|
So...when did the price of scenarios increase to $9? And why? What have I missed?
I hope it wasn't as simple as comparing the cost of production vs. revenue on a per scenario basis, because such an analysis misses the point. Not only would it ignore the promotional value of PFS, but it (more importantly) ignores price elasticity of demand. As with a grounding in economics know, increasing the prices of something can *reduce* the total revenue depending on the shape of the demand curve. I would posit that the demand for PFS scenarios is likely very elastic, meaning a $9 may have an effect exactly opposite to that which was intended. At $9 for a scenario, overall revenue per scenario is likely to *decrease*, making scenarios completely financially nonviable. Furthermore, the price of the scenario is borne almost exclusively by GMs, which is the last group you want to dissuade from participating in PFS.
I sincerely hope I've misunderstood the situation, because if I haven't this looks like a bad misstep on Paizo's part, and one that seems likely to further damage a campaign I rather enjoy participating in on occasion. :-(
Contributor
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The rationale was laid out in the Paizo Pricing Sustainability Blog.
A couple questions: are you looking to be a regular host of Paizo games in a public place? If so, Venture Officers do get free copies of scenarios and Quests so that they can run a wide variety of adventures for their groups.
Also if you are GMing for a Paizo Supported Convention (including online conventions like the upcoming PaizoCon), Paizo will drop you copies of the adventures that you are running for free.
These are two things that might help stretch those dollars a bit.
Hmm
|
|
The rationale was laid out in the Paizo Pricing Sustainability Blog.
A couple questions: are you looking to be a regular host of Paizo games in a public place? If so, Venture Officers do get free copies of scenarios and Quests so that they can run a wide variety of adventures for their groups.
Also if you are GMing for a Paizo Supported Convention (including online conventions like the upcoming PaizoCon), Paizo will drop you copies of the adventures that you are running for free.
These are two things that might help stretch those dollars a bit.
Hmm
Thank you for the link; it is appreciated.
I'm actually a former VL, so I'm pretty familiar with convention support.
However, I stand by my argument that $9 is not a viable price for a FPS scenario. There is nothing "sustainable" about it; if anything, it is exactly the opposite. To be clear, this is not just someone being cheap; this is someone who minored in econ in college telling Paizo that this move was a bad idea, and exactly why. Namely, price elasticity of demand.
Not only do scenarios compare very poorly value-wise at $9 to other (Paizo and non-Paizo) adventure offerings, but they are very likely to generate *less* revenue, not more, than they would at a lower price. Paizo has priced themselves out of the market, which will kill volume -- and therefore revenue. There were already issues with the health of PFS content that were not corrected by previous price increases, as evidenced by the reduced scenario production. Additional price increases are likely to make things worse, not better.
All of which also completely ignores the promotional value of PFS, which as a former VL I know to be significant...if admittedly difficult to quantify.
Sorry to vent, but this is exactly the wrong thing to do to right the PFS ship. I hope they course correct before they draw all the wrong conclusions and kill the scenario line altogether.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I don't mind buying scenarios, but now I'm going to really start thinking about whether I need to buy it or not (I've purchased scenarios I haven't used in the past). I'll probably be taking the VL up on the offer to provide them for free in the future.
Gamers are notoriously cheap (far cheaper than myself), this move really surprises me because scenarios are supposed to be "loss leaders", they're used to promote their other products. They aren't supposed to make money, it's marketing.
Anyway, thought I'd share that I was concerned and surprised as well.