Paizo employees go waaaay back.


Paizo General Discussion

1 to 50 of 60 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>

2 people marked this as a favorite.

So I was reading one part of this book series called Designers & Dragons, chronicling the business history of many RPG companies from the 70s to the present. As a generally casual consumer of roleplaying products I started to notice RPGs with Fighting Fantasy, a sort of 'choose your own adventure' line of books where you make stats and roll to fight against monsters in the book. I still have four of the line but I was discouraged from roleplaying altogether before picking up interest in Vampire the Masqerade in 2003. It wasn't until 2006 that D&D was actually on my radar and 2012 when I picked up the Pathfinder Beginner Box. Between 2003 and 2012 I've been dipping my toes in and out of systems and when I had an interest in D&D I read up on mechanical histories to better participate in conversations online but I never truly looked at names until I started getting more of an interest in third party publishers and although it's not surprising I am fascinated that I see how far back some of the movers and shakers here at Paizo go and how experienced they are. I'm reading a chapter on Wizards of the Coast and their acquisition of TSR in 1997 and seeing familiar names like Lisa Stevens and Erik Mona. I know the 90s isn't that far back but in RPG terms its forever, like three D&Ds ago forever. (I'm coining the use of D&D editions as a measurement of RPG time if that hasn't happened already.) I have to say, these guys have a LOT of experience under their belts.

This isn't exactly news or anything I just wanted to express and discuss how far some of the people involved in the game we like go and maybe appreciate how far they've gone to build up to this point.

[edit] This includes some of our third party publishers. Holy-moley do some of you guys have some history.


I kickstartered Designers and Dragons - anyone interested in the history or RPGs at all should buy them. Incredible info in all of them.


Malwing wrote:

So I was reading one part of this book series called Designers & Dragons, chronicling the business history of many RPG companies from the 70s to the present. As a generally casual consumer of roleplaying products I started to notice RPGs with Fighting Fantasy, a sort of 'choose your own adventure' line of books where you make stats and roll to fight against monsters in the book. I still have four of the line but I was discouraged from roleplaying altogether before picking up interest in Vampire the Masqerade in 2003. It wasn't until 2006 that D&D was actually on my radar and 2012 when I picked up the Pathfinder Beginner Box. Between 2003 and 2012 I've been dipping my toes in and out of systems and when I had an interest in D&D I read up on mechanical histories to better participate in conversations online but I never truly looked at names until I started getting more of an interest in third party publishers and although it's not surprising I am fascinated that I see how far back some of the movers and shakers here at Paizo go and how experienced they are. I'm reading a chapter on Wizards of the Coast and their acquisition of TSR in 1997 and seeing familiar names like Lisa Stevens and Erik Mona. I know the 90s isn't that far back but in RPG terms its forever, like three D&Ds ago forever. (I'm coining the use of D&D editions as a measurement of RPG time if that hasn't happened already.) I have to say, these guys have a LOT of experience under their belts.

This isn't exactly news or anything I just wanted to express and discuss how far some of the people involved in the game we like go and maybe appreciate how far they've gone to build up to this point.

[edit] This includes some of our third party publishers. Holy-moley do some of you guys have some history.

D&D editions as a measurement of RPG time is a good marker.


Malwing wrote:

So I was reading one part of this book series called Designers & Dragons, chronicling the business history of many RPG companies from the 70s to the present. As a generally casual consumer of roleplaying products I started to notice RPGs with Fighting Fantasy, a sort of 'choose your own adventure' line of books where you make stats and roll to fight against monsters in the book. I still have four of the line but I was discouraged from roleplaying altogether before picking up interest in Vampire the Masqerade in 2003. It wasn't until 2006 that D&D was actually on my radar and 2012 when I picked up the Pathfinder Beginner Box. Between 2003 and 2012 I've been dipping my toes in and out of systems and when I had an interest in D&D I read up on mechanical histories to better participate in conversations online but I never truly looked at names until I started getting more of an interest in third party publishers and although it's not surprising I am fascinated that I see how far back some of the movers and shakers here at Paizo go and how experienced they are. I'm reading a chapter on Wizards of the Coast and their acquisition of TSR in 1997 and seeing familiar names like Lisa Stevens and Erik Mona. I know the 90s isn't that far back but in RPG terms its forever, like three D&Ds ago forever. (I'm coining the use of D&D editions as a measurement of RPG time if that hasn't happened already.) I have to say, these guys have a LOT of experience under their belts.

This isn't exactly news or anything I just wanted to express and discuss how far some of the people involved in the game we like go and maybe appreciate how far they've gone to build up to this point.

[edit] This includes some of our third party publishers. Holy-moley do some of you guys have some history.

it's a small world, gaming is.

Community Manager

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Removed some derailing and unnecessary posts—there are plenty of other forums to express your discontent with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Liz Courts wrote:
Removed some derailing and unnecessary posts—there are plenty of other forums to express your discontent with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

...Please tell me you meant threads, not forums.


Rynjin wrote:
Liz Courts wrote:
Removed some derailing and unnecessary posts—there are plenty of other forums to express your discontent with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
...Please tell me you meant threads, not forums.

She might have meant subforums--this thread is in Paizo/General Discussion, and discussion of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game on this website should be in Paizo/Pathfinder/Pathfinder RPG. I know I sometimes use forum and subforum interchangeably.

Liberty's Edge

Rynjin wrote:
Liz Courts wrote:
Removed some derailing and unnecessary posts—there are plenty of other forums to express your discontent with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
...Please tell me you meant threads, not forums.

A "forum" is a place of discussion, and may include any or all of the following: threads, messageboards, mailing lists, Facebook pages, town squares or Dear Abby columns.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Samy wrote:
Rynjin wrote:
Liz Courts wrote:
Removed some derailing and unnecessary posts—there are plenty of other forums to express your discontent with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
...Please tell me you meant threads, not forums.
A "forum" is a place of discussion, and may include any or all of the following: threads, messageboards, mailing lists, Facebook pages, town squares or Dear Abby columns.

No, a thread is not a forum. It is a single topic of discussion on this forum (or messageboard...the two are synonymous).

Liberty's Edge

If you want to exclude threads from the definition of fora, then that is your decision, but know that it is not a decision shared by all.

Community Manager

I did mean threads, sorry for the confusion!


Samy wrote:
If you want to exclude threads from the definition of fora, then that is your decision, but know that it is not a decision shared by all.

I support Rynjin's definition.

It has been cleared up fortunately, thanks Liz.

Lord Mhoram, so they are quite informative?


Guys, my guess is that Paizo is following a policy we've seen elsewhere—"We don't like to delete posts disparaging us because it makes it look like that's why the posts get deleted."

So let's just move on. I don't really feel up to rewriting the whole on-topic bit I put up right now. Maybe I will later.

Shadow Lodge

It's not that surprising. It's a small industry. The people who choose to make it their full-time career are going to show up in lots of places / companies.

Paizo Employee

Nice topic! Sorry things got off to a rough start; I end up taking some serious breaks from that sort of negativity as well.

One of my favorite seminars at GenCon every year is "Auntie Lisa's Story Hour." It's basically just Lisa Stevens sitting around and reminiscing about her time in the industry. Especially as someone who's been roleplaying for a long time, it's neat to see the other side of all those shakeups.

It's also a nice reminder that things are both a lot more complicated and a lot friendlier than internet arguments would have you believe.

Cheers!
Landon

Dark Archive

Landon Winkler wrote:
One of my favorite seminars at GenCon every year is "Auntie Lisa's Story Hour." It's basically just Lisa Stevens sitting around and reminiscing about her time in the industry. Especially as someone who's been roleplaying for a long time, it's neat to see the other side of all those shakeups.

Agreed. Her blog posts to that affect have been riveting, and I can only imagine it's even cooler to hear that sort of stuff live!

I'd love to hear some backyard gossip about Ars Magica, White Wolf, Wizards during the Magic the Gathering launch, and her time working with the RPGA and Greyhawk setting.

1 to 50 of 60 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Paizo / General Discussion / Paizo employees go waaaay back. All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.