To Erik, James, Joshua, Lisa, and Vic,
Although I am not the first to express this sentiment, I would like to state it quite clearly: Congratulations. This is an opportunity for Paizo to grow beyond the potted plant stage that was very nurturing early on, but has become stifling. OGL material in the marketplace started out quite shaky, during which you rode the wave of 3rd edition quite well to the crest of quality and consumer loyalty with Dungeon and Dragon. Given that many OGL-based publishers have blossomed to surpass WotC's publication content, you will catapult off of your mailing list of loyal customers and publishing knowledge base within the company to challenge the new market. If I was a competitor in the business of OGL-based publications, I would fear this day: a dire tiger has been released from its' chains, and set loose into the world.
I am proud to carry the label of Charter Subscriber of Pathfinder. I have not always agreed with your leadership decisions in regards to Dragon and Dungeon, most specifically regarding provocative cover art, but the quality of your material is peerless. I have converted the rest of my five year subscription into Pathfinder, have signed up for the month to month subscription, and fully intend to review and discuss them online with this community. My loyalty to Paizo and your future has never been higher.
As so many others around the world have expressed, I mourn the passing of Dungeon and Dragon. These staples of my roleplaying collection have been read, reread, memorized, worn out & replaced, and eventually stored as a complete set in vacuum sealed bags for preservation. I wish that the day had not come where I shall finish the series, but so be it. The world will not end, Paizo will move on...and WotC will rue the day that they chose perceived profit over customer loyalty.
Till swords part,
Deathdwarf
Lisa et. al.,
Just curious...what do you think of all the response so far? Is this what you expected? Are you surprised at the outpouring of support? What about Pathfinder...are you getting the subscriber volume that you hoped for in the first two days?
You have probably the most up to date list of active gamers in the world in the form of mailing lists for Dragon & Dungeon. I certainly hope you put that to good use to publicize Pathfinder!
Till swords part,
Deathdwarf
Check out the pulpgamer.com interview with Phil Lacefield - it's quite good.
I wouldn't sweat so much if I was an OGL company. They've been competing with Paizo for quite some time already, and presumably each has found their customer base. I would be nervous if I was WotC. They are the ones hoping to sell new content to Paizo's current customer base.
They're the ones attempting a new online product model in the midst of a bunch of consumer discontent. I anticipate, but can't know for sure, that they're hoping to bring the customers from the magazines into the fold of the new online venture.
They're making a big push for modules, at least this year, and were perhaps planning to continue to create new ones in subsequent years. If Paizo beats them in that market, they'll feel it. Not necessary fold or anything overly dramatic, but they'll feel it.
They're the ones with big business settings/IP whose customer base might be cannibalized from people shifting campaigns (and worse, loyalty) to the new Paizo setting/pathfinder campaigns. That is something that would impact them worse than losing the customer battle for adventures.
Someone like Goodman might be sweating a little at the Game Mastery modules, but honestly, if they maintain quality, I don't think their customers are going to change their gaming preferences. WotC is the one we always hear disappointment about when it comes to modules, not the OGL companies.
Chief Technical Officer
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Just curious...what do you think of all the response so far? Is this what you expected? Are you surprised at the outpouring of support? What about Pathfinder...are you getting the subscriber volume that you hoped for in the first two days?
It's hard to put words to how pleased and grateful we are with everyone's support. While we've done our best to plan this transition thoroughly, there was always a small part that worried that folks would start arriving at the office with torches and pitchforks.
We're also very pleased with the volume of Pathfinder subscriptions, and the number of people who are converting remianing issues into Pathfinder. Just look through the messageboards and notice how many people have the "Pathfinder Subscriber" or "Pathfinder Charter Subscriber" tags! We're really thrilled by the number of people who are literally willing to put their money down for a product they haven't even seen yet, based on little more than our name.
Thank you all!
Yes. The name and cookies! Do not forget the cookies! We MUST have the cookies! The kobolds can't have them! They are mine! Mine you hear me! All mine!
I would also like to add congratulations for the way in which Paizo is handling the 'transition'. While ENworld and WotC board are buried in flaming responses, the people from Paizo have remained admirably calm, decent and empathic to their customers' worries. Kudos!
In my opinion, Paizo has always radiated a real love and heart for the game. More than that, they have always had an ear for their customers, helping us with questions we have and being open to our comments. This has always given me the feeling that we are in the same corner, we are allies, we are like PCs in the same well-oiled party.
WotC on the other hand has continually given me the feeling they have a love for one thing only, and it isn't the game. It's money. I actually feel kinda sorry for the game designers who works for WotC, because this commercial company attitude is probably enforced on them. Still, Paizo has shown us that creating a good bond with your customerbase might actually be a good 'commercial' approach.
Anyway, I'm really PROUD of the people at Paizo's for handling this tragedy so well. What surprises me even more (in a very, very positive way) is that Paizo has simultaneously launched an alternative for the disappearance of our treasured magazines. WotC on the other hand has given us only some very vague comments about an online alternative, a rather pathetic attempt at a response (by people who probably can't help it either, since they don't make the calls) and mostly silence. This surprises me (in a very, very bad way) as one would expect a commercially minded company as WotC to at least offer their alternative during these troubled times. I hope both companies are appropriately rewarded by the customerbase for their appraoch to the crisis.
I agree, Paizo's consistently excellent quality product, and consistently improving product quality has really caught my attention.
Perhaps I differ from others in that I don't begrudge WotC for their decisions. Their goal is to run a business. The best way to do that, is to offer a product people want, and we may disagree with them as to how well they do that. Still, they see an opportunity for them to provide something people want and make a profit. They know that if what they offer is of no value, then it won't sell. They are not intentionally doing things to loose customers. One of my favorite sayings fits here: never assume malice when stupidity would suffice. Substitute cluelessness for stupidity if you like. Time will tell if this is a bad move for them or not. I'm an older DM, and the online stuff doesn't appeal to me so far, but it may with the much younger players.
Paizo is a company trying to earn a profit by providing products people want. I think they do a great job at it, and I think they are far from clueless as to how to win customers (great product, willingness to make a personal touch with the customer, and great support). Time will also tell if they can keep profits up with the new product lines. My history with Paizo is enough for me to try out their new product lines and see if it works for me.
Bottom line to this message: Congrats Paizo on handling a change brought upon you in an excellent fashion. Also a 'well done' for the way you've branched out over the last few years, it's serving you very well now.