OK, let me just combine all this up into one post so all my posts aren’t just pro-Paizo puff pieces.
First of all, Paizo just swept the ENnie awards yet again. Gold medals for product of the year, favorite publisher, best production values, best cartography, best minis, best cover art, etc. It’s just embarrassing.
Next, they have some whole new product lines they’re offering via subscription. Comics, which doesn’t excite me, but the pawns are cool. Basically cardboard standups to replace minis (even though they have a minis line too). You get them at about 15 cents per pawn, and they are honestly arguably better than minis – less storage, full color, you don’t have to paint them… And themed to what you need. Very nice.
And they have reissued perhaps the best adventure ever, Rise of the Runelords, updated for Pathfinder, and with a tie-in to this year’s Shattered Star Adventure Path.
Paizo is putting out more, better product than anyone ever – even TSR at its height. It’s a true Renaissance of tabletop gaming and they are leading it.
OK, now back to your regularly scheduled cynicism.
We here at PathfinderWiki are also blown away by the fact that our little site, powered by a few devoted fans, has won Best Website against the likes of Obsidian Portal (a setting-neutral site) and DDI! It blows my mind.
Definitely, congrats on that! It’s a testament to Paizo that pathfinderwiki exists, many RPG companies would consider that a Threat ™ and cease and desist a similar effort on their properties, even now in 2012.
I’m pumped about the comics. One of Paizo’s smartest realizations is that not every product they make has to appeal to every customer they have. They are just fine releasing separate product lines for different people and not having to genericise them in order to try to appeal to a mass audience who might not care anyways.
I couldn’t care one iota about the pawns or miniatures. I never use them. But the fact that they’re okay giving both of us what we want and not trying to force us to use either is why they are doing so well.