Pathfinder Online and the Emerald Spire

Wahhhoooo Super dungeon !!! CAN we have something more than the boring dungeon without scenario ?

I presume it will be the case with such good authors ! Let us know...

How different is this dungeon from another one ?

It's going to have at least 12 different authors, all superstars in their own different ways, contributing original dungeons based on the same sized grid (to fit on a single side of a Flip-Mat). Each author will be turned loose, more or less, to "do what they do best," and to approach the project with their own unique perspectives.

This should result in a super-awesome crazy quilt of different approaches and styles, all woven into a unified whole by Paizo's development team.

In a project like this, a certain amount of competition comes into play. You want to make sure your slice of the pie is as tasty (and ideally perhaps a bit tastier) than those of your equally able cohorts writing other levels in the same complex.

It's going to be sweet.

what is that 'woven into a unified whole' bit, though?
i take it Paizo has set certain background facts about the dungeon, which each author/level can variate from, but that is the over-all backdrop in a sense. some of the levels will deal more directly with that, others may be tangential... will events in some levels affect others? will there be a certain plot tied into the overall dungeon, or with specific levels?

It's going to be sweet.

You've a new baker !

I just backed it. I wish you the best with this effort.

Backed again.

I'm slightly disappointed in the attempt at making a Pathfinder Online. It's not that I think it will be a bad game, but rather that I don't think any online game can really compete against the big ones right now.

I'd much prefer an RPG in Baldur's Gate style based on the Kingmaker adventure path. My group is right now a bit into book 2 and it's pretty amazing so far, and I feel that it would really work (with some slight adjustments) well as a single player rpg with the strategy elements too.

Hell. That'd give Paizo the opportunity to have the iconics voice acted!

(unless they want original characters for the path)

what is that 'woven into a unified whole' bit, though?

i take it Paizo has set certain background facts about the dungeon, which each author/level can variate from, but that is the over-all backdrop in a sense. some of the levels will deal more directly with that, others may be tangential... will events in some levels affect others? will there be a certain plot tied into the overall dungeon, or with specific levels?

I'm pretty sure there'll be someone overseeing the entire project and that there is some kind of vision to this dungeon beyond "ridiculously large dungeon".

@Ganryu

I agree with you completely re: MMOs. I am backing PFO because it does not intend on being a WoW-killer.

Read the first blog post (at the bottom) A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step. It has the info about how the project got started and what it aims to do.

Here's a direct link to the blog A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step, so you don't have to scroll down the whole page :)

So stupid question here, not sure if it's been asked yet but, if we are looking to get the print package we just select our reward level and then tack on an additional $100 and we'll get the print copies. We don't need to click or select anything additional?

I really hope the funding campaign is successful. I would love to see this in print and it seems like something pretty unique in the RPG world with these authors coming together.

I must say though that I thought the Kickstarter would be further along by now, so I am a little concerned!

I'm slightly disappointed in the attempt at making a Pathfinder Online. It's not that I think it will be a bad game, but rather that I don't think any online game can really compete against the big ones right now.

I'd much prefer an RPG in Baldur's Gate style based on the Kingmaker adventure path. My group is right now a bit into book 2 and it's pretty amazing so far, and I feel that it would really work (with some slight adjustments) well as a single player rpg with the strategy elements too.

Hell. That'd give Paizo the opportunity to have the iconics voice acted!

(unless they want original characters for the path)

Completely 100% agreed. I'm kind of shaking my head at the whole MMO project, as you can dress up an MMO all you want but the reality it is still an MMO, and MMOs suck. I just can't get excited about it.

Adding to the irony is the fact that Paizo is sitting on a gold mine in intellectual property with its Adventure Paths. All they have to do to make a chain of excellent, single player games is to create an engine. They could then churn out a series of games based on the APs and we would happily buy them up. By doing this MMO thing they are moving away from what they do best (RPGs) and into a new and harsher world.

What true gamer hasn't been dying for the 2012 equivalent to Baldur's Gate? A PC game so good and so true to its source that it revitalizes the whole hobby? Only Paizo is in a posistion to make and / or license a game like that... and they're doing an MMO instead. As a fan, I'm crushingly disappointed in this decision.

I'll keep an eye on Goblinworks. I won't back this MMO, because my feeling is it is a doomed project and I don't want to encourage it. But maybe with a little video game design under their belt Paizo / GW will turn their attention to bringing their amazing stories into a new medium, and creating a series of games that will be played for the next decade or more.

Now THAT is a project I would happily help kickstart.

So stupid question here, not sure if it's been asked yet but, if we are looking to get the print package we just select our reward level and then tack on an additional $100 and we'll get the print copies. We don't need to click or select anything additional?

Correct, $100 for print and PDF in the US, $115 for international.

If my math of about 5 minutes ago is correct we need to average about 20,200$ a day to fund this, so it will be close I think. I personally am only going to support this one because I want the print book and extra maps. I will never even play the MMO, if I want to play a game I get a few of my friends together at a table and we play a game where we can all see each other.
I wish the folks at Goblinworks the best and hope they accomplish whatever it is they set out to do, but I also wish Paizo would remeber that we the fans bought and supported a Roleplaying game and not a MMO 10 years ago ( five if you want to count that way). Please stop making me pledge to a project I don't want to get products I do. As it is I can't afford to pledge enough cash to get the repainted figures which as a collector and completist is seriously annoying.

If you're not already familiar with it, kicktraq.com has some neat tools for analyzing the progress of a Kickstarter project.

Projection.

I am still a little confused. On the kickstarter web page how do I make a donation when all I want is the 35 dollars and the 100 for the mega dungeon- do I just donate 135 dollars as I don't find that mentioned on the web page?V

Nihimon, Neat but kind of skewed of course the first two days are great but take them out of the mix and the numbers are not good at all. the needed roughly 20k a day falls WAY short.

On the kickstarter web page how do I make a donation when all I want is the 35 dollars and the 100 for the mega dungeon...?

I'm fairly certain you click the $35 pledge, and then click the "Manage Your Pledge" button to manually type in $135.

Thanks

What true gamer hasn't been dying for the 2012 equivalent to Baldur's Gate? A PC game so good and so true to its source that it revitalizes the whole hobby?

[snip]

Now THAT is a project I would happily help kickstart.

This is why I backed Project Eternity too. But I'm looking forward to an EVE style Fantasy game as well.

what is that 'woven into a unified whole' bit, though?

i take it Paizo has set certain background facts about the dungeon, which each author/level can variate from, but that is the over-all backdrop in a sense. some of the levels will deal more directly with that, others may be tangential... will events in some levels affect others? will there be a certain plot tied into the overall dungeon, or with specific levels?

If you have the Thornkeep book, the "unified whole" part of the Thornkeep dungeons is the ancient Azlanti wizard Nhur-Athemon. Each author riffed off of the simple idea of a dungeon created by him, so we got a level based on his collection of interplanetary treasures, a level based on a betrayal plot of his apprentices, a level based on his laboratories, etc. The Emerald Spire has some background on page 26 of the Thornkeep book, which is what all of the authors will use as a starting point. During development, we'll add additional tie-ins between levels as necessary.

I don't think the adventure will have much of an over-arching plot. The purpose is a site-based mega dungeon crawl.

And, as some folks have helpfully pointed out here, this is BY NO MEANS a "done deal," or something that people can assume is going to happen. The only way the Emerald Spire dungeon and the associated minis, Flip-Mats, etc. get made is if the fundraising campaign is successful.

And the only way that happens is if you guys back the project and spread the word to your friends! :)

Perhaps Penny Arcade might feature it? Tycho has promoted Kickstaters before I think and I know they did at least one Pathfinder comic. Large click throughs will soon follow!

That.
Is.
Brilliant!

Seriously. If PFO can get featured on Penny Arcade, that would be a huge boost!

Edit: I have sent Tycho an email requesting him to consider mentioning PFO in at least a news post on their site.

Well if we want penny-arcade to feature it we will have to send them messages to make them aware we want them to. I will go do my part.

Also $10 000 reward tier was released for art lovers with a fair bit of pocket change.

Edit: I have sent Tycho an email requesting him to consider mentioning PFO in at least a news post on their site.

Me too, and Beasts of War. They don't cover many RPGs, but it's worth a shot.

Here is the public contact information for anyone who wishes to bring this to PA's attention. Please don't be a dick to them.

R. Doyle wrote:

As a subscriber to too many things here I have a concern that if I chip in another 100$ that I am going to end up with multiple copies...

Can you confirm that any items picked up as part of the KS will not be included in any subscriptions?

Absolutely.

I'd like to clarify that. Some of the rewards will also be available to subscribers—for example, the Pathfinder Tales Crusader Road novel will also be part of the Pathfinder Tales subscription—but since Paizo will be doing the Kickstarter fulfillment for the print items and PDFs, we will ensure that Tales subscribers who also pledged at the appropriate Kickstarter level get one copy of the novel, and that it was paid for by the Kickstarter pledge. So, yes, some items will be included in subscriptions, but no, subscribers won't end up with multiple copies.

coyote6 wrote:

Are the minis KS exclusive? Are they all repaints of existing minis? Will there be another way to get them, without getting all the PFO stuff?

At this point, we have no plans to make them available in any other way. That doesn't mean that plans could change. But right now, we expect the Kickstarter will end up using up all the minis that we will be printing. If not, then we might make whatever remains available somewhere down the line. But there is no certainty of that. The only certainty is that Kickstarter backers will get these minis IF the Kickstarter hits its funding level. Everything else is speculative.

-Lisa

This is no longer correct. Assuming we reach our funding goal, we will be making more minis than the Kickstarter requires for fulfillment. After the Kickstarter ends, we will offer additional minis to Goblin Squad members for an as-yet-undetermined period of time. If, after that time, there are any left, we'll offer them to the general public on paizo.com, but there's no guarantee there. If you'd like to make sure you get them, get them now.

Sent Gabe and Tycho an email. Hopefully that will help out.

I'll keep an eye on Goblinworks. I won't back this MMO, because my feeling is it is a doomed project and I don't want to encourage it. But maybe with a little video game design under their belt Paizo / GW will turn their attention to bringing their amazing stories into a new medium, and creating a series of games that will be played for the next decade or more.

Now THAT is a project I would happily help kickstart.

Not for nothing, but that sentence is problematic and here's why:

1) If you feel it's a doomed project, not backing it only makes that more of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

2) If the MMO doesn't work out, then that's not going to encourage the company to try expanding beyond the MMO in the digital space. Which is to say, if the MMO doesn't succeed then why would Paizo/Goblin Works take the risk on video games of any other kind? Games which are not the money makers that MMOs are.

3) Even if you don't want to play the MMO the Emerald Spire rewards are pretty great for the cost.

I hear you when you say you're disappointed that Paizo/Goblin Works decided to go with an MMO rather than single player (or NWN style) RPG, but sadly the money is in MMOs and if Goblin Works is to become self-sustaining (being a relatively small team) they'll need sustainable income. MMOs are a great source of sustainable income what with subscriptions, micro-transactions etc. Plus they are releasing "modules" as part of the MMO, so you'll still get some of your more classic fix.

A few years down the line once Pathfinder MMO puts its stamp on the world then there might be a push for a different kind of game. I get you don't want an MMO, but there's some great tabletop products on offer, and that'll go towards a game that others might like.

I was (and continue to be) on the fence about an mmo. However, the print stuff available for $100 is pretty neat for TT fans. Even were I to back out of the mmo kick starting I'd still throw $100 in the pot for flip mats and the dungeon. Oh, PDFs included too cause Paizo and GW showing some love :)

I pledged today - my first and only Kickstarter pledge. It just goes to show how old timers like me still love the dungeon crawl :)

I was in from the beginning but, the epic dungeon would have had me otherwise.

If you look at the Print Pack Add-on Image on the kickstarter you will notice they do now have the PDF symbol. However on the crowdforging packs you can see that they do. This would leave me to believe that the Print Add-on pack is just that, the hard copies.

Edit: If you just delete your post asking a question it makes my post look silly lol.

Edit: If you just delete your post asking a question it makes my post look silly lol.

LOL

Lets hope it picks up. Projections are now that it will miss the $1M mark :(

Projections of kickstarters aren't a great way to measure it either way. Also there are projections and trends which are different. So will have to see how it plays out. I am still hopeful though.

A few years down the line once Pathfinder MMO puts its stamp on the world then there might be a push for a different kind of game. I get you don't want an MMO, but there's some great tabletop products on offer, and that'll go towards a game that others might like.

I can only dream... sounds years down the road.

Paizo has so many table top products that I want, I think I'll just stick to paying the retail price for now. If they print Emerald Spire for the masses I'll probably pick it up then.

Don't get me wrong, I love supporting Paizo, just not this particular idea.

If they print Emerald Spire for the masses I'll probably pick it up then.

Unfortunately if the kickstarter fails they never will.

Well you might not be supporting the idea but, the idea is supporting the book you want. I think this is why they are allowing people to pledge the lower levels and still be able to add-on the books. So the better this Kickstarter does the better the products (The MMO and the Book) will be in the end.

Curious. Is the Thornkeep book and The Emerald Spire Superdungeon one in the same? If the answer is yes, what happened to the authors we originally pledged for during the technology demo kickstarter? Are those authors still writing their dungeons too? A little confused. I bolded the authors that got me to pledge.

Goal #1—ACHIEVED! Because we've reached 2000 backers, we're going to create another dungeon level beneath Thornkeep, which will be presented as an additional PDF download for everyone who has pledged $15 or more. This new level will be designed by Paizo's own Jason Bulmahn, and backers will be able to participate in a survey to determine the theme of that dungeon. See Update #3 for details.

• Goal #2—ACHIEVED! Because we reached $125,000, we'll add a dungeon level by James Jacobs as a PDF download for everyone who has pledged $15 or more.
• Goal #3—ACHIEVED: Because we reached $150,000, we'll add a dungeon level by Erik Mona as a PDF download for everyone who has pledged $15 or more.
• Goal #4—ACHIEVED: Because we reached $175,000, we'll add the dungeon levels by Jason Bulmahn, James Jacobs, and Erik Mona to the printed Thornkeep book, already going to everyone who has pledged $50 or more! See Update #10 for details on these last three goals. Update: Jason, James, and Erik will also autograph the books going to everyone who has pledged $75 or more!
• Goal #5—ACHIEVED: Because we reached $200,000, we'll add a final dungeon level by Ed Greenwood to the PDF and print editions of the Thornkeep book! See Update #14 for details!
• Goal #6—ACHIEVED: Because we reached $225,000, we'll add a specially designed bookplate signed by cover artist Wayne Reynolds to the autographed Thornkeep book already going to backers at the $75 level! Update! The bookplate will also be autographed by Ed Greenwood!
• Goal #7—ACHIEVED: Because we reached $250,000, we'll add in two Flip-Mats, representing all four of the lower dungeon levels, at the $100 reward level. For details—or to find out what Flip-Mats are—see Update #20. Update! We'll also add PDFs of the two Flip-Mats to the $30 reward level!

Not the same. The Thornkeep book has been finished and backers received access to the PDF. The information was sent out to the e-mail you signed up with.

I see! Thank you!

Would be great to see the Reaper Bones miniatures from their Kickstarter incorporated into the Emerald Spire dungeon. Might make for some additional interest.

Man I want that Super Dungeon hardcover! I may not play computer games but I'm in.

So I can pledge $5....and then I have to go back in and pledge another $100? I want to make sure I do it right and I get the book and the flip mats.

And I dont have the money to get the miniatures...but the 3rd revealed mini is awesome. Is that a new sculpt? Maybe a repaint of an Earth Elemental?

Yes I too want to know how to pledge to get the print stuff, and if budget and wife permitting the min's too.

What I did was, I pledged a total of $105, and chose the $5 reward level. I'm pretty sure that's what you need to do to just get the "print pack". 8^)

I think the following FAQ will answer your question:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1675907842/pathfinder-online-a-fantasy- sandbox-mmo#WhatIsTheMiniICanPledAndGetTheRpgPrinPackAddOn

linkified

I'd like to clarify that. Some of the rewards will also be available to subscribers—for example, the Pathfinder Tales Crusader Road novel will also be part of the Pathfinder Tales subscription—but since Paizo will be doing the Kickstarter fulfillment for the print items and PDFs, we will ensure that Tales subscribers who also pledged at the appropriate Kickstarter level get one copy of the novel, and that it was paid for by the Kickstarter pledge. So, yes, some items will be included in subscriptions, but no, subscribers won't end up with multiple copies.

Entire branches of government would be managed more efficiently if handled by Paizo's Customer Service, it seems. Thanks, you're great! :)