirates" and "Adventurer's Armory").
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I would also like to buy some extra free time. Does Paizo offer this subscription yet? If not, Gary should get on that.
I could use more flavor material, personally. Admittedly I don't read RPG sourcebooks cover to cover, so that might be a significant factor.
Expanding the rules is less important to me although, having said that, I really like character folios, npc codices and so forth. Books and supplements which use the rules already available are more desirable to me than rule books with yet more options.
I'm pretty sure paizo are close to their limit at the moment, but I for one would be disappointed if they eased back. (I still nurture a forlorn hope that the modules will go/return to monthly release).
I share your desire for more maps, cards and minis though.
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That are the woes of editions growing older, I fear.
And I know very well what you mean. At the tail end of 3.5 I completely lost track of prestige classes, feats and so on. Which is why I still buy the hardcover rule books, but I only allow things from after the APG on a case by case basis.
If I had my druthers, Paizo would stop publishing new rule hardcovers after Ultimate Equipment Guide ( outside of one book where they publish a Martial Artist and Swashbuckler base class ^^ ) and focus on setting books in the vein of the old region guides from the 3.5 Forgotten Realms. Those were great books and much better to hold in your hand than the flimsy softcovers we got now.
Of course that is a pipe dream. Hardcover rule books generally sell well.
As long as they don't stop putting out great rulebooks and fluffbooks, I will be happy. I do avoid even becoming interested in the novels and other things, simply because what little I have can barely support the stuff I get now.
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I've reached my limit. I've chosen not to subscribe to flip-mats or map packs, since I can pick those up on an individual basis. I can handle a couple miniatures sets each year. The pawns I've also decided against, in lieu of miniatures. If Paizo comes out with other stuff, I'll have to look at it with a critical eye.
-Skeld
Take your time don't be in such a hurry. There is plenty of time for Paizo to put out books, and there is more time in the world than you think to read them. Overindulgence in anything is not good, and balance is the key to keeping things interesting. You don't want to burn yourself out of the hobby, give the mind some rest, and recharge the gaming batteries.
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I'm a collector by nature and love to have all the possible information available to me. I also don't want to skip a few books and have them go out of print on me and have to pay an arm and a leg to get a hold of them at some point down the road.
I guess my point is that it seems to ME, that Paizo is publishing more Pathfinder source material each month than one person can realistically read in one month. I realize that I am not obligated to read it ALL, and I should probably pick and choose what I buy based on my rate of consumption. As a collector and completionist it's hard to pass stuff up.
That, and I'm not sure why Paizo is in such a mad rush to push so many products out the door as fast as possible. Market flooding should be a concern. Watering down the quality is also a worry.
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"s long as they don't stop putting out great rulebooks and fluffbooks, I will be happy. I do avoid even becoming interested in the novels and other things, simply because what little I have can barely support the stuff I get now."
I hear you. I was skeptical about the novels, but I loved the fiction in the AP books. I've now read 3 of the novels and loved them, just starting on a fourth one. Seems like I have 5 or so more in my stack that I haven't gotten to. Takes me about two weeks minimum to finish one in my spare time.
I fortunately don't have a mortgage or car payment or kids to feed, so I have a bit of disposable income. That said my monthly subscriptions average over $100, sometimes closer to $130.
I'm a collector by nature and love to have all the possible information available to me. I also don't want to skip a few books and have them go out of print on me and have to pay an arm and a leg to get a hold of them at some point down the road.
I guess my point is that it seems to ME, that Paizo is publishing more Pathfinder source material each month than one person can realistically read in one month. I realize that I am not obligated to read it ALL, and I should probably pick and choose what I buy based on my rate of consumption. As a collector and completionist it's hard to pass stuff up.
That, and I'm not sure why Paizo is in such a mad rush to push so many products out the door as fast as possible. Market flooding should be a concern. Watering down the quality is also a worry.
Fair enough. I still would not worry about it that much, and just go at the pace that best suits your personal schedule.
I'm a collector by nature and love to have all the possible information available to me. I also don't want to skip a few books and have them go out of print on me and have to pay an arm and a leg to get a hold of them at some point down the road.
I guess my point is that it seems to ME, that Paizo is publishing more Pathfinder source material each month than one person can realistically read in one month. I realize that I am not obligated to read it ALL, and I should probably pick and choose what I buy based on my rate of consumption. As a collector and completionist it's hard to pass stuff up.
I sympathise with this. Whenever I buy an RPG I somehow seem obliged to get every supplement for it - just in case.
.I think I'd also struggle to read every word, but that isnt how I read sourcebooks. I like the fact that I can still flick through the Guide to Korvosa and discover little tidbits I missed the first time.
That, and I'm not sure why Paizo is in such a mad rush to push so many products out the door as fast as possible. Market flooding should be a concern. Watering down the quality is also a worry.
I think that would be a concern, but I dont see it happening. In my view, the product Paizo are putting out now is even better than the product early in their book-publishing career. One of the really admirable things about the company (in my opinion) is their willingness to try new things and to change things which havent worked well in the past. I think that philosophy really shines through in the ongoing evolution and high quality of their books.
I'm about at my limit, like the OP. I wish the Players Companion line wasn't going monthly. As much as I like them, there's too much to keep up w/ when you have set subscriptions.
I'm sort of in the same boat, but it doesn't bother me too much. I put the pdf's and ebups (for the novels) on my phone and tablet and read on breaks at work. I've actually finished every novel but one before I actually received the physical copy, but I've always been a fast reader.
Core books and Source books tend to get put aside until needed. The ones that really interest me or are relevant to a game I'm running get read instantly, while the others go on the shelf or in the gaming bag until needed. I'm a collector at heart, so it doesn't really bother me for what typically amounts to $10-15 out of each paycheck. I typically spend more a week on beer, and that's gone once I use it once, but the books just keep on giving :)
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In the end though no one is forcing anyone to buy books. I see threads here and elsewhere like it's a crime for this company and other rpg companies to keep making books and a profit. It's what they as a rpg company are supposed to do. Unless your have a gun pointed to your head one does not have to purchase a new book. Tommorow I'm going to buy the Advanced Races guide, buff deck and giantes revisted. I woud love to get the Lost kingdoms book and Rise of the Runelords anniversary edition too except it's beyond my budget. I'm not going to blame Paizo because they are releasing new books. it's time fo consumers to stop find excuses on their poor spending habits and blame themselves.
Paizo needs to make a profit. To do requires releasing new product. If they do not they can't pay the bills or their employees. It's starting to get ridiculous in our hobby. The only fanbase that criticizes companies for doing what they are supposed to be doing. Releasing new product because imo their is a demand for more product from the majority of the fanabse. Our would your prefer that Paizo go under instead. I'm not saying don't give any feedback. I'm all saying complain for a proper reason. Not for Paizo and by extensions the devs fo doing their jobs correctly.
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In the end though no one is forcing anyone to buy books. I see threads here and elsewhere like it's a crime for this company and other rpg companies to keep making books and a profit. It's what they as a rpg company are supposed to do. Unless your have a gun pointed to your head one does not have to purchase a new book. Tommorow I'm going to buy the Advanced Races guide, buff deck and giantes revisted. I woud love to get the Lost kingdoms book and Rise of the Runelords anniversary edition too except it's beyond my budget. I'm not going to blame Paizo because they are releasing new books. it's time fo consumers to stop find excuses on their poor spending habits and blame themselves.
Paizo needs to make a profit. To do requires releasing new product. If they do not they can't pay the bills or their employees. It's starting to get ridiculous in our hobby. The only fanbase that criticizes companies for doing what they are supposed to be doing. Releasing new product because imo their is a demand for more product from the majority of the fanabse. Our would your prefer that Paizo go under instead. I'm not saying don't give any feedback. I'm all saying complain for a proper reason. Not for Paizo and by extensions the devs fo doing their jobs correctly.
Re-read my posts. I'm not blaming or complaining. Just stating that the source material is coming out at an accelerated pace. A pace that to me and apparently some of the above posters is a little too fast. Just trying to have a friendly discussion and state some opinions.
Your heavy handed post is a bit over the top. Reel it in a little.
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The demand is there for new material imo. I get that some fans are not comfortable with the amount of material. Yet if they don't publish a certain amount they will not make a profit. Or meet what I think is a certain level of support the majority of the fanbase wants. If you think Paizo is releasing an excessive amount o material you should have seen 3.5. A sourcebook or two a month. I apologize if I was heavy handed. Yet sometimes some posters accuse Paizo of forcing them to buy books. Or that because some are like myself an impulse shopper who can;t resist a new book put the blmae on Paizo because they bought it.
When it's all said and done I would be suprised if Paizo releasing too much is going to be considered a ba thing by many imo.
Chief Technical Officer
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Rest assured that we do think about market saturation quite a bit, but as you've already seen in this thread, "too much" for one person may be "not enough" for another. We strive for a happy balance, though.
We think about *employee* saturation even more, and that pretty much ensures that you won't be seeing a lot more products than you see now—at least, not from Paizo.
This year and next, though, one of our key strategies is to really get the word about Pathfinder out to a lot of people who aren't already familiar with it, and the primary route for that is going to be with licensed products like Pathfinder Battles minis, Pathfinder Comics, and the Pathfinder Online MMO, and licensed merchandise like the Goblin plush.
I'd also note that the number of products that Paizo produces really hasn't changed that much over the last couple of years. The annual number of products in the RPG, AP, Campaign Setting, Module, PFS Scenario lines, and the Gamemastery Map, Card, and accessory lines has been pretty consistent (scheduling issues aside). And while we're doing more Pathfinder Tales, we're not doing Planet Stories anymore. The only net increases we've made lately are in taking the Companions to monthly and adding the token line.
Just chiming in that I have no problem with the current pace of publishing :) My wallet will be screaming bloody murder in August, but I think I've got that figured out.
In any event, I am really, truly hoping that there's one more subscription coming down the pipe: the Mythic Adventures Subscription, complete with annual Part 7 of 6 (which brings an Adventure Path one step further), one or two adventures per year, and occasional sourcebooks!!
:-)
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Please try to get a good company to publish your Pathfinder comics. Dark Horse comes to mind, they are doing good stuff with the Star Wars comics ( although cancelling Legacy was a travesty. A travesty! ).
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Chief Technical Officer
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Please try to get a good company to publish your Pathfinder comics. Dark Horse comes to mind, they are doing good stuff with the Star Wars comics ( although cancelling Legacy was a travesty. A travesty! ).
We're working with Dynamite Comics. They've been great so far!
Add me to the people who think a companion a month is a bit to much.
But, to highlight Vic's point, I love the idea of a companion a month. The companions are the one product I consistently read cover to cover, and the quality has been getting better and better. Add to that the fact that, even if I don't use it, someone in my gaming group invariably does, which means we get more mileage out of those than any line other than the core.
Heck, having the shipping delay on the novels mean that I've gotten a novel a month lately has been awesome. I'd actually like to see that go monthly, but I don't think it would be possible. I'll just have to subscribe to the comics as well, I guess. Oh, darn :P
Just chiming in that I have no problem with the current pace of publishing :) My wallet will be screaming bloody murder in August, but I think I've got that figured out.
In any event, I am really, truly hoping that there's one more subscription coming down the pipe: the Mythic Adventures Subscription, complete with annual Part 7 of 6 (which brings an Adventure Path one step further), one or two adventures per year, and occasional sourcebooks!!
:-)
I'm with gbone on both accounts!
I'd definitely prefer a subscription for epic/mythic rules so that future support doesn't impact too much on the output of lower level material.
Fingers crossed there's enough demand to justify it.
Never ever too much Pathfinder for me! Yes, they could stand tighter editing, but they make up for it with such good materials =) I, too, have a back log of things that I haven't read. I just can't afford everything, so I get the source books that appeal to me and the adventure paths that sound fun to run. D.M.T, perhaps you shouldn't try to get everything as it comes out, if it's giving you fits and overwhelming you. Remember, it's all for fun ;)
BTW, if anyone has too much money and can't find enough Pathfinder goodies to spend it on, I'll be glad to take it off your hands ;P
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have reached limits on rules (by this i mean new classes, feats etc)....stopped those at APG
still buying (+ using bestiarys) and APs somewhat, and maps
not buying PF minis
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I do get to read everything that comes in my subscription but I'm quite a fast reader. Also, the Pathfinder Tales are the kind of whizzy, pulp writing that I can shoot though in a day or two (compared to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel, which is taking an absolute age...)
At the moment things are okay but it does feel like quite a lot, I'll probably subscribe to the comics as well... don't really want any more a month after that.
For me, it is quite a lot, too. I skipped reading entire APs when I did not have the time to read them. At the moment, I can keep up. I did stop buying new rules after the APG, as I don´t play the game at the moment and HC books are a PITA s&h-wise. With the rulebooks, I would not be able to keep up on reading, I guess.
Anyway, for the HC books, I´d rather wait for the german translations, for ease of reading and for supporting my FLGS and the german publisher. Until the translations are available, I´ll use the PRD if need be.
So, paizo, keep up as it is at the moment, with some small extras now and then (comics? I´m interested), and everything is fine to me.
In the Immortal words of Freddie Mercury
"I want it all, I want it all, I want it all,
And I want it NOW!!!"The collector in me is going flat out knucking futz.
Yeah, I´d love to go that way, but my wife is not happy with *even more* books, and shelf space is limited...
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My problem is the direction. Paizo used to be almost entirely DM material. The last three years it has shifted towards the players a bit too much. Modules going bimonthly and companion going monthly is my biggest pet peeve with that. A lot of the new DM stuff is either campaign specific (64 pagers) or just articles in the back of AP issues which can be tough for referencing)
My problem is the direction. Paizo used to be almost entirely DM material. The last three years it has shifted towards the players a bit too much. Modules going bimonthly and companion going monthly is my biggest pet peeve with that. A lot of the new DM stuff is either campaign specific (64 pagers) or just articles in the back of AP issues which can be tough for referencing)
Easy : more money in players than in "just DMs" ?
I could stand some relaxation of production speed if both the "innovative idea" count and the "has someone thought this new rule through all the way" meter go up. I can well live without another campaign-specific 64 pages treatise like "Isles of the Shackles" and "Pirates of the Inner Seas" for some edited, well layouted (looking here at ... say AP-55 here, which was far easier to manage as a printout + rebolted than the book itself).
more is not always, in fact even rarely "better".
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Yeah, I´d love to go that way, but my wife is not happy with *even more* books, and shelf space is limited...In the Immortal words of Freddie Mercury
"I want it all, I want it all, I want it all,
And I want it NOW!!!"The collector in me is going flat out knucking futz.
My wife has always rationalized it this way: I'm not spending money at a casino, at the race track, or at some place where committed persons probably shouldn't frequent. So when I tell her I'm gaming, she knows where to find me; and when I buy more books, it's pretty obvious. YMMV.
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My wife has always rationalized it this way: I'm not spending money at a casino, at the race track, or at some place where committed persons probably shouldn't frequent. So when I tell her I'm gaming, she knows where to find me; and when I buy more books, it's pretty obvious. YMMV.Yeah, I´d love to go that way, but my wife is not happy with *even more* books, and shelf space is limited...In the Immortal words of Freddie Mercury
"I want it all, I want it all, I want it all,
And I want it NOW!!!"The collector in me is going flat out knucking futz.
This is remarkably similar to my wife's feelings on it. Plus, she's a player in the group so she profits from the books as well!
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My problem is the direction. Paizo used to be almost entirely DM material. The last three years it has shifted towards the players a bit too much. Modules going bimonthly and companion going monthly is my biggest pet peeve with that. A lot of the new DM stuff is either campaign specific (64 pagers) or just articles in the back of AP issues which can be tough for referencing)
Agreed entirely.
Make the with GM material, Pizzow!
GMs buy the most books anyway.
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My problem is the direction. Paizo used to be almost entirely DM material. The last three years it has shifted towards the players a bit too much. Modules going bimonthly and companion going monthly is my biggest pet peeve with that. A lot of the new DM stuff is either campaign specific (64 pagers) or just articles in the back of AP issues which can be tough for referencing)Agreed entirely.
Make the with GM material, Pizzow!
GMs buy the most books anyway.
Per person? Probably. In total? I doubt it.
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Your responses are untrue because I do not wish them to be.
My wife has always rationalized it this way: I'm not spending money at a casino, at the race track, or at some place where committed persons probably shouldn't frequent. So when I tell her I'm gaming, she knows where to find me; and when I buy more books, it's pretty obvious. YMMV.Yeah, I´d love to go that way, but my wife is not happy with *even more* books, and shelf space is limited...In the Immortal words of Freddie Mercury
"I want it all, I want it all, I want it all,
And I want it NOW!!!"The collector in me is going flat out knucking futz.
+1 to this.
My wife lets me go around the country, stay in hotels for several nights just to meet friends and play games.
GMs absolutely purchase more books than players do. And books that appeal to both players and GMs sell a *lot* more copies than books that appeal *only* to GMs.
Yeah, it's a sad truth. Without GMs, of course, there are no players, so GM-only material is one of those things with a market benefit that's really hard to quantify.
Then again, that's true, likely, of any niche material. Not everyone wants to play wacko races (Advanced Race Guide), far-eastern style adventures (Dragon Empires Gazetteer and Dragon Empires Primer), planets and sorcery (Distant Worlds) or many other such things, but without the variety, it's very likely that Paizo's market as a whole would suffer.
I'm sure there will be a huge hue and cry when several other popular subjects are addressed, if ever: psionics, Numerian super-science and above-20 adventuring all come to mind.
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Listen all you Paizites.
Come gather round.
Bring all your gamin' dice.
And roll them on the ground!!
Just give me.
That map of a mine.
Core rules and AP's
Just give me a sign!
Ain't much I'm askin'
You heard me say
I play Pathfinder.
Move out of my way!!!!
"I want it all, I want it all, I want it all,
And I want it NOW!!!"
Wah hahahahahahaha
How is that for "Paizocon Theme Song"