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Palladium did NOT die from their fans. It died from poor business ventures that did not pay off... and then they asked their fan base to buy a $50 product to save their company and it did not happen. So If you are referring to the fifty dollar product you are absolutely right... but if any company did that they have a loosing prospect at best. It is just a matter of time before the business ended like Palladium's did.
The only reason they are still around is that they have a hardcore fanbase that puts up with a lot from the company. They still imo release so good products.
Having been on their forums on and off it is because fans just got fed up and left. If it's not the guy in charge promising to support all their game lines consistently then doing anything but. With a release schedule that is a joke in the industry. With a forum that no matter how constructive a thread is it will get shut down because it bothers someone at the company or the hardcore fans. People think the moderation is biased and one sided here. HAH. Go on the Palladium forum. Errata is mostly a joke. The system needs a major overhaul. With the owner apparently playing a houseruled version of his own system at conventions. Yet insists the system is perfect and does not need to be changed. A refusal to release their products on PDF for fear of piracy when it's been proven on their own forums that it's too late. People already pirate their products.
Don't you think that type of behavior from a company is not going to make fans happy. Unlike Paizo they imo take their fanbase for granted completely. I'm not saying that you are wrong about bad business decisions.
Palladium actually got bought out early last year.. so yes it is still going and churning product out.. under new ownership though.
I think you are wrong. They never were imo bought out. It's the same owner. If they did they sure as hell kept it secret from the fans.
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Truth of the matter is that being abusive to retail staff is a boorish act that's not offset by the fact you're buying product. Americans for some reason, seem to have a greater crop of the type of people who have always seem to feel that purchasing from a venue gives you license to abuse the people that serve you.
It's the customer extension of the business management mindset.
Even a mediocre manager can get productivity from employees who produce well and are easy to get along with. However, getting productivity from "difficult" employees is the heart and art of being a great manager.
When these great managers train their sales representatives, they pass on this same idea; getting money from difficult customers somehow makes you a better sales representative.
Honestly, I think it's nonsense, because difficult customers are high maintenance and tend to be a loss rather than a profit in the long run. There are some cowards who worry their complaints will generate negative PR, but truly the difficult customers who complain all the time are known as such by their friends and family and their words don't have nearly as much impact as anybody might fear.
There is an interesting idea gaining traction that businesses should absolutely "fire" difficult customers in a self-deprecating way. Basically, "Sorry, our business doesn't have the capability to meet your demands. Here's a list of our competitors, we hope they can serve your needs better than we have been able to."
It's brilliant because it exports the cost of the difficult customer to a competitor. And, if enough businesses pick up on this notion, a customer who is difficult beyond reason will soon find themselves without a service provider (or paying astronomical rates to hire people who will put up with them.)
Agreed and seconded. They maybe a handful if even that who are very demanding. If not most are anything but. Apparently you can't ask Paizo anything as it's being rude and abusive.Say what now?
Complainer: You are being rude and abusive! I WANT MY PONY AND I WANT IT NOW!
I'm sorry, but I think that is a an exaggeration. They do hear many negative comments that have been given politely and have not responded as though it was rude and abusive. For example, the lack of labelling on some of the Map Folios as they came out. Some was constructive (I know I tried to be), others were rude about it. They accepted the constructive criticism and modified the Folios when they determined that the criticism was legitimate.
That is just one example that I can think of off the top of my head. Rude and abusive is used to describe posts when the staff in general or individual staff members are called out for their professionalism, intelligence, skill, personal bias, etc. Calling a decision "dumb" for example would be rude because it implies a lack of intelligence or skill by the staff. Calling the same decision "questionable" or "missed this point" is acceptable as it makes it a mistake anyone could make. Just ratcheting down the rhetoric to a less emotional level can make all the difference and is generally all that is needed.
The pony reference was a deliberate exaggeration—which was stated by TainithT in the post—to show what the complaining sounds like to that poster. Nothing more. Personally I think it was a touch over-the-top and probably shouldn't have used capital letters, but that is a personal taste issue and one of the problems of the lack of emotive description in text. We all read these things with tones which we add in our minds.
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Agreed and seconded. They maybe a handful if even that who are very demanding. If not most are anything but. Apparently you can't ask Paizo anything as it's being rude and abusive.Say what now?
Complainer: You are being rude and abusive! I WANT MY PONY AND I WANT IT NOW!
Strange, as I see the majority of people that "ask" (as opposed to rudely demand as if it's somehow their right to do so) not getting hostile responses. Just look at the Ask [staff member] threads.
Rules questions are something you raise in the hope they'll see a clarification sooner or later, then move on. Getting all worked up and trying to stir up trouble on the boards because they're not answered is a sure-fire way to get a hostile response. Perhaps we just need a "suggestions and questions box" where people can post that stuff privately to Paizo and not have it raised on the boards where it causes all this fuss.
It seems to me the main problem is people getting snarky over the fact they don't have a private hotline to the devs when they have a question and have to sit in the processing pile along with everyone else, especially when the game evidently sells well enough and is played enough that the vast majority of players appear to be quite happy just getting on and playing it. To me, that points the finger firmly at the vocal few who think trying to raise hell on the forums (presumably in the hope they can spark some kind of electronic riot to "force things to get done") over a rules issue is somehow acceptable behavior.
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Agreed and seconded. They maybe a handful if even that who are very demanding. If not most are anything but. Apparently you can't ask Paizo anything as it's being rude and abusive.Say what now?
Complainer: You are being rude and abusive! I WANT MY PONY AND I WANT IT NOW!
You took my comment 180 degrees from what I intended.
I'm actually in agreement with TanithT's comment making light of some recent complaints with hyperbole. The response by an alt of mine was just being ironic, since TanithT asked for a pony in the hyperbole, and the alt was a My Little Pony character.
Todd: You need to practice speaking in 3rd person — The Great and Powerful Trixie would not settle for less!
