Where is the Paizo marketing team?


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Sczarni

Over the last couple of months I've made the switch from WotC to Paizo. I'm here to tell you, that I am ever so happy with the products that you produce. A+ to all of you.

I have to ask though, and be quite a bit critical of the online presence of Paizo.

The storefront is functional, but could use a massive facelift. The messageboards are somewhat easy to navigate around and find interesting conversations, but there are products out there that make it so much better.

Where is the Paizo youTube channel?
Why is the blog so hard to read and find?
The news articles are listed, but they are hard on the eyes to read.
Where was the "real-time" coverage during Paizo-Con and GenCon?
Where is an official Pathfinder Podcast?
Why is enWorld chock full of D&D news, but lite on Paizo stuff?

You guys are awesome at putting things together for print and listening to what the people want, but I would LOVE to see some resources put to building an online presence and these are just some of the things I would like to see addressed. I love Pathfinder and want to see it stay around for a very long time, and these things just add to the already outstanding products.

Grand Lodge

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Paizo doesn't really have a Marketing Department per se. Paizo products are so good they sell themselves.

Seriously though, I guess you could say that everyone who works for Paizo (and a good number of fans) all work to market Paizo products.

Other than going to GenCon, if you want to meet an upper level Paizo employee who serves to market Paizo, I suggest attending larger conventions where PFS is played. Mike Brock, the PFS campaign coordinator, can usually be found at these types of conventions.

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Jalcee wrote:
Why is the blog so hard to read and find?

The Paizo blog's hard to find? Huh. It's right there on the main page in the grey horizontal menu.

Quote:
Where is an official Pathfinder Podcast?

I think it's a matter of not being able to squeeze a podcast into an already insanely tight schedule. That said, check out Know Direction and Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast. You can find multiple interviews with Paizo staffers and freelancers there.

The thing to keep in mind is that, in spite of their success, Paizo is still a relatively small company and the recent additions to the team have mostly been made to address some more practical issues, as I understand it, such as developers and project managers.

Sovereign Court

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Paizo's attempts at straight-up marketing never seem that great.

Fortunately the quality of their products and the enthusiasm of their fans seems to make up for that.

Liberty's Edge

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Jalcee wrote:

Over the last couple of months I've made the switch from WotC to Paizo. I'm here to tell you, that I am ever so happy with the products that you produce. A+ to all of you.

I have to ask though, and be quite a bit critical of the online presence of Paizo.

The storefront is functional, but could use a massive facelift. The messageboards are somewhat easy to navigate around and find interesting conversations, but there are products out there that make it so much better.

Where is the Paizo youTube channel?
Why is the blog so hard to read and find?
The news articles are listed, but they are hard on the eyes to read.
Where was the "real-time" coverage during Paizo-Con and GenCon?
Where is an official Pathfinder Podcast?
Why is enWorld chock full of D&D news, but lite on Paizo stuff?

You guys are awesome at putting things together for print and listening to what the people want, but I would LOVE to see some resources put to building an online presence and these are just some of the things I would like to see addressed. I love Pathfinder and want to see it stay around for a very long time, and these things just add to the already outstanding products.

First - WELCOME!

Second, I think you'll find the response will be that the Paizo folks are stretched pretty thin MAKING all the excellent stuff we all love ... this leaves precious little time and manpower to actually market the products, beyond what they do currently.

That said, I kind of agree that many of the things you outline / suggest are excellent ideas. Hopefully the Paizo folks will figure out a way to implement at least some of them in the near future!

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Jalcee wrote:

Over the last couple of months I've made the switch from WotC to Paizo. I'm here to tell you, that I am ever so happy with the products that you produce. A+ to all of you.

I have to ask though, and be quite a bit critical of the online presence of Paizo.

The storefront is functional, but could use a massive facelift. The messageboards are somewhat easy to navigate around and find interesting conversations, but there are products out there that make it so much better.

Where is the Paizo youTube channel?
Why is the blog so hard to read and find?
The news articles are listed, but they are hard on the eyes to read.
Where was the "real-time" coverage during Paizo-Con and GenCon?
Where is an official Pathfinder Podcast?
Why is enWorld chock full of D&D news, but lite on Paizo stuff?

You guys are awesome at putting things together for print and listening to what the people want, but I would LOVE to see some resources put to building an online presence and these are just some of the things I would like to see addressed. I love Pathfinder and want to see it stay around for a very long time, and these things just add to the already outstanding products.

- youTube channel - it is a nice idea, I konw there is a youtube video with the unboxing of the beginners box. It is very well done and was filmed in one of the rooms at paizo. Future videos for products like the various pawns and the minatures would be a very nice idea.

- it's pretty easy to find, once you know where to search, and enworld sometimes posts links

- hard to read - I have to dissagree with you here, I have no Problem reading them, of course I always found the articles on the Wotc site rather hard to read (and the forums became god awfull after 4th edition came along - of course that's just my personal oppinion)

-coverage of Paizocon and Gencon Seminars, that would be great, but you need someone to record it - I believe there is a podcast about the Mystic stuff somewhere

-podcast - takes up a lot of time and there are already a lot of great podcasts out there

- D&D5/Next is the next big thing, and wizards have a subscription based service, so some of those news lead you to a paywall. And check out the review of one of their latest products: http://www.enworld.org/forum/en-world-official-reviews/327525-pathfinder-re view-rise-runelords-anniversary-edition.html

The paizo people are very active on the boards, answering questions, asking for suggestions.... for me, this is worth much more than podcasts and videos.^^

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

EnWorld is, was, and likely will be in bed with WotC for foreseeable future. While they do have a Pathfinder subforum and run Paizo news, it's more of lip service while giving the big fat slurpy kiss to the Former Illustrious Industry Leader.

Back during the Edition Wars, anybody remotely pro-Paizo was getting banned there like crazy (I got banned twice, a fact that I am truly proud of), while 4e supporters could do as they please. As a result, pretty much 90% of relevant Pathfinder discussion happens here.

(Tangent: funny how it turned out, WotC is phasing out the system for which the current EnWorld adventure path is being written. Wonder how that makes them feel, tee hee.)

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm just a developer, but I'll take a stab at some of these questions...

”Jalcee” wrote:
Where is the Paizo youTube channel?

Here’s a Paizo YouTube channel Sure, there could be more videos, but a lot of podcasters and other folks are good about covering us. For example, Gamerati filmed these two videos and put them up: PaizoCon and GenCon (There are more out there too.)

”Jalcee” wrote:

Why is the blog so hard to read and find?

The news articles are listed, but they are hard on the eyes to read.

I can’t comment about it being hard to read since I’ve never had the issue (and quite like black text on a white background), but both our store blog and our regular blog are both accessible from the main page.

”Jalcee” wrote:
Where was the "real-time" coverage during Paizo-Con and GenCon?

We posted dozens of live blog posts and pictures on our blog during both GenCon and PaizoCon. You can go to the blog and click the tags link, then go through the list of tags and find all those posts from the multiple years we’ve done the live blogging during conventions thing. For example, GenCon Blog posts and PaizoCon Blog posts

”Jalcee” wrote:
Where is an official Pathfinder Podcast?

We don’t have an official in-house podcast, but plenty of podcasters give us a lot of attention, specifically Chronicles Pathfinder Podcast and Know Direction.

”Jalcee” wrote:
Why is enWorld chock full of D&D news, but lite on Paizo stuff?

I’m not sure, because that’s all on their end. However, they did make a Pathfinder section on their message boards a while back, and they frequently link to our blogs and press releases.

In addition, we pride ourselves in how much we interact with our readers and fans, and it’s not uncommon to see us answering questions and getting involved with threads all over these message boards. From editors, developers, customer service, all the way up to Lisa (our CEO).

We're also good at listening to our fans, so if you have any cool suggestions, let us know what you think.


Adam Daigle wrote:
(and quite like black text on a white background)

I on the other hand would kill for a way to have that reversed....


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Orthos wrote:
Adam Daigle wrote:
(and quite like black text on a white background)
I on the other hand would kill for a way to have that reversed....

Try HERE. Written by Laithoron. You can also get the link off his user profile page.

-- david
Papa.DRB

Now, not a killing, but my wife's youngest brother could use a good beat down, if you are in the mood, and anywhere near Minnesota.

Lantern Lodge

Additionally, Erik Mona and I both frequently update the Paizo Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/paizo

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

Oh yeah... also our Twitter timeline.
http://twitter.com/paizo

Thanks for the reminder, Sara!

Dark Archive

you have twitter?!

Sczarni

Cool! Great suggestions and conversation! Thanks for pointing out some of these resources.

One suggestion that I have is that the good people at Paizo (or a savvy volunteer/intern)to setup a blog using something like WordPress. Then you can use all the power of WordPress to promote your Facebook page, YouTube channel, new products, and fan based Podcasts, which by the way, the ones you listed are pretty dang good!

When I talk about something that's hard to read, I guess I'm talking about how it's laid out and having easy flow and design. The current layout isn't following the same flow that I'm used to seeing on a majority of blogs out there. (And not just gaming blogs).

I love the transparency of the company, the interaction and communication with the fans and I'm really excited for Paizo. I want you all to be around for a really long time and providing suggestions to help that along!


While blog is easy to find it could be easier to navigate/search.

Jalcee wrote:
I love the transparency of the company, the interaction and communication with the fans and I'm really excited for Paizo. I want you all to be around for a really long time and providing suggestions to help that along!

Have you already seen the plans for Lisa's new project that will grant her well deserved Evil Overlord Of Earth Dimension status? It's build using monies drained from brainwashed followers... I mean dedicated Paizo fans!

Contributor

Likewise, everyone here wants fans of your positive demeanor to be around for a really long time, providing suggestions and helping the community grow, so welcome to the boards -you're off to a great start!

Sczarni

Drejk wrote:

While blog is easy to find it could be easier to navigate/search.

Jalcee wrote:
I love the transparency of the company, the interaction and communication with the fans and I'm really excited for Paizo. I want you all to be around for a really long time and providing suggestions to help that along!
Have you already seen the plans for Lisa's new project that will grant her well deserved Evil Overlord Of Earth Dimension status? It's build using monies drained from brainwashed followers... I mean dedicated Paizo fans!

I haven't! What is this project you speak of?

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

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Jalcee wrote:
One suggestion that I have is that the good people at Paizo (or a savvy volunteer/intern)to setup a blog using something like WordPress. Then you can use all the power of WordPress to promote your Facebook page, YouTube channel, new products, and fan based Podcasts, which by the way, the ones you listed are pretty dang good!

I'm personally not a fan of sending out information through a dozen different channels, especially when those channels each have their own content specializations that make it so you can't easily send the *same* information through them. i don't want to make people feel like they need to sign up for Facebook *and* Twitter *and* religiously check YouTube to make sure they don't miss something. (And I'm seemingly alone in this, but I think podcasts are one of the least efficient means of communicating information in the modern age—in my experience, I could summarize all the actual useful info I get out of most half-hour podcasts in a couple paragraphs I can read in a tenth of the time.)

That's why most of what we do happens in the Paizo blog.


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I never watch podcasts. They fail to capture my attention - what is wrong with writting down information if they are worth knowing?


Isn't the current standard for peeps to use Tumblr to consolidate all of their social media pushes? Or am I behind the times again.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

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Why would I want to send our audience to Tumblr when I can send them to paizo.com? Here, they can interact with us and the rest of the community on our messageboards, browse our product listings, and buy stuff.


Any excuse for less people on Tumblr is a good excuse for me.


Vic Wertz wrote:
Jalcee wrote:
One suggestion that I have is that the good people at Paizo (or a savvy volunteer/intern)to setup a blog using something like WordPress. Then you can use all the power of WordPress to promote your Facebook page, YouTube channel, new products, and fan based Podcasts, which by the way, the ones you listed are pretty dang good!

I'm personally not a fan of sending out information through a dozen different channels, especially when those channels each have their own content specializations that make it so you can't easily send the *same* information through them. i don't want to make people feel like they need to sign up for Facebook *and* Twitter *and* religiously check YouTube to make sure they don't miss something. (And I'm seemingly alone in this, but I think podcasts are one of the least efficient means of communicating information in the modern age—in my experience, I could summarize all the actual useful info I get out of most half-hour podcasts in a couple paragraphs I can read in a tenth of the time.)

That's why most of what we do happens in the Paizo blog.

Thank you, Vic.

I have concerns about the privacy practices of various social media sites, so I refuse to use them. When I see messages from companies that amount to "we've stopped updating our web site because you can follow us on this social media site", they stop reaching me and I start losing interest in them. The one thing that does not do is encourage me.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Vic Wertz wrote:
Jalcee wrote:
One suggestion that I have is that the good people at Paizo (or a savvy volunteer/intern)to setup a blog using something like WordPress. Then you can use all the power of WordPress to promote your Facebook page, YouTube channel, new products, and fan based Podcasts, which by the way, the ones you listed are pretty dang good!

I'm personally not a fan of sending out information through a dozen different channels, especially when those channels each have their own content specializations that make it so you can't easily send the *same* information through them. i don't want to make people feel like they need to sign up for Facebook *and* Twitter *and* religiously check YouTube to make sure they don't miss something. (And I'm seemingly alone in this, but I think podcasts are one of the least efficient means of communicating information in the modern age—in my experience, I could summarize all the actual useful info I get out of most half-hour podcasts in a couple paragraphs I can read in a tenth of the time.)

That's why most of what we do happens in the Paizo blog.

I agree, I don't want to have to go to facebook, twitter, etc to get all the pathfinder and paizo information. With that said there are things I would like to see. The blog being more user friendly as far as searching for old blog posts. As it stands now unless I remember the name or one of the tags I just have to wade threw all the blog posts till I find it. Perhaps a couple of news pages set up the way the current news page is done. One could be for things like podcasts, video's or other things about Pathfinder and Paizo that fans might find interesting. I know this is more helping other people with their stuff but it would be nice.

Another that I would find useful is a friendly link to list all new 3pp books say in the last 60 days and all it lists is those. Like make it into a news page as well listing them all. Things like that, so you can just click the news page and like the blog is now, you can choose which news tab you want to look at so it is all right there in one spot and handy.


Vic Wertz wrote:

I'm personally not a fan of sending out information through a dozen different channels, especially when those channels each have their own content specializations that make it so you can't easily send the *same* information through them. i don't want to make people feel like they need to sign up for Facebook *and* Twitter *and* religiously check YouTube to make sure they don't miss something. (And I'm seemingly alone in this, but I think podcasts are one of the least efficient means of communicating information in the modern age—in my experience, I could summarize all the actual useful info I get out of most half-hour podcasts in a couple paragraphs I can read in a tenth of the time.)

That's why most of what we do happens in the Paizo blog.

I was obviously born in the wrong century, but this suits me down to the ground. When companies tell me to like them on facebook, direct me to their twitterings or anything else I just lose interest. It's very unlikely I'll read anything paizo/pathfinder related which isnt on your site (except for the rare times I follow a link from here).


Personally, I am offended by the "like" button on facebook. What idiot thought that "like" is good substitute to "observe" or "follow" or "moderately interested"?! I feel deeply ingrained resistance to clicking "like" just to follow something that I don't truly like (all the language I know are crippled in that matter BTW, creating false duality of like vs don't like instead of tri-state like - neither like nor don't like - don't like).


The Paizo Facebook page is regularly updated and active. I've usually got something from Paizo when I check my news feed, so that base is covered.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Dark_Mistress wrote:
Another that I would find useful is a friendly link to list all new 3pp books say in the last 60 days and all it lists is those.

Do you know about the New Pathfinder RPG Products RSS feed ?

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Yes I do, it would just be easier to access on the news page. There is a lot of good links and stuff on the site but some of them are scattered around and stuff.


Vic Wertz wrote:
Dark_Mistress wrote:
Another that I would find useful is a friendly link to list all new 3pp books say in the last 60 days and all it lists is those.
Do you know about the New Pathfinder RPG Products RSS feed ?

Is there an option that doesn't require me installing some kind of handler? Chrome doesn't process that link.

Liberty's Edge

http://www.google.com/reader


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Not a big fan of social media myself.... I do like Google + but that is because nobody is on it.

I suppose the ideal function of social media would be to funnel traffic to your site and or online store facility.

As for fan podcasts, the quality is excellent and I think the only place Paizo falls down is not promoting it on the Paizo blog when Paizo staff are doing interviews.

Podcasts for those of us who are oceans away from the US let us feel as though we are at cons.

Paizo's customer service and openness gets an A+

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