Keovar's page

I use PDF-XChange Editor Free Edition as my PDF viewer, but though it can see and save the interactive maps from my AP PDFs well enough I often utilize TokenTool to extract the base map images.

For scaling and aligning the maps afterwards I use Map Align (Fantasy Grounds forum login required). While it was written by a FG user, it reads and writes plain graphic files and I have no problem importing the result.

I've been able to use TokenTool to extract all the images from a PDF, map and otherwise, but the resolution is fuzzy. Are there settings you can recommend to preserve more clarity in the images?

I use Okular, which has the advantage of being FOSS (so it's not nagging you to buy the paid version or showing ads) and faster than many other PDF readers. It supports Paizo's buttons for its maps and form fillable character sheets just fine. For most PDF documents I prefer Zathura for its minimal, keyboard-driven interface, but for most people I think Okular's about the gold standard for a PDF reader.

I'd have to go digging into its options, but I believe it has the ability to spit out the images embedded in a PDF, I've used that in the past to import character portraits from AP's for use in Foundry, specifically Theatre Inserts as the players getting to see the NPC's face when I'm speaking as them helps a lot with everyone being able to keep track of who is who.

Okular is a good viewer, though I haven't figured out how to select the base map images in order to copy them and paste into GNU-IMP.

Keovar wrote:

It would be great if I could load interactive maps into the graphics editor and delete the label, grid, and secret door layers, but I haven't been able to thus far.

Yeah, because of this the interactive maps files are basically useless to me. I edit the extracted images to have secret doors and the fog of war as separate layers that I enable visiblity on as the party detects them (for secret doors) or erase as the party moves about the map (for the fog of war). If Paizo produced and sold ready-made maps like this they'd make a killing. 0one Games already does this (quite well, too!), but the maps are of course original and not tied to existing adventures.

There's someone who goes by "Narchy Maps" who has produced some good versions of some AP maps, but they went on to produce them for FoundryVTT. That's great, but I just want map files to put in Owlbear Rodeo, because Foundry isn't the most accessible to my vision.

I also use Foxit, and to grab the maps I don't use the interactive maps file but instead the AP files. I just use the Select Text and Image tool, click the map I want and right-click + copy and then paste into GIMP. I use GIMP to make any changes I may need and I am ready to go for use at the table.

Okay, I have some of that working, thank you. The images still show secret doors and a grid, though.

Ooh! This is free through Christmas!

Not anymore, but apparently it's still categorized as such.

When you wish to use an interactive PDF, such as many adventure path maps, what viewer do you use?

As far as I've seen, Firefox can only display the default view with the interactive elements static. I hate the idea of an ongoing subscription for Acrobat, and I'm trying to avoid Chrome for security reasons. All of the free readers I've tried are as limited as Firefox.

Related to that, what is your method for pulling a map out of a PDF to use on a simple VTT like Owlbear Rodeo?

In the Cursed Items section, the Cloak of Immolation is given as an example. Basically the cursed individual that wears it will catch persistent fire the next time they suffer fire damage. However, at the end of the entry, it says “Once the curse has activated for the first time,
the boots fuse to you.”
This is the first mention of ‘boots’ in the entry. Was the cloak meant to be an entire outfit, or did it start as footwear and undergo an incomplete edit at some point in development?

Update: The problem appears to be fixed for me.

Mine too, on Chrome. That's way more convenient!

I gave up and got Firefox, and the site menus work fine here.

Does this issue occur on the front page, on this forum page, or on both?

For me, it's the main page and any sub-page which has that same element across the top.

The menus are now failing on Edge too.

I saved the links as individual bookmarks when they were still working on Edge, and for others, here they are:
Account Settings - https://paizo.com/paizo/account
Profile - https://paizo.com/people/<username>
Messages - https://paizo.com/people/<username>/pm
Organized Play - https://paizo.com/organizedPlay/myAccount
Cart - https://paizo.com/store/cart
Orders - https://paizo.com/paizo/account/orders
Downloads - https://paizo.com/paizo/account/assets
Help - https://paizo.com/paizo/faq

This Thread - https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43vpr?My-Account-Cart-Help-dropdown-menus-not# 1

We appear to have the same issue, or similar:
https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43vpr?My-Account-Cart-Help-dropdown-menus-not

Sounds like the same problem as this previous post

Broken Links

taks wrote:

My Account, Cart, and Help links do not work on Chrome.

What version of Chrome are you running?

What operating system?

Thanks, I hadn't seen that post, since for me the links aren't there at all, not just broken.

My OS and Chrome are a little different:

• Windows 10 Home Version 22H2 for x64
• Chrome version 118.0.5993.11 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)

The top three dropdown menus; My Account, Cart, & Help; don't dropdown when moused over on Chrome.
They worked as of a few weeks ago, and the second row of dropdown menus appear as expected.
If I hit Tab a bunch of times to put the selection box over one of them, I can hit enter and visit the first link of that menu, but not any which would normally be farther down the list.
They all appear and work on Edge, but not on Chrome, even in an incognito window with all extensions off.
I have cleared cookies and other site data multiple times, both site-specific and for the browser as a whole.
I can get to each page directly if I copy the URL from Edge, and I have bookmarked each individually, but I don't know what caused this, and I'd still like to fix it if possible.
Thanks!

Re: a PDF-only subscription

We hear you and thank you for your input. While we have nothing to announce at this time we do have a new leadership who might explore new ideas and opportunities. It’s an exciting time for innovation and the challenges of change at Paizo.

Adventures Ahead

I'd like to add a late "interested in PDF-only" to the list. I'm visually impaired, so print material isn't very useful to me anymore. I can zoom in on a PDF, and those whose vision is worse than mine could use a screen reader on one that's well-formatted for accessible navigation.

For Pathfinder Advantage, there must have been a minimum expected value which caused 4 to be the magic number of lines needed to qualify. For PDFs alone, it seems an equivalent threshold could be found.

As to pawns, my group uses theatre-of-the-mind, but maybe STL files would be a possibility for those who want to 3d print minis or add them to a 3D-VTT like Tabula Sono?

Announced for November! Product image and description are not final and may be subject to change.

On Pathfinder Wiki, on the 4th installment (for Spring, I guess), it says the title will be "To Bloom below the Web". I'm not sure if that's a typo on their part, but should the 'B' in "Below" be capitalized?

In AP title case, prepositions of four or more letters (such as above, below, and between) should be capitalized. On the other hand, the Chicago Manual of Style says to lowercase all prepositions, regardless of length. Even though 'AP' in this context means 'Associated Press', it does look better.

In the 'Cave Camel' description, it mentions their "dessert cousins". I assume you mean dry terrain rather than sugary food, so the second S is a typo.

Okay, this is probably my last update post for this thread. After this point, Giorgio or someone else can take over updating it.
You can change it as you see fit, but I tried to follow a few policies:
It's opt-in only, so I don't dig through other sources. If someone wants to be listed, they need to come post in this thread themselves.
Even if another member of someone's group throws in a name to add,
I don't add it unless that person comes to post here themselves.
I try to stick to the information provided by the poster. Even if I happen to know the alignment of a group, I don't list it unless a leader requests it. If somebody had wanted a description of their group, I probably would have just added a link to their recruitment thread rather than bloat the list and give myself more to edit.
I try to copy the forum handle someone posts under, not any character name they give. This is a listing of forum members.
I removed Qallz and never added his Xorgrond puppet, since he just made those forum accounts to troll with.
I alphabetize names of groups and players, ignoring articles like "the" or punctuation at the beginning of a name. If the group has a leader listed, that person gets bumped to the top, regardless of alphabetical order.
I bold and italicize the group names, and I come up with a 2-5 letter 'tag' to put after member names. If the group offers a different tag of their choosing, I'll use it, unless it's very long or matches another group's tag.

~~~~~~~

- Unaffiliated (66)
Abjurer -
Ace-of-Spades -
Alarox -
Amaziah Hadithi -
Andas -
Anthony Adam -
Antilogy -
ArchAnjel -
Arumvorax -
Avatar-1 -
AvenaOats -
Bealze -
Beleriand -
Blaeringr -
Bormun von Eastbourne -
Broken_Sextant -
celestialiar -
Daeglin -
DBAllyn -
Deianira -
Diella -
Dinan -
Durinthal -
Dylos -
Fiendish -
Guurzak -
Hulking Hurler -
Imbicatus -
Iorae -
Jester David -
Keign -
kenshi33 -
Kryzbyn -
Kobold Cleaver -
Lord Zodd -
Maccabee -
Malik -
Martin Kauffman 530 -
Martin Sheaffer -
MrSavarius -
Nevy -
Nightdrifter -
pavaan -
portocopen -
TheRedKommie -
Remis Stormborne -
RHMG Animator -
Robbor -
Runnetib -
Salazzar Slaan -
Scarlette -
Sepherum -
Snorter -
topper30 -
Traianus Decius Aureus -
TreavorQuix -
Tyncale -
Uliyah -
Valdemar Stor -
Vwoom -
Vibishan -
Wyntr -
Xaer -
Xennkari -
Yumeko -
Zermbeh -

Aeternum (Pax division) (50)
Ezekial Krows - Aet
Aet Kard Warstein - Aet
Andriel Dragoncloak - Aet
Areks - Aet
Björn Renshai - Aet
Bringslite - Aet
Burgsrus - Aet
Charlie George - Aet
Corday - Aet
Darganon - Aet
Dismy Gmolah - Aet
Dug101 - Aet
FALX007 - Aet
Faythe56 - Aet
Feydred - Aet
Foste - Aet
Glaucopide - Aet
Hingodu - Aet
Hisroth - Aet
Hobs the Short - Aet
JayBrand - Aet
Jrodi McThunderstein - Aet
Karrick Westraven - Aet
Keovar - Aet
Khas - Aet
Korint - Aet
Kris Endblade - Aet
Krystalina - Aet
Lyon - Aet
Malaiit - Aet
Merylyn - Aet
Nicoli Larvu - Aet
Nwevyn - Aet
Pax Sentath - Aet
Pax Winasa - Aet
Pax Winter - Aet
Ponix - Aet
Rafkin - Aet
Randovar - Aet
Rimethorn - Aet
Ruick - Aet
Sennajin (Rawn) - Aet
Shane Gifford - Aet
Sheyd - Aet
StrikeForce - Aet
Thera Warstein - Aet
Tiggs - Aet
Veygon - Aet
Xyllias - Aet
ZenPagan - Aet

Audacity (4)
Darcnes - Aud
Aeonphlux - Aud
H2Osw - Aud
Reiv - Aud

Browncloaks (1)
HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise - BC

Dagedai Alliance (1)
NytCrawlr - DA

Deepforge Company (5)
Lord of Elder Days - DFC
Hardin Steele - DFC
Marlagram - DFC
MrJones - DFC
Rudar Rockborn - DFC

The Empyrean Order (26)
Lifedragn - TEO
Aleron - TEO
Alexander Damocles - TEO
Bigmancheatle - TEO
BraxtheSage - TEO
Csypher - TEO
Dabole - TEO
Drakhan Valane - TEO
Docora - TEO
Gayel Nord - TEO
Gedichtewicht - TEO (& TVC)
Harneloot - TEO
Hobbun - TEO
htrajan - TEO
Kazz Signsoul - TEO
Kirane - TEO
Lone_Wolf - TEO
LordDaeron - TEO
MordecaiManes - TEO
Papaver - TEO
Pinosaur - TEO
Proxima Sin - TEO
Sadurian - TEO
Timeless - TEO
Tirithael - TEO
Urman - TEO

Full-Metal Syndicate (3)
JDNYC - FMS
Flintlokk - FMS
FMS Trippic - FMS

The Golden Flask (1)
Virgil Firecask - TGF

Golgotha (Pax division) (15)
Lord Regent Deacon Wulf - Gol
General Gamon - Gol
Lady Karnath - Gol
Cyneric Torrin - Gol
Dysc - Gol
Morbis - Gol
NamelessSoldier - Gol
Pax Zayvian - Gol
PotatoMcWhiskey - Gol
quartermaster tieshoe - Gol
Stitchers - Gol
Tigari - Gol
Thurim - Gol
Whispering Voices - Gol
Xykal - Gol

Grim Maw Clan (1)
Qorwynn Ravensworn - GMC

Hammerfist Clan (1)
<Hammerfist Clan> Blood Dragon - HC

Irrastil's Irregulars (1)
Caldeathe Baequiannia - Irr

Kabal (1)
<Kabal> Sunnfire - Kab

Keepers of the Circle (7)
ChaiGuy - KotC
Elken Krimm - KotC
froggalpha - KotC
Lam - KotC
Lorhayden - KotC
Nymerias - KotC
wxcougar - KotC

Knights of the Crusader Road (1)
Stonebreaker - KotCR

The Lightbringer Company [LN] (1)
Giorgo (George Velez) - TLC

Magical Advancement & Growth Initiative (1)
Dakcenturi - MAGI

Magistry (2)
<Magistry> Padrone - Mag
<Magistry> Toombstone - Mag

Mysts of Avalon (1)
MaxwellSilver - MoA

The Nettles (1)
Harad Navar - Net

Northern Lights (1)
Dark Sasha - NL

Pax Mercatorum (1)
theStormWeaver - PM

Old Timer's Guild (1)
OTG Jasil - OTG

The Seventh Veil (17)
avari3 - T7V
Banesama - T7V
Being - T7V
Dazyk - T7V
DeciusBrutus - T7V
Jazzlvraz - T7V
Lhan - T7V
Kaira Swift - T7V
Kios - T7V
KitNyx - T7V
Nihimon - T7V
Oberyn Corvus - T7V
Skwiziks - T7V
T7V Wexel Daventry - T7V
V'rel Vusoryn - T7V
Will Cooper - T7V
Wraithkin - T7V

Stone Bear Clan (2)
Ravenlute - SBC
Wurner - SBC

Thod's Friends (1)
George the Bear - TF

UnNamed Company (22)
Bluddwolf - UNC
Andius - UNC
Chief96 - UNC
Copasetic - UNC
Darnell - UNC
Debrio - UNC
Detheater - UNC
Doggan - UNC
Dragon Born - UNC
Dugzbugs - UNC
First0f0ne - UNC
The Goodfellow - UNC
kryvnus - UNC
Madigan - UNC
Monty Wolf - UNC
Pewch - UNC
talonfox - UNC
Shadowraith - UNC
Sintaqx - UNC
Valtorious - UNC
Xeen - UNC
Yebng - UNC

The Viridian Circle (2)
Ravening - TVC (& T7V)
BrotherZael - TVC

(237 Total)

~~~~~~~

If anyone wants to buy a basic EE account (it was a '2nd month' one, before thoser were altered to 1st), let me know. I got it as part of the deal when I sold my alpha account, but I don't think I'll use it.
I do think the PFO is being built on some good ideas, I just don't think I will have the time and energy to play a competitive PVP game with my MS fatigue, and I'm trying to do some volunteer stuff with local friends when I can manage it. I'm still a gamer, I'm just better suited to slower-paced & low-stress stuff these days. :)

Thanks, friends, it was good to get to know you a bit. Have fun storming one another's castles!

Best wishes Keovar! Hope all is well in Keovarland!

Heh... 'Keoland' is a country in the old-school AD&D World of Greyhawk, but my name was originally made up for me by a friend, about two and a half decades ago. I think the character name having the same first syllable as the country's was just a coincidence, though.

The account has been sold, and the buyer wishes me to keep their identity private. I may still be around now & then, as I still find the idea of the game interesting, even though I don't think it's one I can keep up with to the degree that my previous account would indicate.

I sincerely appreciate the interest of those who PM'd offers, and the well-wishes of those who posted those too. Even if I never log into the game again, it's been good to know you as far as I was able, and I'm happier for it.

I'm glad to hear that GW is not opposed to an account sale. So, I'll officially throw my bidder's hat into the ring.

@Keovar: you got a pn :-)

@all: While I'd rather not disclose the amount I've offered, it wasn't full price, so if you want to outbid me, go ahead. Otherwise, I would prefer for the transfer to be complete before the weekend, as every alpha testing week that goes by unused, does diminish the value somewhat...

regarding fraud: I don't think, the seller is at risk much, just wait for the money to arrive and the (hopefully) send the necessary info... As a (potential) buyer, I'll just hope for honesty. That always works on the internet :-).

I will say that there is at least one higher, but I'll keep your offer in mind in case things don't work out.

Sometimes it seems that you assume everything is an insult. It was a joke. And one not at the expanse of anyone in particular on my part.

I was hoping it was just silliness; that's why I included that as a potential interpretation. I also hope you can see how your post could be taken the other ways, neither of which would be too unthinkable on this board. I think asking is pretty close to the opposite of assuming, though.

I itemized my pledge above, though my Goblinworks account profile only shows "Enrollment: Thank you! You're signed up for Alpha Enrollment."
I'm not sure how someone who buys the account could look up the add-ons at this point. "My Pledge Drives" seems to be gone from Paizo and I don't see any equivalent listing on Goblinworks. I hope such a listing will show up on GW soon as I'm sure it would be reassuring, and I'll remain in contact with the buyer until then.

Thanks for the idea, Pexx, but I've never even heard of that "PlayerUp" middlemen site before. As far as I know, they could try to defraud buyer & seller alike, keeping both the money and the account. I'm not accusing them of anything, but I just can't know, and the amount involved with this account is too large for me to use as a test case.

Ok, I will give you $2.50.

I'm not sure if you're intending to insult me, or the game, or just being silly, but no. The MS hasn't eaten that much of my brain, yet.

Although I mentioned this in another thread a couple days ago, I guess I should make my own thread, just to be sure GW has a chance to see it and chime in if they have a problem with an account being sold at this point. Changes in some life circumstances (mostly health-related) have made it so that I think it unlikely that I'll have the time/energy to play my PFO account much.

I'm willing to consider offers for my alpha pledge & its add-ons. The PDFs are already part of my Paizo.com account and are not transferable, and I'd rather not mess with shipping the miniatures, which were the only physical reward I got (I didn't buy the physical book or the flip-mats).

Crowdforger Alpha ____________ 1000
(with all of Early Enrollment included, Destiny's Twin, all Daily Deals, Monster Casting, etc.)
~Add-Ons~
Secret Salute ________________ 10 (account-wide)
Regional Trait Pack x2 _________ 30 (Main & DT)
Additional Alliance Pack ________ 20 (for DT)
The Memorial of Honor x2 _______ 40 (Main & DT)
Twice-Marked of Pharasma x2 ___ 40 (Main & DT)
1 Year of Game Time __________ 100 (12 months after EE)
3 Months of Game Time x3 ______ 90 (9 more months after EE)
Additional Player Pack _________ 15 (for DT)

I will set up a new Gmail address to put on the account, but I would also like the GW account name changed away from "Keovar" when that is possible.
Once the agreed-upon payment comes in via Paypal, I'll send you the information for the Gmail and Goblinworks accounts.

While some weeks of alpha have already gone by, remember that alpha accounts are also subscribed for all of Early Enrollment (in addition to the 21 months provided by the add-ons listed above), and will also have access to playing as monsters in "Monster Casting" when those special events are developed. Even when alpha is over, this account still provides a value which is not otherwise available.

Thanks for the well-wishes. I guess I should clarify that, as far as anyone knows, I'm not on the brink of death or anything, though my health has certainly not improved. I also don't think I'm on the verge of homelessness & starvation, but one doesn't have to be 'medically retired' like myself for money to be a concern.
Fatigue is always an issue with my MS these days, and I'm tending to spend what energy I do have on some volunteering projects or supporting what my more local friends are doing. Killing a little time by killing imaginary monsters is no big deal, but I doubt I have the stress tolerance for the emotionally-draining personal conflicts which are likely to develop when real people fight over imaginary resources. Cooperative accomplishments enliven me, while competitive struggles just make me more tired.

~~~~~~~

Something I forgot to mention in my previous post is that my alpha account is supposed to qualify for 'monster play', whenever that's developed.

I guess I'd be willing to consider offers for my account. Some life situations have changed enough that I don't think I'll have much time to use it.

Crowdforger Alpha ____________ 1000
(with Destiny Twin, all daily deals, etc.)
Secret Salute ________________ 10
Regional Trait Pack x2 _________ 30
Additional Alliance Pack ________ 20
The Memorial of Honor x2 _______ 40
Twice-Marked of Pharasma x2 ___ 40
1 Year of Game Time __________ 100
3 Months of Game Time x3 ______ 90
Additional Player Pack _________ 15

So it was 1345 total, set up to get everything for both the primary and the twin. I've already gotten the PDFs and miniatures, and a couple weekends of Alpha have gone by, so you can judge the value difference for not having those and let me know if you're interested. I would also like to change the account name, if possible.

DeciusBrutus wrote:

If it is possible to apply Observed without being detectable, why have it?

I think this statement misses the point. The proposal is to have 'Being Observed' be detectable rather than being detected.

The difference is requiring a successful Perception vs. Stealth vs. No requirement at all. Anything other than the above is a colossal breach of realism. So bad in fact as to make the assassin character archetype that a great many of us want to play impossible.

I think it also needs to be understood that At no point am I saying the 'Being Observed' debuff should be undetectable that would be just as breaking as the reverse.

If there's a check as you suggest, then those who don't have much Perception (or bodyguards using Perception on their behalf) high levels of Disguise might make the Observed state undetectable. That's why the Perception check should provide more information if it is high enough, relative to the Disguise. If you want the target's information to be limited to seeing an icon or not, then it is fair to have that show up without a Perception check. If you want there to be a skill contest in which the target could fail to get the icon at all, then it is fair to make the assassin fail just as significantly when their check is lower. Giving away your position with a highlight is one way to do that; the target is not only uneasy, they've noticed you acting suspiciously in particular, and can go confront you if they wish.

To counter the desensitization thing, there should also be a chance of getting criminal-flagged when stacking Observation. You are communicating a nonverbal threat, after all, even if you only do it to mess with someone's mind and you never actually strike.

As to multiple assassins, I think they should each have their own stack that affects their own damage. There is still an advantage to being in a group because the target doesn't necessarily know who the greater threat is and could be spooked into a trap, but if Observation from multiple assassins is allowed to stack together, then you'd simply have an entourage of expendable observation-dummies following every real assassin to give him easy one-shots.

Also an assassin will be using disguise under such conditions therefore it should not highlight the assassin as beating his disguise is a separate mechanic.

Disguise is contested against Perception. If you're a low-skill disguise artist and you're trying to Observe someone with significantly higher perception, then perhaps your shoddy costume makes you stand out rather than blend in. If you have high Disguise and they have low Perception, then they're oblivious enough to miss even the basics.

Do you really expect a system that's just "click observe, click kill, run"? Targets of actual value with no reasonable defence against such a system will simply be logged off as often as possible.

I thought we were being discouraged from discussing ideas in both places?

Perhaps, but IdeaScale is trivial to game that I've ignored it past the first few days.

On topic: I think there should indeed be a perception check, with varying results based on the check. At the very basic success level, you might just get a visible icon to represent unease at being observed. At higher check levels, the party doing the observing could be marked in some way, such as a red highlight, with the length of highlighting being dependent upon the margin by which the check succeeded. At the extreme end, the one being observed could also get a chat notification indicating the observer, so even if they can't find the highlight, they know who is stalking them.

Maybe, but we haven't gotten any indication that Commoner will be handled differently, so I don't know why we'd assume so?

The collecting & refining skills are said to be based on Profession skills, and practically every adventuring class has access to them as in-class skills. I'd hope that someone who wants to be exclusively built to deal with resource supply has the skill-space to master the collection and refinement of multiple resource streams, but also that an adventurer who doesn't want to be exclusively built to be a murderhobo is able to slot a gathering skill without ruining his combat capability.

It could be that Commoner skills don't disrupt a dedication bonus from adventurer classes. Miners, lumberjacks, and the like should probably have a bit more combat capability than those who don't leave town. That would allow mixing of Commoner with melee in such a way that the Warrior NPC class is approximated, or with spellcasting so that Adept is approximated.

I like 'yeoman' myself. Yeoman as 'a commoner who cultivates his own land' is recorded from the 15th century. In Old English, the word "man" was gender-neutral. The words 'wer' and 'wyf' were used to specify male or female where necessary.

So, you are now an Evil Empire, with an Emperor who came to power as a nice guy who now spends his time wearing a hood.

I've seen this movie before....

Palpatine? Pah! So overrated, so blatantly obvious.

I really liked the theory that this is some sort of grand plan Pharasma hatched with Aroden relating to the false prophecies and Groetus. Sure, it's nuts, but it's nuts in an awesome way.

I've been proposing that idea as it has come up, so I'll expand on it.

Perhaps Groetus is basically entropy itself. While Rovagug might want to smash the planet into rubble, Groetus wants to unmake reality.

He creeps ever closer, and Pharasma pushes him back with the souls of those who didn't want to be bound up with gods or an afterlife anyway: atheists, in the context of a world in which the divine is demonstrable. People who are more concerned with their personal survival probably think it's crazy, but whether they know it or not, the godless are effectively sacrificing their own existences for the protection of the existence of everyone and everything else.

I think Aroden may have worked with Pharasma to find a way to break a prophecy, making the future more malleable, so it may no longer be deterministic and doomed. He apparently sacrificed himself in the process, so maybe his life is the power supply for the somewhat-immortal defenders of reality that our characters may one day become. Fighting over territory in a corner of the RK is basically just an elaborate training exercise, and whether we come to love or hate one another is irrelevant when the experiences of love and hate are themselves on the line.

For Pharasma's part, she's going to die too if Groetus dissolves reality. Though it may weaken her to violate her own codes, helping to break a prophecy and allowing free resurrections for certain people in a certain region are rational moves, given the stakes. These are strange aeons, in which even Death may die.

Accessibility:
The 'Large' UI scale was usable for me, but everything below that was too small and the 'Largest' setting caused UI elements to overlap and they didn't seem to be movable. A scale slider would probably be the best solution.
The attack skill popups were too transparent for me to read, since they popped over busy backgrounds.
The chat needs some adjustment settings too, both for transparency & font size.

Aesthetics:
The colours were dull, reminiscent of DDO, with a lot of brown and gold. Obviously this is subjective, but if the UI becomes skinnable, I'd like to see a theme with more of a stone & steel look than the wood & brass one.
The camera didn't move with the character when jumping, and this felt counterintuitive and less immersive.
Why can't I look upward, above my character?

Bugs:
Sometimes changing the screen resolution made everything go black and not recover. This didn't seem consistent, though trying to change it more than once in a single session seemed to make it more likely.
Sometimes changing the resolution would garble the toolbar, often accompanied by the textures on my avatar being replaced with what appeared to be a default of narrow black & white stripes.
Sometimes Esc worked to get out of the client when it was having such problems, sometimes Alt+Enter would allow me to go back to windowed mode and close it, and sometimes I had the Alt+Ctrl+Del and kill the process that way. On one of the latter cases, it was stuck for a few minutes trying to close until I did ACD again.

I'm sure others are discussing their issues & impressions of the UI, but I didn't see a thread dedicated to collecting them. Please add your comments on the UI.

Keovar wrote:

Skinwalkers are not anime catgirls. They could look similar to Eberron's Shifters in 'human' form, which is like the glabro form from old World of Darkness. Yeah, they're hairy and not exactly pretty, but that's traditional werewolf lore.

In wereform, they'd be more like the crinos form from WoD, but probably not quite so large.

I've read up on them and seen the pictures. They look about 95% human even in animal form. They take on features of the animal they are shifting to such as claws or a bit of their features in the face. For instance the picture of the Fanglord really didn't change much at all except adding a tail.

Skinwalker
Werebear-kin
This is a very visual format. That is part of the point of a video game.

People looking to play this are not going to find those to be an even semi-suitable replacement.

All the playable races look like slightly altered humans, so I don't see your point there. Even on Earth, humans and chimps share over 95% of their genes, we're just very sensitive to details for our own species. The uncanny valley effect which makes other primates look a bit 'funny' and current attempts at androids a bit 'off' shows that we still recognize how similar they are, on some level.

The first three images look just like Shifters or the glabro form of a WoD werewolf. Your "this" looks like the crinos form of a WoD werewolf.

Yes, video games are visual; what a profound observation.
Allowing license with the visuals is exactly the adjustment I'm talking about.

I see no reason that GW couldn't make the 'glabro'-like look the 'base' form and the 'crinos'-like shape what they can change into on a limited basis. It's the stats of a full werewolf that make them unbalanced, not their art. GW has already 'marked their territory' all over the rules in many other areas, so making the skinwalker more visually dramatic is hardly a problem.

While I think Dhampir could end up as a pretty popular race I think if you implement skinwalkers you might as well just get rid of all the options other then Fanglords AKA Weretiger-Kin and make sure you have a good selection of tails and cat ears because nobody wanting to play an actual lycanthrope will be interested in that race. The furries on the other hand will be quite happy.

To illustrate my point:

This was one of the most loved races by most people I talked to in DF1.

When they made all the races the same size for Unholy Wars and changed it to this, it was one of thee top complained about differences between DF1 and DFUW.

Sometimes close enough just isn't good enough. Unfortunately with lycans close enough ends up looking too much like something from an old low budget horror film or a cutesy anime character and too little like what we'd actually like to be playing. This is extremely important in a format where we can actually view our characters.

Your anecdote from another game and apparent hate for an odd minority aren't relevant.

Keovar wrote:

As to "class" or "role": changing the name doesn't change the function. "Healer" is a role, but it's one that could be accomplished by a few different classes.

Well, when talking about roles in PfO, healer will not be one of them; cleric is one, however. Just semantics, it's true.

I'm not talking about the Healer from D&D 3.X, I'm talking about someone who fulfills the role of healing people. It's a necessary function in many situations in which people are hurt, but there are quite a few different types of training which can accomplish it. I see no good reason not to call those training sets classes.

Define "role" and define "class". Are they functionally different, or are we just saying that we'll call a liquid "dihydrogen monoxide" when it's in one bucket and "water" when it's in another? Why pick a battle of nomenclature with everyone who comes in after OE if there's no functional difference in the terms?

Yeah, I'd go with dhampir and skinwalker.

So in fact I still be Barbarian 2/Bard 1 at the same time???

UHULL! Multi-class.. AHEM.. Multi-roles!

Unless it's changed... Yes, although slotting mixed abilities means giving up the "dedication bonus" which is meant to equalize single-class slotted characters with the potential synergy advantages of mixed-class slotting. It replaces the "capstone" abilities in PFRPG. You could train barbarian & bard stuff and then experiment with different slotting schemes to get either of the dedication bonuses or different mix synergies.

As to "class" or "role": changing the name doesn't change the function. "Healer" is a role, but it's one that could be accomplished by a few different classes.

Resurrecting this.

What are the technical/legal limitations of having characters display pictures from certain URLs or uploading them to GW's servers as their character portrait?

Are there copyright issues involved? Too heavy on the GM side?

Copyright issues and porn make uploads/links of outside images a tarpit for moderation.

Also: The password complexity requirement scheme is BAD. "Correct horse battery staple" is a significantly more secure password than "1q2w3e". Why is the former rejected?

Although copying the example directly from the webcomic is probably a bad idea. :P

That's a far bigger issue, especially if someone is using the same password for their email account(s) and sites with financial information as they do with trivial stuff, like IdeaScale. Are you really worried that someone will break in and screw up your votes? It's vaguely possible that a spammer could hijack the account to post ads, but creating new accounts is much simpler.

Why would you inhibit more player customization and options?

Well, why would anyone down-vote on making the game playable for colourblind folks? 4$$#4+$ exist.

I've used IdeaScale before, and yes, cheating is as trivial as making more accounts... just like the landrush poll on this forum.

Also, after a week or two, spammers start showing up to post their own sort of 'ideas'.

Just create the bedamned GW forums, already.

Keovar wrote:

Is Golgotha planning to focus on fighter & wizard training during the WoT period?

We plan on training Wizard and clerics in WOT. But with the support of some friends we will provide training for every "class" and craft.

I'm with the Empire of Xeilias already, though I was planning to live in Callambea before this WoT thing, and I'm locked in there for the landrush.

Gol Phyllain wrote:

A pretty apt comparison. We just have a bit more love of necromancy then the Hellknights do.

Well, there's always the Order of the Crux... one of the minor Hellknight orders 'destroyed' in the purge of 4663. Except that the leaders then came back as graveknights and began 'recruiting' other undead. However, they're localized to the Nidal/Molthune border.

If Pharasma is offering 'get out of death free' cards in the RK, it becomes an ideal training ground for resurrecting (reanimating?) the order. New living members can experience death but come back to continue training, building a stronger foundation of mortal power before going on to become graveknights, liches, etc. once the resurrections run out.

~

Is Golgotha planning to focus on fighter & wizard training during the WoT period?

Trying to convince my Kabal buddies to have one. Will let you know if I succeed.

Join Kabal and ask for mage training!

Talonguard will have wizard training.

Are either of your groups looking at the possibility of joining or allying with the Empire of Xeilias, or the Coalition?

It's always been part of the settlement design planning ...

Thanks, but I do read the blogs and will sometimes read dev posts tracked by Feedly, I just don't read many threads anymore, especially when they're this long.

In the Game of Towers, you win or you have a sucky settlement.

TEO Alexander Damocles wrote:

Keovar wrote:

Kobold Cleaver wrote:

Which means the wizard settlements will make friends and get recruits fast.

Are there any?

Last I heard, Phaeros was going to have wizard training.

That's a pretty safe bet. Kind of like saying "I think Ozem's Vigil will eventually have Paladin training" :)

Could as well be on the moon for all the good that does, though. It just seems weird to me that we'll have trades classes and adventurer classes separated by settlement. An interdependent trade network makes wars more significant, but if you have to be at one another's throats in order to advance enough to get there... well, there's a saying that goes something like "where merchants cross borders, soldiers rarely do" (I've not been able to find the original quote pjrasing or attribution), but this seems to be the inverse.

Which means the wizard settlements will make friends and get recruits fast.

Are there any?

There are 7 roles in the initial design: 4 combat roles and 3 crafting roles. We will be able to choose among 7 settlement templates which offer every combination of 2 combat roles, or all 3 crafting roles.

Sounds like there will be plenty of crafting settlements, and some fighter/cleric or fighter/rogue ones, but players who wanted to focus on arcane magic are likely to have very few choices, if any.

No Rickard of Rolle here, just a different sort of bard battle.

Runescape has this kinda nice Lobby you can go into. Basically, it's between the login and the actual game—you can see who's online, chat with folks, choose your world, that kinda thing.

I'm sure they stole it from someone else, but it is a pretty sweet option.

EQ1 had a lobby like that, but it generally seemed to be populated by people complaining about their server being down.

I'm not keen to have wide-area chat in-game, let alone server-wide chat from outside the game. Companies will set up their own Teamspeak, Mumble, or other external communication channels, and they can moderate them.
In-game, I think /say should be local, and /yell should carry a little farther but have a stricter limit on how often you can post to it before an anti-spam system mutes you.

...we're not even going to consider the possibility of using a modern acronym for "point of interest" as part of our in-character language...

Dundee's Law

Fighting the battle for nomenclature with your players is a futile act. Whatever they want to call things is what they will be called.

But Orcs and Trolls spoke as they would, without love of words or things; and their language was actually more degraded and filthy than I have shown it. I do not suppose that any will wish for a closer rendering, though models are easy to find. Much the same sort of talk can still be heard among the orc-minded; dreary and repetitive with hatred and contempt, too long removed from good to retain even verbal vigour, save in the ears of those to whom only the squalid sounds strong.

Internet culture is full of semiliterate orcs, so no matter how well the proper term fits, and no matter how stupid the abbreviation or acronym sounds, fewer keystrokes will probably win out as the majority.