Liz Courts's page

Congrats to all of the staff that are hard at work making things happen behind the scenes (please stay hydrated warehouse crew!). I look forward to seeing the long-fought for changes from past and present Paizo employees come to fruition, and I hope that those that make it happen are recognized for their efforts.

OTOH, while it might not seem so at first glance, there are benefits to raising salaries that are often overlooked by so-called rational capitalists. Attracting and retaining good staff is very important. The costs are harder to measure, but employee turnover is expensive, even for "unskilled" labor, much less creative talent.

Even for folks within the industry, the learning curve onboarding is very steep, and that's just for the creative side. Operations is a whole different ball of cat hair-filled wax.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been under the impression that the margin for profit in this industry is rather slim, so I wonder how much that is a real choice for Paizo to make.

Not our decision to determine.

As someone who commented on this, yes, 3$ per product seems doable (and isn't the number of units in your example 218k which would lower it even more?)

Probably. I'm running on about four hours of sleep right now.

Also, you're only talking about print runs, which probably means that you could lower that increase per product even further if you count in pdfs.

Yep.

Some additional commentary from me regarding a few points in this thread.

Relying upon any one person to "fix" or "save" a problem is inherently problematic. Many of the concerns being raised are endemic to not only Paizo, but the industry as a whole. It's not a task for any one person to fix, because it's not a problem caused by any one person. This is a team effort.

And since folks are concerned with cost of a book to consumers, we're gonna do a bit of math. Now, most of these print numbers are hypothetical, because I don't have access to that information anymore, but they are based on past releases.

Let's say Paizo has 100 employees (again, not sure, but let's be generous), and wages increase by $5000 across the board, so $500k a year more in labor. In our hypothetical print run for a hardcover book, let's say it's 20,000, with the MSRP being $39.99. In order for that labor cost to be absorbed, the cost would have to go up by $25.

This hypothetical model only accounts for a single product, not the multiples that Paizo produces in a year. That's simply not the scale Paizo works at. Let's expand our hypothetical print run to the following:

• 4 hardcovers a year, 20k print run each
  
• 18 APs and adventures a year, 5k each
  
• 24 PDFs, 2k each
  

Again, Paizo makes more products than this in a year, but the number of units in this hypothetical print run is 188,000. To absorb that wage increase each unit would have to have an MSRP increase of...almost $3. If I subscribed to every item in this hypothetical print run, it would cost me an extra $146 a year (or about 13 typical Starbucks orders for me).

If the difference between employees getting better wages is my latte, pastry, and sandwich treat, then that is a price I am willing and happy to pay.

At the end of the day, for the consumers, this is a hobby, a luxury. The entertainment you enjoy is created by the hard work of the folks in it. That doesn't mean that those working in the industry should not get a fair compensation for their labor.

And as a preemptive commentary about company profit margins and cost of goods and blah blah blah. No s&%~, we know, that's capitalism. Having the power to make decisions in favor of your employees, even at the cost of profit, is also a choice.

A lot of folks have said a lot on this topic, but I wanted to add my own two coppers to this particular topic.

I haven't been around in a while, so let me do a quick recap for those that might not know:

* I have been around in the Paizo community since 2005, and watched it grow from "just" magazine publishers to where it is now.
* I saw the shift from 3.5 to Pathfinder and beyond. (My name is in the "Special Thanks" section of the 1E Core Rulebook.)
* I have seen every angle of this business from ideation to creation to development to production to logistics to community to distribution. I know how all of the sausage gets made.
* I helped create PaizoCon, when it was just an unofficial gathering with 40 people in the basement of a hotel.
* I helped start the Wayfinder fanzine (still going strong)
* I was at the ground floor of Pathfinder Society's Season 0, and saw it grow to the enormous community that it is today.

I saw all of this *before* I got hired to work at Paizo in 2010, so when I tell you how heartbreaking the last 11 years has been, I mean it.

The most common thing I've heard from my fellow former Paizo employees is "I don't drink as much as I used to when I worked there." I want you to consider why that is. The other thing I see is how melancholy folks are. Working in games is f@~*ing awesome, I love seeing the unbridled creativity that people bring to bear, and their skills in getting a product into a customer's hands, from every department of a company. Yeah, it's a lot of work, and some days, any job is just that: a job. But the *passion* that people brought made a world of difference. Watching that passion die, watching it slowly get ground down under the working conditions and lack of improvement, still hurts.

For those that might say "That's just how it is": shut up. That doesn't make it right, or acceptable, or any form of apathetic acceptance of the status quo.

It has been said that Paizo's success has been in spite of the poor decisions that have been made. It hurts, because I know it's true. Folks take rightful pride in that work, but that is diminished in light of all the long hours and low wages. And you know what? For me, it wasn't even about my salary (for transparency, it was $36k/year when I left the community manager position in 2016), or the hours. It was wanting incremental improvements, demonstrating how it would help workflow, accountability, or actually being able to focus on the *community*, and not having those needs listened to or even prioritized on the schedule. I have likened that time as trying to make a gourmet meal with only a butter knife as a utensil. I can (and did) do it, but I shouldn't have *had* to.

It doesn't have to be like it is. It can be better. People *want* it to be better: employees, customers, partners, licensees, everybody. If employees didn't want it to be better, we wouldn't have stayed as long as we did (I include myself in this). But you should not lean on "you're lucky to be here" approach for employees, nor keep relying upon the community to bail you out of poor business decisions. If the truth about workplace situations would cast a poor light on the company, I really want you to consider why that is, and if your silent complicity has only exacerbated the abuse.

You (and by "you", I mean Paizo management) had a chance to correct things, and you didn't take it. Multiple times.

You keep being handed opportunities to change your outlook and your course, and you keep refusing to look at the map that is being handed to you. When are you going to look at the rest of your crew and realize that you all want to be going in the same direction: success. Success for everybody, not just a few, but it should never at the cost of your employees' health and wellbeing.

All of the official statements, press releases, emails, or social media posts are not going to *fix* this. This is not something that can or should be swept under the rug. Only action *can* fix this, but it can't be a one-and-done action. That's not how progress works. It has to be continual re-examination to make lasting change. What those actions are, though, none of us here can do it for you.

Woo hoo! So happy to see this out in the wild.

Thank you for the review! <3

Another!

Squee! It's shiny and here! <3

Oooh, my designs turned out great! :D

Does the toilet still work?

Only one way to find out! :D

Oooooo that would make for a nice combat zone in the mountains and underground. I can see this map getting lots of use in all sorts of campaigns, not just space based ones ^w^

Fun times with difficult terrain. :P

Thank you for the cartography kudos, Endzeitgeist!

I noticed in the description page on the store it didn't have the (OGL) in brackets like the other books.

Thanks for the quick answer.

Probably just habit to add "PFRPG" rather than "OGL" on the part of the webstore folks.

Liz Courts wrote:

I'm looking forward to seeing this one in action. :3

Did you have a hand in this one, Liz?

I designed the initial map turnover for the cartographer.

Also looking forward to seeing this one in action.

I'm looking forward to seeing this one in action. :3

What James said. The Community Use Policy does, however, allow you to write fictional works based off of Paizo's IP, but it is for personal purposes only, not commercial (i.e., you can't make money off of it).

I have zero desire for any sort of "separate but equal" award. It would only serve to encourage the sort of "white boys only" club attitude that needs to die.

Send the names of women and minorities to Tonya for consideration for Volunteer of the Year awards.

Oh, hey, I worked on this!

*slides into thread*
Hi, friend! :D

Seeing the PDF preview for the Nexus, something I usually don't think about came to mind. The layout work is exceptional! I love the way the text sits in front of the smoke from the Nexus Iconic art. Usually art and text overlapping bugs me, but this was tasteful.

Thank you Adam! I'm usually not a fan of it myself, but I liked the idea of the iconic "speaking" the phrase in question. :D

Thank you for the shoutout, Paizo!

Thanks for the shoutout! <3 I'm looking forward to making this So Damn Pretty. <3

Thanks again to Liz Courts for more excellent cartography and layout. Looks great!

Thank you! ...Missing doors aside, of course. ;)

...Oh hey, I should get to work on that... :P

So shiny! <3

*sniffles*
Fond voyages! May you always have a psychopomp on your shoulder to guide your way.

I'm actually uploading to our printers now, and we are on track for a Friday release!

*flexes*

That's right, this event is back again! Along with my illustrious cohorts Ashley Kaprielian and Owen K.C. Stephens, we will be discussing the ins & outs of publishing with the Pathfinder (and now Starfinder!) Compatibility License. Don't be afraid: arm yourself with the practical business experience that the three of us are doling out, whether it's regarding working with intellectual property, common pitfalls you'll want to avoid, or tax implications (dun-dun-dunnnnnnn)!

If you can't make this event, never fear: I will be around all weekend if you want a one-on-one Q&A regarding third-party publishing.

I get to see Lou more than once a year!

HOLY CABBAGE SIGHTINGS!

Blake isn't gonna say this, but if you want to continue to see Archives of Nethys get updated, you should support him on Patreon. Every bit helps.

Liz Courts wrote:

Liz Courts wrote:

Ooh, can't wait to see how my critters turned out. :3

Follow-up: super-pleased. :3

That's cool, congratulations. :-)

Do you want to reveal which ones are your creations? ;-)

Muldnal, bore worms, and clockwork excavator.

Thomas Seitz wrote:

It's very mental. I love it. :)

It's so pretty it could be orna-mental! :)

Occultomental?

Ooh, can't wait to see how my critters turned out. :3

Follow-up: super-pleased. :3

Oh my! <3

And Event Horizon.

I was trying to forget about the Kytons...but they won't forget about me... *hears music*

576-page monster of a campaign setting. Now Available!

580. >.>

If I could describe Aethera's setting, it's like if you mashed Firefly, Ice Pirates, and Krull together, and spiced it up with some Dune, Final Fantasy VI, and Fallout.

*won't be satisfied until she has the print book in-hand*

*shudders*
Yeah, those kytons are...a thing. Something something Event Horizon.
I'm glad everybody's enjoying the PDF, and this is the point where I ask for feedback on the layout specifically. I added a few things in that hopefully make it more usable for GMs and players alike, and I'd like to hear what does/doesn't work for you.

Excellent to hear! Don't let the warehouse raptors get you, Thursty!

Big props to Liz Courts for this one, the maps and layout are reeeeally nice. These weren't the easiest maps to do but she nailed it. I'm also super happy with the art, beautiful stuff.

Thank you Matt! The maps were a lot of fun to do. ^_^

*fist bump*