More and more people are playing online now a days. Paizo has given out the right to a few of these companies to carry products. My question is why not just make an online line gaming system yourselves, and I'm not talking about an MMO. Now I'm not saying that Roll20, D20pro, and fantasy grounds don't all do a fine job being compatible to games like Pathfinder and Starfinder but I feel like it's a golden opportunity here to charge a small fee or monthly fee, whatever, to connect all the Paizo gamers in a single spot. I can't speak for everyone but I for one know that I'd use such a service it if were made available through Paizo.
|
Planpanther...I think it's a dead project.
I agree Lost Ohioaian. There are more of us all the time, and several of us have been pressuring Paizo for YEARS to recognize the trend.
They have said, more than once, a new web site will make things easier for us, but I doubt it will add real value the way using outside mapping does in particular (and there are other examples). Paizo could internalize these tools and make more money, but they don't see it.
Then again, I'm no longer in the industry, so I could totally be wrong. it's possible that Paizo has carefully and thoroughly examined the options, especially when they were working on Paizo Game Space, and determined it was not financially viable.
Feels more like other things took priority, and it backslid though. I continue to hope for more from Paizo. I am... the eternal optimist.
A more recent update:
tl;dr
They went with Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds
Virtual Tabletop
Paizo Inc., publisher of the award-winning Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, announces today agreements with Mesa Mundi Inc. and SmiteWorks to deliver official Pathfinder RPG content to millions of gamers through their leading virtual tabletops, D20PRO and Fantasy Grounds, respectively.
More and more people are playing online now a days. Paizo has given out the right to a few of these companies to carry products. My question is why not just make an online line gaming system yourselves, and I'm not talking about an MMO. Now I'm not saying that Roll20, D20pro, and fantasy grounds don't all do a fine job being compatible to games like Pathfinder and Starfinder but I feel like it's a golden opportunity here to charge a small fee or monthly fee, whatever, to connect all the Paizo gamers in a single spot. I can't speak for everyone but I for one know that I'd use such a service it if were made available through Paizo.
I'm working from memory, however I think Paizo's view a few years ago was that such an undertaking (if done properly) would require significant, specialised technical expertise.
Paizo face the choice of developing that skillset in-house or partnering with an outside company who already have the skills. It seems that throughout the business they have made a conscious decision to keep their staff focussed on the production of RPG products and to partner with established, proven third parties when it comes to broader applications.
I don't know anything about computers, but that makes sense from general principles. They have limited resources (especially staff, who are all working at capacity) and diverting some of those people from something Paizo do well to something new would probably be less effective (even if the new thing is profitable) than outsourcing the new thing and expanding what they know they're good at.
In other words, they may indeed be able to make money from a Virtual Tabletop application, but they can probably do better making more gaming products and waiting to find a suitable partner to license their IP to.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm going to go ahead and throw an opinion into the pot that I never thought I would...
I don't think they should.
I've been musing over the recent trend for video streaming content creators to pull their material from Netflix and invent their own streaming service. Starz did it. Disney is doing it. CBS is all excited because they have a new Star Trek show coming and they're going to use it to launch their own streaming service.
Do not want.
My money goes to Netflix. If Disney and the gang want a slice, that's where they can find it. I shop at a grocery store that offers all the things I want. If Heinz or Kellogs or Coke decides to pull their products and make a "Heinz Store", rest assured I'll happily be buying Not-Heinz Ketchup at my grocery store.
In this context, I think it's a good idea for a small number of virtual desktop companies to get the bulk of use. Those products should get the most technical investment, and the most usability. Paizo, WotC, and everyone else should make content/rules deals with those few places, and we funnel our money through them.
The game of nickle & dime and requiring me/us to have accounts everywhere... is not in our best interest. It lowers the quality of the product, it lowers the value of the product, and it's just... annoying.
Chief Technical Officer
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A more recent update:
tl;dr
They went with Roll20 and Fantasy GroundsVirtual Tabletop
Paizo Inc., publisher of the award-winning Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, announces today agreements with Mesa Mundi Inc. and SmiteWorks to deliver official Pathfinder RPG content to millions of gamers through their leading virtual tabletops, D20PRO and Fantasy Grounds, respectively.
D20PRO, not Roll20...
|
Chief Technical Officer
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Paizo face the choice of developing that skillset in-house or partnering with an outside company who already have the skills. It seems that throughout the business they have made a conscious decision to keep their staff focussed on the production of RPG products and to partner with established, proven third parties when it comes to broader applications....
In other words, they may indeed be able to make money from a Virtual Tabletop application, but they can probably do better making more gaming products and waiting to find a suitable partner to license their IP to.
Well said.
There's a saying in business I heard (probably read): "Stick to the knitting." In general, it means companies should stick to what they are good at. Companies often lose their way when they branch off into areas that aren't their proven expertise.