The Cult of Paizo

On Saturday, the most recent Pathfinder book was pushed through my door. Unfortunately, the package had obviously gotten caught in the rains of last week, as it was wrapped in a plastic coating bearing apologies from Royal Mail. (This actually was a case of Not Good Enough, but that's another rant.)

Anyway, it was rather fortunate that this befell my Pathfinder book, for two reasons.

The first of these is that, quite frankly, the Pathfinder book is really not that important. Had the damage occurred to my tax disc (which I've just renewed), that would have been a disaster, as the existing disc would have expired this weekend. Alternately, that Star Wars book I read last month was both expensive, rare, and out-of-print; had that been destroyed it wouldn't have been easy to replace.

The other reason is that Paizo have, quite simply, the best customer service I have ever dealt with - a quick message on their boards and an email later and I'm getting a new copy. I even get to keep the existing copy, although quite what use I would make of it is questionable. I guess I could cut it up for props or something.

And that ties in with something I've mused on before. On occasion, over on ENWorld or similar, I've noted the existence of what I call "The Cult of Paizo" - they seem to have a lot of fans, and a disproportionate number of those fans are almost absurdly dedicated - they buy every product, they greet every announcement as if it's the best thing ever, and they can be really quite obnoxious.

The thing is, though, that Paizo deserve that loyalty from their fans. They produce universally high-quality product (even if Pathfinder is not to your taste, as it is not to mine, the physical quality is still outstanding). They produce a wide range of such products. They are on the forefront of digital distribution, what with offering almost everything in PDF, and providing tablet-optimised versions too. Sure, they don't have anything like the DDI, but then nobdy except WotC do, and it appears that DDI was a failed gamble by WotC. They are one of the very few companies to actively seek to expand the hobby, what with their Beginner Box, and their Organised Play structures. And they also actively seek out and promote new design talent for the industry. Plus, as I said, they have excellent customer service.

Put simply: Paizo are a class act all around, and are probably the best example of an RPG company "doing it right" that's out there - unless of course you have the resources of a Hasbro to back you up.

At this point, Paizo would be insane to drop Pathfinder in favour of 5e. And their fanbase aren't going to desert them, of that I am certain. For WotC, that is a bad thing. For the rest of us... competition is a very good thing, and this is the first time D&D has had serious competition since the dark days of TSR. So, yeah, long may it continue.