Pathfinder 1E Stop thinking of Pathfinder as magazine issues

[Nlogue]

Nick, can you expand on your conversion plans a bit? The tricky thing with using Stormreach is that blog mentions visiting two cities. Are you planning on hopping back to Khorvaire or adding some other 'civilized' area to Xen'drik? Also, how do your goblins fit in, and more importantly what of the Rune Lords? Are you planning on mapping them onto the Giants(I admit that the emergence of the giants has been an idea I've toyed with for awhile) or the Qabalrin(and Xin-Shalast sounds like it'd make a nice feature for the Ring of Storms aka Moil IMC) or some other previously unmentioned group? I want to give this thing a fair shake, and I appreciate any comments you have regarding conversion.

Hey Fafhrd!

I don't want to get too specific, for I wouldn't want any WotC affiliated readers under the impression I was doing "Conversion Notes" (as that would be illegal methinks). However I think your first idea is a good one. Hop across the Thunder to Sharn mayhaps...though maybe another city would work better. I shouldn't say too much though. I like your other thoughts too Fafhrd! Ring of Storms rocks says I.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

Well, I just went and looked on Amazon Japan and I saw that the first Pathfinder was available there, for 3,000 yen ( about 25.00 for you USA folks) I am getting the first issue as part of the defunct Dungeon subscription, but it is nice to know I have a second option in case I want the first adventure path.

I have to admit that the first AP is sounding pretty good. But the $$$$$$$. Expedition to XXXX costs me 3,500 yen here, and it is the whole deal. I would have to pay 18,000 yen normally, or 15,000 yen for the whole Runelords AP. Huge price increase.

 

[MerricB]

In fact, I've said no such thing. Monte Cook speculated something of this nature on his message boards, but he was speculating.

--Erik

Chris Perkins has said on the Wizards boards ...

Chris Perkins: For the record, we don't have any sort of "no compete" clause curtailing Paizo's bold new business ventures.

(http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=862729&page=13)

Also:

Random poster: And now note that those two will likely not be contributing anymore, seeing as WoTC decided to allow the license to expire and actually directly compete with Paizo.

Chris Perkins:
What an odd thing to say.

The RPG industry benefits tremendously from the creative efforts of d20 companies such as Paizo Publishing. The relationship between Wizards and Paizo is simply evolving from "licensor–licensee" into something new. I don't see that as any cause for concern, particularly since we're friends and all.

The truth is, we routinely work with people who work for other d20 companies. Why? Because we admire their work. I'd give the Paizo guys another product in a heartbeat, if their schedules allowed it. You are right about one thing, though: After the Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk adventure releases in August, it may be a while before you see Erik's name or James's name or Jason's name or Wesley's name or Mike's name on the cover of a WotC book. That's because there's a lot of cool stuff happening over at Paizo right now, and they simply don't have the time to take on other projects. However, when things settle down a bit, I'm sure we'll have something they can sink their teeth into.

Cheers!

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I think the problem with Pathfinder will be the price. Over the long term that is. Paying around $17-18 each month adds up. And if you don't like a particular issue, you might start second-guessing the purchase.

I foresee a whole whack of people subscribing and then a gradual dropoff in subscriptions as people decide to buy it at their local hobby shop (if they can find it) instead.

Note that I'm not saying anything at all about the quality. The quality could be amazing, but I just think it's a high price point to be paying on a monthly basis.

And it's also not an "official" WotC product. I know a lot of people don't care, but even more people do (for whatever reason) and that will definitely impact sales.

As for the "it's a book not a magazine" issue, Pathfinder comes out on a monthly basis, has a subscription plan, and replaces Dungeon magazine. Despite the formatting differences, it it walks like a duck and squawks like a duck...

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I foresee a whole whack of people subscribing and then a gradual dropoff in subscriptions as people decide to buy it at their local hobby shop (if they can find it) instead.

I guess among those who don't want the PDF, this could happen.

And it's also not an "official" WotC product. I know a lot of people don't care, but even more people do (for whatever reason) and that will definitely impact sales.

We'll just have to enlighten people that "official WotC" doesn't mean "better".

As for the "it's a book not a magazine" issue, Pathfinder comes out on a monthly basis, has a subscription plan, and replaces Dungeon magazine. Despite the formatting differences, it it walks like a duck and squawks like a duck...

Isn't a duck if it looks like a chicken and eats chicken food

It's not filled with ads (okay, that doesn't make it a book), will probably be available longer than 4 weeks each...

 

[Steel_Wind]

Bah. I can think of Pathfinder as whatever I want to.

As far as I'm concerned, the Pathfinder press releases were very carefully worded to say, essentially--"this is Dragon and Dungeon continued--just very carefully formulated so as not to violate our non-compete agreement WotC just made us sign."

I agree, with the emphais on the new product continuing the Adventure Paths in Dungeon with articles supporting the AP and the new campaign world it is set in. All on high quality paper, thicker cardstock cover, no ads and at the cost of $20.

That, for me, was a no brainer and I subscribed. My sadness (and anger) at the departure of Dungeon and Dragon was assuaged only in part by the promise of Pathfinder.

The folks at Paizo have continuously demonstrated that they know their job better than anybody else in the business and they clearly have targeted me and other hardcore ENworlder DMs as their target market. WotC is chasing somebody else as their target customer - but Paizo wants me. That counts.

I urge others here to subscribe as well.

Make no mistake though - this hobby NEEDS the advertisement venue that a quality print magazine provides.

 

[Eldragon]

I'm interested in Pathfinder. I really like the idea of a long adventure purchased via subscriptions. I'm going to buy the first product when it is released in August, and based on that, maybe get the subscription. However I've never even looked at a Dungeon mag. so forgive my cluelessness...


1) How long are these adventures? (Playtime wise and pages wise)? Seems like with 1 release a month I will fall behind rather quickly.

2) Can someone give me a better idea of what to expect in each issue? I read the previews, but they are short on details. I figured someone who has been a Dungeon subscriber would give me a better idea.

3) $17.99 / month is a good sized chunk of change. I have no doubt that each copy of Pathfinder will be worth it. And unlike say Netflix or my phone bill (both the same price). I have something to show for it a year later. However, if I fall behind in using the product, I may as well stop my subscription for a year to catch up.

4) How connected are each of the issues? Are there major overarching plot lines crossing each issue? If so, then if I subscribe 6 months after the product was released, would I not be able to pick up the story?

 

[The Lost Muse]

Well, I just checked amazon.ca, and the first available for 15.46 each, which makes it a better deal. Depending on price, I will still check out the first couple of issues in *.pdf, just to see if I want to commit or not though.

Edit Post: The Canadian dollar has risen quite a bit since Pathfinder was initially announced, it's only ~$21 to subscribe.

 

[jdrakeh]

For me, Pathfinder appeals for two major reasons:

1. Book-quality production values. I know I'm not the only person who put off the Age of Worms and Savage Tide adventure paths because I was waiting for a durable, long-lasting, high quality book release of each to appear. Magazines are great for short term use, though being the book fetishist that I am, I refuse to own anything that is in less than perfect condition -- and using a magazine at the table more than a few times can swiftly reduce it from NEAR MINT quality to FAIR quality. Books are, simply, far more durable.

2. It's a dedicated adventure path/setting. Unlike the old magazines, which contained (on average) 30% to 40% material that I wasn't likley to use, the new books will be (so far as I can tell) solely dedicated to adventure path and/or setting material. For me, that means about 30% to 40% more useful content per issue.

Both of these things, for me, justify the slightly higher pricetag.

 

[Festivus]

Yeah, I got 3 years of Dungeon for (I think) about $120.00, shipping included. So the book series, Pathfinder, is going to cost me 4 to 6 times as much over the same 3 year period.
The only thing that makes this increased cost easier to take is the free pdf copy for subscribing. Thats about $14.00 of added value going by comparing it to other similiar pdf products.

So taking that into account, since I like having the pdf, the overall cost is only 2 to 3 times higher. Ad free, with substantially more content (page count-96).

So its looking like a good deal, just not as great as Dungeon was. Which wasn't ad free.

What was/is the average page count of content for Dungeon and Dragon?

Around the same page count (96ish) with ads as mentioned. Each of the three adventures in the magazine sat at around 25-30 pages, with adverts taking chunks of numerous pages (I never found it to be overly advert heavy).