Adam LongWalker's page

Zardnaar wrote:

Good stuff.

The +5 bonus for trained skills and the +5 bonus for skill focus were both too high. But your right, SWSE was the best RPG put out by WotC and I bought all the books.

-Skeld

You are right about 5ED. I have commented in the past about doing 3 party work. Up to 50 Grand is for projects. But seeing how 5ED took off as well as the stagnation of the Pathfinder Rule set put a halt on that aspect. That amount is going to sponsor various artist to continue their works.

Pathfinder needs to be updated if it is going to be a viable competitor again WotC. Otherwise it will be like AMD vs Intel comparison from a different market.

I like Paizo. I really do. You do converse with your customer base and I appreciate that. I am also taking the benefit of the doubt that you are watching for and preparing for foreseeable problems down the road.

But from a business perspective, until I see something really tangible about updating your rule system. I'm not going to make any "professional" ventures into that market.

I would rather see more modules and materials supporting the BB. Though a nice idea you waited too long for implementation of this idea.

Adam LongWalker wrote:

First time poster here. I think that there is a market as well. I like the beginner box set has a "good bang for a buck" in what you get for under $40.00.

I'll just have to mull this over and decide if I want to go this route in making an investment into doing 3rd party modules. Getting quality artwork will be the most expensive aspect in creating content. Licensing could be another if I want more than just a 3rd party license.

Adam LongWalker.

I remember reading (wish I remembered where) that Paizo just doesn't want "Beginner Box" mentioned in the product name or description. Other than that, it's OGL. Hence the reason you get 0One game's BASIC series.

That being said, I would support a Kickstarter project for 3pp material. If it doesn't have any artwork, I'd be happy if the content is good. I'd say the artwork would be a stretch goal.

I understand what Paizo is possibility thinking.

However...

I've been involved within the Entertainment Industry (in one form or another) for a very long time. I keep statical data on certain parts of the market share I wish to invest.

The biggest asset to the company (IMHO) is currently their community(+ RPG Society) which Paizo has done a good job in nurturing and promoting.

The biggest threat to the company is 5th ED D&D and even though 5th ED was 2nd place in this years summer sales, Paizo should not be complacent.

Because 5ED is very streamlined and rather easy to use.

The other threat that sometimes businesses fail to react quickly to our very fast paced society. Changes of what people want happen far quicker than they did in the 70's. RPG games as a whole do not have the same growth pattern as (an example) Board Games.

You can not win the hearts of the people who are into one RPG or another. You have recruit new customers and try to retain many of the old customers to promote growth. Let the customers decide which choice they want to make. Do not force the customer to make that choice...

Because they will...

I do not think that Paizo would throw opportunity away just because. I believe if promoted the right way, product can be created for the Beginner Box set AS well as Core set of Rules.

Financing a high quality product is not a problem for me. I can do this is because I made wise investments (such as real estate) over the years and live within my means.

I want to create content for people to enjoy but...

What is stopping me is several things. Some of it is more research needs to be done within the RPG sector to see if it is expanding or contracting of late. Part of me hates throwing money away on a market that is possibly shrinking. A slow contraction within this sector is still a possibility to create content though.

Another is the entire business aspect of licensing the product itself.

This can be a royal pain to deal with at times. Dealt with talking heads before and the legalese. Not sure if I want to deal with that style of business for what I would consider my fun time in creating content.

Which is why I am leery with WotC style of business ethics and hoping Paizo is not quite the same.

Then finally what kind of product this will be. It must be unique enough and strong enough to stand on its own, otherwise it will drown in the sea of 3rd party product that is out there now. Again more research is needed.

It takes a great deal of time and effort (besides financing the product)to succeed in these economic times. I've been there and I've done it and succeeded within my skill set.

And sometimes being an old man can be a blessing for if your are wise enough you will retain the wisdom of your mentors and peers from your past to the present...

So you won't make the same mistake twice.

As stated before... I'm still mulling this over. There are pluses but there are minuses as well that must be taken into account before I start throwing time and resources into creating content.

Until then I'll continue to Rping with the Beginners Box set.

Adam LongWalker