|
I while back there was talk about having an all-inclusive pathfinder subscription, a deluxe edition if you want, that includes Chronicles, Map Folios and all other Pathfinder materials. Has a decision been made yet as to wether or not such a subscription will be launched (and what exactly it will include)?
Also, there was talk about having an option to delay shipping of an order from Paizo until the next edition of your Pathfinder subscription to combine and save on shipping. Is that in place yet?
I think the Pathfinder Deluxe subscription thingy is still under consideration. You can see the previous discussion on it here.
The whole combining orders thing is, as far as I know, currently limited to shipping your Pathfinder and GameMastery Modules together. If you subscribe to both, you can log in to your "My Subscriptions" page to either hold each Pathfinder volume to ship with the next GameMastery Module or vice versa.
|
I think there is more than one thread like this bouncing around now. While I'm happy that you are working on it, what is the recommended course for people who would like to make sure that they're getting everything Pathfinder related? Should I start doing some pre-orders now, or is that going to make things more complicated if there becomes an option to 'upgrade' my subscription?
Thanks for the help.
Chief Technical Officer
|
To be clear, we won't be offering a single "deluxe" subscription. Rather, it's more sort of a build-your-own notion, in that we'll have subscriptions for Pathfinder, GameMastery Modules, and Pathfinder Chronicles. Taken together, that'll cover everything we've currently announced for the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting except for the two packs of Item Cards, which you should purchase separately. You'll be able to combine shipments from all of these to save on shipping.
(We'll probably also be offering an Item Cards subscription in the future, but it won't be limited to just the Pathfinder AP cards, and it probably won't be in place before the Rise of the Runelords Item Cards ship.)
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
|
To be clear, we won't be offering a single "deluxe" subscription. Rather, it's more sort of a build-your-own notion, in that we'll have subscriptions for Pathfinder, GameMastery Modules, and Pathfinder Chronicles. Taken together, that'll cover everything we've currently announced for the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting except for the two packs of Item Cards, which you should purchase separately. You'll be able to combine shipments from all of these to save on shipping.
And the subscription will include pdfs?
|
And the subscription will include pdfs?To be clear, we won't be offering a single "deluxe" subscription. Rather, it's more sort of a build-your-own notion, in that we'll have subscriptions for Pathfinder, GameMastery Modules, and Pathfinder Chronicles. Taken together, that'll cover everything we've currently announced for the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting except for the two packs of Item Cards, which you should purchase separately. You'll be able to combine shipments from all of these to save on shipping.
Yes, as he indicates in this thread, around post #78. (I'm assuming he answered that one while you were typing this one :P)
|
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
|
Yes, as he indicates in this thread, around post #78. (I'm assuming he answered that one while you were typing this one :P)
Awesome. Thanks.
The RPG Superstar stuff is apparently being posted up today. They are probably a bit busy with finishing up things for that at the moment.
I would imagine anyway.
IS there any new word on this from you guys as PAIZO?
|
CEO
|
I really don't get this type of reply. They don't add anything to the discussion and distract from getting real answers. So please don't post unless you have some real knowledge to share, or just want to express an opinion, came up with a funny joke that is halfway relevant, or have something to add at all.
So Anyway, I've been checking here daily for a while now to see if there is more info on the "deluxe pathfinder subscription". There hasn't been (I think, sometimes I miss these things). So, an update (any update, like: "check back in another two weeks 'cause we are running a little behind") from someone at Paizo (not SirUrza) would be appreciated.
And I also appologize for sounding grumpier than I really am ('cause I really am not, really). And SirUrza is a good guy, just a little over-protective of the Paizo staff. :)
The answer is that we just don't have the programming staff that we need to roll out all the features that we want. We have had a programming job open since last January and while we've had a number of interviews and almost had a hire last May (in the end, his wife wouldn't let them move to Seattle), we still don't have someone to help Gary. You wouldn't want to apply Robert, would you? :)
I wish I could give you an exact date when this will be available, but I have learned not to ask for those when dealing with software, because you almost always miss the date due to bugs needing to be squashed NOW because they are messing something up. And if you have only one programmer, guess where he is spending his time. :)
Trust me, we want to the Deluxe Pathfinder sub to be up as much, if not more, than you do. Trust me.
-Lisa
How bout some details on costs and what it will include?
|
|
And I also appologize for sounding grumpier than I really am ('cause I really am not, really). And SirUrza is a good guy, just a little over-protective of the Paizo staff. :)
Over protective? PFFFT! I'm the first to slam editors, authors, and suits when it's rightfully deserved.
Even without Lisa's response it's been made very clear that there are MORE features we want (and they would love to give) then they can possibly get on the site in a timely fashion. I wasn't aware until Lisa's response that they only have 1 web developer on staff, but figured they had a very small team.. I thought maybe 2 to be honest.
In any case, the Chronicles don't come out until January, so I don't "need" the feature until then.
|
|
How bout some details on costs and what it will include?
Well, obviously I can't answer for Paizo staff and things might have changed since, but here's the info I remember from the last time I heard about it.
Chronicles sub will work mostly like Modules sub. Cost for each will be at Cover price, no rebate. Subscribers will get free PDF when it ships. You will be able to combine shipping with other subs.
/runs for cover before RobertDD sees this...
We have had a programming job open since last January and while we've had a number of interviews and almost had a hire last May (in the end, his wife wouldn't let them move to Seattle), we still don't have someone to help Gary. You wouldn't want to apply Robert, would you? :)
January? Really? I though that one was only up since May! Every time I feel like I am really, really sick of school I start getting ready to send my resume up.
and I figure that you'll certainly have the job filled by this time next year. (Or even by December, when the application for Fall '08 would be due.)
So I was wrong.
|
|
And to find out the shipping cost, one could just put 2 or 3 items in their shopping cart, pretend to be checking out, and see how much the shipping cost for combined shipping would be... then back out and remove those items from the cat.
*runs & hides too but gives Djoc's hiding place away in the process*
The answer is that we just don't have the programming staff that we need to roll out all the features that we want. We have had a programming job open since last January and while we've had a number of interviews and almost had a hire last May (in the end, his wife wouldn't let them move to Seattle), we still don't have someone to help Gary. You wouldn't want to apply Robert, would you? :)
As a point of fact, I *would* like to apply...am I missing where I may do so?
As a point of fact, I *would* like to apply...am I missing where I may do so?
http://paizo.com/paizo/about/jobs
http://paizo.com/paizo/about/jobs
As a point of fact, I *would* like to apply...am I missing where I may do so?
Thanks :)
|
Senior Software Developer
|
Yes, I have been busy with RPG Superstar. And the giant flood of Green Ronin orders exposed several tricky bugs in our code. Bugs that involve hundreds of people and their money always get priority over new features, even ones that will make us money. :-)
It turns out that the Pathfinder Chronicles and Planet Stories subscriptions are difficult beasts, primarily due to shipping options and varying product schedules.
Calculating the shipping for a Pathfinder subscription is easy because all Pathfinder volumes are the same size and weight. Same for GameMastery modules. Calculating shipping for a combined Pathfinder/module shipment is similarly easy.
Planet Stories books and the Pathfinder Chronicles products, however, all have different form factors. So we can't just say take one Pathfinder, one Planet Stories book and one module, put them in a hypothetical package and calculate the various rates. The price we show for each option might be correct for the very next shipment, but it would probably be wrong for future shipments.
In addition, we have about twenty different delivery service options that we comb through when presenting your choices. Most have strict requirements about minimum and maximum weight, size and how much of the shipment is "bound printed matter". Modules, Pathfinder and Planet Stories are all bound printed matter, but other subscriptions might include things like mats or item cards or whatever -- non-bound printed matter stuff. So one month your combined subscription shipment might not qualify for the rate you selected. For domestic shipments this isn't much of a problem because the shipment won't be too much more expensive than the original rate. But international shipments have fewer options, and the change in price can be considerable.
And that leads me to the other thing that makes this hard: varying product schedules. Our products are now coming in on boats from China, and spend a random amount of time in customs and on trucks before they arrive at our warehouse. We generally have a decent idea of when products will arrive, but we don't know for sure until a week or so before they actually get here. That makes it non-trivial to display good information about your upcoming subscription shipments. Will this module ship with that Pathfinder? Will that Planet Stories book arrive in time to ship with this module or the next one?
So we have to be extra clever and careful about how we present the various shipping options and what they might cost. Vic and I have come up with some ideas about how to do this, but it's tricky and I'm not convinced we've got a good solution yet. But it's what I'm working on right now.
PS: And all you people who want to combine random store orders with your monthly shipment... that's hard for pretty much the same reasons discussed above. That doesn't mean I'm not working on it. :-)
|
|
Hey.. who unchained Gary from his workstation and let him surf the web! Someone better chain him back down, there are anxious demanding people about wanting features implemented yesterday. If he's not allowed coffee breaks or bathroom runs.. someone better check his pan btw... he's certainly not allowed to post on the forums instead of working.
j/k :)
|
Hey.. who unchained Gary from his workstation and let him surf the web! Someone better chain him back down, there are anxious demanding people about wanting features implemented yesterday. If he's not allowed coffee breaks or bathroom runs.. someone better check his pan btw... he's certainly not allowed to post on the forums instead of working.
j/k :)
WHAT Gary's away from his workstation? *remotes into Gary's workstation and fixes bugs so tat he can work on enhancements* OK - theres my resume
|
|
Any chance you can avoid the problem just by giving us an option to combine, but making the shipping charge 'To Be Determined at Shipment'.
I don't know about everyone else, but I don't really care what the shipping price is. I know it will be less than getting everything shipped separately, so if it turns out to be $6 one month and $8 the next, that isn't really a problem. Obviously the price would swing more with international shipments, but they may still be willing to do it confident that the shipping would be less with a combined order. Besides, international customers don't actually know the price until their credit card converts to the local currency (at least, that was the case when my wife lived abroad).
So, while I know it would be nice to know the shipping ahead of time, if it makes it possible to combine orders only if we don't know, I'm cool with that.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
BTW: do you guys even write your software in Delphi?
Nope—we write it in Bellevue. :-)
And SirUrza was actually paraphrasing me—I have said in many places on these boards that we plan to have Pathfinder Chronicles subscriptions available before the first Pathfinder Chronicles product ships (and that's as specific as we can be).
And Djoc is correct—subscribers get no discount, but they get a free PDF, and can combine shipping with other subscription products.
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
Any chance you can avoid the problem just by giving us an option to combine, but making the shipping charge 'To Be Determined at Shipment'.
I don't know about everyone else, but I don't really care what the shipping price is. I know it will be less than getting everything shipped separately, so if it turns out to be $6 one month and $8 the next, that isn't really a problem. Obviously the price would swing more with international shipments, but they may still be willing to do it confident that the shipping would be less with a combined order. Besides, international customers don't actually know the price until their credit card converts to the local currency (at least, that was the case when my wife lived abroad).
So, while I know it would be nice to know the shipping ahead of time, if it makes it possible to combine orders only if we don't know, I'm cool with that.
While it may be good enough for you, if you surf the boards for a while, you'll find many people for whom it would clearly not be good enough. And for the international folks, we're not talking potential swings of a few cents here and there, but about the potential difference between $6 and $30 in shipping alone. We're not not doing because it's hard—we're just taking longer to get it right.
My question is, let's say I originally planned on buying all the extra stuff separately (map folios, etc) but NOT the item cards...would there be any particular reason to get the chronicles subsubscription instead, like a discount since I'm buying everything? The product subscription seemed kind of vague...
|
|
My question is, let's say I originally planned on buying all the extra stuff separately (map folios, etc) but NOT the item cards...would there be any particular reason to get the chronicles subsubscription instead, like a discount since I'm buying everything? The product subscription seemed kind of vague...
You get free PDFs and dont have to worry about missing anything. Thats about it I believe.