A Most Unfortunate Delay

Hey folks,
Obviously we never want to have to delay things like this, but it's sadly unavoidable in this case. We'll be back on-track tomorrow. Because our schedule is tied into a lot of other things, none of the other dates of the contest (including the Round 2 due date) are changing, so if you think you might be in the Top 32, this is a great time to pick up your mapping pens... or software, or pencils, or whatever you map with!
We're working out how to try to ensure we don't ever have these issues again, though sometimes that falls into the problem of trying to foresee the unforeseeable.
Our apologies.

Thanks for the update :) {munches a couple more antacids}

Not a problem. Life happens!

Does "back on track tomorrow" mean winners aren't being announced until tomorrow? Do we know what time?

Thanks for the update you hard-working folks!

Goblins.

I blame goblins.

Hope it's merely something bureaucratic and nothing dramatic that caused the delay. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Ah, I see Paizo is experiencing temporal disturbances, that explains a lot. The ability to blog simultaneously in the present and the future is something I was considering entering for next year, but I see it has been designed already[/joking]

Goblins.

I blame goblins.

Yeah, "goblins". Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Hey; things do happen. We understand Owen. Thanks for letting us know!

This blog is dated monday september 1, 2015. hmmm

Does "back on track tomorrow" mean winners aren't being announced until tomorrow? Do we know what time?

Yes, winners will be announced tomorrow, at Noon PST unless we say otherwise before that.

Yes, definitely thanks for the update. I'm just wondering if you mean you'll post the winners whenever things are sorted, or if you're officially rescheduling the announcement to tomorrow. If it's the latter I'll save your server the effort of processing my obsessive checkups all day. :)

Edit: Ninja'd! thanks Owen

This blog is dated monday september 1, 2015. hmmm

We knew by tomorrow that we'd have a problem today, and took the time to send a blog post back from then to now to explain it. :)

Yes, definitely thanks for the update. I'm just wondering if you mean you'll post the winners whenever things are sorted, or if you're officially rescheduling the announcement to tomorrow. If it's the latter I'll save your server the effort of processing my obsessive checkups all day. :)

It's the later.

Monday, September 1, 2015

and

plan to announce the Top 32 will be delayed until tomorrow

Add up to the Top 32 being released on what? Tuesday? Or September 2nd, which is a Wednesday?

YoU tHoUgHt yOu WeRe FrEe oF mE, kekeke, ToO BaD fOr YoU aLL I hAvE cAsT EXTENDED MASS SLOW!

=^0

Paizo Blog wrote:

Monday, September 1, 2015

and

Paizo Blog wrote:

plan to announce the Top 32 will be delayed until tomorrow

Add up to the Top 32 being released on what? Tuesday? Or September 2nd, which is a Wednesday?

Tuesday. Real tomorrow, not blog-date tomorrow.

damn youse Season 9, damn youse straight to heeellll!

Grumpus wrote:

This blog is dated monday september 1, 2015. hmmm

We knew by tomorrow that we'd have a problem today, and took the time to send a blog post back from then to now to explain it. :)

What are tonight's lottery numbers? PM me and I'll split the winnings with you.

YoU tHoUgHt yOu WeRe FrEe oF mE, kekeke, ToO BaD fOr YoU aLL I hAvE EXTENDED MASS SLOW!

"There will be a substantial reward for the one who finds the Millenium Dieben. You are free to use any methods necessary but I want them alive - no disintegrations!"

I don't think my heart or stomach can take another 24 hours to wait lol.

Either that or I'm just out of shape >.>

>.<!!

What are tonight's lottery numbers? PM me and I'll split the winnings with you.

Yeaaaaah.... no. There are Inevitables who hunt people who use Bureaucratic Time Posting devices for what is clearly a Personal Time Disturbance-rated purpose.

Also, with the Pastamatic Postamatic Temporal Blog Program, I could only send the numbers to an entire blog post, which means so many people would use them no one of us would win enough to be worth the risks.

I see you shiver with anticp-

-pation!

-pation!

:D

Hey Owen! Question: Will the e-mail/pm announcement to the top 32 + alternates be delayed... I guess if they would NOT be, they would already know and NOT be us.

:-P I FIGURE the answer to this is "yes, those messages would be delayed". But I figured I would ask for potential hopefuls, just to make sure.

Yes, those messages would be delayed.

Hey folks,

Obviously we never want to have to delay things like this, but it's sadly unavoidable in this case. We'll be back on-track tomorrow. Because our schedule is tied into a lot of other things, none of the other dates of the contest (including the Round 2 due date) are changing, so if you think you might be in the Top 32, this is a great time to pick up your mapping pens... or software, or pencils, or whatever you map with!
We're working out how to try to ensure we don't ever have these issues again, though sometimes that falls into the problem of trying to foresee the unforeseeable.
Our apologies.

There is no way to know if you're not... so 223 are now working on maps.

The antici... (aww Jester David was already on that, well played)

-Pation!

Anyways, I don't know 'bout y'all, but imma start workin' on mah map, yo! (Dis how am gon' write mah description!)

<.<

-Pation!

Thanks Brigg!

hewhocaves wrote:

What are tonight's lottery numbers? PM me and I'll split the winnings with you.

Yeaaaaah.... no. There are Inevitables who hunt people who use Bureaucratic Time Posting devices for what is clearly a Personal Time Disturbance-rated purpose.

Also, with the Pastamatic Postamatic Temporal Blog Program, I could only send the numbers to an entire blog post, which means so many people would use them no one of us would win enough to be worth the risks.

Good to see you've still got your sense of humor about this!

I accept your apology... IF you agree to have the judges post vague taunting jibes about the top 32 for the next 22 hours. :3

^ What he said.

I accept your apology... IF you agree to have the judges post vague taunting jibes about the top 32 for the next 22 hours. :3

I both love you and hate you for that idea.

I am working feverishly to safely disassemble all of the Top 223 and inspect them for defects. There have only been between 189 and 300 injuries so far, most of which were the consequence of explosive runes and symbol spells. I wish I had more accurate numbers, but our secretary has been subject to a sepia snake sigil.

I accept your apology... IF you agree to have the judges post vague taunting jibes about the top 32 for the next 22 hours. :3

I see lots of items! ^_^

Certainly appreciate the update. Can't say I'm feeling very good about the delay in finding out if we need to design a map though. I mean, expecting 360+ to assume they've got the task based on 'if you think' which is based on absolutely no input is pretty unfair though. We've received no notification whatsoever if we're even 'in the running.'

Even if we're going to assume an accuracy based entirely on player-run databases like the Item Seen thread, that's still over 250+ people that made it through all the culls. I certainly understand things happen, but expecting us to delay based on 'if we think' based on zero input is kinda... 'unprofessional' would seem to be the word.

Again, I understand things happen, but that don't get the pizza delivered. You don't call up after closing time and expect your product to be delivered 30 minutes ago, even if you had said that you were really planning on ordering weeks ago. Best of luck sorting out the gremlins and let's hope this doesn't otherwise give a disadvantage to someone in the contest.

I've discovered a new way to figure out who is the top 32. Everyone who wasn't culled start start posting your items publicly. The last 32 people to do so are the winners. :)

PS: don't do this.

Owen K. C. Stephens wrote:

Hey folks,

Obviously we never want to have to delay things like this, but it's sadly unavoidable in this case. We'll be back on-track tomorrow. Because our schedule is tied into a lot of other things, none of the other dates of the contest (including the Round 2 due date) are changing, so if you think you might be in the Top 32, this is a great time to pick up your mapping pens... or software, or pencils, or whatever you map with!
We're working out how to try to ensure we don't ever have these issues again, though sometimes that falls into the problem of trying to foresee the unforeseeable.
Our apologies.

There is no way to know if you're not... so 223 are now working on maps.

222!

I'm waiting.

221! Me too. (actually it's our local game night I wouldn't have been doing it tonight anyway)

In one of the two possible future realities, I will regret that I freed up tonight for work by moving my plans to tomorrow...

But at least in both realities, I'll be well-rested for Tuesday! Yay, right?

We've received no notification whatsoever if we're even 'in the running.'

And sadly, we can't provide any. Some people have determined their item was culled through community observations. Some people already know they've had something come up, and would have to decline a top-32 spot in favor of an alternate even if they got on. Some people are convinced they didn't make it, so there's no way for them to focus on another round.

For everyone else who entered, my sincere recommendation is that you put in some time thinking about maps between today and tomorrow, and I can't say I think that suggestion is unprofessional.

Sadly in this industry things sometimes happen that prevent a writer or artist from being able to get started on time, and often it's not their fault. In my career there have been dozens of times when a company gave me a start date, but failed to give me everything ended to actually start. It's unfortunate, no one wants it to happen, but sometimes it does. And when it does, that almost never means the deadline end date is changing, but at the end of the day street dates and print windows and foreign holidays and shipping schedules just aren't that flexible.

So right now there are a few hundred people who don't know if they're going on to the next round or not, and they are all in the same boat. My advise to them is the same as it was on Friday - look to the next round.

Everyone has the same amount of time, Not everyone will use it.

If you do use and don't end up in the Top 32, you've still practiced a crucial skill for being a successful freelance adventure writer.

If you don't use it and do end up one of the Top 32, you may be at a disadvantage compared to folks who did take the day to get to work.

A delay like this is disappointing and terrible and anxiety-inducing, and I totally get that. We wouldn't have done it if we'd seen any way to avoid it.

But now that this is the reality, it's easy for people to not consider that their disappointment and anxiety might distract them from doing the one thing that might actually increase their chances in the long run - get mapping.

So my advice, based on decades of freelance work, is don't let this throw you off balance. Use the time to get ahead. It's your choice of course, and some people are sure they are already culled. But if not, I suggest you start mapping, exactly because you don;t have any way of knowing if you've made it tot the next round or not.

There's nothing you can do about our failure to have the results. There is something you can do to use the time to advice your chance of winning.

Everyone has the same amount of time, Not everyone will use it.

If you do use and don't end up in the Top 32, you've still practiced a crucial skill for being a successful freelance adventure writer.

I'd also like to suggest that if you use the time and don't end up in the top 32.... Hey, cool map! That may come in handy some Thursday evening, or you could always sell it to Diving Manatee games as part of the Tomb of Oh My God There Are No Verbs module.

Sadly in this industry things sometimes happen that prevent a writer or artist from being able to get started on time, and often it's not their fault. In my career there have been dozens of times when a company gave me a start date, but failed to give me everything ended to actually start. It's unfortunate, no one wants it to happen, but sometimes it does. And when it does, that almost never means the deadline end date is changing, but at the end of the day street dates and print windows and foreign holidays and shipping schedules just aren't that flexible.

I work in an industry where this is, sadly, incredibly common. And as much as I desperately want it to be otherwise, we have to work with what we're given and I appreciate that Paizo is being forthright about the difficulties they've had rather than being silent.

Everyone has the same amount of time, Not everyone will use it.

If you do use and don't end up in the Top 32, you've still practiced a crucial skill for being a successful freelance adventure writer.

If you don't use it and do end up one of the Top 32, you may be at a disadvantage compared to folks who did take the day to get to work.

I was going to say something along these lines, but you said it much better than I probably would have ^.^

I, too, want to encourage the 223 people waiting (myself included) to get to mapping! Even if you don't make it this time around, you still will have a map ready for when you do get into top 32! To top it off, you would have had MUCH MORE time to polish it!

Hope Paizo hasn't been thrashed by the sudden Storm of Vegeance someone cast n Saturday.

All you can do is hope and pray an make a map just in case.

Entrants like I are at +8 hours ahead of PST (i.e. UK time).

Those ahead of PST could be impacted more seriously than those who live in the PST zone... imagine this scenario

Whatever the problem is, it proves serious enough to delay the announcement to say 6pm PST, that's 2AM UK the next day...

All you lucky PST people get a couple of days of daylight hours, where us poor souls end up passed out asleep on our keyboards and wake up the NEXT day with just 1 to 1 and a half days to get things done, bleary sore eyes, keyboard imprints on one side of our face, stiff back and neck etc... sleeping like that is not easy you know :).

Me I am trying to draw with EVERYTHING crossed that the fix is a fixable fix with a small time-frame and that I can be ready whenever the fix is done should I progress.

That my fellow contestants is all we can do, the milk is spilled so let's lap it up and carry on like true freelancing soldiers at the eventful word and picture coal faces.