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Hey Mikko... John, Chris, Steve and I currently have plans to go. Tried to book hotels (already!), but the accommodation team has them all blocked out. Turds! ;-)
Congrats on a new scenario! Can't wait to play it - it's right in range for the Drongos!
Thanks man! As for the hotels, if you happen to hear about when booking is possible, please send me a pm. I'll probably also try to book as soon as possible.
Sure, Damien, forget about me in that mix. I'll be there as well (GenCon 2016). Looking forward to it as well. Mikko, let us know, and we'll make sure to have a group to play at your table, if you are GMing.!
Or, you should join us at a table playing? Or both!
Congrats on the scenario... Can't wait to play/run it!
If I make it to Gen Con, I'll definitely join your group to play a game or two! Not sure if I'm GMing, though.
@ Mikko: and your scenario is level range 7-11, thanks for writing it specifically with my precious toon, Ibid, in mind :)
You're welcome! :D I hope Ibid won't die. ;-)
Hi Mikko,
yeah, little birds told me your next scenario was going to be out soon :) I'd love to be able to play it in your table! I haven't really given a thought about Tracon hitpoint, my November looks quite busy. Then again, I have plenty of reasons for visiting Tampere.
Now you know why I recently wanted to play DotS and the Bacon.. Beacon Below so badly. Ancients' Anguish is basically a sequel. Anyway, Tampere is always worth visiting!
...I'll be at Tracon Hitpoint, that's for sure. That weekend has been booked for me since the announcement.
I'll see you there, Deussu!
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@Mikko - if it is at all possible, it would be great if you would run your scenario. Another option would be to do it as a side game. Playing in a game run by the author is about as perfect a situation as I could ever want in a game! Got the chance to play Hands of the Muted God under Clinton Boomer at Skål Con -- and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
My only regret from Gen Con 2014 is that I wasn't able to rally 4-6 GMs who didn't make a table to play The Stranger Within run by Sam Polak... idiots! :P
I'll get my game posts up tonight, finally home! It feels so good...
Just had to pop on here fast to tell John I saw an email that said there were pathfinder discounts for hero lab...
-Posted with Wayfinder
Welcome back to realit... well, to PbP!
Got it! Thanks Steve.
Looking to get this game rolling by the end of this weekend, so if you are joining us, please dot in the threads with your new character.
Right now I have -
- Damien
- John
- Jyri
Still looking for -
- Chris L.
- Chris B. ???? (Not planning on waiting based on current situation)
- Jack
- AJ??
Please let me know if you are going to opt out - I think we have a few other people here who would be interested.
Again, the purpose of this group is to have an alternate group of characters that are always the exact same experience level so we can play the lower level season 7 scenarios as they come out.
I did dot but my other game the char is in.. the gm is obnoxiously lacking in updates to finish the game the last two weeks... I doubt it'll be done by tomorrow
AJ - We can drag our feet. Is it going to be done any day? or are we talking another week?
Sounds like you and Jack are having fun, Rand!
Okay, so Paizo has been sapping my PbP time. I had two big chunks yesterday set aside, and a big chunk today set aside for some lovely updates. Unfortunately, the site was down at every single one of those times. I see there are new posts, so I can only assume Paizo had it out for me.
I'm hoping to catch up on posts tonight and do some posting of my own on every thread I'm a part of tomorrow morning (by midday at the absolute latest).
I would apologize for my absence, but I will deliver a heartfelt "fūck you" to Paizo's web team instead.
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That's probably my fault. Every time I go to play a local game with a character that's only in paizo.com, the forums go down... But this time I had backups! Ha, I beat you this time, you nasty forum!
So maybe not completely unrelated, I'm intrigued by the Hero lab sale. But how does that work? Do I first have to buy the basic licence with normal price, before I get to buy the discounted add-ons?
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I used HeroLab recently to create stat blocks, and I think it's a very useful tool. Most controls are quite intuitive, though there were some things that were hard to locate and required a bit of googling or trial&error. Well, the rules of PF are really complex, so no real surprise there.
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I can't wait to get my hands on that scenario and detail all the errors I will undoubtedly find. You can ask FranKc how much I love proof-reading PFS scenarios. :)
To this day I find #6-05: Slave Ships of Absalom to be the most error-free (but not completely!) scenario I've laid my hands and eyes upon. #6-08: The Segang Expedition and #4-10 The Feast of Sigils had a bit too many editorial mistakes for my taste, however.
I'm such a dick.
I've had an eaten post and the website was down when I had allocated time to PbP yet again. I'm getting completely fūcking sick of this.
I'd like to gauge interest in moving to another forum. I'm willing to put in some time to find a decent one (or if you know of one, great). It sucks being away from our PFS and regular profiles... and it'll take a bit to get back up and running, but Paizo.com is a flaky bïtch and I for one am over it.
It is something akin to cruel and unusual punishment when I lose a post due to the site being down or going off to the home page for no apparent reason. It's soul crushing and severely fūcking annoying when I lose a big post because they use a hard redirect to a 404 page (causing my browser to lose my POST information) instead of failing gracefully (allowing my browser to keep my POST information).
If we don't move away, or if it doesn't pick up - and soon - I will be ramping down my PbP play (finishing up scenarios that I'm in already of course!). It's just not fun for me when I have time to play and can't. It feels disjointed when I have to post a day or two later... and I hate catching up on 15+ posts per thread so I can play again when I did have time to play earlier. For games I'm GMing, I'll see how it goes... but I may mandate a move to another site in order to continue (if you want to stay on board). It really will depend on how I feel and how flaky this site is over the coming week.
So, I know I should copy-then-submit (and I usually do) - but it's annoying to have to copy my text before I submit, and it's hardly foolproof (anything else I copy, like a link, overrides it... and I forget) - and constantly copy-pasting from a notepad or equivalent is a pain in the butt, and I shouldn't have to.
Just some research so far (while the site was down)...
storycrafter.com has some interesting chaptering mechanics, a lot of control over formatting and is very story focused. It's my pet favorite, but doesn't have a very active community and seems to lack for aliasing. I would need to check it out more to know for sure.
myth-weavers.com has the most advanced functionality for PbP by far. I'm not sure if I like it... and again it doesn't do the aliasing. However, the combat table and other inbuilt functionality (including restricting users) shows they really care about PbP and there's a pretty decent community online there.
Both of the above allow images to be posted inline, which is awesome and makes for great looking posts.
This makes me sad for a couple of reasons.
1 - I understand. I am sad because I have felt the same frustration on multiple occasions.
2 - Using a new system doesn't scare me, but it makes me sad to think about all of the history that would be stuck on this forum. I love being able to link back (which I could probably still do) but it feels a little like moving to a new house without taking any of your stuff.
3 - I am mostly sad because this has been an issue for a long time, and Paizo doesn't seem to want to do anything about it. (I hope I am wrong about that) This community is growing and is awesome - what a shame to lose talented writers and gamers because of a sub-par forum system.
I tested both links from work, and myth-weavers is specifically blocked. I cannot access it from work at all, which would significantly cut down on my ability to post. There are some days when in order to stay in the good graces of my beautiful wife, I stay off the boards in the evenings. Not being able to check/post in the mornings and lunches at work would mean there would be days I wouldn't be able to post at all.
Storycrafter is not blocked, so I will have to look into that one more.
I'm not opposed to switching - I just wish Paizo could do something about these bugs that are so infuriorating so we don't have to.
If myth-weavers is blocked, then we won't make a switch to that. Shame, because it has awesome functionality! I'll keep an eye out for more options if there is interest.
Both myth weavers and story are blocked for me but then again so is paizo. Typing on phones sucks espically with auto correct and GMing is a challenge. Whatevers. Just want to game w the group and have fun
Feel that pain Damien. Could it be a result of all your flooding?
My area isn't affected by the floods, luckily! My pain is definitely paizo website related and not much else.
I tried to create a login for StoryCrafter, but their registration process isn't working for me. They've also only got 102 total users - not exactly a good sign for the longevity of a site.
I'll keep looking for alternatives... I tried rpgcrossing, GiantITP and ongoingworlds, but nothing seems to quite look right next to Paizo.com and Myth-Weavers.
tangledweb.net looks okay (not great, but okay).
roleplayerguild.com seems interesting, if a little hard to navigate.
No sites other than Paizo seem to support aliases, though! Massive bummer there.
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A couple of notes:
1) Yes, Paizo has gone down a bit recently. However, the up rate is still pretty good. I'm not saying that I wasn't annoyed on Sunday or this morning, but overall, the site is usually up.
2) There were a lot of "don't quote me on this" discussions I had with Paizo peeps at GenCon that pretty much said there is a new website rebuild coming. I can't/won't name names because I will claim that Damo had me so drunk that I don't even recall them.
However, I believe it to be true. It's one of the reason why Paizo hasn't upgraded the forums much at all: because they are planning a big new release.
When is that going to happen? I dunno.
However, in moving, you would definitely be losing the community, some functionality (and gaining other functions), and it might not even be more stable overall.
3) I sympathize with people losing posts. I've lost a few billion over my years as well. However, the hard and fast lesson is to copy/save before you post. Or do what I do: type into an email/word doc and copy/paste from there.
I created this alias way back in 2008, when Paizo's boards were notorious in eating up people's messages without ANY forewarning.
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And now for a bit a more serious post.
Most of the time Paizo's servers are fine, they just recently hit a streak of instability and have been down some days. Particularly on Sunday Paizo was offline most of the day, forbidding me of PbP activity. While I understand your frustration on the matter, I find the issue very minor, and a bit on the overreaction side. These shortages could be a result of a third party screwing up things. It wouldn't be a first for an ISP to f++~ things up. Right now, for example, Archives of Nethys is down (and has been for at least a week!) which is my main source of online PF material (I hate PFSRD).
I could consider seeking an alternative in case Paizo's messageboards take a turn for the worse at the most unfortunate time. Like their servers blow up and they don't have any backups. Considering how technologically backwards the messageboards are, I wouldn't wonder if there are other things lacking as well (quick formatting buttons, custom avatars, a functioning search utility...)
I took a look at both of those sites you linked, and from a technical point of view they are both sucky. I've yet to find a properly built platform suitable for all kinds of PbPs and so far the search has been fruitless. Myth Weavers is nothing but a phpbb bulletin messageboard with a slightly stylished layout; it differs little from other messageboards of the internet. Storycrafter seemed more of a cooperative novel writing project than one suitable for PbPs, and incidentally the layouts on some of those projects were truly attrocious, straight from the darkest pits of 90's geocities.
If one would prefer to have a proper site for PbPs of all types, one would have to build it oneself.
If one would prefer to have a proper site for PbPs of all types, one would have to build it oneself.
You can always tell the other software developers out there. Many of us suffer from NIHS. I had similar thoughts myself. ;-)
I'm not a fan of the other sites I saw either (though Myth-Weavers with aliases would be a clear winner - you need to get a login to see the properly formatted posts, they're pretty decent). And yes, they are all just PhP BB with mods (or an even crappier forums / blog software).
As for why they go down (be it programming or the hosting) I really don't give a sh*t. They can choose where to host. Don't forget, they run a commercial side to Paizo.com as well as the forums and while we can't PbP, their online store is down, too. It seems they don't give a sh*t about why they go down so often either.
I take the point about the overreaction, but I've thought about jumping ship to another PbP board quite a few times before. I really wish there was a clear winner out there for PbP, but there really isn't. The uptime could be as bad or worse as it is here... and the effort required to move over (and the loss of community) make it an undesirable proposition at best.
The fact that this is frustrating me so much is a sign that I should just calm it down on the PbP front.
Anyway, no more talk of moving on. I'll hope that the site improves as Rand also hopes. Given that PF Unchained still isn't even on the PRD, my breath will not be held. In the meantime, I'll continue to GM my two games and I'll gradually ramp back on the games I'm playing in.
I think that means I'm formally withdrawing from the Slayers, and will probably also withdraw from the beasts after the next module (so finish our plans for the beasts). I'll stick with Drongos for as long as I'm playing still playing on these forums... which means sticking with the Alts, too, so we can play the lower-tier scenarios as necessary.
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If one would prefer to have a proper site for PbPs of all types, one would have to build it oneself.You can always tell the other software developers out there. Many of us suffer from NIHS. I had similar thoughts myself. ;-)
Fun fact (I've got a lot of these): I'm not a software developer although I would want to be one. I have the appropriate mindset since I do work on IT, but I've yet to find the correct learning method.
A couple of notes:
1) Yes, Paizo has gone down a bit recently. However, the up rate is still pretty good. I'm not saying that I wasn't annoyed on Sunday or this morning, but overall, the site is usually up.
2) There were a lot of "don't quote me on this" discussions I had with Paizo peeps at GenCon that pretty much said there is a new website rebuild coming. I can't/won't name names because I will claim that Damo had me so drunk that I don't even recall them.
However, I believe it to be true. It's one of the reason why Paizo hasn't upgraded the forums much at all: because they are planning a big new release.
When is that going to happen? I dunno.
However, in moving, you would definitely be losing the community, some functionality (and gaining other functions), and it might not even be more stable overall.
3) I sympathize with people losing posts. I've lost a few billion over my years as well. However, the hard and fast lesson is to copy/save before you post. Or do what I do: type into an email/word doc and copy/paste from there.
I'm going to convince myself this is all true, and that the constant down time issues lately are unintended consequenses of testing a new system.
So the real hypothetical question here is, how could a group of hypothetical PbP Superstars get in on a super secret hypothetical alpha/beta test of a hypothetical new system that doesn't actually exist? Hypothetically?
Ha, Steve! That'd be cool. It would even be cool if Paizo thought we could help with anything in any way. Just tell me what I can to do help, especially if it's running ideas for future adventure paths by me. That or asking me to write a module :)
As for the forum location discussion...
I can say that my vote would be for us to remain here on the Paizo forums. I like that the history/old games for this group is located here, and I wouldn't want to be disconnected from them. Also, it might be a bit vain, or maybe naive, but I like the fact that a lot of other people/groups use Paizo and can check into/see our games if they want (not that anyone actually does). And, one thing that painlord mentioned/eluded to at gencon is that this group has sort of carved out our own little corner on the Paizo forums, and in doing so we have sort of removed our selves from the general population in some cases, not that this bothers me at all, but I don't think I'd want to remove ourselves even more from community.
Whatever the 'community' means in this case.
These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. I know the forums crashing/eating posts/generally being stubborn can be a really big chore to deal with (sometimes), but even given all that I still think I'd like to remain here.
I'll go with the group consensus though, if we decide to move on.
aliases are a deal breaker for me. They bring so much to the game for me. Once aliasesed never back.
Are you in for the mod or out after day of the demon? Sad to see you go. I shall forever miss your crap int rolls and completely destroying my monsters.
Take a night. Sleep on it. If you wake up to the frikkin gremlin call one of use before you do something rash.
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I can't wait to get my hands on that scenario and detail all the errors I will undoubtedly find. You can ask FranKc how much I love proof-reading PFS scenarios. :)
To this day I find #6-05: Slave Ships of Absalom to be the most error-free (but not completely!) scenario I've laid my hands and eyes upon. #6-08: The Segang Expedition and #4-10 The Feast of Sigils had a bit too many editorial mistakes for my taste, however.
I'm such a dick.
Typos and other errors are annoying, especially ones that are beyond your control. But personally I don't find it to be anything to get my balls in a knot about. I read my contributor copy, duly note the changes that have been made and any mistakes that there are (mine or otherwise). Then I move on and focus on the next project, and the one after that.
Fun fact (I've got a lot of these): I'm not a software developer although I would want to be one. I have the appropriate mindset since I do work on IT, but I've yet to find the correct learning method.
Huh. There you go! You could have fooled me!
As for learning, Apple publishes lectures on programming for iPhone (the ones the did in Stanford). They're a pretty good place to start for developing on that platform - and they're about the most well-put lectures out there on programming. You may or may not need to be a developer first to understand them (I imagine you need at least some background in programming), and I've no idea how much experience you have. There are loads of other great online lectures are around in other languages, too, as well as a bunch of online tutorials. Start small and see how you like it!
If you want to work as a software developer, though, most companies need a degree of some kind. You'd be able to find out more from developers in your area as I'm sure it varies between Australia, the US and Finland!
Are you in for the mod or out after day of the demon? Sad to see you go. I shall forever miss your crap int rolls and completely destroying my monsters.
I'm still in for the mod after Day of the Demon. I may have calmed down by then. As for crushing your monsters, maybe the forums have heard your plea... Xûll just rolled a 5. A 5! It's fūcking unheard of. I want a recount!
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"Chrisssss. Chrissss. Where are you? Come back to the light."
Can't believe that he has been AWOL so long.
Have fun Jyri. We have more than enough to occupy our time.
Speaking of, time to move things along. Right Painlord? Rule 1 keep things moving. Or is it 'No one expects the Spanish Inquisition?' I am bad with rules :)
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Hey guys, so... I've been thinking about releasing a series of PbP tips for a while now. I'm happy to say, I've finished my draft of Tip #1!
Please have a read if you are so inclined, comment and criticize... add any further examples you have, or just tell me you like it (or just ignore it). Feedback would be much appreciated.
The draft is on my scratch pad here.
Hey boys,
Please hit the "FAQ" link on this one for me!
Animated Objects: Construct or Object
Time to finally get to the bottom of this - we certainly want it sorted before <redacted>, that's for sure!
Thanks.
Nice! Marked! And very well put too.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Ok, read through the guide... I love it. I may be a little partial because you used one of my posts to help illustrate a point, but the content stands on its own. That's a good read!
-Posted with Wayfinder
Hey damo, just wanted to say that I liked your Tip #1. I'm eagerly awaiting more of your tips to come out, so I can actually follow and use them in my posting.
I read Tip #1 and immediately realized I didn't follow its advice in my very first post in Steve's First Step's game. Ugh, I need to work on my PbP etiquette, I don't know why you all let me in to the 'superstars'!
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Damien - well done. Lots of times it is left to the GM to push things along if the PCs aren't. This give players a bit more autonomy and I like that.
And yeah, what Steve said. Whooo I made it into another Damo guide.
::blows raspberry at Lockwood::
You guys are the worst. You all make me so mad, creating posts that are so good they get into guides.
I'm in it for the art.
Lockwood is in my GM Damo profile guide... compulsory reading for my games... John.
::blows raspberry at John::
Thanks for the feedback all, glad you like it (and keep it coming, I'd like some criticism too). Feel free to offer me subject matter for future tips, if you like. I have 2 & 3 in mind, but not so clear on 4+.
Damo I have ALWAYS stated that I am bad at rules. I may or may not have read said document at one time or another. S*%@. Is this going to be on the test?
Lockwood I am here because the chicks dig .... never mind. Thank God I am married already.
You want criticism? Fine! I'll give you criticism!
...tabletop game when the GM calls for you "next move".
You = Your
You missed an r. Sheesh.
says the engineer who can't spell to save his life.
Ok, on a more serious note - I think you should consider pointing out that the Leave Off shouldn't come at the expense of an appropriate in character leave off. Its a subtle difference, so adding it to your point could muddy the waters, and might not be worth including. You essentially do point this out when you say:
Sometimes, your in character post gives your GM and other players no real indication of what you would like to do next, or even what you would be prepared to do.
But it might be helpful to clarify that in character is generally preferred, but not always practical. You of course further illustrate this point with your linked posts.
Ok, never mind. My advice isn't really advice. I was just trying to be picky. But its tough... you pretty much nailed it.
Lockwood I am here because the chicks dig .... never mind. Thank God I am married already.
I say this daily. Our wives are amazing people who should get a medal.
Thanks for the feedback, Steve! I appreciate criticism. I've incorporated your suggestion into the guide. So you don't have to read over it all, how's this?
Important note: I touched on this before a little, but I want to be explicit: The preference is for you to make your in-character post clear on what your PC does next (maybe with an in-character Leave Off) but if for RP reasons it isn't, that's the time for an 'ooc' Leave Off. Even if your in-character post is explicit, an 'ooc' Leave Off can still be a good idea if your post was a long one (it helps the GM a lot when s/he goes back up for a second read to figure out the party's overall direction).
Interesting additions to the animated objects discussion
@Silbeg: Would this rationale be enough to change things for the way your local GMs run it? Or did you have a more compelling argument for still using regular object properties that I didn't manage to make in my post?
At John's urging, I've also posted Tip #1: The Leave Off. You have just under an hour to give me more feedback before it becomes permanent! ;-)
In the meantime, please leave some comments... keep the thread active and all. ;-)