PaizoCon Europe Online 2021: Tickets, GM Signups and More

GM Interest form complete!

There are a few references to XXEMAIL which i believe if filler text needing swapped out ;)

Ready to run! GM Interest Form submitted!

I feel selfish for it but I think I'm just gonna play at this con. I'll GM at GenCOn.

That said, thank you to our EU overlords for offering late games for us Westerners. We appreciate it!

Form complete!

Form complete.

I'm stoked. I am also looking forward to PFS2 Season 3 and playing games in both German and English. Huzzah!

Who are the members of the organizing committee for this event so we know who to thank for all their hard work?

Submitted my GM interest form. Excited to see how this goes.

Who are the members of the organizing committee for this event so we know who to thank for all their hard work?

This is a licensed event under the direction of Benoit Gros, Nils Janson, and Ian Hawthorne.

Finally took the time to do the survey, now that Paizocon is done^^

Just an FYI, if you select the Contact Form link after completing it, you will get a message that says, "You can fill out this form only once.
Try contacting the owner of the form if you think this is a mistake." Except it does not provide the owner's information nor is there a button to contact. You might want to emend the message to include the email address of the organizing committee for those who need to contact them, but cannot locate the auto-response email they received when the form was originally completed.

Just an FYI, if you select the Contact Form link after completing it, you will get a message that says, "You can fill out this form only once.

Try contacting the owner of the form if you think this is a mistake." Except it does not provide the owner's information nor is there a button to contact. You might want to emend the message to include the email address of the organizing committee for those who need to contact them, but cannot locate the auto-response email they received when the form was originally completed.

You'll have to talk to Google on that one, we don't have control over that message.

Will this have play-by-post events as well?

Reminder, there are plenty of seat vacancies for this convention, so if you have some free time, jump over to Warhorn and sign up. Hope to "see" you there?

Vacation time finally approved.

How does the euro conversion work?

Vacation time finally approved.

How does the euro conversion work?

You should find a lot of answers on the warhorn page

https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-online-europe-2021

Signed up, waiting for registration to clear.

Umm - so where is the link to buy a ticket as a player?

Umm - so where is the link to buy a ticket as a player?

They are doing registrations via Warhorn: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-online-europe-2021

The Warhorn web site says "For this event, there will be a €10 badge fee for all players", but nowhere that I can see does it provide a link to actually purchase a badge...

When you register, it asks for payment.

Question: how are "walk-ups" handled?

I was just cleared to sign up for games, but apparently today was the last day, and they're already closed =\

I have 5 games bookmarked. Can I email that list to someone?

When you register, it asks for payment.

I'm registered. I signed up for a game and would sign up for a couple more. I've never been asked for payment.

Weird. In that case I'd just reach out to paizoconeurope@gmail.com

...which, I guess, is where I should email my question, too.

For those of you wondering, €10 is 11.75 at the moment.

I'm scratching my head a little at why you'd close sign ups and move to a walk up system a week before the con. or.. ever really. Why is 0 notice better than 5 4 3 2 1 days notice?

In a F2F format, it reserves some places for new players who may not have had a chance to sign up, and PF to gather some of the random foot traffic.

Not sure if that's appropriate for an online convention, though.

It might be an artefact of in-person conventions, or an effort to ensure tables fire?

That being said, even with it noted on the registration page it blindsided me when I went to try and recruit to fill out the first table I'm playing.

I'm scratching my head a little at why you'd close sign ups and move to a walk up system a week before the con. or.. ever really. Why is 0 notice better than 5 4 3 2 1 days notice?

I had been dithering about whether or not I wanted to attend. I've played everything PF2 related except the 3 new scenarios and I am planning on running them with the Magus and/or Summoner I'll be making NEXT week. Yes, I know they're repeatable but I don't tend to want to play even repeatables twice too closely together. My Sunday game just got cancelled so I'd just decided this morning that I WAS going to see if there was enough available to be worth my while. Then I saw I couldn't sign up.

This closing of sign ups made me change my mind. No way I'm going to bother with all the hassle of walk ups. So, at least in my case, closing signups had the effect of causing me to NOT bother showing up to the con.

Hopefully their policy attracts more players than it loses. But I'm proof that it loses at least SOME players (well, technically, at least 1 :-))

Just emailed them my schedule. So we'll see ^_^

Meanwhile, got an email this morning that two of my tables had only one player at them (me). Was then offered option to move tables.

Hopefully that email gets through in time, otherwise I may have to do a lot of walking to get to Europe for my walk-up tables (I don't think I'll get there in time for that).

:>

I'm scratching my head a little at why you'd close sign ups and move to a walk up system a week before the con. or.. ever really. Why is 0 notice better than 5 4 3 2 1 days notice?

Because that's the way they want it. Some of it has to do with cancelling events without a GM or not enough players so those people can be seated elsewhere. All of the Paizo-sponsored online conventions close their registration platform a few days before the event and then 30/60(?) minutes before the slot start time, you can jump into the <Looking for Game> channel in the official Discord server and the on-the-clock organizer will help you find an appropriate table.

BTW, I was threatened with a permanent ban for questioning/disagreeing with the organizational methodology of some of the events so I would caution anyone thinking of doing so.

Because that's the way they want it.

Sort of a mathematicians answer. The next question in the line would be WHY they want it that way.

Some of it has to do with cancelling events without a GM or not enough players so those people can be seated elsewhere.

That would be a self solving problem. You can't sign up for a game that isn't there*, so if the game is canceled that prevents sign ups.

All of the Paizo-sponsored online conventions close their registration platform a few days before the event and then 30/60(?) minutes before the slot start time, you can jump into the <Looking for Game> channel in the official Discord server and the on-the-clock organizer will help you find an appropriate table.

I could see closing it off an few hours in advance so that there's no one self walking to the table for the last seat while HQ is walking someone to the same spot. Like another poster above I was thinking of attending since dming fell through but the uncertainty of a walk up process is a bit offputting.

It just seems like something that does something in meatspace that's just not applicable to online.

*Unless warhorn is REAALY wonky this week...

The next question in the line would be WHY they want it that way

Oh, you've been in here long enough to know that is incredibly unlikely to happen. If it does, whatever the reason, there will be people who disagree and complain about the methodology. There is virtually zero incentive for the organizers to explain their actions as it generally just leads to more complaints.

Every decision the organizers make is a trade off of something else. No decision is universally right for everyone. If you don't like how an event is organized, my best advice is to step up and join the volunteer team. That is exactly why I started out as a volunteer all those years ago. I didn't like how some things were done and figured I could do it better.

BigNorseWolf wrote:

The next question in the line would be WHY they want it that way

Oh, you've been in here long enough to know that is incredibly unlikely to happen. If it does, whatever the reason, there will be people who disagree and complain about the methodology. There is virtually zero incentive for the organizers to explain their actions as it generally just leads to more complaints.

Sometimes there's a reason for it I don't see on my end. (Like when you told me why event codes mattered: I made more of an effort to make sure they were on the chronicles afterwards). Even without an official answer someone may know or speculate a reasonable ...well reason.

Sometimes there's a trade off, sometimes it's just a thing people do because they've always done it that way. Sometimes people don't see the downside on their end that I'm looking at on mine. Sometimes asking the question does get things to change.

If you don't like how an event is organized, my best advice is to step up and join the volunteer team. That is exactly why I started out as a volunteer all those years ago. I didn't like how some things were done and figured I could do it better.

Well, for starters I wouldn't judge whether I like it or not without knowing why it's done that way. It's not a matter of this needs to change (especially not this close to the event), it's more like seeing a dog up in a tree and wondering why...

Helping at that level seems like more of a charisma based skill and I'm self aware enough to know I dumped mine. I usually help getting new people started , writing guides, getting people on roll 20l, making tables for people and filling in last minute.

Just got the Discord server invite, and asked about walk-ups in the general chat channel.

I first went to the "player instructions" channel, and then the "faq" channel, but both are empty, sooo...

Oh right,

If anyone is looking to play starfinder and either make a character or get them onto roll20 so you can play, I have a template for doing that in about 10 minutes. Give me a poke on either pfschat.com or the paizoconeurope discord.

Playing at a convention with random players reminds me that 2E continues to function like 1E did in that too many players are simply unwilling or unable to comprehend the complexities of high level (7+) gameplay. It is incredibly frustrating when players continuously fail to use their prime abilities making the encounters much more challenging than they should be. Makes one want to only game with familiar players.

I've conversely found that some higher-level scenarios at this convention have been so tightly written that they outright shut down my higher-level and prime abilities FORCING me to use less efficient lower-level ones (which in turn makes encounters much more challenging than they should be). Makes me want to go play Starfinder, which doesn't have *quite* the same issue.

I do agree that some of the recent releases have some rather significantly high DCs (other players referred to them as "unfair" and "bu!! sh!t).

It is certainly possible the error was with the GM, but...

A 1-4 scenario with a DC23 save and a 7-10 with at least a DC33 (I assume because I crit failed with a 22) might as well just be an automatic effect with no save. Combine that with the fact that most enemies have save modifiers at least 2-4 points higher than an equivalent level PC combine to make things epic-ly challenging.

This is compounded when a table that is half low tier is forced into high tier via challenge points.

EDIT: Happened twice this weekend at the con. Nerve-wracking and unfun experience when dice hatred arrives.

This is compounded when a table that is half low tier is forced into high tier via challenge points.

EDIT: Happened twice this weekend at the con. Nerve-wracking and unfun experience when dice hatred arrives.

my thus far experiences with PF2 are that I would rather take my ball and go home than get pulled into higher tier, all risk, no reward, no fun.

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

This is compounded when a table that is half low tier is forced into high tier via challenge points.

EDIT: Happened twice this weekend at the con. Nerve-wracking and unfun experience when dice hatred arrives.

my thus far experiences with PF2 are that I would rather take my ball and go home than get pulled into higher tier, all risk, no reward, no fun.

Depends a lot on the scenario. In some, the scaling is good enough that it really doesn't matter too much. In others, high tier for low tide characters can be very un fun.

medtec28 wrote:

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

This is compounded when a table that is half low tier is forced into high tier via challenge points.

EDIT: Happened twice this weekend at the con. Nerve-wracking and unfun experience when dice hatred arrives.

my thus far experiences with PF2 are that I would rather take my ball and go home than get pulled into higher tier, all risk, no reward, no fun.

Depends a lot on the scenario. In some, the scaling is good enough that it really doesn't matter too much. In others, high tier for low tide characters can be very un fun.

But why risk my one-and-only play of a given scenario on something potentially un-fun?

Alternatively, medtec, why risk never getting to play the scenario ever? That balancing act and realization of life restrictions and considerations makes the decision process a lot more difficult.

Back to topic, though:

I learned a lot about PF2 and higher-ish level play this weekend (especially getting shoe-horned into high tier due to scheduling) .

Have to give an apology to the table of Parting Clouds (2-24) I was in yesterday.

Had a healing capability that WOULD have kept the party going much longer without things getting desperate, but I had a Gross Conceptual Error as a player regarding Focus/Hex spells and didn't use it because of that disconnect.

As much as I'd like to blame it being the last day of the convention, this was more a general 'double-thinking' myself into not using something I should have been using more often than some people wear masks around here.

why risk never getting to play the scenario ever?

At a time when online play is healthier than ever, I just don't consider that a meaningful objection anymore. I can literally recruit five like-minded players and a GM to run for us whom I know or at least know enough about that I can virtually ensure no one is going to demonstrate a complete lack of skill and/or understanding of the complexities of high level play. I don't NEED a convention to do that for me anymore.

Unless/until we return to live events, there is virtually no reason* for me to attend a convention over just scheduling games either routinely with my local lodge, or randomly online. I used to prefer random people at conventions because it exposed me to a variety of gaming styles and I could steal good ideas from other GMs to improve my own skill. However and unfortunately, I am finding that the 'quality' of player has diminished to the point that I fear playing high level with random people since the PCs that I bother to get to high level are the ones I enjoy the most and don't want them to unnecessarily suffer or me to lose interest in the session because other players are making events much more challenging than they need to be. The frequency by which a player completely forgets the purpose of the mission half-way through the session is amazing, frustrating, and disappointing.

*outside of AcP which is waaay down the importance list and perhaps specials that can be hard to organized at a local level

I would rather take my ball and go home than get pulled into higher tier, all risk, no reward, no fun.

I think if you've never feared for your character's life and reached a point where you think you've bitten off more than you can chew, you're not really exploring the maximum capability of your character. You don't find out what you're capable of unless there's a real chance of failure.

Playing up is a great way to learn how to fight APL+5 monsters. And while you don't want to be doing it all the time, doing it a few times (and maybe dying once or twice in the process) isn't the end of the world.

Playing up is a great way to learn how to fight APL+5 monsters.

"That would be "run-fu" and "possum style" techniques?"

Watery Soup wrote:

Playing up is a great way to learn how to fight APL+5 monsters.

"That would be "run-fu" and "possum style" techniques?"

"Cayden wept stop stalking me! I haven't been able to do anything to you!"

medtec28 wrote:

I would rather take my ball and go home than get pulled into higher tier, all risk, no reward, no fun.

I think if you've never feared for your character's life and reached a point where you think you've bitten off more than you can chew, you're not really exploring the maximum capability of your character. You don't find out what you're capable of unless there's a real chance of failure.

Playing up is a great way to learn how to fight APL+5 monsters. And while you don't want to be doing it all the time, doing it a few times (and maybe dying once or twice in the process) isn't the end of the world.

Oh, I have done it, I missed nearly every attack and failed nearly every skill check. Will never do it again. I have even gone as far to change characters to manipulate the Challenge point system to avoid it. But this seems like it is getting off topic here.

medtec28 wrote:

I would rather take my ball and go home than get pulled into higher tier, all risk, no reward, no fun.

I think if you've never feared for your character's life and reached a point where you think you've bitten off more than you can chew, you're not really exploring the maximum capability of your character. You don't find out what you're capable of unless there's a real chance of failure.

Playing up is a great way to learn how to fight APL+5 monsters. And while you don't want to be doing it all the time, doing it a few times (and maybe dying once or twice in the process) isn't the end of the world.

Real chance of failure =/= nearly guaranteed chance for failure or critical failure.

Ran into that a couple of times this past weekend. GMs to their credit were on point about critical failure consequences. Didn't change the hard-written scenario DC, though.