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My predictions for Paizo, 2010 and beyond...
1) Gen Con sales for the PFRPG in August are insane. Long lines lead to an eventual sell out, angering some and upsetting others. Consistent maturity by Pathfinder players ensures there is no violence. Second and third print runs cause trees to die in record numbers. Former Vice President Al Gore points his finger at the Paizo and shakes it. Bad Paizo.
2) Paizo licenses its software developement to a cutting edge company, making to accessible accross platforms. Mac and Penguin users rejoice!
3) A PFRPG app is designed for the iPhone. It hits the top ten downloads on iTunes by summer of 2010. Geeks have an excuse to leave their phones on (silent ...I said keep it on silent, damnit) during game. Laptops gone, people have room to roll dice again!
4) Paizo starts its own line of plastic, collectible minis for the PFRPG. It fills the niche left by another company. The prices are competitive, encouraging gamers to save pennies and recycle pop cans. Paizo's carbon footprint is reduced. Former Vice President Al Gore stops shaking finger at Paizo. Good Paizo.
5) Paizo's positive communication policy broadens it's customer base. As other game companies tighen their grip, Paizo makes wonderful use of the mystical, open-handed technique. Players globally rejoice and name July 29th "Paizo for the Win" day.
6) Gen Con sees fewer and fewer attendees. Paizocon a massive success. Hotels in Las Vegas offer excellent deals to the fledgling publishing company. Paizocon 2010 held in Vegas! Woot!
7) Paizo and Open Design unite. The Game Designer's Academy is born and creative gamers all over start writing. More and more modules are produced. Paizo offers all of them as digital files, with high-quality, print-on-demand books available as back-ups. Trees thank Paizo. Al Gore smiles a little more.
The magic eight ball... is it feeling all right?
The magic eight ball... is it feeling all right?
I think it's feeling great!
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I dunno, I don't think Paizo wants to get that big.
When the Beta book sold out (very quickly) there was a huge demand for another print run. My LGS sold ours like hot cakes, all to gamers not in my (Pathfinder) group. I understand from the LGS owner that there semed to be a big demand elsewhere, not just his store. Consumers want to see new product; they want to buy. LGSs were selling out of the Beta. But Paizo wouldn't run a second print.
Business-wise, there was a consumer base anxious for something to replace WotC with and Paizo could have done that by making a 2nd print. Easily. By the time August rolls around Paizo will have long lost its chance to replace WotC.
I think this is deliberate. I think Paizo wants to be a niche company and it has its niche already.
-W. E. Ray
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Yeah, they could have made a second print of the-oh, wait, that's right, the free BETA pdf.
Huh, that wouldn't have been too smart. Why complete the project if they can just sell the 2nd draft, which, as I mentioned before, is free online?
You talk about a niche market, but fantasy roleplaying already IS a niche market.
To gamers who, presumably, weren't familiar with Paizo.
I got a printed beta knowing full well that the PDF is free. Why? Because it was the next best thing to getting a free book. It might have cost money, but really: I couldn't print the beta myself for that money if I wanted to.
PDFs are a very great thing. But as a companion to actual books, not a replacement.
I think the reasons for not having another print run were twofold:
1. They didn't want to cannibalise their own PF RPG sales with the beta.
and, more importantly:
2. I might not have worked out. Printing cost depends a lot on the size of the print run. Could they have sold as many extra copies as they have already? If not, it might have become a big loss to sell those - either because they'd be sitting on books that won't sell once the final book is out or by paying more for the books than they're getting back.
And then there's the time issue: You can't churn out a big bunch of books over the long weekend, after all.
I know this whole thing is largely tongue in cheek, but...
2) Paizo licenses its software developement to a cutting edge company, making to accessible accross platforms. Mac and Penguin users rejoice!
I really hope Paizo stays out of software and software licensing. I think they should just continue to support and enable online play and let the community do the heavy lifting for them, it's less risky and more productive that way.
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To gamers who, presumably, weren't familiar with Paizo.
I got a printed beta knowing full well that the PDF is free. Why? Because it was the next best thing to getting a free book. It might have cost money, but really: I couldn't print the beta myself for that money if I wanted to.
PDFs are a very great thing. But as a companion to actual books, not a replacement.
I think the reasons for not having another print run were twofold:
1. They didn't want to cannibalise their own PF RPG sales with the beta.
and, more importantly:
2. I might not have worked out. Printing cost depends a lot on the size of the print run. Could they have sold as many extra copies as they have already? If not, it might have become a big loss to sell those - either because they'd be sitting on books that won't sell once the final book is out or by paying more for the books than they're getting back.
And then there's the time issue: You can't churn out a big bunch of books over the long weekend, after all.
Yeah, I think you're right about that. They are waiting for the full version to come to life in August.
Myself? I have free pdfs for my whole gaming group. I also bought 4 physical copies, just to show support. Paizo has the right stuff.
(And I really hope they do an iPhone app and plastic minis ....pretty please ...please ...I'll buy a case now, sight unseen. Such is my faith...)
I wouldn't buy an iPhone if it cost negative money, but I'd buy plastic minis.
Here's to hoping they can make it work. Seems to be hard to. Fixed costs are pretty darn high, so you'll need to sell copious amounds of plastic minis in order to turn sufficient profit from it.
Chief Technical Officer
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I dunno, I don't think Paizo wants to get that big.
When the Beta book sold out (very quickly) there was a huge demand for another print run. My LGS sold ours like hot cakes, all to gamers not in my (Pathfinder) group. I understand from the LGS owner that there semed to be a big demand elsewhere, not just his store. Consumers want to see new product; they want to buy. LGSs were selling out of the Beta. But Paizo wouldn't run a second print.
Business-wise, there was a consumer base anxious for something to replace WotC with and Paizo could have done that by making a 2nd print. Easily. By the time August rolls around Paizo will have long lost its chance to replace WotC.
I think this is deliberate. I think Paizo wants to be a niche company and it has its niche already.
-W. E. Ray
Well, you're right on some points, less so on others.
You're right that we don't want to be a big company—Lisa and I intend to keep our head count below about 35 or so at all times. We both know that when companies get beyond a certain size, they begin to require a structure that makes it difficult to be responsive, creative, and well, frankly, any fun to work at, and we think the magic number of employees for our type of company is in that neighborhood. If we ever had cause to increase above that number, we'd probably look at spinning off parts of it into smaller organizations to maintain those needs.
However, you're mistaken that we didn't reprint the Beta because we didn't want it to be too popular—if we wanted that, we could have suspended downloads, too!
We didn't reprint the Beta because, by the time we were able to gauge demand and ensure that we wouldn't lose money on a reprint, it was already too late to get product back from our printer and onto the market while the playtest was still running.
You're right that we don't want to be a big company—Lisa and I intend to keep our head count below about 35 or so at all times. We both know that when companies get beyond a certain size, they begin to require a structure that makes it difficult to be responsive, creative, and well, frankly, any fun to work at, and we think the magic number of employees for our type of company is in that neighborhood. If we ever had cause to increase above that number, we'd probably look at spinning off parts of it into smaller organizations to maintain those needs.
...
Very, very true. And refreshing, with some many being obsessed with growth at any price.
God this makes me wish I could work someplace like Paizo instead of the 50K+ corporation I currently call home...
You're right that we don't want to be a big company—Lisa and I intend to keep our head count below about 35 or so at all times. We both know that when companies get beyond a certain size, they begin to require a structure that makes it difficult to be responsive, creative, and well, frankly, any fun to work at, and we think the magic number of employees for our type of company is in that neighborhood. If we ever had cause to increase above that number, we'd probably look at spinning off parts of it into smaller organizations to maintain those needs.
...Very, very true. And refreshing, with some many being obsessed with growth at any price.
God this makes me wish I could work someplace like Paizo instead of the 50K+ corporation I currently call home...
Amen!
we'd probably look at spinning off parts of it into smaller organizations to maintain those needs.
If you ever spin anything down Germany way, let me know!
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Well, you're right on some points, less so on others.
You're right that we don't want to be a big company—Lisa and I intend to keep our head count below about 35 or so at all times. We both know that when companies get beyond a certain size, they begin to require a structure that makes it difficult to be responsive, creative, and well, frankly, any fun to work at, and we think the magic number of employees for our type of company is in that neighborhood. If we ever had cause to increase above that number, we'd probably look at spinning off parts of it into smaller organizations to maintain those needs.
However, you're mistaken that we didn't reprint the Beta because we didn't want it to be too popular—if we wanted that, we could have suspended downloads, too!
We didn't reprint the Beta because, by the time we were able to gauge demand and ensure that we wouldn't lose money on a reprint, it was already too late to get product back from our printer and onto the market while the playtest was still running.
Well, I'm certainly happy with the way things are running now (at the consumer end, of course), so I support your magic number theory (and so does the eight ball). However, I'd be a shade dishonest if I didn't say that my post was part humor, part wish list.
I'd love to see a lot of the above-named things come to pass.
(Especially the pre-painted minis!!!)
