Bagpuss's page

However, if posters drive away other people away from the game because of rudeness that is a bad thing. If those posters are also rude in real life, I would imagine they would attract less new players than nicer players would.

So, even if a better game is made this way, if the only people who play it are rude, then for me it isn't a better game.

I feel with most multiplayer games, how much fun you have playing is determined significantly by the players of the game. In my experience, good players are necessary for good game, while bad players will lead to a bad game.

LN already answered this but again, I don't think that it's such a big deal. I read the OP again and then the rest of the replies and it's no biggie so far as I can see (the AIDS thing, which was really the worst thing in the OP, wasn't meant the way it was taken, I suspect, either, although I understand why people took it that way).

To be honest, this Pathfinder RPG is too important -- to those of us that want a sustained 3.x RPG success to go with Paizo's other great material, which I Sure As Hell don't want to end up as 4e-compatible for lack of anything else sustainable because, in the end analysis, PFRPG blew -- to ignore clever people who know their stuff just because they're abrasive. Hell, even if Jason and the others eventually ignore P_R and LN, at least we're having the discussion.

As a final point on the tenor of their posts, I would say that the feather-ruffling is worth it. Just look at their posts, for God's sake. Whether or not you agree with them, whether or not you agree with the importance of what they say (I personally don't get enormously excited by balance but as it's clearly a commercial issue, I'd like to see it achieved more without the ickyness, for me, that characterises 4e), they're explaining stuff, in an open playtest, that needs to be aired and they're doing it concisely and clearly. I hope they manage to do it without getting censured into submission or, even worse, banned -- Paizo are a commercial concern and they have to exercise care in moderation of their own forums, so I understand why it's not to be a free-for-all -- but I'd also hope that the standard for what is considered 'too offensive' is drawn a little more loosely than it appears some might like.

So, for me, as someone that really wants PFRPG to succeed -- and I may be late to the game as a superscriber but, at least belatedly, I'm putting my money in the same place as my mouth -- I'm personally happy to put up with some harsh talk when it's towards the end we want, which is a better game that doesn't get broken after its final release.

Bah, I have digressed from OP again. However, in answer to the other poster (name I've forgotten) on the animal companion issue, I think that the strength of the animal companion is just too low. I don't insist it's the same as the druid companion level, but I haven't really found it particularly useful at any level (in 3.x, I should say, but the animal companion part of Hunter's Bond is basically the same), resulting in too little use of, for example, animal companion buff spells by Rangers. Half Druid level is just too slow. Why not -3, whatever?

Folks, please. Let's get back to the meat of the matter; the points raised by the OP.

I'd like to echo the comments on the Ranger animal companion. It's tracking for you or warning you about stuff but otherwise it's getting killed and you have to train a new one. Beef it up please!

I'd add that what LogicNinja and Psychic_Robot have said is greatly interesting. They may not put it in a way that everyone likes -- although the Paizo folks seem to have picked up on the quality of the arguments, which is really good -- but it's got to be worth it. If that means that people making well-considered points they can back up get away with being ruder than other people, then fair enough; the consequences are more likely to be a better game in the end, which is good, right?

I can post my 3.5 sorcerer's L15 spell list if you like, but I guess we're primarily discussing Pathfinder here? In either edition, you can certainly point me to nice spells my sorcerer isn't able to cast (I have a long list of spells that would've been fun but didn't quite make the final cut at each level), but your wizard also can't reproduce what my sorcerer does by virtue of spontaneous casting (unless they guess correctly in advance *exactly* how many castings of each spell they will want that day, and with which metamagics applied).

LN already posted a link to a build. If some other people do the same, we can have an actual debate based on facts, the facts being people's builds.

Which are?

Primarily, I would say, the same reasons that WotC haven't released exact sales figures, mostly because they are commercially sensitive (incidentally, I'm not in the "4e is failing" camp -- I suspect it's doing as well as WotC imply -- and I don't expect them to release figures to back that up). Announcing how many free downloads of the Alpha or Beta they've shifted is a different matter, because it's sort of a one-off type dealy and it basically says "our open playtest is THIS BIG" but actual sales don't seem to get released by many games companies that I can think of.

I don't like the new Power Attack and I won't use it the new way; I really hope they change it, though, so that the 'official' rules are closer to what it appears most people prefer to play.

As for the complaints that some had about slowing down of play and apparent irritation with arithmetic, that seems to me to be the 'Lowest Common Denominator" approach that some people felt was going on with 4e. If there's a delay that's an easy one for the DM to fix ("decide now or you're not using the feat this time around") without hacking the 3.5 rules and nerfing a feat that helped keep the fighters in the game.

I hope that Jason is responsive on this, given that opinion (whilst not unanimous) appears to be pretty strong.

So how many copies sold at Gencon?

How many in Amazon?

Do you sell more under subscriptions or other means?

I'm not sure they're going to give you numbers (for semi-obvious reasons).

I'm working on them now. It's been a busy holiday season so I've been delayed. I don't plan on doing them in batches. The Burnt Offering conversion was near finished when I got the project so I did 2 and then finished 1 and turned them both in. Just worked out that way.

So what's the score? Don't seem to be any more conversions released (at least not on this site)...

Anyhow, I'd prefer Monte to go back to Rolemaster. Ah, Rolemaster.

And re-release Darkspace while he's at it.

Another thing I've wondered about, particularly with the Chronicles in which line the Campaign setting is released, is whether any people do subscription-dipping to get the pdf bundled along with the hard copy (which you only get added in for no extra cost if you're a subscriber). Or is there a minimum limit to subscription duration?

Some others are starting subscriptions now. Like me (I was a Charter Subscriber, I added Companion and Chronicles this week).

But mysteriously it's not showing anything after your username to that effect. Or is that something we can control?

I just became a superscriber last week (having signed up for the APs earlier in the week). Lubs me some Paizo material and Lisa said (in another thread) that superscribers might average $50 a month over the course of the year, which is less than I spent on 3.x over the last year and a half, I'd say.

The pdf is free yet you guys sold out? That's fantastic news.

I personally am waiting for the finished product a year from now. The Beta will be outdated very soon so I'll just use the pdf.

The fact that so many want to buy and hold it in their hands right now is so cool. Im very happy for you guys. Keep up the good work.

It'll be interesting to see how much does change by the final version, actually. It may be that the Beta is still useful, but I am planning to use the Beta in the meantime so I want a couple of bound copies (and I know I could dl the free pdf and get it printed and bound myself, but that's hassle and I'd rather send some money Paizo's way than give it to Kinko's).

Well, I bought 4 copies, 1 for me and 3 for friends who couldn't make it, so the % of Gen Con attendees who bought a copy would actually be lower and misleading compared to the number of copies sold at Gen Con, since I know I wasn't the only one buying multiple copies.

Yeah, I got one bought for me (I also have one coming in the post...).

They already have PDFs for most 3rd edition products, so it wouldn't be hard to start selling them cheaply (or giving them away).

What I want to know is whether they'll sell pdfs of the core 3.5 books (I believe that they haven't been for sale ever)... If anyone knows the answer to that, I'd be most glad to know.

It is cute... but in purple, it would be stunning!

But in red, it will be faster.

Agreed! Most months, superscribers will end up with around $40 in new products, a bit more if you throw Planet Stories on there. I figure that $50 a month is pretty much the max for most folks, and for a large contingent of people, that number is much lower. Which is probably why most of our subscribers are just Pathfinder AP subscribers. They can afford the $20 or so with shipping each month. Then they pick up other products on an ad hoc basis, which we are fine with!

-Lisa

This helped persuade me to become a superscriber (well, that and I love the product). Will take me considerable to time to collect the backlog, however...

(Btw, I voted for you).

Hmmm, no voter I.

But I give money, the green, crinkly alternative to votes.

Cucumber sandwiches are never as nice as you think they are going to be, and that's not saying much.

Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

Come on, Best Publisher...

PAIZO GOT IT! Gold, baby, GOLD!

That is all kinds of cool.

Some talk at rpg.net about the Bard's Lore Master ability letting them take 10 on knowledge checks where they have ranks, but in the SRD anyone can do that anyhow (and also the Take 10 and Take 20 rules are ommitted altogether in the Beta, which doesn't help matters).

My advice if you really like a setting (whatever edition) :

1 : Assemble whatever books, supplements and articles you can about it. it doesn't matter if it's old and from a previous edition.
2 : Run it as your own, with whatever rules you are using.

From the moment you run a campaign world as a DM it becomes yours, like a parallel version of the "official", as obviously you will change some things, add some other and remove some other.
It won't be the one from the books.
I never saw a campaign based on Athas, Eberron, Krynn, Mystara, Oerth, Planescape or Toril being hardcore to the point that nothing was altered.

So even if your favorite game world is in the closet and was never officially converted to 3rd or 4th edition, why should it matter ?
That's actually an incredible chance for you to make it really your own.

Great settings are not made from rules and crunch, but from ambiance and flair...

It's great, though, when a setting has a lot of other players around the place; you can pick up games when you move around, etc. For a long time, it didn't matter much in GH -- it wasn't enormously dynamic as a setting -- but the addition of timelines and unfolding events, etc, was actually pretty good. Of course, that's a double-edged sword -- what happened to FR at the 1--> 2 ed transition blew and the transition to 4ed looks suckier than a million starving mosquitoes -- but I trust Paizo.

Man, I just want Greyhawk back. WotC don't seem to care about it, the Paizo Greyhawk stuff (Adventure Paths, Dragon & Dungeon GH stuff, and general GH goodness) utterly ruled and I'm pretty excited about the Pathfinder rpg.

Of course, it's not going to happen. Boo.