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I recently got into Starfinder rpg from Paizo. They have a subscription base model where they gain regular monthly revenue by doing what they do best - making great adventure modules. Palladium books should look into doing something similar. Paizo has several subscription plans. One is a monthly short adventure sent to their subscribers that are 1 hr long (and I think it is their version of a living campaign). Another is a year long campaign that is broken up into 6 adventures sent every other month which wrap up with the final adventure at the end of the year.

Pallaium Books should test a subscription based model with their most popular IP (RIFTS?) and if successful, implement it towards their other IPs.

Look, as much as I give great props to PB for their IP, their track record of keeping to a publishing schedule is less than stellar - annuals that are less frequent than annual, books in the works for years at a time, etc. Maybe that just isn't a strength for them. So to expect them to pump out product on a monthly/quarterly/annual/decadal basis...? Might work for Paizo and more power to them, but everyone has to play to their own strengths.

Well, that is due to the bottleneck that is Kevin but I believe Wayne has done an admirable job of keeping the Rifter a quarterly publication for as long as it had. WotC is moving towards that model. It is inevitable. Paizo already has embraced it and seems to be thriving.

For as long as I've been active on the forums, Palladium has maintained that "adventure modules don't sell."

And, of course, they're notorious for not meeting deadlines, so even if they did promise something like 1 new adventure per month for subscribers, that would not be a guarantee that they would produce 1 new adventure per month.

Again, yes, I know that Palladium is notorious for missing deadlines. The fans have known about Kevin being the bottleneck. However, Kevin does not have to be involved in the monthly or quarterly subscription operation where everything has to be approved by him. That responsibility can be given to another person in the company. Have they not been consistent with the quarterly publication of the Rifter for as long as it has been before the announcement?

Just so you know, Palladium initially said no to selling digital copies of their books but now they embrace it. They said no to their IP being converted to other systems, yet now they license the RIFTS IP to Pinnacle which has produced a successful line of RIFTS Savage Worlds. All I'm suggesting is that the company should look into the subscription base model and see how it can work for them. It has been highly successful in the videogame industry and its gaining ground in the ttrpg publishing industry. Paizo has incorporated their experience for making great adventures to fit into that model. WotC has D&D Beyond as their inroad to that model. And that is just 2 examples of this model.

For something like this, you would need dedicated writers who can do the work over a period of time. It would be completely messed up if halfway through a longer running campaign if the writer of that campaign "left".

It is a shame that the Rifter has been either discontinued or dropped down to 1 issue per year. That was a nice way to find fans who could potentially become great writers for the company. Does any writer work as a full time employee (like Bill Coffin used to) or are all Palladium Books writers now basically freelance writers? I agree that Palladium would require having reliable writers who are good with time management.

oni no won wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 11:04 am It is a shame that the Rifter has been either discontinued or dropped down to 1 issue per year. That was a nice way to find fans who could potentially become great writers for the company. Does any writer work as a full time employee (like Bill Coffin used to) or are all Palladium Books writers now basically freelance writers? I agree that Palladium would require having reliable writers who are good with time management.

All writers with exception of Kevin, Sean, Wayne, and Alex are freelancers and have been freelancers for a long time now.

If I wasn't already working 50 hours a week, I'd love to give it a go. My Rifter submissions are already going to be sporadic, but man, working for Palladium would be a dream come true!