Pathfinder 1E [Paizo] Paizo wants your opinions... Why?

[Morrus]

One thing I'd love to see in an issue of Poly (OK, this is slight OT since we're discussing Dragon here) is a good, solid article about the D20 e-publishing industry. Not one which favours any particular publishers, or any particular online vendor, but a decent, objective overview of the industry.

I thnk that a lot of people who never really use the web for their hobby would benefit from finding out about a whole segment of the industry of which they were previously not (or only peripherally) aware.

 

[Morrus]

Re: Re: Dragon

I don't know how interested the populace at large is about industry-insider stuff like this. The main goal should be material that I can use in my game, even if it's just good advice. Industry news becomes obsolete within days or weeks, and is best left to sources like ENWorld and Gaming Report. And WotC has feature articles on its staff all the time.

Same with reviews, IMO. The internet is much better suited to timely reviews and/or news.

 

[Zaruthustran]

One thing I'd love to see in an issue of Poly (OK, this is slight OT since we're discussing Dragon here) is a good, solid article about the D20 e-publishing industry. Not one which favours any particular publishers, or any particular online vendor, but a decent, objective overview of the industry.

I thnk that a lot of people who never really use the web for their hobby would benefit from finding out about a whole segment of the industry of which they were previously not (or only peripherally) aware.

That's one thing that's really stumped me: WotC does not use the web. I mean, sure, they've got a site, errata, and a trickle of articles, but they could do so much more.

Wizkids does a good job really leveraging the web. They're very involved. But even they could do more. I'm talking e-tools that work and run in your browser, searchable archives, online gaming--the works.

As for PDFs, here's a bit of news. Amazon recently added Malhavoc Press and is eagerly looking to add additional vendors. Big, small--doesn't matter. This means that even Joe Gamer can potentially make money selling d20 PDFs, right alongside the big publishers. Quality, as determined by customers, will be a deciding factor on who succeeds--as opposed to the print world, where distribution/retail penetration plays such a huge role.

-z

 

[Zaruthustran]

Re: Re: Re: Dragon

Same with reviews, IMO. The internet is much better suited to timely reviews and/or news.

That's why meaty feature articles are so perfect for Dragon. You can get rules stuff from official books and the Web. But no one's really providing thoughtful, in-depth game-related articles.

Buzz, when I say "News" I mean the kind of news you'd find in Time--but focused on games. Not product announcements and timely news. ENWorld and Gaming Report are better sources for that kind of thing.

-z

 

[Erik Mona]

>>>
One thing I'd love to see in an issue of Poly (OK, this is slight OT since we're discussing Dragon here) is a good, solid article about the D20 e-publishing industry. Not one which favours any particular publishers, or any particular online vendor, but a decent, objective overview of the industry.
>>>

I've approved a couple queries along these lines, but nothing's ever come of them.

--Erik

 

[diaglo]

how many times can you take the survey?

and does anyone have a decent engine that will stuff the ballot box for me?

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Jesse, thanks for chiming in - it's nice to know you guys are listening.

I'd like to say I hope Paizo makes a habit of surveys, focused, unfocused, whatever. There is a tendency in any organization to develop tunnel vision ("I already know what my users need - why should I ask them?") Obviously, the profitability of the magazine is the final measuring stick, but I strongly believe that surveying your readership is one of the best ways to get useful feedback. Just please don't be like some of the managers I've worked for: "We don't want that question on the survey - it'll just open a can of worms." Go ahead and ask the controversial ones (reviews?) - we'll have fun debating them on the boards here.

Regarding the concerns that have been expressed over some specific questions on the survey, any that I felt uncomfortable answering, e.g., income, I left blank. Yes, that will skew the results slightly, but I doubt significantly.

 

[buzz]

That's one thing that's really stumped me: WotC does not use the web. I mean, sure, they've got a site, errata, and a trickle of articles, but they could do so much more.

Wow. IMO, there's more stuff avaiable on the WotC site than I know what to do with. A ginormous FAQ, healthy amount of errata, Web enhancements for just about every single product they've made for d20, free adventures, map-a-week, articles on painting minis and DM'ing, NPCs, designer spotlights, previews, character sheets, rules additions... the list goes on.

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a RPG company that does more with the Web than WotC does. What aren't they doing that you think they should?

 

[Zaruthustran]

Well, sure, there's *stuff* on WotC's site. And they've got message boards. That's low-hanging fruit. That's obvious. But they could do more.

The great thing about the Web is that it allows immediate interaction with customers. WotC should do more with this.

So, what I want to see:

1. Fireside Chats with developers.
2. More WotC involvement on forums.
3. RPGA on the Web. The Living campaigns should have fully interactive websites complete with news tickers, dynamic maps, character databases, surveys, current events, archives of past events, history, and more.
4. Player database, with a search function.
5. Hosting for online D&D games (play-by-chat), or at least links to 3rd party online gaming/dice roller programs.
6. e-tools that work and run in your browser
7. E-conventions, like what we do here at ENWorld
8. A new, online-only Living campaign.
9. PDF versions of splatbooks, or at least the crunchy portions of the splatbooks.

..and so on.

Note that the above is a wishlist; the question of "Should WotC be doing all this" is impossible to answer without much research and access to WotC's financials/staff roster/future strategy/partnership possibilities/etc.

All I'm saying is that I'd like to see more.

-z

 

[Endur]

Dragon Suggestions

I agree 100% with the quoted section before.

My favorite parts of Dragon are THEORY, not CRUNCH. Explain how to role play. Explain how to GM. Explain how to design a world/adventure/campaign/etc.

PRCs, feats, and spells are of limited usefulness. There are tons of these available elsewhere. And many games don't use optional PRCs/Feats/spells from Dragon, since they aren't playtested as much as the core rules.

Different ways to use core feats and skills, however, is something I think should be in Dragon. The article in the last issue that covered pushing statues down on enemies or swinging from ropes was PERFECT. Exactly the sort of article that Dragon needs, useful for both players and GMs.

I don't mind the fiction -- sometimes I don't read it, sometimes I do. I loved the George Martin piece. I'm actively looking forward to the George Martin campaign world information.

The comics are great. (Perhaps not up to the Golden Age of Wormy, but close).

On the topic of 3.5, I would rather see the exact text of a character class or a feat, then some general discussion about the development process. i.e. I would love to see the new version of the Bard or Ranger classes. Or maybe a list of the new feats included in the PHB or the new PRCs in the DMG or the list of new monsters in the MM.

I'm not a fan of Reviews in Dragon; I've been reading Dragon since issue #40, and I don't think a Dragon review has ever influenced me. With the web, reviews are even less necessary.

Likewise, I think letters to the editor should be handled online in a message board and not printed in the magazine.

I'd much rather see more stuff from Gary Gygax, or more 3.5 stuff, or more articles on campaign building or adventure creating.

Tom

IMO Dragon needs less rules crap. The Web is flooded with prestige classes, feats, skills, spells, and whatnot. Dragon, a paper magazine, is the worst possible place for such content since:

1. It can't be updated--once printed, it's done.
2. It's not convenient. Who wants to carry around multiple issues of bulky, fragile magazines just so they can reference cruddy quasi-official rules?
3. Rules geeks/crunch fiends are much better served by buying any of the hundreds of d20 products, or better yet, scouring the Web.

An issue of Dragon should not be a mini-splatbook. If Paizo wants to deal with such junk, they should put their new Webmaster to good use and create web articles, with access restricted to subscribers. Web articles can be instantly updated with errata fixes, 3.5 updates, etc.

Dragon should leave the crunch to the splatbooks. It should focus less on rules for the game, and more on the game itself: game design tips, news, editorials, and features. The best Dragon articles are the articles on world building, dungeon design, and game mastering. The worst are the unbalanced, context-less, ultimately useless crunch fests.

How cool would it be to see an in-depth article on the behind-the-scenes politics, business, and game design issues of 3.5? Or an update on current legislation that might affect games? Or real info on game sales/current state of the industry? Or an overview of what's happening with the main D&D settings? Or an analysis of WotC's strategy with "D&D Miniatures"? Or a feature article and interview with WotC's chief miniature sculptor?

As opposed to yet another batch of garbage feats, wacky weapons, and goofy spells that you'll probably never use.

Hopefully we'll see some changes.

-z

PS: Paizo really, really needs to build a better site. With a searchable article archive. Gamers are web-savvy, Paizo--put Rob to good use and serve your customers!