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Lawyers. Danny Devito said in the film Other People's Money, "Lawyers are like nukes. You keep them around, but you never intend to use them." On the otherhand, it seems their presence prevails over a Messageboard Community in restricting topics of all kinds.
How is it that Paizo seems to have so little contact with lawyer spiderwebs that surround most messageboards. NDAs seem to straight jacket honest answers into vague generic answers. Most companies do not have editors and writers posting their opinions because it is easier to chase down one consensus, with a representative, that is well briefed on what one can say and cannot. I understand that Paizo wishes to have a closer relationship with its customers, but I find it strange that so many boards do not see the disconnect that such a system is creating.
Why is it that Paizo hasn't been gripped with this fear that most companies have about what is spoken of on their boards?
I'm not sure that I am 100% sure. As you said, we pride ourselves on being close to our customers. I hire great employees who know what to say and when to shut up. We have our armful of NDAs which prohibit us from talking about certain topics, and if you are observant, you will notice when that happens. But I don't need to police my guys—they know what topics are off limits and they are adults, so they can police themselves.
I do have a lawyer that we use here at Paizo. He was the first lawyer we hired at WotC and he left there when it got too corporate for his tastes. Long hair and flip flops don't quite cut it in the corporate world of Hasbro. But he is a really good lawyer who knows how much we value our customers and helps us protect ourselves without sacrificing that.
-Lisa
Well, I for one appreciate all that you and the people over at Paizo do for us. Keep up the good work!
So we should all thank Pikachu for giving us Paizo! :)-Lisa
Oh I think this is one of the scariest things I have heard. ;)
Seriously though, having never been a fan of Pokemon, I am overwhelmingly grateful that something that I enjoy as much as the Paizo products I have gotten were made possible by those crazy critters.
Just don't send out my APs in one of those little balls. ;)
As a parent of young children when Pokemon went really crazy, I played a lot of games with my son and daughter. Scarily, I credit the time spent playing the game for getting my children to learn math at an early age.
I even bought Pokemon Emergency and got my kids interested in roleplaying. They'll be in the game group when I first run a PFRPG session. :)
Kevin Mack
(Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber)
Heh. Somehow, Lisa was involved in all the RPGs I was interested in during the last 20 years (well, almost 20 years): Ars Magica (with the note about the merger in the Stormrider (2nd Ed)), Vampire and all the other WW games, D&D 3.x, the two magazines (which were at their best in the paizo era IMO), and now Pathfinder. It would seem that Lisa has a thing for being in the right place at the right time, RPG-wise - for me, at least.
Stefan
Snorter
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber; GameMastery Superscriber)
This shakes me to my very core. I feel reality tearing around me as all I hold dear crumbles, taking with it the tatered remains of my sanity...Tatered?
What is taters, precious? Mmmmnnn?
Ok, I'm as big a fan of the little blue cartoons as anyone, but should a serious and useful thread like this one really devolve into a smürf-fest? If it had turned into an edition war or mud-slinging, I'd be first in line to blue it up, but I think this is a (mostly) topical thread that may still get some real questions and comments and we shouldn't write it off as smürfed quite yet.
Ok, I'm as big a fan of the little blue cartoons as anyone, but should a serious and useful thread like this one really devolve into a smürf-fest? If it had turned into an edition war or mud-slinging, I'd be first in line to blue it up, but I think this is a (mostly) topical thread that may still get some real questions and comments and we shouldn't write it off as smürfed quite yet.
Quite a valid point sir. But one could look at the blue invasion as an on-going answer to the original question posted by Darkwolf re: the origin of the s***f silliness; once invoked people tend to get a little wonky about it.
But in line with the original purpose of the thread, I do have a question, also message board related. How does one get a unique avatar? I'm thinking of Sebastian here ... so I guess this also ties in with the Paizocon 2009 Quiz, which was about Paizo trivia.
I do have a question, also message board related. How does one get a unique avatar? I'm thinking of Sebastian here ... so I guess this also ties in with the Paizocon 2009 Quiz, which was about Paizo trivia.
Generally, you can't. As for the exception that is Sebastian, well, that was also an April Fool's joke gone out of control, except that it wasn't April Fool's Day.
(Kobold Cleaver also has a unique smurf avatar, for similar reasons.)
Ok, I'm as big a fan of the little blue cartoons as anyone, but should a serious and useful thread like this one really devolve into a smürf-fest? If it had turned into an edition war or mud-slinging, I'd be first in line to blue it up, but I think this is a (mostly) topical thread that may still get some real questions and comments and we shouldn't write it off as smürfed quite yet.Quite a valid point sir. But one could look at the blue invasion as an on-going answer to the original question posted by Darkwolf re: the origin of the s***f silliness; once invoked people tend to get a little wonky about it.
But in line with the original purpose of the thread, I do have a question, also message board related. How does one get a unique avatar? I'm thinking of Sebastian here ... so I guess this also ties in with the Paizocon 2009 Quiz, which was about Paizo trivia.
Sebastian's spiffy Bella Sara avatar was created due to a practical joke played on Sebastian. One of the empoyees over at Paizo decided to join in on the fun and created that avatar for him. So now you have to ask yourself, is getting an unique avatar worth all the Hell that would come both before and after you get it? ~grins~ Ask Sebastian. I am sure that he can answer that question for you.
I do have a question, also message board related. How does one get a unique avatar? I'm thinking of Sebastian here ... so I guess this also ties in with the Paizocon 2009 Quiz, which was about Paizo trivia.Generally, you can't. As for the exception that is Sebastian, well, that was also an April Fool's joke gone out of control, except that it wasn't April Fool's Day.
~smirks~ Yes it was, wasn't it, Vic?
OK, another question for the Paizo folks. If there was one thing Paizo did over the years that you could change, what would it be and why? I'm not sure what to expect with this one, but such questions usually result in different answers from different folks within the same group and I'm curious to see who lists what.
Sebastian's spiffy Bella Sara avatar was created due to a practical joke played on Sebastian. One of the empoyees over at Paizo decided to join in on the fun and created that avatar for him. So now you have to ask yourself, is getting an unique avatar worth all the Hell that would come both before and after you get it? ~grins~ Ask Sebastian. I am sure that he can answer that question for you.Ok, I'm as big a fan of the little blue cartoons as anyone, but should a serious and useful thread like this one really devolve into a smürf-fest? If it had turned into an edition war or mud-slinging, I'd be first in line to blue it up, but I think this is a (mostly) topical thread that may still get some real questions and comments and we shouldn't write it off as smürfed quite yet.Quite a valid point sir. But one could look at the blue invasion as an on-going answer to the original question posted by Darkwolf re: the origin of the s***f silliness; once invoked people tend to get a little wonky about it.
But in line with the original purpose of the thread, I do have a question, also message board related. How does one get a unique avatar? I'm thinking of Sebastian here ... so I guess this also ties in with the Paizocon 2009 Quiz, which was about Paizo trivia.
~wicked grin~ Well, I have heard that Sebastian said that it was almost as good a practical joke as getting a Taco in the mail.
OK, another question for the Paizo folks. If there was one thing Paizo did over the years that you could change, what would it be and why? I'm not sure what to expect with this one, but such questions usually result in different answers from different folks within the same group and I'm curious to see who lists what.
Only one thing? That makes this a tough question indeed!
I originally said something about removing firearms from Golarion, but I have to change that. My change request would be to have air circulation/air conditioning that works in the editorial pit after 5:00 PM. It gets nasty in here. Thankfully, we're moving to a new office in a month!
There are, of course, plenty other things I would change about things Paizo has done, but you only asked for one, so that's that! :-)
OK, another question for the Paizo folks. If there was one thing Paizo did over the years that you could change, what would it be and why? I'm not sure what to expect with this one, but such questions usually result in different answers from different folks within the same group and I'm curious to see who lists what.Only one thing? That makes this a tough question indeed!
I originally said something about removing firearms from Golarion, but I have to change that. My change request would be to have air circulation/air conditioning that works in the editorial pit after 5:00 PM. It gets nasty in here. Thankfully, we're moving to a new office in a month!
There are, of course, plenty other things I would change about things Paizo has done, but you only asked for one, so that's that! :-)
Tease! ~grins~
OK, another question for the Paizo folks. If there was one thing Paizo did over the years that you could change, what would it be and why? I'm not sure what to expect with this one, but such questions usually result in different answers from different folks within the same group and I'm curious to see who lists what.
Unfortunately, I can't answer this question due to NDAs. I could probably come up with 10 or so, but all of them would break confidentiality. So I think I will have to pass on this question. :)
-Lisa
OK, another question for the Paizo folks. If there was one thing Paizo did over the years that you could change, what would it be and why? I'm not sure what to expect with this one, but such questions usually result in different answers from different folks within the same group and I'm curious to see who lists what.Unfortunately, I can't answer this question due to NDAs. I could probably come up with 10 or so, but all of them would break confidentiality. So I think I will have to pass on this question. :)
-Lisa
~grins~ Double Tease! No wonder you are the CEO!