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I'll never get ahead this way.
Well if there´s a Ctulluh you can probably beat death in game, i could see something like Golarions very own sort of Godzilla as well.
What i would also love to see is something with the hobgoblin empire.
I imagine that very much like the roman empire somehow, only with asian vibes. That makes a very cool background.
Also the beaurocracy mentioned in the silver tongued eunuch´s trait is very interesting for intrigues etc.
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Not a fan of Hobgoblins in my Asian setting, get them and that Elf kingdom outta Tian Xia! I'd prefer to take control of a Kaiju and send it over to that Hobgob kingdom to squash them like grapes!
In its wake allow for a furry kingdom of Hengeyokai and kitsune to be established! Let the Grognards weep before the power of the paw!
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But, Mr. Jacobs has said multiple times that the Tien Xia stuff didn't do so well commercially.
Well, it's not surprising. Asian content can be overwhelming to players not used to it. All this gaiju, kazento and hin min (random gibberish) makes many people feel lost, and therefore not attracted to the setting. You have to introduce it slowwwly, at a rate average players can swallow it. Paizo seems to be aware of that, so they didn't make Jade Regent fully Asian. Maybe the sales numbers were still disappointing, hence the reluctance to go full Asian.
The campaign would need something else, something so attractive that many players become willing to dig through the Asian terms and concepts. Impressive foes work for me, demons and giants attracted me to the respective adventure paths. And even then the question is: Wouldn't the AP be much more successful without the Asian setting?
But, Mr. Jacobs has said multiple times that the Tien Xia stuff didn't do so well commercially.Well, it's not surprising. Asian content can be overwhelming to players not used to it. All this gaiju, kazento and hin min (random gibberish) makes many people feel lost, and therefore not attracted to the setting. You have to introduce it slowwwly, at a rate average players can swallow it. Paizo seems to be aware of that, so they didn't make Jade Regent fully Asian. Maybe the sales numbers were still disappointing, hence the reluctance to go full Asian.
The campaign would need something else, something so attractive that many players become willing to dig through the Asian terms and concepts. Impressive foes work for me, demons and giants attracted me to the respective adventure paths. And even then the question is: Wouldn't the AP be much more successful without the Asian setting?
Or Paizo can do a step forward and win the support of a new generation.
Old men ruled the country and this game long enough. This discussion takes place whenever there is a new game element debated that is not very classic knights, dragon and wizards, who are all white skinned, straightand male, besides the occasional princess to save. I´m very glad Paizo came a long way from that and i sincerely hope they don´t stop to stagnate. Just look at the outrage of some of the PFS establishment whenever there´s some non-core races debated. Yet there´s a never ending demand of that and more. At the Core lies a simple question: As a GM, do you need to dominate the gameworld and shape everything to your fantasy and liking, or are you ready to let the players participate at least a bit and let them have some fun too?It´s also kinda known that some of the Core designers have their hobbyhorses, but i believe that they are able to develop as well and look over the boarder of their plates.
In 2016, the world is a village for quite some time now.
You scared to visit the other side of that village?
So in other words, you should never go full Asian?
I tried to point out a solution in the second part of my previous posting.
This discussion takes place whenever there is a new game element debated that is not very classic knights, dragon and wizards, who are all white skinned, straightand male, besides the occasional princess to save. I´m very glad Paizo came a long way from that and i sincerely hope they don´t stop to stagnate.
I guess they will try these topics again, but I wouldn't expect them to risk their entire business model just to satisfy a different group of players. Customers are faster lost than won...
Just look at the outrage of some of the PFS establishment whenever there´s some non-core races debated. Yet there´s a never ending demand of that and more. At the Core lies a simple question: As a GM, do you need to dominate the gameworld and shape everything to your fantasy and liking, or are you ready to let the players participate at least a bit and let them have some fun too?
Luckily, PFS is not Pathfinder. As a GM, I would let you play your Asian PC and add some Asian content especially for you. But you would have to deal with fellow players who don't like it - and who get non-Asian content on their own.
Tian Xia is a very big part of Golarion and there are lots of people who want to visit this part. Many are tired of always the same Inner Sea surroundings too.
What you hinted at in the second part of your post there is no solution at all. It also doesn´t add to diversity. Who says asian terms and concepts are so different or have to be so different?
When i hear a lot of people pronounce some english words, i have to say it doesn´t make a difference which language those words come from.
Maybe it´s urgent time for some people to expand their horizon a bit.
And it´s not like it would do a lot of good to Paizo if they were catering to the same subset of customers specifically all the time.
There just were some very classic AP´s like Gianslayer and Hells Rebells.
Mummys Mask, where they go into a different culture, is actually one of the best so far.
Question is, does Paizo want to cater to customers who have problems with different cultures?
Paizo is highly pragmatic. They want to cater to customers who actually buy things.
If the Tian Xia material released around the time of Jade Regent (and Jade Regent itself) did relatively poorly for sales, then Paizo's already learned that there isn't a big market demand for Tian Xia material.
I assume it's for similar reasons that mythic hasn't gotten much support since Wrath - that Mythic Adventures didn't sell well enough to warrant devoting any more significant time to it.
We still get Tian Xia material mixed into other other products (like Zi Ha, the Samsaran homeland, getting a write-up in Occult Realms), but I doubt we're going to see any further material dedicated entirely to Tian Xia.
I'd certainly like to see more Tian Xia stuff, but I expect its going to be on a smaller scale.
(Though sadly, if Jade Regent did poorly then that might have preemptively put the nails in the coffin for a Vudra or Arcadia AP. Which are thing I know Paizo wants to do but again, Paizo's pragmatic. Paizo's willing to take gambles (which is why Jade Regent happened at all), but they don't intentionally walk into sucker punches.)
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The unfortunate consequence of staying so conservatively focused on the Inner Sea and ignoring the more exotic areas is that it puts the Pathfinder setting in a much more direct competition with the Forgotten Realms which essentially does the same thing. I would imagine broadening the horizons a bit to spend some time exploring the Mwangi Expanse, Tian Xia, or Vudra would add some exciting areas of creative exploration not found in DnD 5E. However by staying so focused on telling Western stories, we end up with essentially the same cultural stories that the biggest competitor is telling and a whole lot of minor competitors are also telling.
@ J-Bone - the Inner Sea is actually rather exotic, since it functionally has dozens of campaign settings in a pretty tiny area. For example, Iron Gods and Carrion Crown are radically different APs that take place in neighboring countries. In comparison, Forgotten Realms is pretty much just "normal" sword and sorcery throughout most of the continent. I like the Realms (or at least the 3E and earlier iteration), but they have very little in common with Avistan and northern Garund.
@ CorvusMask - yeah, something of a vicious circle. The initial product didn't sell, so it's not getting majorsupport. And since its not getting major support, there's less incentive to buy the initial product.
It's pretty much a matter of cutting losses - if something didn't take off, pouring more resources into it amounts to just dumping money in a pit.
I'd like for Paizo to do more with those things, but I understand why they aren't.
It´s also amazing how some people keep repeating the same old arguments again and again.
It´s also amazing how many people speak out against something here, often not even in behalf of themselves. Or do they?
J-Bones points about the Inner Sea are very valid, even if the region is a bit more exotic and mixed up as Faerun.
Also since the last TianXia books, a lot has changed in the game.
Back then, there weren´t as many Inner Sea books etc. Tons of new people with different tastes joined the Pathfinder community. New races nad stuff were introduced. TianXia was featured in some PFS scenarios, which are pretty popular.
I´m pretty sure if Tian Xia would see a similar amount of backup like the Inner Sea, more people would like it. That´s probably true for any region of Golarion.
Full stop please. If you want a meaningful discussion, keep the emotions out for a moment. Zhangar said he wants more Tan Xia content himself, and I am not opposed to that either. If Paizo manages to get such an AP done well and make it a commercial success, I am the last person who minds other people's fun.
That said, problems with such an AP exist, as pointed out. So they need to be addressed. In my opinion that's way more important than a) being vocal or b) solidarizing with like-minded. Because Paizo is a) interested in the setting itself anyway and b) smart enough to see through socializing.
If you really want this AP, then accept the problems as they are and move on to potential solutions. Once you gathered enough, contact James with it, for example in his thread.
Yeah only it was stated often enough already that Jade Regent isn´t really about Tian Xia, but a group of travellers in a caravan travelling somewhere ending up there.
And it´s not like there´s enough other vocal people out here.
There´s more than enough compelling reasons to look into new Tian Xia stuff. I´m pretty sure Mr. Jacobs is reading most the threads here.
In fact, he made a pretty ominous statement lately.
Creative Director
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Yeah only it was stated often enough already that Jade Regent isn´t really about Tian Xia, but a group of travellers in a caravan travelling somewhere ending up there.
And it´s not like there´s enough other vocal people out here.
There´s more than enough compelling reasons to look into new Tian Xia stuff. I´m pretty sure Mr. Jacobs is reading most the threads here.
In fact, he made a pretty ominous statement lately.
I am indeed watching.
Jade Regent and Tian Xia stuff was something I'd wanted to do from day one. It's one of a few reasons I put Ameiko in the very first Pathfinder AP adventure. I would LOVE to do a Tian Xian adventure path in the future. But the Adventure Path itself has to serve a lot of masters.
I would love to explore it more! Thanks for keeping an eye on us James, I for one appreciate your notice of our interest and remember from the intro in the early Jade Regent books about how much you looked forward to making those happen. Thanks for making what you lot have made at this point concerning Tian Xia and I for one hope for more. :-)
That is super-highly appreciated!
I love the Ameiko mini^^
Besides i did have a lot of fun in Jade Regent.
And this makes me hope we get the chance to explore wonderful Tian Xia and all it´s possibilities a lot more soon!
There´s also a lot of possible masters in Tian Xia!
The krakens, the imperial dragons, Oni from Chu Ye, the emperor of Kaoling, mysterious patrons from Nagajor, a Shogun from Jinin, ...
We could perhaps do with a module for starters.
I'd buy it. I'd buy more of anything Tian-Xia, AP or not.
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It´s also amazing how some people keep repeating the same old arguments again and again.
:)
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Paizo does such a good job on their products, seeing a full treatment on Tian Xia material would certainly continue that tradition.
Having played, legend of 5 rings and then the oriental adventures version I am amazed by how few quality Asian themed modules there are. I struggle to find quality even in the ones I do find.
It would be great to see the subject get the paizo treatment.
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I'd like another AP out of the Inner Sea. I'll admit, I am getting a bit bored with the Inner Sea stuff.
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Part of the reason Distant Shores exists is that we wanted to do some things outside of the Inner Sea and then see where people were interested in seeing us go in the future. Think of it as a sampler platter. However, it doesn't seem like the book was a huge splash. It's been out for a few months and still doesn't have a review, and most of the comments about the book after its release was about the small amount of mechanics the book contained.
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Part of the reason Distant Shores exists is that we wanted to do some things outside of the Inner Sea and then see where people were interested in seeing us go in the future. Think of it as a sampler platter. However, it doesn't seem like the book was a huge splash. It's been out for a few months and still doesn't have a review, and most of the comments about the book after its release was about the small amount of mechanics the book contained.
That is actually quite sad, because it's a really good book with a lot of interesting ideas in it. But it seems destined to be remembered as "the book that has the trait that lets you play a Paladin of Asmodeus" even when that requires some serious rule twisting and was probably never intended for this...
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Adam's comment should not be taken lightly. We do see a fairly vocal call for content focusing beyond the Inner Sea, be it Tian Xia or Arcadia or the other planets or the other planes... but too often, that's all that it seems to be. When we DO publish books about this content, they often don't make as big a splash as those voices would have suggested they should.
If you DO want to see us do more stuff like this... you ABSOLUTELY need to let us know. Not just by making wish-list requests here, but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY in the reviews of products. Management doesn't have the time to scour every thread on these boards, and while the rest of us downstairs do keep an eye on things, being able to point to Distant Shores or Dragon Empires Gazetteer or Jade Regent having lots of good reviews is a lot more important for getting the perception that something was well liked. And something that's well-liked and thus well-reviewed has a MUCH better chance of us expanding on it, even if sales weren't outstanding but "merely good."
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Adam's comment should not be taken lightly. We do see a fairly vocal call for content focusing beyond the Inner Sea, be it Tian Xia or Arcadia or the other planets or the other planes... but too often, that's all that it seems to be. When we DO publish books about this content, they often don't make as big a splash as those voices would have suggested they should.
If you DO want to see us do more stuff like this... you ABSOLUTELY need to let us know. Not just by making wish-list requests here, but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY in the reviews of products. Management doesn't have the time to scour every thread on these boards, and while the rest of us downstairs do keep an eye on things, being able to point to Distant Shores or Dragon Empires Gazetteer or Jade Regent having lots of good reviews is a lot more important for getting the perception that something was well liked. And something that's well-liked and thus well-reviewed has a MUCH better chance of us expanding on it, even if sales weren't outstanding but "merely good."
Time to go write some reviews!
It saddens me that people outside these boards don't know or care about most things beyond the Inner Sea region.
That´s a fair point.
Reviews here and on amazon weren´t on my focus so far, i only did one yet.
Mostly i focused on talking and promoting Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society on some german boards, explaining rules, backgrounds, etc, defending against misunderstandings and people who just hate on any game that doesn´t have 3d20 (a common problem over here).
I´ll look into writing reviews here, on amazon and on ulysses.
And i´ll talk about this with other people.
Even a very short review and some stars go a long way, i can understand that.
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But, Mr. Jacobs has said multiple times that the Tien Xia stuff didn't do so well commercially.Well, it's not surprising. Asian content can be overwhelming to players not used to it. All this gaiju, kazento and hin min (random gibberish) makes many people feel lost, and therefore not attracted to the setting. You have to introduce it slowwwly, at a rate average players can swallow it. Paizo seems to be aware of that, so they didn't make Jade Regent fully Asian. Maybe the sales numbers were still disappointing, hence the reluctance to go full Asian.
The campaign would need something else, something so attractive that many players become willing to dig through the Asian terms and concepts. Impressive foes work for me, demons and giants attracted me to the respective adventure paths. And even then the question is: Wouldn't the AP be much more successful without the Asian setting?
For me, it's just that I find East Asian-themed stuff--including the existing Paizo Tian Xia material, which I bought--snore-worthy. I just have no real interest in it.
A South Asian/Vudran AP, though, I'd probably buy in its entirety.
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Many internet shops lately ask for reviews after transactions - maybe that's something for Paizo too? It appearantly results in a lot of short, usually very positive reviews, but could also make more people write in-depth, critical reviews.
I guess there is a serious inhibition threshold to write a review - it means effort, especially if you want to do it right. But more importantly, many people doubt they can express their opinion well or doubt someone would care anyway. Fighting this doubt is key to an increased number of reviews...
Well, that, and the tendency, when satisfied with an item, is to let having purchased it be the sum total of the feedback given.
Which does no one any favors.
If you DO want to see us do more stuff like this... you ABSOLUTELY need to let us know. Not just by making wish-list requests here, but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY in the reviews of products. Management doesn't have the time to scour every thread on these boards, and while the rest of us downstairs do keep an eye on things, being able to point to Distant Shores or Dragon Empires Gazetteer or Jade Regent having lots of good reviews is a lot more important for getting the perception that something was well liked. And something that's well-liked and thus well-reviewed has a MUCH better chance of us expanding on it, even if sales weren't outstanding but "merely good."
Hmm, that seems a risky strategy to me. Presumably a certain baseline achievement of actual sales matters more than reviews?
It seems to me that otherwise you run the risk of the review system being debased by a kind of proxy popularity contest - especially if people start posting "One star - I hate non western fantasy" reviews.
It's always seemed to me that a review should be based on how well the product does what it says it will do, not whether or not one wanted products like this in the first place. I have no interest in Scifi-fantasy genre crossovers, but reviewing Iron Gods as "bad" based on that seems to be a real distortion of the system.
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Creative Director
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If you DO want to see us do more stuff like this... you ABSOLUTELY need to let us know. Not just by making wish-list requests here, but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY in the reviews of products. Management doesn't have the time to scour every thread on these boards, and while the rest of us downstairs do keep an eye on things, being able to point to Distant Shores or Dragon Empires Gazetteer or Jade Regent having lots of good reviews is a lot more important for getting the perception that something was well liked. And something that's well-liked and thus well-reviewed has a MUCH better chance of us expanding on it, even if sales weren't outstanding but "merely good."Hmm, that seems a risky strategy to me. Presumably a certain baseline achievement of actual sales matters more than reviews?
It seems to me that otherwise you run the risk of the review system being debased by a kind of proxy popularity contest - especially if people start posting "One star - I hate non western fantasy" reviews.
It's always seemed to me that a review should be based on how well the product does what it says it will do, not whether or not one wanted products like this in the first place. I have no interest in Scifi-fantasy genre crossovers, but reviewing Iron Gods as "bad" based on that seems to be a real distortion of the system.
Honestly, that's exactly the sort of feedback reviews are intended to supply. If a lot of folks give a product one-star reviews and say "I hate non-western fantasy"... that's disappointing for sure, but it also is very informative. While I do enjoy doing Tian Xia stuff, I also enjoy being paid for my job so I can maintain a place to live and buy groceries and the like, and if all I do is build Tian Xia books for a customer base that hates non-western games then I'm gonna go broke and get fired and whatever.
AKA: It's even riskier trying to maintain a profitable business publishing books the majority of your customers don't want.
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Yeah only it was stated often enough already that Jade Regent isn´t really about Tian Xia, but a group of travellers in a caravan travelling somewhere ending up there.
And it´s not like there´s enough other vocal people out here.
There´s more than enough compelling reasons to look into new Tian Xia stuff. I´m pretty sure Mr. Jacobs is reading most the threads here.
In fact, he made a pretty ominous statement lately.
I am indeed watching.
Jade Regent and Tian Xia stuff was something I'd wanted to do from day one. It's one of a few reasons I put Ameiko in the very first Pathfinder AP adventure. I would LOVE to do a Tian Xian adventure path in the future. But the Adventure Path itself has to serve a lot of masters.
You guys are currently doing an EVIL AP...something which to tell the truth...I would wager does NOT even appeal to as many people as an Asian AP (the audience for anime for example, or at least I imagine, is FAR larger than that of those who love the Nazi's as heroes type of thing).
If you guys can pull that off, I don't see any reason why you couldn't do a Tian Xia/Asian AP. The audience is already out there, and if it is able to be tapped (and hey, the anime and Japanophiles already have one foot in the door of our hobby, many of them ARE us already in fact!), I think it should (not that it will) do better overall than Hell's Vengeance.
I'm getting HV right now, but that's because I'm a subscriber and a completionist.
This is probably the first AP that I have NO interest in running AT ALL. In fact, no interest really in even reading it overall (though probably will on the usual morning throne). I hate Cheliax as a nation (though trying to take it down because they are villains is nice), and I dislike the entire evil party overall...combine both and it makes for a very unsavory mix for me...and I would think...others.
What I'm saying, is if you guys believe you can pull off this type of AP...
I don't see why a Tian Xia AP would be so problematic. IF you can market it right, I'd think there'd be a pretty big audience out there (in fact, there's VERY little in the realm of Asian RPG material right now...we're almost starving for it) if you can tap into the audience.
I think the problem with Jade Regent was it wasn't seen as an Asian AP at first (or second...or third) with only the very last portion being in Tian Xia. Tian Xia is really not been tapped. One can refer to the Campaign book and/or Gazetteer on the area...but I think a better correlation of how big the audience may be are those who readily took to Ultimate Combat (a REAL taste of Asian in optional takes on classes) and the relavant Asian type information in there...as well as Ultimate Magic.
Of course I'd really like a Tian Xia AP, or even better, a full on book with a LOT more classes (something like ACG, but with Asian names and flavor), so I'm obviously extremely and excessively biased...
But, biased as I am...I think Tian Xia material is an untapped resource that could be VERY beneficial to Paizo if you guys could figure out how to market it to the vast audience for this type of material that is out there. (on the otherhand, without the right marketing, it probably would reflect more on the Dragon Empires side of the house, however well or badly the sales did with that).
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Something else I'd like to add to this conversation is that when it comes to an AP some that's very important is that the developer of an AP be interested and enthusiastic about the location, theme, and story of the Adventure Path. I'm very, very appreciative that management and executive feel strongly about this, especially as I move into developing the adventures in the Adventure Paths.
Now that said, I'll completely admit that I'm not the developer to come to with the desire for more eastern Asian-themed material. It's not one of the things that I'm super-knowledgeable about, and would hate to do it wrong for the people that are excited for that material.
I'll see ya in other parts of the world... ;)
Part of the reason Distant Shores exists is that we wanted to do some things outside of the Inner Sea and then see where people were interested in seeing us go in the future. Think of it as a sampler platter. However, it doesn't seem like the book was a huge splash. It's been out for a few months and still doesn't have a review, and most of the comments about the book after its release was about the small amount of mechanics the book contained.
It had nothing to do with that for me. It details SIX (that's 6) cities from the description. Not a nation, not something in more depth...but SIX cities which are only a portion of something.
These are cities I've never even heard of for the most part or if I have...aren't half as interested in as other locations in the same continent.
Furthermore, though I am interested in Tian Xia...there is at least half the book that I would read, but never use.
Why would I be interested in this book?
It's focused on a few cities, but they are so scattered as to make it so that I don't want to get it just for the part I am interested in (though perhaps, with the most recent reviews that have popped up...maybe I should look at the PDF?).
That's what your marketing made it sound like. In regards specifically to Tian Xia...perhaps a focus on the more PC race type areas instead of a Hobgoblin City. It could be seen just as much a reflection on Hobgoblin empires as it is on Tian Xia...perhaps more so for those looking at adventure areas.
In addition, Dhucharg is smaller than most of the major cities elsewhere...isn't it? If you are going to detail a city...why not the biggest cities for each continent.
If you are looking at this book to see how successful something outside of the Inner Sea would do, I think you are looking at the wrong thing.
It has NOTHING to do with those of us who would like a Tian Xia or even Distant World's interest in many ways. I am one who would be excessively interested in Tian Xia...and interested in a Distant Worlds, yet this book really didn't perk my interest.
On the otherhand, the IG or RoW AP's had more dealing with Distant Worlds stuff than many of the other items that have come out. IG is probably a better reflection of people's interest in what's out there beyond the Inner Sea (at least to a degree) than some of the other worldly adventures that have been put out.
I think a similar thing could be stated in regards to Tian Xia
I think the bigger problem in WHY some of these books don't do as well is because they don't address what people are actually asking for. They may hit around the edges...but they don't actually give people what they are willing to pay for.
That, and marketing it to them.
I'm a key individual that would probably leap at Tian Xia stuff in general...yet the marketing failed to communicate to me why I would be interested in Distant Shores. I think a better question is, if it was truly being marketed to my audience...how did you miss attracting that key audience to the product?
I could post a review on it...but as I didn't even buy it...it wouldn't be a fair review. The thing is, you lost the core audience (if indeed I was part of that for Tian Xia stuff) before you even started sales of the product! Plus, I'm notoriously bad at reviewing. I don't really do the entire review thing. It appears maybe I should start with more vigor from what I'm hearing?
Addendum
Something else I'd like to add to this conversation is that when it comes to an AP some that's very important is that the developer of an AP be interested and enthusiastic about the location, theme, and story of the Adventure Path. I'm very, very appreciative that management and executive feel strongly about this, especially as I move into developing the adventures in the Adventure Paths.
Now that said, I'll completely admit that I'm not the developer to come to with the desire for more eastern Asian-themed material. It's not one of the things that I'm super-knowledgeable about, and would hate to do it wrong for the people that are excited for that material.
I'll see ya in other parts of the world... ;)
I guess that's a very valid reason. If there isn't anyone that's actually interested or vested in doing a Tian Xia AP or books, it probably is very hard for someone to get enthusiastic about it.
I can understand that. Doesn't sate my interest in Tian Xia, but I can understand why that could be a major obstacle to getting more Tian Xia (or other) stuff.
I gotta agree, I was happy to see a Tian Xia city in Distant Shores, until it ended up being the hobgoblin city. Heart kind of sank. Was hoping for something more tied to Asian mythology.
Still got my Arcadia city though :D
If you DO want to see us do more stuff like this... you ABSOLUTELY need to let us know. Not just by making wish-list requests here, but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY in the reviews of products. Management doesn't have the time to scour every thread on these boards, and while the rest of us downstairs do keep an eye on things, being able to point to Distant Shores or Dragon Empires Gazetteer or Jade Regent having lots of good reviews is a lot more important for getting the perception that something was well liked. And something that's well-liked and thus well-reviewed has a MUCH better chance of us expanding on it, even if sales weren't outstanding but "merely good."Hmm, that seems a risky strategy to me. Presumably a certain baseline achievement of actual sales matters more than reviews?
It seems to me that otherwise you run the risk of the review system being debased by a kind of proxy popularity contest - especially if people start posting "One star - I hate non western fantasy" reviews.
It's always seemed to me that a review should be based on how well the product does what it says it will do, not whether or not one wanted products like this in the first place. I have no interest in Scifi-fantasy genre crossovers, but reviewing Iron Gods as "bad" based on that seems to be a real distortion of the system.
Honestly, that's exactly the sort of feedback reviews are intended to supply. If a lot of folks give a product one-star reviews and say "I hate non-western fantasy"... that's disappointing for sure, but it also is very informative. While I do enjoy doing Tian Xia stuff, I also enjoy being paid for my job so I can maintain a place to live and buy groceries and the like, and if all I do is build Tian Xia books for a customer base that hates non-western games then I'm gonna go broke and get fired and whatever.
AKA: It's even riskier trying to maintain a profitable business publishing books the majority of your customers don't want.
The fact you want to please your fan-base is not a revelation. I just find it fascinating that the review process is seen as a reliable or reasonable way to garner that kind of information. I have always viewed it as an opinion on "how well did this book meet it's stated objectives"?
Your latest post seems to me to imply (given that I don't like sci-fi in my fantasy) that I should give Iron Gods, the technology guide and the Numeneria campaign book a low rated review - even though there are several of them I haven't even read yet. Before this thread, I would have considered that kind of abusive of the process - I don't like them, but from what I have seen they were very well done (so it wouldn't feel right to rate them lowly).
As ever, I appreciate the perspective from inside the company.
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.I would wager does NOT even appeal to as many people as an Asian AP (the audience for anime for example, or at least I imagine, is FAR larger than...).
Just to note there, anime fan =/= asian themed content fan :P If you have watched anime, you do notice that while all of them are clearly influenced by culture they were produced by(mostly in character's values), quite lot of fantasy anime do have that european medieval-ish thing going for. Anime is more of over the top stylish action if you ask me than "Ninjas and samurais".
Anyhoo, btw, does reviewing old products released years ago do anything good? I mean, like, I doubt anyone would care if I review a product with "OMG, please more like this" when the product is already old and no new stuff like it has been released xD
I also was very disappointed in them using a hobgoblin city for the Tian Xia city chosen. But I liked the book otherwise and would like to see more stuff outside the Inner Sea.