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Phew! What a doozy of a list. Get 'em while the getting's good, folks!
Thank you very much for the renewed list! There are several things on there I'll need to get before it's too late :)
Ack, never to be reprinted? It's a great list but the only thing longer is the list of holes in my burgeoning collection. Have mercy on a new Pathfinder, will you!
Looks like the shot glass has been popular, less than 250 ;)
Serious question...is it common that publications go out of print then become hard to find?
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So, does this mean that those APs are no longer reprinted on paper forever?
I dearly wish not, for the only reason I can't buy these right now is because I'm a student and is short on extra money...
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Can I just say thank you for using 'fewer' instead of 'less'?
It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. ; )
Serious question...is it common that publications go out of print then become hard to find?
Try finding a print copy of the Pathfinder Companion: Cheliax, Empire of Devils... In all seriousness, sometimes, yes it can be hard to find out-of-print publications, because of the popularity of the product (and the fact that collectors hold on tight to their collection). However, while it's not print, we do offer a vast majority of our products in digital form as well, and sometimes fans have to part with their dearly beloved collections and offer them up for sale in our Gamer Talk forum (or on eBay).
Liz, I have looked up the Cheliax, Empire of Devils companion and, wow, it was around $1,600 by an independent seller. I guess I'm curious about the decision to "discontinue" a printed product. What goes into that decision? Predicted profit vs. cost of printing? Is there a predetermined timeline? Something else?
It was just this year I fell head-over-heals with Pathfinder so I am trying to catch up. News like this is really helpful but is makes me anxious about missing things. I wonder about those who find Paizo another 5-years down the road; are they relegated to PDFs and 2nd market markups?
PDFs are a wonderful option, btw, especially if you're playing and want the content. For now and the immediate future I am a collector and reader. PDFs don't appeal to me but the printed works I'm gobbling up like Mivon Eel Pudding. Eventually it would be nice to play but I won't have a group for some time, at least not until my sons grow older :)
I guess I'm curious about the decision to "discontinue" a printed product. What goes into that decision? Predicted profit vs. cost of printing? Is there a predetermined timeline? Something else?
Paizo prints a given amount of each product (said amount is naturally undisclosed to the public).
Once that initial print run has been sold out, they either have to reprint the product (which will only be cost-effective if they expect a large amount of the product to continue selling, such as the hardcover RPG books or a product that sold out very quickly), or the product will become PDF-only (as there's no more product remaining).
See this thread for Vic Wertz's explanation.
Are & Joana...Thank you so much for the responses. Very informative. And the post by Vic Wertz is fascinating. Knowing how this works is more than just fun, it's practical once you see the dwindling supplies. If money is tight, get the older products that are going out of stock first, then go after the more recent items.
Thanks again!
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I should note that except for the hardcovers, the PDF versions of these books are a lot easier to read on a good tablet than they are in their original softcover format. (Soft covers rarely stay open on their own, and they wear out relatively fast.)
Any recent iPad or Tegra based Android tablet will have no problem rendering these. The resolution is good and page flipping is really fast now. I use an Asus Transformer for most of my reading.
For picking out which book to buy first, I would recommend picking out something in Golarion that interests you. You can always consult the fan created pathfinder wikis for a quick overview. The good wikis will always provide a list of references which will become your shopping list if you want to learn more.
Did I also mention that the Pathfinder RPG Reference Document is really handy when viewed from a web browser at the gaming table on a tablet?
Paizo can't know which other retailers happen to still have their products in stock. All they know is how much they themselves have left.
The alternative to these posts is that their warehouses simply run out of those products with noone among the public knowing in advance or being able to act upon the information. These posts are a vast improvement over me guessing which products may be gone soon when I make purchases with a limited budget.
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There is no way to argue that posting the dwindling stock info is not a service. It is. Sure, my initial knee jerk reaction was "aww shucks" because, if I want to fill in the many holes in my collection (started just in June), I may have to drop money that I had not intended. At least now I have options. I can prioritize. I will have to take chances that I will miss an issue here or there but at least I get a head-up. Like another poster said, the alternative is to just wait until they run empty.
The 2008 Crimson Throne series (7-12) is a good example of why this works as a service. Chapter 2, which I don't have yet, is listed as fewer than 250 copies. Amazon states this about issue 2, "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock." I can wait on a newer issue. I ordered a copy yesterday. Pure coolness. Service useful. I didn't drop a grand. I don't feel screwed over. I feel informed and made a decision because of it.
Vic's post (linked by Joana, above) does a pretty good job explaining Paizo's rationales. It's not ideal but let me tell you, it's way better than the old days of calling stores and driving around never knowing if you would find what you wanted. I'll take it!