Announcing Pathfinder Nexus - Unleash Your Hero Digitally!

Terevalis Unctio of House Mysti wrote:

BadEye wrote:

Terevalis Unctio of House Mysti wrote:

Ya, so far I am not impressed, not even able to log on after my account has been validated.

We got hammered by 1000%+ higher traffic for a little while there, so we had to get some reps under our belt to make adjustments.

If you give it a little while and still have problems, our Support team is eager to help (support@demiplane.com).

Please define a little while because it has been about an hour.

Its been live for literally only an hour and a half, patience is a virtue. Take a look around the product and try again later maybe?

But virtue is its own reward.

Veradux21 wrote:

Terevalis Unctio of House Mysti wrote:

BadEye wrote:

Terevalis Unctio of House Mysti wrote:

Ya, so far I am not impressed, not even able to log on after my account has been validated.

We got hammered by 1000%+ higher traffic for a little while there, so we had to get some reps under our belt to make adjustments.

If you give it a little while and still have problems, our Support team is eager to help (support@demiplane.com).

Please define a little while because it has been about an hour.

Its been live for literally only an hour and a half, patience is a virtue. Take a look around the product and try again later maybe?

But virtue is its own reward.

Hello Terevalis - My name is Peter, and I'm the CEO over at Demiplane. Thanks for posting about your login issue so we can help. If you're still having issues with login at this time, please drop us a support ticket with your username or email, and we'll get things sorted out: https://demiplane.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

I think Paizo needs to figure out a way to give discounts to people who have purchased hard covers through bookstores. Aren't we always told to support local hobby shops? Yet discounts in a program like this only happen if you buy PDFs directly from Paizo.

I'm one of the many people here with no desire to repurchase content I already purchased. I wish these things could be done in a smarter way but I am just seeing the same old model again.

I think Paizo needs to figure out a way to give discounts to people who have purchased hard covers through bookstores. Aren't we always told to support local hobby shops? Yet discounts in a program like this only happen if you buy PDFs directly from Paizo.

I'm one of the many people here with no desire to repurchase content I already purchased. I wish these things could be done in a smarter way but I am just seeing the same old model again.

I hear you. The key here is to see Demiplane as a Digital FLGS. When you buy a book from Ye Olde Gaming Shoppe, they get all the mark up from your purchase. This helps the Shoppe.

Now what I can see Paizo eventually doing is, once things are running, is offering a digital discount. If you buy a hardcover inside is a code for, say, 10% discount usable on the Nexus.

If you buy the Hardcover Directly from Paizo you will get an even larger discount. That is now.

GM Mustache wrote:

I think Paizo needs to figure out a way to give discounts to people who have purchased hard covers through bookstores. Aren't we always told to support local hobby shops? Yet discounts in a program like this only happen if you buy PDFs directly from Paizo.

I'm one of the many people here with no desire to repurchase content I already purchased. I wish these things could be done in a smarter way but I am just seeing the same old model again.

I hear you. The key here is to see Demiplane as a Digital FLGS. When you buy a book from Ye Olde Gaming Shoppe, they get all the mark up from your purchase. This helps the Shoppe.

Now what I can see Paizo eventually doing is, once things are running, is offering a digital discount. If you buy a hardcover inside is a code for, say, 10% discount usable on the Nexus.

If you buy the Hardcover Directly from Paizo you will get an even larger discount. That is now.

Except that currently if you buy the hardcover from Paizo you don't get any discount in Pathfinder Nexus. The discount is only applied if you purchased a PDF.

As a side note, Paizo still has some markup on the books they wholesale. Its just not as significant as the markup they get from their direct to consumer sales. In general all wholesale items being sold to retailers still include markup to generate profit for the original producer of the item.

I'm all for this, but something I need to know is if I as a GM can share purchased materials with my players. I have the money to invest in this, but most of my players do not.

... no negative feedback is displayed anywhere. It is more like "achievements" in something like Overwatch.

Simply clearing up the misinformation, because safety is very important to us.

Thanks for the clarification! That addresses my major concern.

I'm all for this, but something I need to know is if I as a GM can share purchased materials with my players. I have the money to invest in this, but most of my players do not.

Content-sharing functionality is not currently part of Pathfinder Nexus, but it's a planned feature. Adam talked a bit about it in the Twitch stream today, so you might check that out for more info on where they're headed in terms of sharing content within play groups.

Does anyone know if they intend to make it screen reader friendly? Tried looking on the Demiplane website to find contact info but couldn't find it - never a good sign.

This is great. I always wanted ddb pathfinder edition.

I'm all for this, but something I need to know is if I as a GM can share purchased materials with my players. I have the money to invest in this, but most of my players do not.

Content sharing is definitely planned. We want to simulate sharing books around the table. We'll share more details soon!

My only concern is that there are lots of services that do something similar to Nexus that are community made right now and exist due to the community use agreement or a special agreement made with Paizo, like AoN or Pathbuilder. As long as Paizo isn't planning on changing its community use policies then I'm fine with something like Nexus, but I can't deny I feel a little anxious being a big user of these community services that appear to be a competitor to this new official partnership.

My only concern is that there are lots of services that do something similar to Nexus that are community made right now and exist due to the community use agreement or a special agreement made with Paizo, like AoN or Pathbuilder. As long as Paizo isn't planning on changing its community use policies then I'm fine with something like Nexus, but I can't deny I feel a little anxious being a big user of these community services that appear to be a competitor to this new official partnership.

Paizo has always had licensed character creators. Hero Lab Classic was great for 1e and was something you had to pay for. Technically speaking Pathbuilder you have to pay to unlock the full sheet (albeit incredibly cheap), Hero Lab Online requires you to pay for the content on top of having an active subscription with them.

Only way I got things to sync was to manually remove the spaces from my Paizo sync code and then enter it into Demiplane (i.e., "ABCD EFGH US" should be entered as "ABCDEFGHUS".)

NICE Paizo team this was what Aaron Shanks was teasing me about some months ago, I signed up and accounts linked, not sure if I will use it much but the more stuff out there for Paizo the better!! Now if only it was a VTT, in the future maybe.......??

Cheers Aaron and Team Paizo!!

Tom

The interface looks fantastic. But I see them having an uphill battle.

The fact is D&D Beyond works because there's no other free options.

There's a lot of great options available for PF2 already, and we have all the actual content available for free on AoN.

For character building we have Pathbuilder and Wanderer's Guide.
And while it seems Nexus has a much nicer interface and a few other options, I don't see that many people willing to pay (likely) hardcover price just to get art on their character builder.
Also, Pathbuilder still has plans for Connecting sheets into a single session so the GM can manage equipment, loot, conditions, etc.

Speaking of which, HeroLab Online already does many of the things Nexus does, at probably a very similar price, and it's one of the least used Character managers due to its hefty entry price point.
Seems to target the same audience (ones willing to pay a lot of money for convenience) and I don't see any of them switching over if they need to buy the whole thing again.

Then you have Foundry, Which for $50 one time buy (often on discount) you can access everything freely and have a really great character manager. Albeit without the ease of accessing it on a tablet or phone.

With that said, it does look awesome. And I wish it had an easier entry point.
But unless it was priced at PDF price and not Hardcover, and include the PDF, then it's a hard pass for me. I'm already buying all Hardcovers as is.
And I'd need to convince the other players at my table to buy into it if I wanted to connect our sheets? That definitely wouldn't happen.

We are bringing more options, not planning to take anything away. We have no changes planned regarding our existing licensed partners, like Hero Lab and Archives of Nethys, the Community Use Policy, Pathfinder Compatible, or Pathfinder Infinite programs.

People have been asking for something like Pathfinder Nexus for some time. Not everyone will choose it, but some will love it. And, much like our playtests, this is the only the beginning. We will all create the final product together and it will never cease to evolve.

Watch the announcement on Twitch.

Looks pretty. I'm not sure it offers me enough extra over Herolab online that I would buy all of the same books yet again.

I created an account and had a look. I'll probably need to see pricing, functionality and whether anyone writes a Foundry Import tool, before I can make a final decision.

I'll either be using HLO or this, but certainly not both.

In D&D Beyond, if the DM has bought a book, all the players in their campaigns have access to that material. I don't see any indication that this is true here, in which case I'd have to pass. There's no way I'd get my entire group to shell out for the books they'd need/want.

If I as the GM could buy all the books and then my players could build PCs using that content, I'd be much more interested.

The interface looks fantastic. But I see them having an uphill battle.

The fact is D&D Beyond works because there's no other free options.

There's a lot of great options available for PF2 already, and we have all the actual content available for free on AoN.

For character building we have Pathbuilder and Wanderer's Guide.
And while it seems Nexus has a much nicer interface and a few other options, I don't see that many people willing to pay (likely) hardcover price just to get art on their character builder.
Also, Pathbuilder still has plans for Connecting sheets into a single session so the GM can manage equipment, loot, conditions, etc.

Speaking of which, HeroLab Online already does many of the things Nexus does, at probably a very similar price, and it's one of the least used Character managers due to its hefty entry price point.
Seems to target the same audience (ones willing to pay a lot of money for convenience) and I don't see any of them switching over if they need to buy the whole thing again.

Then you have Foundry, Which for $50 one time buy (often on discount) you can access everything freely and have a really great character manager. Albeit without the ease of accessing it on a tablet or phone.

With that said, it does look awesome. And I wish it had an easier entry point.
But unless it was priced at PDF price and not Hardcover, and include the PDF, then it's a hard pass for me. I'm already buying all Hardcovers as is.
And I'd need to convince the other players at my table to buy into it if I wanted to connect our sheets? That definitely wouldn't happen.

I am someone who uses HLO. I stopped my subscription with them today.I also purchased the books on nexus because to me the ability to read the complete book with art on a mobile device is really nice to have. Reading a pdf on a phone isn't great. I also am eager to be able to share with my players even if there's a small (I do hope small) subscription price. Trying to share content in HLO isn't great. I love LWD and I've supported them for HLC, RW, and HLO.

Still can't get on a few hours after trying to sign up. Does not look good as an initial experience.

In D&D Beyond, if the DM has bought a book, all the players in their campaigns have access to that material. I don't see any indication that this is true here, in which case I'd have to pass. There's no way I'd get my entire group to shell out for the books they'd need/want.

If I as the GM could buy all the books and then my players could build PCs using that content, I'd be much more interested.

Adam touched on sharing very briefly near the end of the stream. I'll edit here with a time stamp when I come across it again.

Still can't get on a few hours after trying to sign up. Does not look good as an initial experience.

Hello Terevalis, I believe I've pieced together that you have a support ticket in our queue. I'm sorry you've had some trouble today. The last screenshot you shared in the ticket shows that the username is incorrect.

Please check in on that thread and hopefully you can get in with the other username.

Thanks!

Same inability to get past typing a new password sans the ability to hit accept it.

Does anyone know if they intend to make it screen reader friendly? Tried looking on the Demiplane website to find contact info but couldn't find it - never a good sign.

This was posted nearly 3 hours ago. In that time, the spokesperson for Demiplane has posted twice, once just 30 minutes ago.

Are you ignoring the issue or do you simply not know whether your product is ADA compliant?

Paizo, what requirements do you have in your licensing agreement that speak to partners creating accessible products?

I am not impressed here. The price point of buying a digital book being near full price, or a $10 discount for owning the PDF already? Why would I shell out nearly $100 / book to use this program? At the very least the price point should be in line with the PDF's that the site already. I hate DnDBeyond for this exact same problem and I am likely to never go anywhere near it.

Finally working. Thanks to CS. It is very pretty!

Does anyone know if they intend to make it screen reader friendly? Tried looking on the Demiplane website to find contact info but couldn't find it - never a good sign.

Hi Laarafel! My name is Peter, I'm the CEO at Demiplane. We have every intention of bringing Screen Reader friendliness into the Nexus as part of the Q1 launch.

A lack of contact information is not something you'll need to worry about when it comes to Demiplane!

You can contact us at any time by selecting the "Support" bubble in the lower right corner of our website, clicking your avatar if you're in Pathfinder Nexus and selecting "Guides and Support", or via email - support at demiplane dot com - if that's easier.

We have also seen a significant uptick in our Discord server and Forums: we are actively collecting feature (and support) requests. I would be happy to have you be a part of that community if time allows.

Very buggy. Cant create an account . Tried 2 different emails.

Was excited. but now not so much (not a good first impression for a technology based service tbh)...

You can contact us at any time by selecting the "Support" bubble in the lower right corner of our website, clicking your avatar if you're in Pathfinder Nexus and selecting "Guides and Support", or via email - support at demiplane dot com - if that's easier.
.

Support page is a complete mess. No easy options for people who can't create an account or with other account problems

I'm interested to see the how the Adventure Paths are presented. For instance character art that has previously only been available on tokens. It would also help some navigation I have when using PDFs.

pwrup wrote:

Laarafel wrote:

Does anyone know if they intend to make it screen reader friendly? Tried looking on the Demiplane website to find contact info but couldn't find it - never a good sign.

Hi Laarafel! My name is Peter, I'm the CEO at Demiplane. We have every intention of bringing Screen Reader friendliness into the Nexus as part of the Q1 launch.

A lack of contact information is not something you'll need to worry about when it comes to Demiplane!

You can contact us at any time by selecting the "Support" bubble in the lower right corner of our website, clicking your avatar if you're in Pathfinder Nexus and selecting "Guides and Support", or via email - support at demiplane dot com - if that's easier.

We have also seen a significant uptick in our Discord server and Forums: we are actively collecting feature (and support) requests. I would be happy to have you be a part of that community if time allows.

Support page is a complete mess. No easy options for people who can't create an account or with other account problems

Hi Jib916 - My name is Peter. I'm the CEO over at Demiplane. I'm uncertain if you saw this in the post you quoted, but the easiest method of submitting a support ticket is by selecting the "Support" button in the lower right of your screen that appears across our homepage and support site.

We're getting fixes up for load balancing, so if you are having issues accessing your account, please submit a ticket we can be certain to get back to you once everything is humming smoothly.

Looks like a decent enough product. However, will stick to HLO. I already know how to use the system and spent a substantial amount of money for the product.

I appreciate that Paizo is continuing to offer options to make gamers/GM's lives easier.

I am not impressed here. The price point of buying a digital book being near full price, or a $10 discount for owning the PDF already? Why would I shell out nearly $100 / book to use this program? At the very least the price point should be in line with the PDF's that the site already. I hate DnDBeyond for this exact same problem and I am likely to never go anywhere near it.

A couple of points of clarification:

1) Today was an announcement, not a launch. What you see in Early Access is not really close to what the full product will be once it is released. So asking the question of why you would shell out money based on what you see today is perfectly reasonable - Early Access and pre-orders are from people in the community that want to help us test and provide feedback to help us get to the launch with what we all want Pathfinder Nexus to be.

2) The price point is actually pretty in line with what the PDFs cost. The total price for the Core Rulebook on PFN is $29.99. If you make that pre-order, then you'll also unlock the PDF on Paizo.com for free (a $14.99 cost). If you already own the book/PDF through Paizo.com, the price is reduced to $19.99. So the PFN Core Rulebook isn't actually $30.

All that said, Pathfinder Nexus might not be the option for you and your group. We will be focused on making the game better however we can, and we understand that won't click for everyone. But we're thrilled to see it is resonating with so many fans in the response we've seen already, even in this super-early phase. We're excited to forge ahead. Thanks!

Is the character builder up yet?

Removed a post that included a personal attack. Now exiting stage left to make way for more Pathfinder Nexus discussion.

Is the character builder up yet?

Hi Terevalis - Our character builder and an interactive digital character sheet will be introduced later in Early Access, closer to full launch (Q1 2022). Now that we have opened Early Access, we will be releasing content regularly - you can stay informed about what's coming next as part of our weekly Development Updates on Demiplane's Twitch channel -- twitch.tv/DemiplaneRPG

This is cool, but I'm gonna keep using AoN + Foundry. AoN made it possible for me to play with players who didn't own the books, and to get some new people into the game. Also, I understand that they have to pay their employees, but I'm not gonna re-buy everything just to have access to it on the go...

I'm going to echo some of the sentiments here as a physical product purchaser that I would love to use this at my table but having to buy everything again is a hard no for me.

The products looks like it will be top notch and I'm excited to see what demiplane does but the added cost is just too much to make it feasible to use.

I would love Paizo to include a QR code system or something for those of us who purchase physical product to be included in this new digitalization they are shooting for with the Paizo connect.

I am long time GM who buys every Starfinder/Pathfinder product but I also use a table tv and other digital things at my table which means I need to sometimes purchase an AP twice so I can use the maps at my table and have easier access to the AP while playing the game.

Please Paizo integrate physical with digital somehow!

I am in Canada so subscribing from you isn't really an option due to the exorbitant shipping cost and I love to support my LGS.

If you truly want to join the digital age I think you are taking the right steps and this product looks amazing but we need some love for the purchases of the actual physical product as well.

To BadEye/pwrup/Nexus folx

1: So...unlike AoN, this will not have *as a core feature* a database of all the rules? And to get them you have to buy them piecemeal/per book?

Why would I use your product then? To have the ease of use on your site? But having the rules set up like the PDF/book is mega irritating, where a database is at least organised ergonomically. This makes me not want to use your site to run games.

[EDIT - so on further exploration of the Primer, it looks like you can kind of find the rule you want, OR use the original source, which is cool. But it still doesn't feel like AoN or the old d20PFSRD...which are both really useful. The AoN's Elite/Normal/Weak slider for Bestiary creatures is a good benchmark for what you need as far as usability goes...]

2: So if I already have the PDF of any particular product, I have to buy it a second time (albeit at a reduced price) to view it on the Nexus platform?

Regardless of the "cool story" as Yoshua put it upthread (I get it, businesses need to make money etc) I'm not interested in buying anything twice or three times. Integrate with Paizo, defray the costs of PDFs to reward customers of the IP and make your money another way. Sure, in time, those new to PF and in a digital only spectrum will appreciate buying a product on Nexus and have it appear on Paizo.com for free, if that is the case - but this? It actively penalises the actual current fans. Or at least this is how it feels.

N.B. I am a terse, ornery personality when it comes to...well just about anything, but particularly when it comes to capitalism and free market enterprise. So know that I am biased, and I apologise for being...terse. Also, I actually signed up to your website. It looks nice, but is kinda weird to navigate - I am sure when up and fully running it will be great. Also I have no idea how I would even link my Nexus account to Paizo's.

I really want to have a digital aide for PF2 - rules resource, character builder, VTT etc...but this is... not what I want. Yet.

I just ran the numbers on my purchases with HeroLab Online and in the last 16 months I have already spent close to $300 for PF2E products along with access/subscription. To turn around and spend another $159 for Rulebooks alone seems like a big ask. All of this atop the PDFs I've already purchased from Paizo for PF2E.

Yeah having to buy everything again is a bit rough as I subscribe and then buy it all again in HLO. Getting the PDF from Nexus is great and I could cancel the sub perhaps but I still want that early PDF.
I guess it comes down to paying again for HLO or Nexus.

Only hang up is that my PCs really dislike HLO but they don't buy books or anything, so when we play the ability to share content for character creation is a huge part of using it.

...

Hello OCEANSHIELDWOLPF 2.0, thanks for reaching out. Replies:

1. Yes, Pathfinder Nexus will absolutely have a searchable database of all rules elements with advanced filtering capability. You can see a quick glance of that in the announcement trailer with Dinosaur Form.

You will need to unlock content to see everything, but much of that content is available through the elements unlocked in the free Pathfinder Primer.

We call these database tables "Compendium Listings," and they will release as the next phase of Early Access. Keep you posted!

2. Yes, there is a cost to unlock content for use within the toolset. We have worked with Paizo to get that cost as low as possible, and owning the PDFs through Paizo.com does indeed get you a 33% discount on the pre-order. Connecting your Paizo account happens in the Account Settings > Sync Accounts menu at the top right of the top nav.

And I understand if you are hesitant to commit at this stage, because this is so early that one can't really see what Pathfinder Nexus actually will be. As I've said in a few places, today was an announcement, not a launch. Once we get to the actual launch, you'll be able to make an informed choice on whether Pathfinder Nexus is the right thing for you and your group.

Thanks!

@pwrup @BadEye

Hi Peter and Adam!

My comments are as follows...

Starfinder? Starfinder! starfinder starfinder starfinder! STARFINDER! StArFiNdEr? STARfinder! starFINDER?
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5742|=1|V[)32
$'|'/-\/2|=!|\||)[-/2
01010011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100110 01101001 01101110 01100100 01100101 01110010

Needless to say, I hope to hear a launch announcement at some point in the future regarding Starfinder!

I’ll add my voice to the Starfinder crowd.

As someone that plays on Foundry/discord and relies on pathbuilder for character creation is there something that nexus will do to benefit our groups playstyle?

Will there be token, artwork, or map integration with Foundry if you purchase AP/Bestiaries through nexus or is it just rulebooks?

So, if I own the various product for access on HLO, is there any corrolation with this product? Are you working with HLO for the character builder aspect of this?

@BadEye: Thanks for the swift replies. I’m totally understanding that what I’m seeing is prelaunch, so no worries there - it looks good.

Thinking further, my preference would be for free CRB/GMG/Bestiary 1 content and anything outside of this Core could be purchasable. I understand that the Primer is free, and generally presents the ruleset, but is no way near the whole of the ruleset as presented in the core three books.

I look forward to more utility, announcements and although not what you guys have stated initially, definitely wanting a VTT using all the latest and it is to be hoped, seamless and simple technology.

So, if I own the various product for access on HLO, is there any corrolation with this product? Are you working with HLO for the character builder aspect of this?

I have zero confidence that this would be the case. This is a different company with a different product and is partnering with Paizo to basically make a competing product.

----------------

In general for people saying they don't want to re-buy books, I think it's worth a re-frame: Maybe you're like me and have purchased books through Paizo. If it's a subscription, that purchase got you the physical book, and the PDF as a free bonus. Otherwise, it got you one or the other. That's the product you bought.

For Pathfinder Nexus, Hero Lab, etc, you are not re-purchasing the book. You are buying the ability to take all of the contents of that book and have it reformatted and indexed to have a bunch of additional digital integration (and hopefully automation) within the larger app. This is not zero or negligble work on the company's part, so even as people with Pathfinder subscriptions, we cannot expect to get these additional features for almost free.

If that cost is something you feel like you can't currently afford, of course fair enough. Let's just recognize what the product actually is, which is not a re-purchase.