A Call to Vol II—Gen Con 2018!

CigarPete wrote:

Bob, can we sign up to run PF 2.0 Playtest tables?

Yes please! Sign up and add a comment regarding PF2. You can also send an email to the address listed at the end of the form to make sure they know of your PF2 interest.

Thanks Tonya! I just replied to my volunteer confirmation email and indicated that I wanted to run Playtest tables. Looking forward to it!

Tonya Woldridge wrote:

CigarPete wrote:

Bob, can we sign up to run PF 2.0 Playtest tables?

Yes please! Sign up and add a comment regarding PF2. You can also send an email to the address listed at the end of the form to make sure they know of your PF2 interest.

If you have already completed a questionnaire, please DO NOT fill out another one. If you are interested in GMing PFS2/PF2E playtest material at Gen Con 2018, please just send us an email. If you use the original email chain (from your confirmation) it will reduce the chances of error in updating your status.

If you have not yet completed a questionnaire and plan to do so, please just add a note in the last comment field that you are interested in GMing the playtest materials.

Yup, replying on my volunteer confirmation email seemed the right thing to do. I figured it would just fubar the whole thing if I submitted another application.

CigarPete wrote:

Bob, can we sign up to run PF 2.0 Playtest tables?

Yes please! Sign up and add a comment regarding PF2. You can also send an email to the address listed at the end of the form to make sure they know of your PF2 interest.

Will there be tickets available through GenCon to sign up to playtests PF2? If not, how does one sign up to playtest at GenCon?

If we volunteered to run PF2 playtest, should we pre-order the physical copy or will that be one of the books offered?

I only ask because I ended up with a lot of SF rule books last GenCon because I preordered before the book choices were released.

If they follow what they did with Starfinder, GMs were given a PDF of the core rule book. It was not a full version but enough for us to run the tables.

We had to sign a NDA agreement. They also set special discussion areas for us to ask questions and share ideas.

Answers regarding PF2E and the playtest are not available at this time. How it will be incorporated into the general schedule, if at all, is still being considered.
While we should have some answeres before the preorder period closes, my recommendation is that if you want a printed copy of the playtest rules assume it will not be provided as part of your volunteer rewards. At this time my intention is to preorder a copy.

Unlike Starfinder’s release last year, the playtest rules are already scheduled to be released for free at Gen Con. If we expect any volunteers to GM any playtest games, I’m sure there will be a mechanism for the pdf to be provided a few weeks in advance.

I only ask because I ended up with a lot of SF rule books last GenCon because I preordered before the book choices were released.

I won’t say that was an ideal situation but the positive was that you could have probably return extra copies to Paizo for a refund considering their stock sold out within hours. Or you could have offered to sell your extra copies directly, probably at an increased price. Supply vs demand and all that depending how you feel about such things. I recall seeing copies popping up on eBay at higher than cover price.

I had considered eBay...

But I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I gifted them away.

And I'm not mad that I ended up with a bunch of copies, just kicked myself in the pants several times.

Back to the answer to my question: Thank you. That answers my question perfectly.

UPDATE...
We still have plenty of volunteer openings. We will be sending out the block(slot) schedules later this month. Remember that event registration opens on May 6th. After the initial schedules are sent out, it starts to get more difficult to meet any special requests volunteers have for their schedule so if you are interested, don’t wait too long. Get that questionnaire completed and submitted ASAP.

Now that the 2E play test information is out and spurring A LOT of conversation, I can say, yes, we will have plenty of opportunities to participate in playtest games at Gen Con. That means we will need GMs. We will be sending out additional information regarding that to our existing volunteers soon. In the meantime, if you submit a questionnaire going forward, be sure to express your interest to GM playtest material in the comments at the end.

There is one additional benefit to being a playtest GM...you’ll get early access to the play test pdf information. Of course, how could you prepare to GM otherwise. So, if you are one of those people that has to get your hands on the playtest materials as soon as possible and just cannot wait until the first day of Gen Con, volunteer as a GM. :-)

Bob, how soon before the convention?

Trying to absorb a system in less than a month is sub-optimal, even for folks who are experienced GMs. We saw that last year with the Starfinder release, if memory serves?

*hugs knees and rocks slowly side to side*

^^^^

This was part of why I volunteered HQ rather than GM'd last year.

Bob, how soon before the convention?

Expect it similar to last year with Starfinder, a few weeks plus/minus. I think regardless of when it happens there will be people who say it’s not enough. Remember, that you won’t necessarily have to memorize all the rules, just the ones that appear in the scenarios and the basics of the majors subsystems. It worked out very well last year with Starfinder. We received a lot of good feedback. The final decision is Paizo’s, not mine so we’ll just have to wait and see.

The playtests that have already been released (Glass Cannon, Know Direction) give a good idea of a lot of the basics already.

Just a reminder, we have plenty of availability for more GMs including hotel room space. With Starfinder now a year in and the 2E playtest attracting a lot of attention, Gen Con 2018 is going to be as exciting as ever. Don't miss out. Click on over to our questionnaire and sign up!

I have suffered a temporary loss in sanity. With the Playtest looming, I have decided to sign up for GenCon’s team in the Demo Hall.

Hmm

Previously we had 5 hour blocks, and it took 7 to get a hotel room. That's 35 hours.

Now to get a hotel room it's 8 blocks of 5.5 hours, that's 44 hours or over a 25% increase in required labor.

Also with only 6.5 hours between the morning and evening slot there's just not enough time to sleep.

I'd love to come help but what you're asking for is just too much.

I have suffered a temporary loss in sanity. With the Playtest looming, I have decided to sign up for GenCon’s team in the Demo Hall.

Hmm

I for one am glad you went(well at least temporarily)insane! LOL

Hope to see you in the Demo Hall!

The blocks are the same they have been for many years. There has always been the expectation that GMs arrive early to set up their table and be prepared to run when the slot started. Hence there has not be an change from 5 hour slots to 5.5 hours. However, I do sympathize with people’s concern about the extra block. It is simply a response to the reduction in GM volunteers trending over the past two years. At the same time there has been no reduction in player demand. In fact, that continues to increase every year. So, we have to make due with less and that means raising the requirements. If every GM who ran less than 7 tables last year would each add one more table, we would not have had to increase the requirements for the two most sought-after rewards. I’m sorry that some people consider that a non-starter, but we had no other workable solution.

I have suffered a temporary loss in sanity. With the Playtest looming, I have decided to sign up for GenCon’s team in the Demo Hall.

Hmm

Hooray!

I, for one, wouldn’t know what do so with myself if I got enough sleep during the con!!!

Just too much fun to be had, from either side of the screen.

I've learned my limits over the years, and respecting them has prevented the worst cases of 'cruds'.

Failing to respect them puts me in bed with a fever for a day or two after the convention is over.

I have suffered a temporary loss in sanity. With the Playtest looming, I have decided to sign up for GenCon’s team in the Demo Hall.

Hmm

Awesome news! My son and I will stop by to say hi and maybe check out the playtest.

According to the Gen Con newsletter I received today...

"The event catalog will be posted on Sunday, April 22 at noon (Eastern). Event Registration begins at noon (Eastern) on Sunday, May 6. You will need a Gen Con 2018 badge to participate in Event Registration. Badge and event ticket fulfillment will begin on June 17."

In preparation of this, we are working on volunteer block schedules and will be distributing them very soon so you will know which slots are free to register for events.

Also, be on the lookout for a notification that your event badge was dropped into your Gen Con account. Gen Con's standard practice is to email the account owner whenever there is a change in your account such as a badge added or an event cancelled. However, we had reports that process was not 100% last year. Perhaps there are some technical glitches in their system, or some people have unusually strict spam mail protocols. Whatever the reason, do not assume that just because you did not receive an email your badge did not drop. You'll need to actually log into your account and verify.

Whenever one of these tasks is completed, we will post a notification. That way if you were expecting [stuff] and you did not get [stuff], you can reach out and notify us.

Maybe you'll get more volunteers for Gencon GM's once they tell the Paizocon GM's what they're running.

I don't see why one would impact the other, but if that is true, I'll take it. :-D

Since before the open call, there has been speculation about which hard cover books would be approved for the Gen Con rewards. Well, we have confirmation. You can chose one from the following list:

Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures
Starfinder RPG Armory
Pathfinder 2E Playtest Rulebook (HC standard edition)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Add-on Deck collection (​​Ultimate Intrigue, Ultimate Wilderness, Ultimate Equipment)

Remember, only those volunteering at the 6-block level and above qualify for this reward. If you have already submitted your questionnaire and been accepted, you must complete the google form HERE to lock in your updated choice. We must receive your completed form no later than midnight (Pacific time) on Sunday 29 April 2018. Thereafter, your book choice will revert to the original choice of whatever Pathfinder or Starfinder book is being offered.

The same deadline applies if you have not yet submitted your questionnaire for Gen Con and want to receive a free 2E playtest rulebook as part of the rewards package. Beginning April 30, only the other three options will be available.

Sweet!

A couple of questions that have come up regarding this process...

If you have already ordered a copy of the playtest rulebook and want to get it through the Gen Con rewards program instead, you'll need to contact customer service and cancel your existing order. We will be fulfilling the books directly from Paizo through "back channels" so you won't have an order for the book. If you keep your existing order, you will be charged when Paizo processes the orders and AFAIK you cannot refund pre-orders. Gen Con HQ will be allocated the books based on our records and will issue them on site just like we have in the past with book rewards.

If you have an issue completing the google form, first make sure you are using the correct link. This form is different than the one originally used to volunteer. Also, the form is set up to send an email confirmation for your records when the form is submitted. I am not sure, but google forms may flag the IP address of the device you use to complete the form because you cannot complete multiple forms nor edit it once it is submitted. This could be a challenge if two (or more) volunteers are from the same household. You may need to use different devices for each person to complete the form.

You also need to be logged into Google (or so my form told me).

This--being logged in as a unique Google user--might also address the issue of multiple people from the same IP, but I'm just speculating.

Ooooh ultimate decks!!!

As the question of GM schedules has come up a few times...

I am actively working on the block schedules for the GMs, meaning which slots they will GM and which they will be off, but not the specific scenario they will be GMing in any given slot. The latter cannot be determined until after ticket sales are largely complete. Due to a higher than normal amount of conflicts in volunteer requests/availability vs options/needs of the business, it is taking significantly more time to build the schedules than in years past. I was hoping to get those schedules out by the end of the day today, but it is likely going to take a good portion of next week. I still expect to have them distributed at least a week before open registration launches so everyone will have time to create their wish list of event tickets and be ready for the chaos that is open registration on the 6th of May.

Thank you for all the hard work on this, Bob!

Good news! Nearly all the block schedules are done. Only about a dozen more that we are waiting on responses from the volunteers about conflicts in their availability. I expect we'll be sending out the schedule emails in just a few days. Thanks for being patient with us.

Thank you all who are volunteering and organizers doing all the hard work to make this happen. This will be my first time as a player only, so look forward to lots of gaming.

Bob, is there any way of updating your block commitment from 5 to 6 to be eligible for the hardcover at this point?

Yes. You need to send an email ASAP so the schedule can be adjusted and complete the book form.

Are you still needing GM's? I am very interested in volunteering for this insanity.

Yes, we take additional GMs all the way up to the event every year.

I can confirm that they are still taking GMs. I submitted my application via the online form Monday night and got a response in less than 24 hours.

See y'all there!

While I was awaiting my response, I passed this along to more of the Louisville Group, maybe a few more of us will come on up. :)

I still have not received an Email about my schedule. Just slightly worried.

Any word on badge drops?

Schedules are still pending distribution. There are a few details we are still working out to finalize the schedules. Hoping to have them finished this weekend. Expect to see volunteer schedule emails early next week.

No status on badge drops. AFAIK, we are still waiting on Gen Con to provide the bulk badges to Paizo. I believe Tonya is currently traveling to a convention this weekend. If so, I would not expect badges to drop any sooner than early next week at the earliest.

I can confirm that they are still taking GMs. I submitted my application via the online form Monday night and got a response in less than 24 hours.

See y'all there!

If I submitted my application Tuesday night, and still haven't gotten a response, should I be worried?

Or are ya'all waiting until the schedules are done and sending out the response next week?

Joe Bouchard wrote:

I can confirm that they are still taking GMs. I submitted my application via the online form Monday night and got a response in less than 24 hours.

See y'all there!

If I submitted my application Tuesday night, and still haven't gotten a response, should I be worried?

Or are ya'all waiting until the schedules are done and sending out the response next week?

Same for me and my fiance. Some of the earlier posts got responses within 24 hours. We submitted last week.

I'd say wait it out a few more days. I'd imagine that they are pre-occupied with scheduling events at this point.

Well events are finally up on the GenCon site, now just waiting to get my GM schedule so I can build my wishlist. Foot tap, foot tap, foot tap..... lol

You can build it now and then just remove stuff.

Update. All volunteer applicants through today have been notified of their status. We will not be processing any new applicants for a couple of weeks so we can focus on responding to registration.

We will begin distributing volunteer block schedules tonight so watch your inbox. We strongly encourage volunteers to build wishlists. We can obtain an event report based on the wishlists which will help us identify demand and perhaps shift/add tickets before registration goes live on Sunday.

Remember, we have tables held in reserve so we can more quickly add availability to the highest demand tickets. So, if you see something fill up, you may want to check back periodically the first few days after registration opens as more tickets may become available.

Some volunteers have started to see the badge dropped into their Gen Con account. You should receive an email directly from Gen Con when this happens. The rest will be distributed ASAP so watch for it. When that process is complete, we will post a notification so you can alert us if you did not receive it. Please do not send email requests regarding missing badges until we let you know the process is complete. We anticipate having the process complete before registration goes live on Sunday.