Meanwhile, Wizards of the Coast does an about face and doesn't release anything in 4th Edition as open content. That was the original reason why my group went to Pathfinder, we've got several players that don't own any books and just used the SRD when we were playing 3e/3.5.
Thank you for the hard work, and for continuing this tradition! This is one of the reasons I will continue to by books from Paizo (*winks at TOZ*).
I prefer reading books, over looking at a screen. And the book does not use electricity, internet, or anything electronic. And books give a sense of ownership, that you really do have it, no eye strain, and supports the company that is producing the books.
But the PRD is a good resource tool for those that are missing a few resources or are new to the game.
While I prefer books also, it is hard to beat a quick rules search on the PRD. Great job and thank you for providing this resource.
While nicer, it still is not as navigable as d20pfsrd.com and stuff is still initially sorted by book first instead of by what you are looking for first and book last, or with book as an additional beginning reference point instead of the only one.
ie. I want to play a Bard - Core Rulebook>Classes>Bard
But what archetypes are available to me? You go through every released book and look for archetypes for Bards. Never mind spells.
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While nicer, it still is not as navigable as d20pfsrd.com and stuff is still initially sorted by book first instead of by what you are looking for first and book last, or with book as an additional beginning reference point instead of the only one.
ie. I want to play a Bard - Core Rulebook>Classes>Bard
But what archetypes are available to me? You go through every released book and look for archetypes for Bards. Never mind spells.
I have to agree with Cartigan on this one. When I click on Bard, I should see every archetype available. When I click on Bard Spells, it should list all spells from every official source book. It makes more sense than organizing by book.
I agree with Cartigan and Shaundakul.
Also, I'd like to see all official Paizo content added there. Until then, it'd d20pfsrd.com for most, I'm sure.
I have to agree with Cartigan on this one. When I click on Bard, I should see every archetype available. When I click on Bard Spells, it should list all spells from every official source book. It makes more sense than organizing by book.While nicer, it still is not as navigable as d20pfsrd.com and stuff is still initially sorted by book first instead of by what you are looking for first and book last, or with book as an additional beginning reference point instead of the only one.
ie. I want to play a Bard - Core Rulebook>Classes>Bard
But what archetypes are available to me? You go through every released book and look for archetypes for Bards. Never mind spells.
Personally I would like both options, because some games I am in limit what books we can draw from, and others are completely open. Sometimes I just like to look at all the options for a given class.
And thanks to that, I'll never have to buy a source book again.
I agree, and I still have purchased most of the rules books.
-Swiftbrook
But the PRD is a good resource tool for those that are missing a few resources or are new to the game.
The PRD (along with the pfsrd and the PDFs) is an invaluable resource even if you have all the books. Sure, it doesn't replace a book you can read at leasure, but for looking things up (something I find myself doing quite often while behind the GM screen; and it's good for character creation, too).
I have to agree it still needs work, and it's actually rather bad on android phones, the big "by book" navigation takes up the entire screen, while the rest of the page is faded to the side in the background, and because of that I have scroll bars that serve no purpose...
It's better, but it still needs a lot of work for mobile devices.
"Doesn't suck" is true, but still not exactly a "great site".
It IS much cleaner, although like others say, listing by class/archetype/et al is still needed (maybe a switch to turn on/off primary listing?).
Also, allow me to be one of the ones among the crowd who never would have tried PF without having the SRD. It was originally the new fighter class, and then the other classes as I looked through them, that attracted me. Since then, I've gone on to purchase books and next week will be purchasing more even though its' all available on the SRD.
You definitely do gain new players by letting them see what's going on, no matter how many naysayers there are, and those of us who come into the game that way really do appreciate it. Keep up the good work guys.
The PRD (along with the pfsrd and the PDFs) is an invaluable resource even if you have all the books.
Sure is. Keeps me from having to drag all of those heavy books to work and back everyday. Easier to hide from my boss than a giant book too (as long as I remember to wipe my browsing history).
I disapprove of this blog post not being written in pirate or binary! ;)
I prefer reading books, over looking at a screen. And the book does not use electricity, internet, or anything electronic. And books give a sense of ownership, that you really do have it, no eye strain, and supports the company that is producing the books.
But the PRD is a good resource tool for those that are missing a few resources or are new to the game.
+1
I love the new look for the PRD. Before on my nook color, the main links where shoved way down just below the table of links to the left hand side. Now I can see everything without scrolling all over the place. And OGL is such a wondrous thing, and not because it's free. If anything, it makes me want to buy more because I'm not treated as a criminal by default and it allows easier entry for new players all while building up good will for everyone involved. :D
I have to agree it still needs work, and it's actually rather bad on android phones, the big "by book" navigation takes up the entire screen, while the rest of the page is faded to the side in the background, and because of that I have scroll bars that serve no purpose...
It's better, but it still needs a lot of work for mobile devices.
"Doesn't suck" is true, but still not exactly a "great site".
Perhaps its "rather bad" on your android phone, but on my Samsung Epic, it's pretty damn awesome.
The only complaint, which is minor, is that the various class(and perhaps other such) tables could use some tweaking to make sure they show up fully on the page. Again, minor and easily able to be worked around.
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While nicer, it still is not as navigable as d20pfsrd.com and stuff is still initially sorted by book first instead of by what you are looking for first and book last, or with book as an additional beginning reference point instead of the only one.
ie. I want to play a Bard - Core Rulebook>Classes>Bard
But what archetypes are available to me? You go through every released book and look for archetypes for Bards. Never mind spells.
That's why I'm hoping they vastly expand the Index portion of the PRD. Right now it's just a listing of all the feats and spells.
I really like the new PRD. For a long time now I have been using d20pfsrd.com, and still do for certain tasks - but the added glut of third party material on there, while interesting and useful, can sometimes make finding core-only content a chore.
Unfortunately, Paizo's old SRD left much to be desired aesthetically (hard to read for my poor old eyes for one thing), and lacked an integrated search function, which d20pfsrd.com has had for awhile, despite some obvious burps in its workings.
I am very pleased with the updates to the PRD and find it much more usable than before. It's great to be able to tell new players that they can go to a single site and screen all content by volume - so, for instance, if I've limited their build options to core rules and APG only, they can easily ascertain what content comes from those books.
And I don't have to have the discussion of, "No, you can't take Hellfire Ray, because it isn't a core spell." "But it was on that site you sent me!" "Grrrrr..."
Great job, guys. And props to Gary for having the cojones to just say, "It doesn't suck anymore", instead of using a bunch of corporate speak to reframe the work as further optimizing an already-flawless experience. The honesty is as refreshing as the effort.
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Meanwhile, Wizards of the Coast does an about face and doesn't release anything in 4th Edition as open content. That was the original reason why my group went to Pathfinder, we've got several players that don't own any books and just used the SRD when we were playing 3e/3.5.You're the folks that effectively make the argument that Dancey was wrong in giving away the store.
Oh, teh irony!
HAIL PAIZO!
This is a major reason why we made the switch to Pathfinder RPG (from 3.5). Thank you! Especially for the Search function! Well done!
What I'd love to see in future:
- Consolidated spell lists
- Consolidated feat overview
The thing is, I now want to have the books as well...
You are right .... it doesn't suck anymore... wait, that is not enough to say.
I was using the PRD during a game the other day and noticed the change. I like the format and I am impressed how quickly the new content is being added. You are the best! Now I have another reason to get an iPad.
Just pulled it up on my Droid 2, btw. Works great from what little I messed around with (mainly just pulling up details on the witch base class for a PC update).
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Meanwhile, Wizards of the Coast does an about face and doesn't release anything in 4th Edition as open content. That was the original reason why my group went to Pathfinder, we've got several players that don't own any books and just used the SRD when we were playing 3e/3.5.You're the folks that effectively make the argument that Dancey was wrong in giving away the store.
I don't know if Dancey worked it into his argument at the time, but certainly in this decade's world a certain amount of freeloading is guaranteed to happen. I imagine if I went searching I could, at this very moment, find a copy of every Paizo pdf ever made online. I could download them at no cost in minutes. (Probably anyway. I haven't actually checked.)
On the other hand, if you offer the rules online, you take a big amount of the incentive away to go to the dark corners of the net and drudge those up.
And you get more people playing (and discussing, and recommending, etc) your game and not the other guy's. Particularly not the non-open other guy's game.
Anyway, back on topic, I looked at the site and it looks good. I'll have to try and use it when I actually need it to say for certain, though.
I'd like to see this format transferred maybe to a downloadable file kindle. I'd love to be able to use a kindle to look at all the stats.
I went to the PF PRD page today, it was the first time in a few weeks, I was immediately impressed by the new look and the organizational improvements. I haven’t gotten a chance to navigate through the new menus but on the surface it definitely seems to be a vast improvement to the general look and organization of the web site.
Another example of how the PF team works to put out a great product for their customers and then continue to follow up, listen to their customers, and improve an already excellent product. I use the PRD on a regular basis. I am always looking something up, from research for a personal game to research for a forum post that is where I go first for a quick, easily accessible answer on rules. I definitely appreciate any work the PF team does to improve that service.
Thanks.
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I'd like to see this format transferred maybe to a downloadable file kindle. I'd love to be able to use a kindle to look at all the stats.
Wouldn't that be in all those PDFs Paizo sells?
I think I saw that the Kindles now have an experimental browser. I'd love to know how the PRD looks on that browser.
I'd like to see this format transferred maybe to a downloadable file kindle. I'd love to be able to use a kindle to look at all the stats.Wouldn't that be in all those PDFs Paizo sells?
I think I saw that the Kindles now have an experimental browser. I'd love to know how the PRD looks on that browser.
I imagine just like it does on every other browser. You have to pick your book-topic then sort through it for what you want