You Used to Play PFS, But Now...


Pathfinder Society

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5/5

If you used to play or GM Pathfinder Society games, but don't now, why? Please try to be as specific and detailed as possible.

I'll start! I used to GM a fair bit, but since June of last year, I've only run a handful of games and have only played about the same. Reasons I stopped:

  • My work life changed quite a bit, requiring more of my free time.
  • I started focusing on getting healthy and losing weight (which takes up a lot more free time than I wish it did)
  • After running 100+ games, I simply needed a break.
  • I got tired of the local player base. It seemed like the worst players at game days scared away the better players, and much like Idiocracy, the worst players multiplied.
  • The person who got me into PFS, who pushed me to be a better GM, and who I shared a lot of road trips with quit playing.

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

This thread is only one post long and I'm already kind of sad. It bums me out to see people who are dedicated to gaming (of any kind) leaving that game behind (for any reason). I see it all the time in Magic. It certainly happens a lot in D&D. I wish it weren't happening in this one, too...

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

Kyle Baird wrote:
The person who got me into PFS, who pushed me to be a better GM, and who I shared a lot of road trips with quit playing.

After all that time with you, can anyone blame him? :-P

Seriously...I do not play nearly as much as I did in the past. I do more organizing, especially with regional groups and conventions, than anything these days. I'm just glad to have a good Venture-Lieutenant and excellent local organizers. My GM'ing is very concentrated over a couple of days when I attend regional/national conventions. When I do play, it's usually because a table I was scheduled to run didn't go off.

Liberty's Edge 4/5

Main reason I mainly GM is that very few PFS games get announced to me, for one reason or another.

So, the only PFS games I know of at my local FLGS are the ones I schedule myself.

And the past few of the moonthly Game Days, I have been stepping up trying to make sure there was some sort of PFS scheduled. Frequently, another local GM steps up, AFTER I am on the schedule, during the same time slot.

And, for the online collective, either the tiome scheduled is not compatible with my work schedule, or the scenario scheduled is one of the ones I have already played.

"Look! The GM is running scenario X-XX! Heh. I played that one on Y/YY, with my charcater Z. Meh." Happens all too often. Yesterday, I was running The Ruby Phoenix Tournament under the grandfathered rules at the local game day, as an all-day thing (and we still fdidn't finish), and the only other PFS game scheduled was TDWK part 1, which I played quite some time ago, on a character who leveled out of tier before parts 3 & 4 came out...

Scarab Sages 2/5

Similar timframe as Kyle, and some of the same reasons.

  • Not only did I undergo a career change, I started freelancing on a regular basis.
  • I too grew... impatient with the local player base.
  • I lost my Bob.
  • I grew fatally frustrated with my inability to find/form a home game. PFS is fun, but pales in comparison to pure Pathfinder.

  • Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

    Tom Baumbach wrote:
    Not only did I undergo a career change, I started freelancing on a regular basis.

    I don't believe it, Mr Fancypants, until I have something tangible in my hand

    Tom Baumbach wrote:
    I lost my Bob

    lol...Kyle lost his DougDoug and you lost your BobBob

    Tom Baumbach wrote:
    I grew fatally frustrated with my inability to find/form a home game. PFS is fun, but pales in comparison to pure Pathfinder.

    Since you are freelancing, there is nothing keeping you there. Move to central Illinois. We'll get a group together and start Skull & Shackles next month.

    :-)

    Liberty's Edge 1/5

    Single largest reason I stopped playing: inflexibility of the campaign regarding character rebuilds and re-skinning. While I had other reasons as well (busy work schedule, the whole getting healthier thing), playing RPG's is one of my go-to forms of relaxation and something I'd "make time for" to take a break. However, the PFS campaign rules are too narrow for my preferred playstyle, compared to previous shared campaigns like Living Greyhawk. PFS went down my entertainment hierarchy, leaving other pastimes to fill the space.

    Sovereign Court

    I usually don't go to PFS events because even though it's year 3 and every time I show up to a game day they're playing a bloody year 0 adventure. Every time!

    *grumble*


    I play in cycles. I'll get a hankering to play a tabletop (or virtual tabletop) game, but then I'll end up playing one of the randomly interspersed extra-hard scenarios and that will turn me off Pathfinder Society for a while for a while.

    The Exchange 5/5

    I still play at my local venues. I've quit playing PFS at CONs - (playing or judging) - at least for the moment. Had a very bad experience and am a little "gun shy", afread of the kind of people I might get trapped in a game with. This will likely pass with time...

    So I'm Judgeing more, but only at the local venues, or for people I know. Even with that thou, I still get in a game or two a week, about half the time as a judge. So maybe I don't count as "used to play".... basicly I'm in the "used to play at CONs" group. Now I play things other than PFS at CONs.

    4/5 ****

    I moved from the SF Bay Area to Iowa. Instead of ~3 games a week being within an easy drive, I have one game a month within an easy drive and 1 game a month in a 2+ hour drive.

    There's also the fact that I've got some gaming stuff here, but a lot of it is still in California, makes it a lot harder to provide the quality I want when judging when most of my cool props/supplies are far away and I have to spend my prep time scrambling for maps/minis instead of devising fiendish ways of entertaining my players.

    Sovereign Court 2/5

    Morgen wrote:

    I usually don't go to PFS events because even though it's year 3 and every time I show up to a game day they're playing a bloody year 0 adventure. Every time!

    *grumble*

    You really need to talk to your event organizer. I have a mixed group down here in Fort Lauderdale with some new players and old players. I make a concerted effort to get a list of scenarios from the older players so I can mix and match the monthly game for everyone to be able to participate. The nice thing is that the amount of players is finally approaching the amount where I can run two tables so the problem becomes less pronounced. Any event organizer should have little trouble doing this.

    The Exchange 5/5

    2 people marked this as a favorite.

    At this time last year I was in the middle of a seven conventions in 8 weeks binge. I averaged over 100 sessions GMed a season since the campaign began. Just shy of 400 sessions my life changed. My voice started to get deeper, I found hair growing in the weirdest places on my body... I'm still struggling to figure out what it all means! Actually like many others I have started a family and the gaming has been moved to the back burner. The last time that I played PFS was October. I GMed last in January. I made a big investment in the early days of PFS but now I find myself struggling with the desire to stay relevant in the campaign versus not caring since I have found something far more fulfilling. I still check the boards several times a day, but most of the threads are just the same posters going in circles.

    Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

    Doug Miles wrote:
    I still check the boards several times a day, but most of the threads are just the same posters going in circles.

    This one gets to me, too. Worse: it'll be different people asking the same questions. Then the same arguments will flare up. I really don't know why they couldn't find the answer from the last time the question was asked...

    The Exchange 5/5

    I will point out that some things are "solved" on the boards. Every now and again, the way we do things get resolved by questions raised here and hashed out...

    Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

    nosig wrote:
    I will point out that some things are "solved" on the boards. Every now and again, the way we do things get resolved by questions raised here and hashed out...

    Oh, totally agree.

    However, sometimes they get resolved, then someone asks the question again without bothering to look at the thread that resolved his question 3 months ago. It's a bit frustrating, and often drives me away from the boards for weeks at a time as various topics are argued about.

    The Exchange 5/5

    Drogon wrote:
    nosig wrote:
    I will point out that some things are "solved" on the boards. Every now and again, the way we do things get resolved by questions raised here and hashed out...

    Oh, totally agree.

    However, sometimes they get resolved, then someone asks the question again without bothering to look at the thread that resolved his question 3 months ago. It's a bit frustrating, and often drives me away from the boards for weeks at a time as various topics are argued about.

    I try to chock this up to new players joining the game. Or, old players finding the boards for the first time, only to discover that the way they have been doing things for years isn't the way they work.

    The total newbies are a joy. "yeah, this is how you read a d4. Careful about dropping these on the floor, they are kind of like little caltrops. What's a caltrop you ask? Well..." I teach the game to a lot of beginners. So when someone chimes in with a question like "Can I play the same scenario with a different character?" I actually enjoy answering.

    The Old Hands are perhaps a little less of a joy - esp. when they "know more then you do" about the way things work. I try real hard not to be one of those. But even those can be fun.

    Liberty's Edge 4/5 RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16

    When I lived in Washington, I had a great PFS group in Olympia. Now that I'm back east, my gaming group prefers to play through APs. I wouldn't have time to game more than once per week. If I were in a different location, with a less consistent gaming group, I'd still play PFS.

    Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **

    Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
    Doug Miles wrote:
    I still check the boards several times a day, but most of the threads are just the same posters going in circles.

    Why do I feel so dizzy?... 0_o

    Shadow Lodge 2/5

    I play less now than I did six months ago. The main reason is that I was running out of scenarios! So I scaled back a bit to just once a week and I judge more often as well.

    3/5

    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    I am actually thinking of giving up PFS altogether after I'm done volunteering at a local convention in April.

    Too much work, too little reward (which for me would be that I could play the characters I enjoy playing more than once a year, and it looks like one will be forever stuck waiting to play Part IV of the Eyes of the Ten series).

    Still not as bothersome as what I perceive to be petitioning for the over-management of the campaign by a select group here on the boards. I am already having a difficult time having fun with PFS right now; I don't need a steady stream of complaints about how what I enjoy about the campaign is often wrong and needs to be changed. I understand that all of us want what we want, but it seems that too many of "us" want to actively interfere with how others see the campaign.

    Scarab Sages

    I haven't played PFS in almost precisely a year. ComicPalooza 2011. Iwas living in Houston, as opposed to Dallas. There were a few gamers I liked playing with in my local group, and I really liked hanging out with them. And there were a few that I'd known since the Living Greyhawk days, and loved getting to see once or twice a year at cons. They were good friends, and I miss them

    But, frankly, the reason that I stopped playing is that it got to the point that in a four hour slot, there was little to no RP going on. The games turned into little more than initiative counts and damage multipliers. Number cruching at it's finest. Min-maxing that was out of this world. Optimizing beyond belief. ... I am an old school gamer, and part of what I didn't like about 4th edition a was the mentality of a lot of the games. It focused too much on combat and never allowed for thee type of game I wanted.

    I realize that everyone has a play style that is good for them, but mine was often incompatible with it. I'm glad they had fun doing it, but, I'm not going to force myself to do something that I don't enjoy, just for the sake of having a game. I actually had players get miffed with me for trying to infuse a litte RP into the game on my turn. When I would describe my actions before I rolled my dice, and say, "We get it. You're a fighter who specializes in combat maneuvers. What armor class did you hit?" When the short nature of the slots means the encounters can scarcely fit into four hours, DMs would often call the combat a few rounds in and move on. Often DMs would skim through the boxed text, or just summarize it. The combat was the only important part, and other players would often bicker and argue and try to tell me that I was playing wrong if I made a less than optimal choice for RP reasons, like provoking an AAO when I could've taken the same move action and avoided one, but my fighter was convinced that he should rush in and confront things directly. Or spending ranks on Craft: Carpet Weaving rather than points in Intimidate. Only on three or four occasions did I ever get to use that skill in-game other than a day job roll, but for me, those were some of the most glorious moments in the character's history.

    In the end, basically, it came down to the type of people in that area, and the style with which they were comfortable.

    Sovereign Court 5/5

    7 people marked this as a favorite.

    I used to play PFS, but then I took an arrow in the knee.

    Dark Archive 4/5

    Actually, since attaining my 5th Star I'm doing even more PFS than ever. I became the VC for Iowa, GM about every month at the local game day, and assist with conventions that I can get to or can't get to. I'm playing more as well, testing out the almost pure GM credit characters that I haven't had a chance to yet. If I could play PFS every other day, I would.

    Grand Lodge

    Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

    I've had to cut down since the job I'm at now has a schedule that precludes me going to all but one convention a year.

    The Exchange

    Playing in a home game and moved out of town.

    I was playing almost every week when I lived across the street from a game store.

    Dark Archive

    I played mostly at home with friends. However, after the Ultimate Magic and Combat books came out, a level of disatisfaction with the rules system crept in. Simply too much power on the player side of the ball. Then, when bad guys finally started having some of the same toys and we were hit with them, it reached a breaking point. I dropped my subscription, but tried going to local game days.

    Needless to say, I played with some people I'd rather not. All 7s in Charisma, with no role playing to boot. (Not that you'd expect much from 7 Chas, other than people using it to justify their being extremely annoying and rude.) So I stopped doing that, too.

    Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

    GeneticDrift wrote:
    I lived across the street from a game store.

    Next to living IN the store, every gamer's dream :-)

    Sovereign Court 1/5

    I quit because it was boring me. I wanted a regular game that my character could be explored and expanded. I also hated having to buy gear that I almost had to reroll a PC for. A quick intro, ask a few questions, off to the tomb/castle/necroplolis.... hack, whack, and give the loot away. "What do you mean I can't have that wand? I went to -8 HP for that wand!"

    And the factions. I HATED THE FACTIONS!

    Shadow Lodge

    I'll admit it's been a bit, for me, since I've GM'd (or even played, for that matter). Needing to focus on school made me choose to withdraw from being the Venture-Captain up here, and some unrelated personal issues had me withdraw completely from the local scene. Now that I'm doing better, of course, I'm itching to get some playing done, but I may not GM as much as I used to. We'll see.

    Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **

    Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

    Organized play is definitely not for everyone and those reason are fully understandable.

    I Love organized play, but I have almost quit twice, one I will keep to myself because I am still a little upset about it but the other is something I think comes from my experience from the military.

    So in the Air Force at least every time you get a new Commander it can be a bit of a rough time, because many times the new Commander comes in and wants to change everything up, even if things as is are running well, so they can leave an imprint on the unit that they are a part of and also in the meantime forward their career. Sometimes these changes are good sometimes they are not. But you are still worried about it until you see how they work out.

    PFS leadership has not been stable IMO, it seems to change way too much, and I get worried every time it happens because of what I mentioned above.

    I liked Josh, loved Hyrum, though me and Mark seem to argue a lot we seem to have many of the same opinions, But Mike for me did not start off well.

    Don't take this the wrong way Mike, but you started off not so well for me, I was pissed about the Module change and was serious thinking about quitting because I was worried what else he would do.

    That said, it ended up Mike has been doing a Great Job and I am glad I stayed in!

    1/5

    Some, but not all, reasons for the exodus are here:

    History Lesson

    The Exchange 4/5

    I quit for much the same reason as Dragnmoon. I downright loved Hyrum and can't stand Mark. Now that Mike's in charge I've allowed myself to play a few games, but I doubt I'll ever be as hardcore as I was in the past.

    In the beginning I loved Paizo for their commitment and loyalty. I would have followed them anywhere. Somewhere along the line they lost that loyalty and fired two of the best three employees they've ever had. That just doesn't sit well with me, so I don't allow myself to support them much.

    Sovereign Court 4/5

    I used to play during Season 0 and the beginning of 1, then went on a two-year hiatus and returned at the end of Season 2.

    Why did I stop playing around the time Season 1 had just went underway? Let me elaborate:

    * I, among other locals, were disdained by Josh Frost's rulings, particularly his conversion rules, among others.
    * The scenarios were greatly lacking in quality. The last straw was Drow of the Darklands Pyramid, which was attrocious.
    * New scenarios were quickly played through, and we were left with a void with nothing to play.

    There's one thing I still see as something that makes people turn away more than often.

    * Needless bureacracy, all the somewhat pointless, dull-looking chronicles, tracking, multiple extra rules... while some are nice, they appear cumbersome.
    * Sessions held in conventions... well, suck. I've ran maybe a dozen Pathfinder Society sessions at cons and unless they are crowded with friends of mine, they tend to be sucky. This is an unfortunate truth, here at least, I don't know about cons in USA/Canada/UK/etc. Having a mediocre or bad experience (mostly because of other players) puts the final nail in their coffin, and they refuse to try again.

    Grand Lodge 5/5

    Bob Jonquet wrote:
    GeneticDrift wrote:
    I lived across the street from a game store.
    Next to living IN the store, every gamer's dream :-)

    I would HATE to live in a game store. All those smelly YuGiOh and Magic: The Gathering players walking around? No thank you. :P

    Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

    godsDMit wrote:
    Bob Jonquet wrote:
    GeneticDrift wrote:
    I lived across the street from a game store.
    Next to living IN the store, every gamer's dream :-)
    I would HATE to live in a game store. All those smelly YuGiOh and Magic: The Gathering players walking around? No thank you. :P

    I admit it: I live in my game store (by virtue of working 70+ hours per week).

    I mitigate it by having a coffee shop and cafe take up the front half of my store. Coffee smells much nicer than gamer. And it's a nice change of pace going from coffee customers in the morning to gamer customers in the afternoon/evening. Keeps me on my toes.

    Doesn't keep me from playing 3 times a week, though. LOVE that part...

    Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

    6 people marked this as a favorite.

    Okay folks, I was not going to voice my opinion in this thread because I still actively participate in PFS, but the direct, personal comments towards some of the leadership is ridiculous and needs to stop. Disagreeing with the decisions that were made is one thing, but each campaign coordinator has done what they thought was right for the community. You might disagree, but to say things like "can't stand Mark" is just insulting and has no place in a forum that is supposed to at least appear to be civil.

    If you think the leadership made some decision/s that you disagreed with and that led to your leaving the community, fine, feel free to share the specifics of 'that' decision, but I will flag any thread that says things like I quoted above. If you feel that is inappropriate, so be it. I would do the same if a player/GM/organizer was receiving forum-hate.

    Sovereign Court 2/5

    2 people marked this as a favorite.
    Bob Jonquet wrote:

    Okay folks, I was not going to voice my opinion in this thread because I still actively participate in PFS, but the direct, personal comments towards some of the leadership is ridiculous and needs to stop. Disagreeing with the decisions that were made is one thing, but each campaign coordinator has done what they thought was right for the community. You might disagree, but to say things like "can't stand Mark" is just insulting and has no place in a forum that is supposed to at least appear to be civil.

    If you think the leadership made some decision/s that you disagreed with and that led to your leaving the community, fine, feel free to share the specifics of 'that' decision, but I will flag any thread that says things like I quoted above. If you feel that is inappropriate, so be it. I would do the same if a player/GM/organizer was receiving forum-hate.

    +1000

    Thank you, Bob. It is important to try and keep these discussions professional and not delve into the personal, especially for subjects like this that tend to inflame passion :)

    5/5 ** Venture-Lieutenant, Arizona—Tucson

    While I still regularly organize, run, and play Pathfinder Society events in Tucson, we have had some player turnover. I don't discourage players from recruiting each other into their own regular campaigns: One of the great benefits of organized play is its ability to help players meet and discover each others' interests. Because of this, a few players have been busy playing Pathfinder in their home campaigns. Most of these players still periodically attend.

    I have also spoken with several players who claimed other reasons for their decision not to play:

    - Desire for deeper roleplaying opportunities than organized play can provide.

    - Personal dislike or frustration with one of the players or GMs in the group.

    - Desire to play "darker" characters or campaign styles not supported by the "pathfinder Society" framework.

    - Scheduling conflict or difficulty getting transportation to scheduled games.

    - Dislike of the Pathfinder rules or "broken character builds" they perceive as imbalanced.

    The Exchange 5/5

    well... Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.

    Wait, I was channeling Grocho Marx there for a second there...

    Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

    nosig wrote:

    well... Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.

    Wait, I was channeling Grocho Marx there for a second there...

    Hey!!! No stealing my stolen catch phrase ;-)

    The Exchange 5/5

    Bob Jonquet wrote:
    nosig wrote:

    well... Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.

    Wait, I was channeling Grocho Marx there for a second there...

    Hey!!! No stealing my stolen catch phrase ;-)

    to steal another quote from Grocho...

    "Years ago, I tried to top everybody, but I don't anymore. I realized it was killing conversation. When you're always trying for a topper you aren't really listening. It ruins communication"

    this is very deep... something to consider whenever posting to the boards.

    Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***

    nosig wrote:
    this is very deep...

    Wait, what?!? Did you say something? I was busy thinking of what I was going to say in response to the point you were trying to make before you made it. :-)

    The Exchange 5/5

    Bob Jonquet wrote:
    nosig wrote:
    this is very deep...
    Wait, what?!? Did you say something? I was busy thinking of what I was going to say in response to the point you were trying to make before you made it. :-)

    wow... yeah. that. I think....


    Well, I had a decent time with my first (and only) PFSOP game; the group I found when I changed towns were fun, welcoming, well-behaved, hygenic...

    But after just a little looking in to the regulations and requirements that are needful for OP, I decided that it was not my bag of tea, baby.

    Please find below those things I found too odious to play with. NOT running down the hard work that obviously went into PFSOP, NOR asserting that requiring them is badwrongfun... just these are why I came, I saw, I backed out.

    *the prohibition of one-THIRD of the alignment options (longtime L/E player)
    *the strict adherence to a (to my mind) ridiculous WBL structure
    *having to BUY items FOUND in the course of adventuring?
    *the addition of a clunky and superfluous prestige point system that adds to bookkeeping but has little reasonable impact on play
    *the factions... one of my favorite parts of gaming is making my OWN factions

    And the final nail in the coffin is that I heartily dislike a great deal of the post-CRB/APG offerings (there's some stuff in the APG that makes me go 'O.o'); between having to deal with the enthusiasm evident for the power creep, and the VERY evident attitude that 'if you aren't completely twinked-out to the tune of maximal optimization, you shouldn't be burdening the rest of the table with your suboptimal character,' I'm not eager to deal with Organized Play. Eventually I'll get a home game going or find one to join; getting my fix is not worth the aggravation.

    I love Pathfinder: it's everything that WotC SHOULD have done with the D&D line. [Yes, unabashed partisan in the Edition Wars. I'd rather wait tables than play 4E.] It's a great game, one that I expect to be playing for years... just not under the Organized Play rubric.

    Liberty's Edge 4/5

    I quit cause after Kyle killed my gnome it was never the same.

    Mike

    5/5

    Qstor wrote:
    I quit cause after Kyle killed my gnome

    And the entire PFS community rejoiced!

    Liberty's Edge 1/5

    I organized a few 1 table store games before moving 400 miles last summer. When I played at a con in February, I was kind of surprised to see that I hadn't played nor GMed in a year for PFS. My time off was associated with a change in lifestyle and the move. I'm playing and GMing in a con this weekend, and likely will play and GM in a couple of others later in the year. I will likely pick up some games this summer in stores.

    I don't have a problem with the campaign rules, they work fine for me. I do find the items that are available on the chronicles to be rather pointless. I find the choices of character race, class, etc. to be sufficient, but I rarely play really odd stuff even when the option is there.

    Scarab Sages 5/5

    Todd Morgan wrote:
    Actually, since attaining my 5th Star I'm doing even more PFS than ever. I became the VC for Iowa, GM about every month at the local game day, and assist with conventions that I can get to or can't get to. I'm playing more as well, testing out the almost pure GM credit characters that I haven't had a chance to yet. If I could play PFS every other day, I would.

    I think I heard something about you having an awesome 12th level cleric or something.

    Liberty's Edge 1/5

    And then I was slain by an Elf.

    As a side note, I am a total noob (1 session GMed, none played)

    nosig said wrote:
    So when someone chimes in with a question like "Can I play the same scenario with a different character?" I actually enjoy answering.

    Well, can you?

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