For those interested, pictures of many of the minis in the new Battles set, Mwangi Expanse, can be found here: Still no official release date; Q1 2022 is all it says. I've had the three premiums (two Huge and one Gargantuan) and a case pre-ordered from GameNerdz for over a month now. Hopefully for those waiting for the subscription here you will get some additional info soon!
Your lengthy response on Twitter back in September during all the chaos was, for me, a turning point. You helped answer some questions without throwing anyone under the bus. You also made me realize that if I was going to say, "yes, Paizo employees and designers should make more", then I was going to need to put my money where my mouth is and be willing to pay a bit more. You were a major driving force behind my keeping my subscriptions. Beyond that, your name is attached to some of my favorite Paizo material. I won't insult you by pretending I know everything you are directly or partially responsible for, but I assume it's a large chunk of what I enjoy. Regardless, here's hoping your next endeavor goes well! Clearly I'll have to look into Roll For Combat, now. I've really only encountered them from an advertisement perspective, as they are one of the sponsors for the Gallant Goblin YouTube channel that does reviews of miniatures and a few other things. Anywho, thanks for all the work you've done for Paizo, the level of professionalism you brought to the job, and anything I've managed to forget.
Is this available in PDF format? Is it the Wheel of Time stuff in this issue you are interested in? I know the show just recently came out, so perhaps it's piqued the interest of some RPG folks.
402 pages to be exact, so about 100 pages more than Mwangi Expanse which was $49.99. 100 pages for $5 is pretty good. No doubt. I've read up on it throughout the day and it is my understanding that a very large portion of the book is lore, which makes it even better. I feel like Paizo does a great job handling their lore, and I really enjoy reading through these types of books.
Sorry if I missed the announcement elsewhere, but did the price increase on the "Absolam, City of Lost Omens book?" It looks like the MSRP price is $54.99. I see the Guns & Gear book had a $49.99 MSRP, the same as the other bigger books. I'm guessing the price increased (though I don't see a similar increase for "Lost Omens: Monsters of Myth."I'm not privy to pricing discussions or the like, BUT Absalom is a little less than twice the size of Guns & Gears, page count-wise (looking at both PDFs), if that helps! Thank you for this information, Raychael. Can you please direct me to the person that can answer such a question or at least pass it along? Perhaps I gave the impression I was complaining about the price increase. I wasn't. Prices are going up on everything everywhere, so it stands to reason they would on these books, too. I'm simply seeking if the increase in price is directly related to the start of future increases, or whether it's a one-off price bump for this book (presumably for a size increase). I have no problem with a price increase, regardless of the reason. But the reason itself MIGHT have an impact how I obtain my Pathfinder 2e books going forward. I'll explain.. When Absalom was first announced way back when, it was available for pre-order through multiple retailers with an MSRP showing $49.99. It remains at that MSRP level still for many retailers. If the MSRP price has increased because the size of the book increased, great, I have zero issue with that, and I can continue on with my Paizo subscriptions as normal. If the reason for the increase is that it's the beginning of a price increase for Paizo books going forward, then I might have to reconsider my subscriptions and pick them up at another retailer. That's because the price for all future Pathfinder 2e books currently available for pre-order on many sites still tops off with a $49.99 MSRP. So at the moment, if the increase in books via Paizo is permanent, it looks like the discrepancy between what I pay here and the amount I could save thanks to certain retailer discounts elsewhere increases even more. At the moment, Paizo prices always put me behind about $5 per book vs certain retailers, despite my 15% discount here. That doesn't even account for shipping & handling, which is often free elsewhere with bulk purchases. To this date I've been okay with that. And given the recent company promises to do better by its staff and creators, I'm hopeful to continue, so that more folks see more of that money. But if all future Paizo books see a $5 increase on this site, but other retailers are still working off a lower MSRP when giving discounts, that only widens the gap of what I'm paying per book by keeping my subscriptions here. I'll at least have to consider whether it makes more sense for me to start buying my Paizo books elsewhere.
Oh my gosh there's a Kobold to go along with the Goblin, how cute! Do these Kobolds come in any other colors, or just the Red for now?
This is an insta-buy for me. It's going to look great in the classroom. These are cheap and cute enough that I might pick up a few to add to gift baskets for fundraisers throughout next school year.
This thing absolutely slays! It's a great piece that has already been declared a favorite in the classroom. I even received a complaint from a parent (on their behalf, not their child's), so I KNOW this thing deserves all the awards. Even if you don't usually collect minis, but like displaying cool stuff, I'd encourage you to pick this one up. You can find it on other sites for a bit cheaper than here, so I'd suggest browsing around a bit for your best price.
Well...it appears the October Subscriptions thread has been locked for some reason. It could just be me, because sometimes the pages play tricks on me in my browser. However, signing in from my phone also shows the thread as locked. At first I thought this was an accident. But after re-reading Tonya's post (the final one in that thread), it sort of feels like an "I'm officially locking this thread" moment. Which is a strange choice for a thread with a conversation going on about...communication. Double strange, considering that we're currently in the middle of the actual month and orders are still pending/converting/shipping. And I'm sorry for posting this in your thread, Terevalis. I'm just not entirely sure where else to post it at this point. I don't even know what I'm trying to get at? Maybe I'm trying to say that I'm tired of trying to figure this company out. It's pretty exhausting, and locking down topical threads seems like a counterproductive way of handling customer feedback. I'll admit that not all folks are particularly good at handling their frustration when posting, and that lashing out can sometimes happen. But outside the direct mocking of other posters, most of the conversation from previous days seems pretty healthy in that thread. It's interesting to hear what others have to say on the subjects brought up, even if I don't always agree. Monthly shipping threads generally die a pretty quick death anyways, once all orders have been shipped out and most folks receive their packages. So it's not like the October thread would have lived much longer in some sort of never-ending debate. Again, I'm just a bit confused as to why the thread was closed. There's certainly a ring of punitive behavior behind it, at least in my ear.
You summed up my thoughts perfectly, so I'll just re-post yours here and add a +1. I'd be happy with any of these, and probably in the order listed. I will say that I'd really like to see a dedicated Shifter class, one that leans on the Wild Shape Druid order for inspiration. I feel like that particular Druid Order leaves a lot to be desired, and the depths of Wild Shaping and Shifting could best be explored in a dedicated class.
I more meant stuff that's getting its street date pushed back because the physical books are too expensive to ship with the insane shipping container prices right now.I don't get why with all the huge shipping problems they don't just release the PDFs on time. Just to clarify, you're asking why releases can't be put out on time digitally, when it's clearly the shipping issues holding things up? For example, Secrets of Magic, tentatively scheduled to come out August 25th, could see its release date pushed back another month due to shipping concerns. Your point is that Paizo could simply release it digitally on August 25th, as planned, and then just sell/send the books when they show up? I think there are several reasons. As far as I know, you can only grab the PDF versions, legally speaking, through this website. Paizo would be undercutting the sales of their books by doing this, possibly even jeopardizing business relationships with their brick & mortar retailers. If the PDF is put out early in advance, it's possible that customers would flock to it first, leaving little money for the local shops once the physical books started to show up. It would be tough on subscribers, also, because as things currently stand we wouldn't receive our PDFs at all before the books ship out. That means a person that just buys the PDF could have their copy weeks or even a month or more before we receive ours. Of course, they could ship out the PDFs to subscribers at the same time they go live to the general public instead of waiting for the books to show up. But at that point you're just gong to get a lot of folks canceling their subscription because if they've already been sent a free PDF, why bother with the books? One possibility is to come up with a pre-paid plan for the books, and thus the PDF. For example, my order spawns for my book, and in the process I can download the PDF on the determined release day. But instead of charging my account and sending out the book a few days later, the charge acts as a fully paid, non-refundable prepayment. In exchange for this for this full payment, I get the PDF on the date, even if the book shows up weeks or months late. This is similar to how I pay for a statue at a place like Tweeterhead, which charges me an NRD (non-refundable deposit) equal to X% of the final statue price. The NRD helps provide the company with some guaranteed money should I at some point decide to cancel my order. In this case, however, the entire cost of my order (book/s, maps, etc.) could be a NRD, ensuring Paizo that they get their money. The above example is something I personally would be okay with, but not everyone is conformable committing money that cannot be refunded on a product they won't necessarily have in hand for weeks or months, even if they get the PDF on time. Just as important, this idea still doesn't help the relationship with retailers, as they'd be behind the curve when it comes to the ability to offer something to their book-only customers in a timely fashion. But I don't think it's a bad question, especially when viewing the process with an eye toward the extended future. Somebody above mentioned shipping issues the world over could carry on through February 2023. That's an entire year from original estimates, and a full 18 months from now. I know you'll get some snappy answers that talk about patience; everyone is so full of preaching, pushing, and peacocking patience. And with good reason; right now things seem plenty manageable for Paizo, their products, and us customers. But folks are already showing signs of getting punchy. And it's probably a bit easier for some folks to preach and practice patience when budgeting for monthly releases may not be a big issue. Others, living paycheck-to-paycheck, with a very tight budget, might feel the strain of month-to-month start/stop delays on products much easier, or quicker. The system is fine now, but is it sustainable for another potential 18-month grind? I don't have the answers, but I definitely think it's always good to have alternative solutions, if not on hand, at least discussed, especially when it comes to businesses and their survivability.
It appears the shipping charge issue on my order has been fixed, so thanks Paizo. You proved once again that you're the best customer service in the business!
It's always cool to see that post by Vic. But...it's now ten years old, and the world has changed. Everything gets more digital by the day. And I'd argue that process was accelerated this past year with most folks the world over stuck in quarantine. Would a PDF-subscription service where the PDFs are priced at higher prices than the physical subscription service be such a bad thing? I would think the majority of people who take advantage of this would be International customers, and they'd do this to eliminate the now insane shipping costs and for the early access. But those ridiculous shipping costs are what is currently keeping potential international subscribers at bay, right? So sure, some International folks would just wait for release day and buy the PDF as normal, and for a cheaper price. But certainly the chance for early access would draw entice enough folks to subscribe. Meanwhile, I would think most US customers would stay away from such a deal, as it would be foolish to pay significantly more for a PDF, and early access, when you could get both a physical copy and the PDF for much cheaper. If you're international clientele grows enough, then it becomes viable to look into some sort of international base of distribution. That would significantly lower the cost of shipping to most places, which would increase the number of physical book subscriptions. Alternatively, perhaps the international customer base does not grow enough this way to implement a new distribution center for physical book subscriptions. But you're still making decent profit on those higher cost PDF subscriptions that you'd have. Maybe I'm under thinking things here. Regardless, I can't help but think Paizo is shooting themselves in the foot by failing to find a way to make subscriptions affordable for their potential overseas customers. As others have stated, smaller companies have been able to find international solutions for their printed products.
Received my authorization and all looks great. It's been awhile and I'm very excited!
+1 to Yoshua's request for Huge-sized miniatures more frequently than every other set. We went something like seven or eight years between Huge-sized releases in the Battles line. That was six Bestiaries of mostly missed opportunities. Pathfinder has some amazing-looking Huge creatures, and many that are exclusive to the system. It would be wonderful to finally get them at the table in pre-plastic form. I do appreciate that T/S-M-L only sets can get us more Large creatures, and faster. But I'd much rather close the gap on Huge-sized creatures at the table, even if it means using some of the slightly outdated (in appearance) old Pathfinder 1e Larges for longer as a result of that process. Another example is to see if WizKids is willing to try some individual sets that include Huge creatures, similar to the recent Wild Shape releases. I'm assuming some of the old Huge sets (like the Reign of Winter two-pack) weren't as popular as WizKids had hoped back in the day, or we'd have seen more of them. But that was still in the early stages of Pathfinder minis, and 5e hadn't even hit the scene yet. Since then, there has been a resurgence in ttrpgs, and it would be nice to see Pathfinder take advantage. Speaking of things we'd like to see in the future.. Many dinosaurs are still underrepresented in PPM, both in the Pathfinder line and in other popular lines. I'd love to see Paizo knock them all out, once and for all. The bigger sizes, like Gargantuan, aren't as dire, as toy companies like Schleich and Safari Ltd. do a pretty good job covering that ground. But for as many folks that say, "just use the cheap toys" for the smaller dinosaurs, finding them to proper scale can be aggravating. I heard that Quest For The Frozen Flame is likely to have dinosaurs and/or megafauna in it? Here's hoping any Battles release around that time and help knock out some of these creatures (and any new ones appearing in those adventures).
While we wait....yet again....here are some links to the Pathfinder Premium Figures - Wave 2. These six figures are tentatively scheduled for a June release. They're also available for pre-order on many of the usual online hobby shops. $6.47 per mini is the cheapest I've seen them, although I believe those still with their Battles Subscriptions might be able to get them for $5.59 or $5.60 each. It appears they listened to our feedback for more gender representation and skin tone variances. I personally really appreciate this and have ordered accordingly. Link To Gallant Goblin Review of Pathfinder Premium Wave 2 Miniatures Link To Kor's Minis Gallery Page Of Pathfinder Premium Wave 2 Miniatures
I'm also hoping for some definitive answers on the next wave of premium figures. We know the six that have been announced, but without renders we have no way of knowing which versions (from the Deep Cuts line) they are. They've been on pre-sale from online shops for well over a month now, so it sure would be great to finally get some official visuals.
This would have been a great week to drop the preview of Wave 2 Pathfinder Premium miniatures, due out in June or July. They're already available for pre-order on many sites, but without visual confirmation I'm holding out.
For anyone interested in knowing what the next Wave of Pathfinder Battles Premium Miniatures might look like, here is a link to another website with a post from the wonderful deadsmurf. He put in the time and effort to help narrow down the options of what Wave 2 will look like based on information announced back in February. There's no guarantee any of these are correct, as it's possible WizKids went with different sculpts based on unseen art. But if they follow the precedent of using unpainted miniatures from the Deep Cuts line, it's most likely that one of the two images for each miniature is what we can expect to see.
Oh, and this has nothing to do with Darklands or bases or anything else.. The second wave of the Pathfinder Battles Premium Miniatures--which currently appears slated for a July release--is showing up on retailer websites for pre-order. I haven't seen an official announcement on these boards from Paizo about this forthcoming wave, but given that folks can now order it, I thought you might want to know. Perhaps you can get a blog posted before the weekend or sometime early next week, so more folks know they can be pre-ordered. Also, just as important, while we know the names of what is being released, we haven't actually seen any visual representation, even the renders. Assuming this second wave is pulling from the Unpainted Deep Cuts line like the first wave did, we can narrow down each mini to two possible choices (based on the contents of each name we know). However, I think most folks would really like to officially know which version they'll be receiving before placing a pre-order. Here are the six miniatures from Wave 2:
I guess it means the only way to send this message is to not buy the next case (?)The free market in action! :-) Aaron, First, let me say I greatly appreciate your honesty. While our individual voices might not mean as much as we'd all like them to, it's nice to know somebody is at least listening and cares to respond. As for the metrics, sadly they'll always be skewed because we are all a captive customer, in a way. When my choice is between putting Pathfinder minis with clear bases down on my table for 2e play, or not putting any mini down, of course the data is going to show I favor the clear bases. I'd have purchased a Darklands Rising case with all black bases, but that wasn't even an option for me. WizKids will always follow their data (as expected) but it will always be skewed because there is no other choice, no other competition; It's an all or nothing game at this point. I'm not willing to NOT buy their products just to escape clear bases, because I'm not willing to not have Pathfinder miniature representation on my table. The only way that will ever change at this point is if Paizo options out their miniature license to other companies. But that's a discussion for another time, as it involves the future of miniature production (localized 3D printing) in general. The reason I'm actually responding is due to the two big issues with the Darklands Rising set. I've never seen anything like the breakage issue that plagued the release; and I still haven't heard anything official from Paizo on the matter. All over the internet, instead of folks raving about how awesome most of the sculpts and paint jobs are (because that's true), folks are talking about how upset they've been with the breakage. Also, a greater number of folks had allocation issues, where they weren't able to receive an entire set with the purchase of a case. While that's never been a guarantee, the percentages certainly seem to be higher this time. Now I understand most of that is on WizKids, because they're the ones making and packaging the product. But it's also the Paizo name that is printed on the cases. It would be nice if there was some sort of official recognition from the Paizo company of all the troubles. At this point, I'm not sure anyone needs a song and dance about what went wrong in the past (most of that is obvious, anyways). But what I'd personally like to see from Paizo is some sort of official recognition that there were some issues, that there has definitely been communication between Paizo and WIzKids about those issues, and that current and future Battles customers can expect the necessary steps have been taken so that the next set, July's Bestiary Unleashed, does not face the same fate. I'm not trying to sound like a jerk. But at the moment it's hard to trust purchasing a case of Paizo Pathfinder Battles until I know there has been some sort of attempt to remedy the issues. The recent release of Icons of the Realms: Boneyard was encouraging, as that's also a WizKids product similar in style to the Battles line, and that one appears to have had very little breakage. And, anecdotally speaking, it appears even the miniatures were better packaged this time around. Encouraging or not, that isn't a Paizo product, and the fact remains it was a product with the Paizo company name on it that had the big issues. Hopefully you can see where I'm coming from. And I hope you or another Paizo team member will be able to assure us, your customer base, that enough has been done to hopefully prevent another such issue this summer.
Now some final thoughts on this set, before I look to the future: 1. The decision to switch from black bases to clear bases was not a Paizo decision, but a WizKids decision. It was done to make the miniatures more "immersive" for all the folks using 3D Tiles like the WizKids Warlock tiles. And I guess maybe for those of us that use Flip-Tiles and battle maps of other kinds. I'm not a fan of this move. I hate how they look both as standalone pieces and on my Flip-Mats and Flip-Tiles. I'm also not a fan of making such a move when it likely doesn't help half of us. I don't typically get bent out of shape over changing tradition, but this is one I just didn't feel needed to be touched. There's nothing wrong with revealing your disappointment here, so that the Paizo folks can feel your pain. But I'm not sure there is much they can do. Instead, I implore any of you that feel compelled to talk about it to head over to Minisgallery .com and share your thoughts in the Clear Bases vs. Black Bases thread. And if you absolutely love them and hope they never go back, then come share the why of that, too. 2. As frustrating as this set was with all the missing minis and oddball numbers on Uncommons in a case, it's something that can easily be fixed for the next set. 3. I can't recommend a case of Darklands Rising. I can't even recommend picking up a brick. Getting 32 unbroken pieces in a brick is a great feeling, but we've had numerous folks pulling five or six broken pieces. With those types of odds, I just can't recommend a case. However... 4. It's also important not to let the beauty of most of these miniatures get lost in all the frustration. If there are minis in this set that you have your eye on but are too concerned about pulling too many broken minis in a blind buy, I very much encourage you to pick them up on the singles market. Hunt around for the best price, as they vary wildly from site to site. 5. I'll be leaving a piece-by-piece review of the set in the product review section sometime within the next day. For anyone interested on my thoughts on each piece, feel free to check that out. 6. There were some interesting choices here. For example, the Adamantine Golem, while a beautiful sculpt and a remarkable paint job, is a Rare creature, per the Bestiary. It even calls out that crafting one takes plenty of time and effort, and takes enough Adamantine that mining exhibitions to other planets is usually required. It also states this amount is often worth more than many nations' treasuries. I'm not sure I'd ever use more than one, whether playing within the world of Golarion or a homebrew campaign. I received four, and I feel it would have made more sense to use up a Rare slot for one of these big things. 7. From a production standpoint, the breakage issues are pretty much all on WizKids. Even the poorly designed minis, like the Leng Spider and Skaveling Bat, should have been caught at some stage of the production process. And cementing breakage problems by the continued use of their poor packaging materials is unacceptable. While this falls on WizKids from a practical matter, it doesn't let Paizo off the hook. Regardless of where the issues stem, it's still got Pathfinder Battles printed on the product. I don't create miniatures or any other product. But if I did, I certainly wouldn't want the name of my company associated with the mess of technical problems in this set. I've been reassured that there is an open line between the two companies; Let's hope they use it going forward.
I just realized I never posted my official results on this site. This is a copy & paste of my Darklands Rising case results post from a different website, originally posted a few weeks ago: I finally opened my case. My results weren't as bad as many others. The following is a breakdown with as much information as possible. Also, in each brick, Box 1 starts at the far left and moves right. Box 5 starts behind Box 1 at the far left and moves right. If there is no condition listed, then the mini arrived fine, with no irregularities. Brick 1:
Brick 2:
Brick 3:
Brick 4:
Some thoughts:
Missing Minis: I'm missing two miniatures from the set, both Uncommon mediums. I'm missing the Drow Priestess (#21) and the Drow Warrior (Rapier; #24a). More on this in a moment... Low-Count Uncommon Minis: I also received only one Drow Warrior (crossbow; #24b). Deep Gnome Rockwarden (#17) and Scarecrow (#23). Aside from extreme disappointment that the case was two sculpts shy of a full set, the low count of these cases is also disappointing. Pathfinder finally gives us Drow, and many folks are going to end up with so few. I consider Pathfinder king of monster/npc "war bands" within a set release. So it's a shame that it's the Drow (and Svirfneblin) that take a hit, here. Overall thoughts: Paizo and WizKids decided to try something new here, releasing so many unique sculpts--52, to be exact--and packaging two large miniatures together. They also supposedly chose this new allocation method so they could make massive Huge minis, like the Adamantine Golem. I can admire Paizo's willingness to try something new. Unfortunately, it has backfired tremendously. Maybe they believed the extra sculpts would simply take the place of the old Dungeon Dressing? I honestly don't know. As disappointed as I am, I'm giving both companies a free pass on this issue. There's something to be said for trying to be innovative and move the needle of normality. Had this turned out well, it could have changed sets going forward. However.. Paizo and WizKids can't make this same mistake again. I don't know what Paizo's next set count is, but they need to get together with WizKids and shave it back down to the 44- or 45-piece sets that we saw with Lost Omens and the last few Icons lines. There's no point in trying to reinvent the wheel when the spokes end up broken or missing. Paizo needs to make sure they go back to the One Large/Huge and 3 Smalls/Mediums style. Alternatively, if they insist on changing things up, they need to make it work. This will be my last Pathfinder Battles case if they can't get this fixed by the next Battles release. One issue I can't give a free pass on is the breakage on these sets. While yes, my case contents turned out much better in this regard, I know many folks weren't as lucky as me. Booster boxes should be fun; folks shouldn't feel a sense of fear and dread just opening them. Most frustrating with this issue is that complaints about these generic, open plastic protectors is not new; they've been plaguing multiple sets these last couple years. And now prices have increased. While some of that is reflected in the paint jobs, there's no excuse for using faulty packaging materials. WizKids needs to fix this. Strangely enough, the Adamantine Golem is very well packaged, even receiving an extra insert to keep it safe and secure. It really feels like they worried so much about this one miniature, and then said "to hell" with all the rest. A very strange move. Oh, And One More Thing...: I'm watching Columbo while writing this, so pardon the reference. But lets talk about poor miniature design. Despite how lucky I was with two of my three Leng Spiders, it's pretty clear they're going to break. They're just too heavy; even taking them out of the package and sitting them upright on the table had me concerned. It's a shame, because this miniature is otherwise amazing. The same thing goes for both the Drow Abomination and the Skaveling. In these two cases, it's the skimpy peg on the former, and the terrible flight stand on the latter. The Skaveling flight stand and Drow Abomination peg both start with a solid base and then thin out the closer to the miniature it goes. It's absolutely absurd, and it's clearly the reason for most of the breakages with these two miniatures. At one point WizKids was using very thick flight stands. They did look goofy, but I remember thinking they weren't likely to break. Why on earth did they stop using them?
Have you seen the new mail trucks? If they go fast enough maybe they go back in time and the package is delivered before it is shipped. Trust me, there's no flux capacitor in the world that would make this possible for a USPS truck.
Call me crazy, but this is still pretty early in 2E for that high of a level stand alone adventure (not that I care you had me at Gothic horror), but I can't help but think this was close to being green lit as an idea at some point in the 1E era. It just seems very developed as a premise. Forgive my naivety, but I'm not familiar with this concept. Is there an unspoken rule regarding high level adventures early in a system? As a long time DM, I usually run a short, homebrewed high level campaign upon early system release to test out how low-level options perform at high level, how high level options work, and how high level creatures work. Not only does it help me fast-track rules learning myself, but it helps prepare me for future sessions in my low-level campaigns. I'm just curious as to whether or not I've missed some unspoken rule on such things. Personally, I feel there should be at least one high-level standalone Adventure a year. While I'm lucky in that many of my campaigns do last, I know there are plenty of folks out there whom never seem to make it past mid-levels but would definitely like the opportunity.
I'm super pumped for this!!!!! The last time sweetness was so great, Walter Payton was running through defenses!
I'm really hoping that we get some clarification of what exactly is going on with the Early April (April 7th) street date, and what effect that will have on the monthly release process going forward. For example:
Question 2: Assuming this is correct, can you offer us insight to why? Was there a delay at printing? Are these part of the shipping/container delay currently affecting certain overseas goods? Is it an internal decision to help align future releases? This answer isn't as important--a delay is a delay--but it's always nice to know such things. Question 3: Is the order spawn date still set for Thursday, March 11th? Likewise, is the Begin Shipping Estimate still set for March 15th? Or should we anticipate these dates being pushed back to reflect a later street date? I can understand if it is pushed back, but I won't deny how great it sounds that many subscribers (DM's especially) could get as much as a three week early start on the Bestiary 3. Question 4: To the best of your knowledge, Paizo, do all the products listed above still appear to be on track for the same release date, whether that's the original March 31st street date or what looks like the new April 7th release date? In other words, do you know of any products that appear as if they won't make it in to the warehouse by your cutoff point for generation by the spawn period? I know that whatever answers you give on March 1st are still subject to change, especially with question 4. I assume it's all about which products show up to the warehouse and can be prepared for shipping on time. But it's always nice to know for those of us with pre-orders at other places whether we can expect our order to arrive sooner than later (as often we have other eagerly anticipated products attached to the order). But the first three questions I'm extremely eager to learn about. Even if the dates end up changing again, it still would be nice to have some clarification about the situation and what we can expect. Thanks so much for your time!
My order shipped out on February 16th, but no tracking info has shown up yet, and the package hasn't arrived. The same thing happened in both December and January, though the packages that month showed up only a day after street date. (Both mail and UPS have already delivered today, so it looks like it will be Monday at the earliest for this one) I'm posting this so others don't get too alarmed. I figure if it doesn't show up by Wednesday of next week then I'll create a thread with customer service down below. For those of you more familiar with the distribution habits of UPS and USPS, is this likely more of a regional issue? I'm in the Northeast Ohio area, and I've been sending out and receiving packages constantly through both carriers multiple times a month, and I've rarely had an issue. Most recently, packages from California, Florida, Georgia, and the frozen tundra of Houston, Texas arrived within their normal time. Admittedly, I don't know what the weather has been up in the Seattle/Paizo area, so if it has been bad it definitely makes sense things would be extra slow. My Paizo orders are the only things I receive on a regular basis from that area, so I really can't compare it to anything else up there. Alternatively, is it just a change in shipping practices from Paizo? In reality it's not much different from the previous norm. The only major difference is that previously my Paizo order would show up on the Paizo & carrier websites a day after shipment, respectively, but then just show the package sitting at one facility--sometimes for a week or so--until just a few days before street release date, when it would then come hurtling east at rapid speed and end up on my doorstep within a 3-day window of official release date. So the reality seems to be nothing much has changed except for the tracking information.
It's just no fun for anyone to see folks on here and elsewhere having their files a week or two before you get them.How do you think the people without subscriptions feel? :3 Heavier in the wallet.
I don’t know what my most pressing IT fix would be if I could wave a magic wand, but that glitch would definitely be in the top three. Causes so much angst and unnecessary work. ;/ I agree 100%. It doesn't matter if the items eventually appear or not. When a business model is focused on monthly subscriptions, including new signups, it's completely counterproductive to utilize a system that can't provide correct information to customers. I can't speak for every person on the planet, but I can confirm Paizo's website hijinks has been a major turnoff for more than few friends and fellow players.
For anyone that is interested in talking about miniatures in more depth, from topics like their current pricing increase to discussing those made for other companies, I highly encourage you to check out minisgallery. com. It's my favorite community of miniature collectors, and everyone there is really nice. They've also got a a great database of released miniatures, including those from the Pathfinder Battles line, D&D Icons of the Realms line, and the old PPM D&D line from Wizards of the Coast (2003-2010). But the database also covers much more, like Star Wars minis, Wardlings, etc. We all do a good job of keeping each other updated on the best prices available around the globe for new releases. And Patrick O'Hagan of WizKids will often stop by and post some teases of upcoming releases, or answer questions or confirm/dispel rumors. It's a fun little community. Some of us are working on projects that compile data for each published release from Pathfinder and D&D. We want to determine how many miniatures already exist for each published release, and which creatures from the published adventures still need a plastic representation. We also want to determine how many creatures of each miniature would be needed for a per-encounter battle for each fight in the material. The goal is to help make things easier for WizKids/Paizo/Wizards to determine which adventures need what miniatures. This can help them flesh out their miniature selections in each set with creatures that help those of us trying to get as many creatures in plastic as possible for any particular campaign. This should also help any DM, veteran or newbie, looking for a quick reference of which creatures (and how many of each) they might want to pick up for a particular Adventure Path or D&D Campaign module, and from which sets they can find those already produced. I'm working on the Pathfinder 2e stuff because I'm pretty much playing that exclusively now. More volunteers are always welcome. Eventually I hope to get to Pathfinder 1e stuff, but it might take awhile.
I'm pretty sure booster boxes will contain one of the following two:
I could be wrong, but I seem to recall this is how it plays out. So you will never get more or less than four minis in a booster box. And thus 128 pieces in a case, as per usual. But the question of Dungeon Dressing is a good one. It's possible that the 52 takes into account alternates, like (potentially) the Mammoth and Mammoth with Rider. Or we could be back to Dungeon Dressing. Legendary Adventures did not contain any, but I believe Lost Omens did. Personally I hope they've done away with Dungeon Dressing. WizKids appears to have found enough success with such things they've been pumping out WizKids sets of themed dungeon dressing like Market Square or Kitchen sets. If you want that stuff, go get it! At this point, with the total number of creatures in Pathfinder 2e already over 1,000 (and Bestiary 3 on its way in Spring 2021 with 300+ more), I'd much rather see a focus on creatures instead of dressing. Especially with regards to the price increase. Dungeon Dressing means 6-8 miniatures I have little to zero use for in a case that's seen, at minimum, a $60 price increase.
I’ve never understood the randomized booster business model. I bought two different case sets a couple of years ago and was just disappointed because of it. For the amount of money these things cost I would rather be able to buy a case that has every figure in the set and duplicates of commonly used figures which would make them viable for use in an actual campaign. I just don’t see how it’s cost effective to use this current model for actual tabletop gameplay. Are these really just meant for collectors? There are 128 miniatures in a case, and something like 44 or 45 miniatures unique miniatures in a set. Buying a case almost always guarantees you one of each miniature in the set; It's pretty rare to miss out on one. Assuming you get one of each miniature, you also get about 83 or 84 duplicates of a combination of Common and Uncommon miniatures, most of which are viable for use in a campaign. So doesn't a case already cover your needs there? It's true that not every DM is going to need all 83+ extra miniatures. But for the most part I think the Battles line and and even the competition's Icons of the Realms line has done a decent job of selecting Common and Uncommon minis. Paizo has been awesome at "theme" collections of low/ and mid-level groups within a release. This includes things like bandit groups, ghouls, or miniatures. If all you want is one of every piece in the set and just a small handful of extras, it might make more sense to buy them piecemeal from different online or FLGS stores.. Alternatively, pick up a Booster Brick, which has 8 Booster boxes. You'll pick up a few Rares, and a sizable number of Commons and Uncommons from your brick. I'd encourage you to snap up one of every Rare from the singles market BEFORE you get your brick. If you don't need doubles of any Rares you receive, you can just sell them and get some of your money back. (Or choose store credit and get a higher percentage of your investment back). You can sometimes find people on eBay selling complete sets. You'll probably pay less than you would for a case (but not by much), but you won't get any doubles. As for the distribution method, I think they do it to help keep costs down. Uncommon and Rare miniatures typically require more time and effort, most specifically for their paint jobs and such. Packing a whole bunch of Commons and Uncommons into a case help provide a better balance on the price of each miniature. For example, you can purchase a case of Darklands Rising for $420.00 (through other sites). That averages out to a little more than $3.28 per miniature. Some Rares can go as high as $40 or more on the singles market. So the question for any potential buyer is, does getting all the Rares and Uncommons you want at $3.28 per miniature outweigh getting a bunch of Commons at the same price? For me it definitely does.
Thank you for posting this information. It looks like nothing much has changed from a few days ago with the MSRP, and thus $447.78 is showing up in my cart as the Battles Subscriber price. When adding on the $60 shipping, that's more than $500.00. Even with Paizo covering $10 on shipping, that's almost $500.00. Sadly, that's just too much for me to spend on a case of miniatures. It's available for as cheap as $420.00 elsewhere, and that includes free shipping. Even on the sites where cases run a bit higher, it's listed at $480.00, again, with free shipping. There's just no savings here, at least out to the state of Ohio. Unfortunately, I'll be canceling my subscription. The good news is I'll still be purchasing the product elsewhere.
I would not get angry with Paizo, or anyone at Paizo, if I requested my Battles sub be cancelled and they didn't get to it before this next release got shipped (and charged to my bank account). I *would* expect Paizo to indemnify any expenses that cost me, including the original shipping, return shipping, and any overdraft fees charged by my bank. As they should. And knowing how the CS team works, I'm sure they would. The big concern, of course, is that there are likely many Ed Repperts out there, so-to-speak. And that seems like a lot of money to be shelling out to fix a potential issue for each of them that could otherwise be avoided.
I do hope we can see some more previews in the next week or two. As excited and thrilled as I am about having the Jabberwocky (and others) in my hand by the end of January, I'm looking for some new hype!
I just made an official thread for this, but it seems that my order was indeed split, and I was in fact charged twice for shipping. Also, Paizo and WizKids need to get on the same page with regards to the Darklands Rising set and when it officially releases. Paizo is stating January; WizKids and other retailers are claiming April. The struggle is real..
As the title states, Order 36292724 was split into two different shipments, and I was charged shipping twice. Can you fine folks please remedy this in some way? Both orders have already been charged and shipped, but I'm sure there is something that can be done. I had really hoped we were past system mistakes, but this is yet another one. Not to sound so dramatic here, but I'm growing really weary of all the issues. Also, any chance we can get conformation for when Darklands Rising officially rises? Paizo insists it is January, while WizKids and the vendors online/FLGS are saying April. If it is January, can we get confirmation what the final Battles subscriber price is? Thanks in advance,
It looks like I'm in the same boat with split shipping. It appears my Adventure Path #162 has shipped. Otari hasn't gone out yet, with what looks like another $5.25 shipping charge for 1 item once it does. Can you please fix this as soon as possible? Thank you in advance.
Unfortunately we won't have extra player reference cards for purchase though.Please put that on your 'let's consider this' list. It would be nice as a take-home goody for new players. Stopping in to add +1 for this. I've already pre-ordered three of these boxes for an Elementary School Library, where the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students will be able to take them home and learn to play with their parents. I can promise you those cards will eventually (likely sooner than later) get shredded and/or go missing. To prepare for this, I'll be photocopying & laminating them and using the copies instead. However, I'd much prefer the option of simply buying extra packs straight up from this website instead of adding the extra work to my already long To-Do list.
Why there is no official thread for "Issues With X Month Subscriptions" or something of the like? I've been reading over other people's threads this month and from before. It seems a fair amount of these current issues could have been avoided had there been a dedicated thread for problems for that month's Subscriptions. If there was a dedicated thread similar to what I suggested above, this wouldn't even be an issue. One of the CS reps would be able to focus on that thread each day, cutting off many issues quickly, and before they could get worse. Sure, it would be a flurry of blows at certain parts of the spawning process. But they can be anticipated and quickly dealt with. For example:
I'm aware that people are constantly ordering items that aren't part of a subscription, and they run into issues of their own. Having a system dedicated to handling all monthly subscription issues like I just described would help cut down on everything being thrown together. It leaves the remainder of the customer service team to focus on non-subscription issues as they pop up. Heck, even splitting up certain issues into their dedicated threads could help:
Could someone more knowledgeable than I please explain to me if this is possible, and if not, why?
You seem to have a good understanding of how things work. Do you know what the current best way to connect with the customer service team is? I used to be able to call and get right through, but that's not an option at this time. I've posted in the forum below, and in this thread (twice now). Should I email them too? Also, for future reference, do you know how to delete items from the Sidecart? I looked before my August order spawned, but I wasn't able to find a way. My entire issue this month could have been avoided had I been able to go in and delete the item in my Sidecart. Instead, because CS has been so backed up, they weren't able to get to it before the order spawned, w/unwanted item included. It really feel like it's always something. Often times it is weird system hiccups or bugs or whatever. But this current issue could have been avoided altogether had one of two simple solutions been available:
I realize with everything backed up the way it is, the latter solution isn't a very realistic option. But I'm still really frustrated. I don't even know if the former is an option, but if it is, I don't feel it is very clear how to do it. If my order authorizes and I'm charged the $60+ for a set of these premium dragons I don't want and have been trying to remove from my cart/order since (technically) July, I think that will be the final nail in the coffin. I considered canceling my orders last month, but I was able to prevent the overpriced shipping costs (with your help). I don't really care about long waits for product (especially in these times), and I can handle the occasional site hiccup or bug. But once I start getting charged for things I don't want--in a situation that should be completely avoidable--I think I'm done.
Could a customer service rep please remove the Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omens Premium Dragon set from Order 30559237? I asked for the removal of this item from my Sidecart on August 10th, and that request went unanswered and unattended. The order has since spawned, ready to charge me. Please remove the dragons from this order before they are fully charged. And please do not put them in my Sidecart. The only thing that should be on Order 30559237 is Adventure Path #158: Sixty Feet Under. Also, please make sure the difference between the $25.00 in store credit I purchased on Monday, August 10th and what's left from Order 30559237 is put back into my account once the dragons have been removed. I've posted a version of this request in its separate thread down below. I'm posting here for maximum exposure to customer service eyes. Thank you in advance,
Could a customer service rep please remove the Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omens Premium Dragon set from Order 30559237? I asked for the removal of this item from my Sidecart a week ago in this forum, and that request went unanswered and unattended. The order has since spawned, ready to charge me. Please remove the dragons from this order before they are fully charged. The only thing that should be on Order 30559237 is Adventure Path #158: Sixty Feet Under. And please make sure the difference between the $25.00 in store credit I purchased last Monday and what's left from Order 30559237 is put back into my account. I'm no longer interested in the Dragons, so please remove them completely from my account. Please remove them from Order 30559237. Please do not put them in my Sidecart. I've posted a version of this request in its separate thread down below. I'm posting here for maximum exposure to customer service eyes. Thank you in advance,
Paizo; On Monday, August 10th I posted a thread on these boards asking for the removal of the City of Lost Omens Red & Black Dragons from my Sidecart before the August orders could spawn. That message went unanswered all week, and despite the order spawn authorization being pushed back to late Thursday, the issue went unattended and Order 30559237 has since spawned, with the dragons included. Could you please remove the Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omens Red & Black Dragons from this order? And could you please either restore the entire $25.00 in store credit I purchased on August 10th to my account or at least make sure that the difference between the remainder of my August order (Adventure Path #158) and the $25.00 in store credit is restored to my account? To be clear, the only thing that should be included on Order 30559237 is Adventure Path #158. And it should be pulling from the $25.00 in store credit that I purchased on Monday, August 10th. I am no longer interested in the dragons, so please don't stick them back in my Sidecart. Thanks in advance,
Awesome, thanks! In the "good timing" department, my Lost Omens singles order just got locked down for shipping on Saturday, so I may just get this from a store despite the 30%, given the shipping to just send this pack. Definitely going to get it. I hear you on the shipping. It's the reason I rarely order anything beyond the book subscriptions and Battles cases through this site. Even on the books, I'm probably losing a full $10.00 each month compared to cheaper options elsewhere. And with Incentives no longer tied to our Battles Case subscriptions I break even on the case itself compared to what it would cost in a couple other places. The incentive used to come heavily discounted, making it a very good buy. But now...not so much. At first glance the Dragon Case is a good buy with that 30% discount, coming out to $41.99. But to get it here to Northeast Ohio--and without buying anything else or combining the premium dragon set with a subscription order to take advantage of that $10.00 paizo shipping credit--the cheapest shipping cost I was given was $24.60, making it a total of $66.59 to get it to my door. It's sold on all the major third-party sites for $59.99. One of those sites offers free shipping with a $75+ order, another site ships out free at $99.00+, and still another at $100.00. Finding $15.01 to $40.1 worth of additional items to purchase to hit that $75.00 to $100 threshold is a pretty simple task. As for your Lost Omens singles order, it shows you a Pathfinder Battles Case subscriber. Are these in addition to that case, or did you hit pause on the case itself? My case came in nearly two weeks ago, and I think the paint job on every miniature is no less than good. I've collected every Battles release (and Icons release, for that matter) and I'm not sure I've ever seen a set where there wasn't a glaring paint issue with at least one of the miniatures. There are maybe one or two, such as the Gimmerling, that someone could possibly argue otherwise. But I'd argue right back because at that point I think we're nitpicking. That doesn't mean I love the set unconditionally. I don't use Dungeon Dressing, and it aggravates me that it has returned to take the place of 8 miniatures I'd actually use. The only saving grace this time around is that the Armageddon Orb is a Hazard. More importantly, it's also suitable for use as some sort of medium-sized red ooze creature. We need more ooze miniatures anyway that aren't among the classic lineup of Gelatinous Cube, Gray Ooze, and Ochre Jelly. And the statue is yet another statue I can base and turn into an Animated Statue. I'm aware that the concept of Dungeon Dressing is well received by many. WizKids seems to be churning out set pieces w/dressing-like pieces every couple months. But I was hoping that due to such success, Paizo would move to putting out their own, Dungeon Dressing-style premium packs and leave the Battles cases to monsters.
Here's a link to a site that shows all six of the premium figures: Check out ICv2 Webpage
What are these new figures? It's a collection of six, individually packaged, pre-painted miniatures. I believe the sculpts are all taken right from previous releases in the Deep Cuts line, only these ones are painted. Wave 1, which as of now is listed to hit stores in September, contains the following:
The listed retail price is for $7.99. But like most things in this hobby, you can find them cheaper on third-party sites. However, if you've got the Pathfinder Battles 30% discount, it'll probably be the cheapest price around, especially if you combine them with a subscription order. Whereas many of the miniatures in the Battles blind boxes are great for collectors and DM's, I think players will really appreciate these. The sculpts are nice, and the paint jobs should be in line with other Premium prepainted miniatures that WizKids has been offering from other companies. I just received Wave 2 of the D&D: Icons of the Realm premium pieces, for example, and all six are really well done. I'm also eager to support this line because I hope continued success will not only bring more waves, but will also mean fewer playable PC-types in the regular Battles line. At least of the classic Human, Dwarf, Elf, etc heritages; more niche heritages are always welcome in my opinion. We had six Bestiaries in Pathfinder 1st Edition, not to mention many other sources of monsters. We didn't come close to covering all those creatures in plastic form. For every good looking "Human Class X Male or Dwarf Class X Female that pops up in the Premium line, I'm hoping that's one more unique Medium-sized monster taking it's spot in the Battles line.
Wow, awesome news! I just checked out the pending order, and everything looks great. Thank you again! Also, I just want it officially noted that the Customer Service team is literally the only reason I still maintain my subscriptions. I love the game world the designers create for us. And the adventures and other products that go along with it are fantastic and often a step up from other companies. But the distribution of said fantasy world and products hasn't always been smooth sailing. But the customer service team is always there to help fix things. So screenshot this and save it for review time or whatever raise process Paizo employs. Because, again, I can officially confirm the CS team is literally the only reason I'm still shelling out a few extra bucks every month for subscriptions instead of finding slightly cheaper alternatives through third-party options.
Good call. And you're right! The USPS Priority Mail option was $25.19. I'll update my post below accordingly. Thanks for the help. Also, I found I was able to add the Battles Premium Dragons set after all to be shipped with this order. It changed the subtotal to $131.71 (which is as it should be). But interestingly enough, total shipping is $10.68, with four items listed with total of a 7 lb. package weight. So it seems to have forced it to right itself. Now if I could only add the Pathfinder Adventures subscription and Slithering to this particular order, that would be great. But instead it seem to want to push it toward next month, even if I set it in my Sidecart. |
