Venture-Captain, Nebraska—Omaha
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I think I remember them saying that they will being their best to accommodate everyone so if you have a ticket and need to switch, they will be working with you.
The reason for the tiers is to allow GM to be better prepared. Apparently last year things didn't go smooth and some GMs had to run tiers that they were not prepared for.
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The reason why it's changing is to help have better prepared GMs. There was no good way to tell what the level break-down was going to be in previous years, which lead to GMs sometimes being asked to run tiers that they didn't have prep. During the Sky Solution, for example, I saw a couple GMs who prepped the 1-2 and 3-4 subtiers to run for 10-11 instead.
Now, you will likely be able to play a different subtier, you'll just have to go through process that generic tickets have to go through; you'll get seated after all the ticket holders who want to play the levels they bought tickets for. (At least, I believe that's how this is going to work).
If you're really worried about playing your character, you could always get a 1-2 subtier ticket and roll up a new character if your other character dies. You could also get a ticket for a character you're only going to be playing in the special, or have a back-up character in case something happens. In any case, character deaths are pretty rare in PFS, so I don't think there's going to be a lot of problems with this. Finally, keep in mind that you can play up to one subtier out of subtier (or a level 5 can play in 3-4, 5-6 or 7-8), as long as APL work outs. There's a lot more flexibility this time around.
Players will have to be more on the ball, and that's (IMO) an okay trade-off for better prepared GMs. I honestly think that, while not perfect, this system is going to lead to better specials than previous years.
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The number of GMs running out of the tier they prepped for the last few years has gotten untenable. It was causing poor gaming experiences for the players and the GMs. The special events like the interactive are the showcase events of the season and we want to provide everyone the best possible experience. By designating the tickets by sub-tier, it gives us a lot more visibility on the supply/demand and so GMs can properly prepare for the event. Is there a chance for some players to arrive with a ticket and no legal character in that range? Yes, but we expect that will have much less impact on the event than the large number of GMs who in the past have had to run sub-tiers they did not prepare for and are not familiar with. I think we can all agree than running "cold" is rarely if ever a good experience.
GenCon requires all real ticket players to be seated before generics are taken. If you do not have a legal character for the tier of your ticket, we will have to manage your mustering a bit differently. That could mean moving you to another marshal station, or to the generic ticket area. There are a lot of moving parts to marshaling the special and we cannot give you a one-fix answer. Options include, but are not limited to: run a different PC in a differed sub-tier if we have available seats in that tier, run a pregen in a tier with openings but where you do not have an available PC, etc.
Obviously, we hope players arrive with legal PCs for the sub-tier of their ticket, but I expect there will be a few complications as there always is. The key is going to be the flexibility of the player to accept an alternative option. As organizers, we can only manage what we know. By selling tickets by the sub-tier, it increases our knowledge. The more players arriving without a legal PC, the more handling time it will take to find the best fit table for you, but at least you'll get a GM prepared to run that sub-tier and ready to provide you with the best possible experience.
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With all do respect, if that is the plan, that plan is NG. If I manage to score a ticket to play, I should be seated with all of the other people who have real tickets to play. I can understand the issue with the GM's, but there has to be a better way than this.The reason why it's changing is to help have better prepared GMs. There was no good way to tell what the level break-down was going to be in previous years, which lead to GMs sometimes being asked to run tiers that they didn't have prep. During the Sky Solution, for example, I saw a couple GMs who prepped the 1-2 and 3-4 subtiers to run for 10-11 instead.
Now, you will likely be able to play a different subtier, you'll just have to go through process that generic tickets have to go through; you'll get seated after all the ticket holders who want to play the levels they bought tickets for. (At least, I believe that's how this is going to work.
Keep in mind that this may be the best way that Paizo and Gencon can together accommodate such a large gathering of players trying to play the same thing at the same time. if you have another suggestion, though, Im sure they are willing to hear it, though I doubt anything can be done to change the way they are trying it out this year. This is one of many things that Paizo has tried over the past several years to improve PFS at Gencon, and many of the suggestions come from regular players, GMs, and HQ staff at the con themselves.
I don't mean to brush off your concern, but I assume you can see the benefits of doing it this way. If you cant, then let me assure you, as someone who's sat on both sides of the Special table at Gencon, this will help make for a better overall experience for those involved.
Venture-Agent, Nebraska—Omaha
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I can see the advantages from the gm and HQ perspective, but from mine, this event is limited, and comes at an increased cost. The idea that I could buy a ticket, and then be denied the opportunity to play a character of my own, or to be forced to scramble for table space instead of playing with friends. I am concerned that this may not be as fun an experience for a given player.
I a,m being told that this was discussed with volunteers, gms and players in advance, but I just found out looking at the event catalog. Clearly the opinion of the lowly pfs player wasn't worth while enough to solicit in advance, so niw I am letting mine be known now.
Having a good playing experience is definitely a player advantage. I was at a 10-11 table last year for which the GM had prepared for 7-8. He did a good job overall, but I definitely noticed when he wasn't as familiar with the higher tier encounters.
There are plenty of ways to ensure you have a character in tier. For instance, pick a tier in which you will have more than one character available. Have a back-up. If you don't have that many characters, make sure to have enough gold or prestige to raise dead.
It may take more forethought on players' parts, but overall I expect the experience to be much improved.
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
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Well, since i'm clearly being told not to voice a dissenting opinion, and that my concerns are not valid, I'll stop speaking.
I don't see anyone denying you your opinion or telling you to be quiet. I see several people voicing optimism about the proposed system, and several others are explaining why this system is what we're using this year.
If you're concerned about the feedback received from "players, volunteers, and GMs," know that it represents feedback our volunteers heard and compiled throughout the event—from players, from GMs, from mustering officers, and more. At the very end of the convention, the organized play HQ and staff holds a debriefing meeting with GMs and venture-officers to get their feedback (again, collected across many tables and rounds of mustering) while those ideas are still fresh. Then, over the course of many months afterward, volunteers like Bob Jonquet and Jon Cary continue watching the messageboards for other Gen Con feedback and add that to the list.
As Bob has noted in several different threads, we're trying out some new methods informed by feedback accumulated over the years. We're expecting many of them to be improvements, yet we're also keeping open minds (and open ears) that we might need to further tweak or even discard some of those changes once we've seen them in action. Fortunately, the overall Pathfinder Society convention experience is built upon years of experience and community talent, so even if we need to adjust the process here or there, the volunteer team's able to adapt and make the Gen Con experience great for as many participants as we can—including you.
Your feedback is welcome as we refine these processes.
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At this time, we are in need of more GMs for GenCon. If you already volunteered and would like to add more slots to your schedule, please email me directly and I can upgrade your status. If you are not a current volunteer, but would like to join the fun, please head over the Gen Con 2016 Call for Volunteers and follow the instructions. There is an online form to complete.
We do have a few more hotel spots available if you upgrade to a tier 1/2.
Any GM willing to take on more slots than what they originally volunteered for is much appreciated. Our intention was not to schedule GMs for more than 8 slots, but if you really want to run the entire show, please let me know.
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Having your concerns disagreed with does not mean they are being dismissed.
Ultimately, it is the player's responsibility to make sure that when they buy a specific ticket, that they plan accordingly to arrive at the venue with an appropriate character. If that means not playing that character for a couple months, then don't play it until the conventionext (or to plan most pessimistic ally, until the special.)
If something unforeseen happens at the convention, like a table you'd planned on not making, or a permanent character death, then some level of flexibility on the players part will be necessary. Things happen that cannot be planned around.
Do I hear your concern? Absolutely. It will really suck to have to scramble and maybe have to play a pregen because something happened at the convention that could not have been planned for. But my expectation is that the percentage of the players this will apply to, will be fairly small. A manageable number. Last year an untenable number of players had a poor experience because GMS were forced to run out of tier. Some had never run a special before, had never GMD before running two or three scenarios prior to the show, and got stuck running 10-11 after struggling to prep 1-2.
So I hear your concern. I have it too. But frankly, I think it's actually the better of two evils.
Let's see how things play out. I am very optimistic that this will drastically improve GM readiness and player experience.
If you end up not having a character playable in the tier you were originally scheduled for, pick another character of yours and ask to play in that tier instead.
I seriously doubt they would plan an event like this so rigidly that they could not accomodate stuff like this.
The tiered signup is purely so they have a rough idea of how many GMs of each tier they need. There will HAVE to be some flexibility because even with the tiered signups things never go completely to plan.
-j
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The reason why it's changing is to help have better prepared GMs. There was no good way to tell what the level break-down was going to be in previous years, which lead to GMs sometimes being asked to run tiers that they didn't have prep. During the Sky Solution, for example, I saw a couple GMs who prepped the 1-2 and 3-4 subtiers to run for 10-11 instead.
Now, I'll first give this as background. I've run 4 multi-table specials at conventions (as of right now). I've yet to run in the tier I was assigned for a single one. At Gen Con last year for both specials I was asked to prep the 3-4 and 5-6 tiers, I also prepped the 1-2 tier for each. I ran the 7-8 tier for one and the 10-11 tier for the other. It was frustrating and hectic, but I did my best and believe I gave both tables a good experience. If the monsters (or at least the majority) are non-casters it's not too bad (IMO), when they are caster heavy it's actually fairly hard for me to get right on the fly. Short prep times for these specials are already a concern, getting a table in the tiers you expect helps a lot. For that reason I like the sign-ups by tier, in the past we couldn't predict a ton more high tier one year and a ton more low tier the next.
That said, I think real tickets should get preference, even if they have to go out of tier. (Quite possibly still with the generics, but at the top of the generic list or some such) I hope this method helps, but I don't believe we'll know until we try.
I have a few questions for PFS specials:
Is the only big interactive event for PFS this year The Cosmic Captive?
Next, for the event, PFS Special #7-98: Serpents' Ire (Level 8)
Do you need to have a PFS character at level 8 in order to play it? Or will they provide you with a pregen?
Same question with PFS Special #7-99: Through Maelstrom Rift (Level 5)
Thank you for your help.
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Venture-Agent, Nebraska—Omaha
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Next, for the event, PFS Special #7-98: Serpents' Ire (Level 8)
Do you need to have a PFS character at level 8 in order to play it? Or will they provide you with a pregen?
That's in the event description.
A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 8th-level pregenerated characters.
Same question with PFS Special #7-99: Through Maelstrom Rift (Level 5)
Uses pregens.
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Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
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I have a few questions for PFS specials:
Is the only big interactive event for PFS this year The Cosmic Captive?
Next, for the event, PFS Special #7-98: Serpents' Ire (Level 8)
Do you need to have a PFS character at level 8 in order to play it? Or will they provide you with a pregen?
Same question with PFS Special #7-99: Through Maelstrom Rift (Level 5)
Thank you for your help.
#7–98 and #7–99 both provide six pregenerated characters.
#8–00 is the only multi-table interactive this year.
I have a few questions for PFS specials:
Is the only big interactive event for PFS this year The Cosmic Captive?
Next, for the event, PFS Special #7-98: Serpents' Ire (Level 8)
Do you need to have a PFS character at level 8 in order to play it? Or will they provide you with a pregen?
Same question with PFS Special #7-99: Through Maelstrom Rift (Level 5)
Thank you for your help.
#7–98 and #7–99 both provide six pregenerated characters.
#8–00 is the only multi-table interactive this year.
Thanks. I appreciate it.
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Idea: Around 7:00 on Friday night, open a Tier Ticket Trading Station out in the hall outside the Sagamore. Have someone from HQ monitor the station whered players can simply bring their ticket for which they don't have an in-tier PC and swap with someone who has the tier they need. This is probably going to happen anyway, but if HQ is somewhat organizing it - at least creating one stop location - it has a better chance of working and working smoothly.
Also, I expect that Bob and John will be asking the GMs to prep more than just one tier. If I'm right, that still give HQ a little flexibility in table creation.
Just don't bring a tier 5-6 ticket and expect to get into a 10-11 tier game.
Also, just for argument sake, what are you going to do if you buy a ticket for PFS #7-23: Abducted in Aether (Level 7-11) and you're 10th level Paladin is killed and you can't resurrect him? Are you going to need to get play another PC in that tier, play a 7th level pregen, get into another game, or swap a ticket with someone? It's the same situation with the special except the tier ranges are smaller.
Just My Thoughts
