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Its likely just due to convention season, but it seems like there's an unusual delay in getting product art on the Paizo website. Specifically, #1-16, #1-17, and #1-99. I assume cover art already exists given PDFs for these were provided to GMs at Origins.
Our calendar is looking rather Coming Soonish, I'd like to fix that.
Also it'd be awesome if we at least had titles and tiers for scenarios following #1-21 Yesteryear's Sorrow.
#1-20 and #1-21 are shown as releasing early August, so should we also expect #1-22 and #1-23 for the end of August - and if so, given the development lead time needed, shouldn't they be announceable?
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Note that I support EVERYTHING you are asking for, but thought I'd give you some historical data:
Its likely just due to convention season, but it seems like there's an unusual delay in getting product art on the Paizo website. Specifically, #1-16, #1-17, and #1-99. I assume cover art already exists given PDFs for these were provided to GMs at Origins.
Our calendar is looking rather Coming Soonish, I'd like to fix that.
In all the years I've been GMing PFS, the cover artwork for the PFS scenarios has almost never been available until the street date (which is not necessarily when they are first run at conventions, 1-16 and 1-17 come out on June 27th).
Also it'd be awesome if we at least had titles and tiers for scenarios following #1-21 Yesteryear's Sorrow.
#1-20 and #1-21 are shown as releasing early August, so should we also expect #1-22 and #1-23 for the end of August - and if so, given the development lead time needed, shouldn't they be announceable?
These are interrelated questions:
The GenCon releases ARE the August releases. They just happen much earlier than the normal last-week-of-the-month. This leads to a big gap between those and the next set. This year that will be August 5th to September 26th.
As for the titles I can't speak for Thursty, but it is fairly normal to have less than 3 months warning on scenario titles. Also, I understand Paizo's policy is not to announce the names until the product page has been created (so people can immediately preorder the scenarios). That means the title and scenario description have to be passed along multiple departments. I'd certainly expect to see the product pages up (and announced) by mid-July so people at GenCon know what's coming next.
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Less a request than slightly neurotic worry.
The GenCon releases ARE the August releases. They just happen much earlier than the normal last-week-of-the-month. This leads to a big gap between those and the next set. This year that will be August 5th to September 26th.
Ok.
So, that's something local organizers and GMs definitely need to plan for.. in a manner that in many parts of the world animals will start storing food for the winter.
Pathfinder has years of scenarios for PFS groups to run in that gap. We don't.
Now, SFS is getting a new tier 1-2 repeatable which, assuming its sanctioned in time, will be awesome, and some GMs will unlock their Nufriend boons around then.
If Reach of Empire is a longer scenario than Incident at Absalom Station (play length: 5-6.5 hours) we could even stretch it out and run one part per night over 3 weeks. Again, something that needs planning for.
Also, I understand Paizo's policy is not to announce the names until the product page has been created (so people can immediately preorder the scenarios). That means the title and scenario description have to be passed along multiple departments. I'd certainly expect to see the product pages up (and announced) by mid-July so people at GenCon know what's coming next.
That'll be good. Earlier is nicer. I'd hate to approach Aug 1st and only have games planned out until mid-August.
Starfinder Society Developer
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Please be aware: The convention season this year has been rougher on Starfinder Society than it has been in some Pathfinder years, namely because we've had effectively four months (May/June/July+August) that all required us to get content produced on an earlier timetable than our "normal schedule." Typically this means at least a month in advance. Because of PaizoCon, Origins (a 3 scenario month), and Gen Con getting releases out early, this means that we've been working months in advance of our planned schedule, which was already further "crunched" because of the addition of two scenario per month based on fan demand. Note, Pathfinder doesn't have the odd inclusion of Origins in this, so they have somewhat of a larger working gap to get the Gen Con material done.
Before anyone hops in here going "oh, then you should have hired more resources" Paizo certainly has done this. It takes time to spool help up, even after hiring them, and we're just now looking to bring in additional help to start taking off some of the Starfinder Society burden from this extensive convention season.
I am not saying this as an excuse, it's just a current fact. As the primary person responsible for Starfinder Society development, I've had to pick and choose some battles. Sanctioning (specifically Dead Suns 4 onwards) suffered because I knew those later adventures could get bumped with minimal overall campaign impact to make sure we hit dates on scenarios. I stand by that being a worthy trade to make sure our premiere events get looked after and that we can make sure the GMs aren't running without some prep time.
That being said, #1-16/#1-17/#1-99 are still in the process of getting released to the wider public after an excellent launch at Origins. We JUST released a preview blog and I suspect they'll see full release next week. For Gen Con, I'm note entirely locked in on when those scenarios release, but I believe they end up getting their early debut at Gen Con with the July scenarios released slightly beforehand.
As for scenario product pages getting released in advance: I'm currently working on a whole batch of outlines that will be going out for future scenarios past August. I've done some, but the others are waiting for me to finish last development runs on our Gen Con scenarios. I suspect they might get a week or two pushed back as I dare to take a week off prior to once again venturing away from home for a week of convention work. I suspect we'll start seeing product pages come up within the next month or so as a result.
Hopefully this late night post (made after a day + night of dev on convention scenarios after coming right home from a 5-day long convention) helps illuminate some of the current backlog! That being said, I suspect we should be on a really solid footing in the coming weeks.
-Thursty (no seriously, I need to sleep now, I have more work in the morning!)
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Thanks for the feedback Thurston.
My intention was to gather information, I'm by no means criticizing you, the org play team, or Paizo in this.
Having the early scenario release in August will help us tremendously. However, we need to plan in advance and a 7 week gap in new scenarios is something pretty major we need to be prepared for.
At this point I think our best bet would be to run a multi-session The Reach of Empire starting August 31st.
My concern is a delay in sanctioning can derail those plans. AP4-6 (through no fault of yours, Thurston!) has been sitting in limbo for weeks - based on that it would be foolishly optimistic to believe that The Reach of Empire will be sanctioned for play before the end of September even if you finished your part of the sanctioning before Gencon. Again, not a criticism - the SFS team has been doing amazingly well compared to PFS.
I'm less concerned later in the Fall, Signal of Screams will be able to be run in combination with Dead Suns 5+6. I assume a few tier 7-10 this Fall and tier 9-12 going into the new year will allow PCs to reach the required levels to play those APs in society mode.
New players joining this Summer and Fall already have a plethora of scenarios to play.