Elken Krimm's page

Seems to me that we're more than a little overdue for a video update, especially for the progress made in Q4 2014.

The blog updates tell us a little, but the reassurance of familiar faces telling us about the behind-the-scenes action gives us a much better sense of where we are, and it keeps us emotionally invested in the activities of our friends working busily away in Goblinworks.
If a Q1 2015 EE release is likely then I'd rather you just kept plugging away. But if we may not see EE before Q2 2015 I think we all really need to hear from you in a video as soon as possible.

I am 42 - The Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything.

My first concert was Edgar Winters - in utero.
I suspect there was marijuana present.

Well THIS little Browncoat has no patience. Frothing...at...mouth Clawing...at...brain. Grrrr, Arrrrgh!

Welcome to the Video Blogs Bob!

Looking back through the first two V-Blogs the energy and eye contact was better than I remembered, so I must apologize for my previous criticisms - you guys are doing great!

That 2nd camera angle is still driving me nuts, though I can appreciate the need for it with regard to editing. But I have an idea you're really gonna hate:

Just use video clips from the game! Conversationally relevant screenshots, clip art, hell, I'd be happy to watch rendering bloopers! This would almost certainly create a much bigger editorial workload for the poor V-Blog team. But the Goblin Squad will really, really like it!

Don't get me wrong - Steve, Bob and Lee are Adorable. (And who doesn't love Ryan's mild lisp? Truly endearing!) But you simply cannot give us too much game footage. And V-Blog #3 had . . . no game footage!

And that's the gripe I really want to make. Yes, the conversational content is excellent and well delivered, but . . . we're gamers! We wanna see what your making too!

Some friendly constructive criticism for the Video Blogs:

Lee - Keep your hands away from your face.
Steven - Speak up and enunciate.

I think using two camera angles is awkward. You might try keeping both cameras together and use one for wide-angle and the second for close-ups as each speaker talks. Steven and Lee would be able to look directly at the cameras which I believe would be more engaging for the viewer.

Both of you, smile, loosen up and have fun with it! We are very interested in your subject material! Try to match our enthusiasm with your own love of your craft. We want to see how much you enjoy building this game!

Just my two coins worth!

I apologize for over-looking you! I only need one example though, and I saw him first!

According to Ryan's initial information, quasi-Narcissistic players (and even full-fledged ones like Steelwing)(grins)are not the players to be concerned about.

Andius, please be so kind as to present us all with evaluation tests for Machiavellianism, Sadism and Psychopathy. Then we all just take them, allow the dreadful players to identify themselves and surrender their aspirations of Pathfinder participation (with quiet dignity and grace), and we can all call this blog productively successful.

Well, I might be a vain, self-centered ass, but at least I'm NOT Narcissistic! (16/20 with high Superiority and Vanity)

Yes, someone please sell me a Goblinworks t-shirt! I'll take an XL!

Happy Holidays to everyone and may we all celebrate the holidays together in Golarion next year!

Perhaps finding a "mother-lode" type harvesting node would generate a "Claim" item in your inventory. This Exclusive Rights document could only be transfered to another player via a fixed-amount currency exchange. This would give your discovery real coin value, providing you with an option: harvest it yourself or sell your claim for profit. Either way, you get something out of it.

Member of the Keepers of the Circle and generally only check in when we're expecting a new blog from Ryan and GW.

I play the Elder Scrolls and may even try their new MMO for a while until I can get an EE slot for PFO. Hell, I'd be really happy just to have a Goblinworks t-shirt at this point! Is anything for sale yet?

Asheville, NC
(lil 'Frisco and Beer City USA several years in a row)

Originally from Toledo, OH, but I escaped . . . again.

Seeing one's own artwork in an MMO would be a reward in itself, while any cost savings for GW would make it all a win-win situation. Any other problems would be easily absolved with a well-written disclosure statement.

Since you mentioned diplomacy, what is our present situation here in the Circle with other large guilds such as The Seventh Veil and The Empyrian Order. Any playful contention? And is there a sizable Evil guild out there we should be watching as an inevitable foe? Or is it too early for such politics?

Am I the only one that thought, this is absolutely absurd and illogical, when I saw this:

Pouches take up your waist slot (and prevent you from wearing a belt).

No. You are not alone.

I'm amazed that nothing has been said to address such an excellent point.

I hold GW in such high esteem that I can only surmise that something hasn't been fully explained about this. But to sacrifice one's belt for the sake of wearing beltpouches makes about as much sense as sacrificing your head because you want to wear a hat.

Someone please help us out with this!

Hey Lisa!

I'm definitely with Diella on the 'Slap-rump taunt' goblin t-shirts! If you make them available, that is the one I will buy!

Ooh, that gets me a thinkin' . . .

How 'bout making certain trees climbable?

Would be great for hiding to avoiding combat.
Would be great for ambushing!
Give you a reprive from wolves and other non-climbing opponents.
Give players a reason to 'look up' occassionally.
Very immersive.
Could eventually add the ability to add tree forts and villages!

Might not be feasible for OE, (or for a very long time actually) but would greatly enhance depth, realism, fun.

Finally - a new video to sink my teeth into! Delightfully exciting!
Thank you and well done. My new world is coming along very well ;)

Did someone mention forests?

If there is one area in which I'm truly expecting greatness it is . . . well . . . character customization.

But if there was a Second area in which I truly expect greatness, it is forest diversity. I'm an avid backpacker here in Appalachia, and the eldritch magesty of an old oak forest is nothing like the cathedral-like reverence of a forest of red pines. Some of my favorite forests can be completely sinister and forbidding. Aspens, elms, hemlocks and sequioas all have their magic too. And in a fantasy game you can invent completely new trees!

I'm just looking forward to seeing many different kinds of trees, mixed forests and pure, with the occasional magical surprise every once in a while. In a game full of magic, forests are the most magical of places.

I see Gedichtewicht's point that we shouldn't punish a player for deeds the game allowed his character to do in PFO. But ideas like prison breaks and forced labor might just be too fun not to include! So what if Prison Time were a Mini-game inside the game. Kinda like a repeatable dungeon where you could level unique skills that had limited carry-over to the outside game world:

There could be Hooch-makers that teach brewing skills.

There could be tatooists with exclusive prison tats.

Shiv-Making 101 could train you in metalworking and weapon-smithing.

Low Reputation could translate to automatic popularity.

The guards could provide random beatings to add to the suspense.

We can't make it TOO fun, or people will WANT to go to jail. But it would give players things to do during their incarceration that would allow them to still play their characters.

I might also support Gnome and Halfling Thieves to Pickpocket. You can't deny, their races are right for the role.

Pickpocketing is for children.
No, I'm not just being a smartass, pickpocketing is generally perpetrated by children, isn't it? Artful Dodger, Oliver Twist type stuff. And pickpocketing generally only happens in crowds, bustling throngs, shoulder-to shoulder public situations, right? I want this game as Real as possible. Let's think about this:

If there's no crowd, and you're not a child, you are wasting time and effort pickpocketing. Mug Them.

If there's no crowd and you Are a child, you are at much greater risk of being caught and grabbed in the act with little by way of obstacles to stop a powerful adult from doing so.

If there Is a crowd and you're not a child, you are more at risk of being caught in the act by others - you're size makes you more noticable and you have little chance of slipping away unobserved.

If there Is a crowd and you Are a child, no one is paying any attention to you - you are beneath everyone's gaze (They are all watching the execution, listening to the speaker, or trying to determine which way the dragon is coming from). Pouches, purses and wallets are at eye level. And if you get caught, you are small, you are fast, and you have a much better chance of twisting free and dashing through the forest of legs to freedom in the alleyways that you probably live in and know like the back of your hand.

In conclusion I think pickpocketing should be in the game, and performed by child NPCs in crowds. Players beware!

I Love Sadurian's jail time concept (and love his robust defences and rebuttles slightly more! Well done!)
I would add that all experience gains be suspended during the incarceration as well. You were bad. You got caught. Got play an alt.

I also like his point about Evil Settlements. When my character gets incarcerated for inflicting random acts of unprovoked goodness in such places, I expect to be punished when and if caught.

Nightdrifter mentioned Reputation earlier and, unlike alignment, it will be very visible for all players to see (according to a previous GW blog). Therefore, punching a player in the reputation should be a very effective punishment by impairing naughty peoples' ability to do most anything in a settlement, especially spending XP.

And Urman's points about banishment sound excellent to me as well. Banishment would mean you can't buy. You can't sell. And you can raise your skills. Simply put - crippling. I see it being a harsh, effective method of punishing criminals, at least in the offended community, if not in all communities that share the same alignment.
As DeciusBrutus just said, fines would simply be the option for a player to redeem oneself and lift banishment, but perhaps we could take it one step further and direct some if not all of that money to the injured party! Restitution!

I'm a big fan of Elder Scrolls, and I also like Bluddwolf's notion of swiping the 'fine or jail' option their guards give you.
DeciusBrutus tried to compare Elder Scrolls to PFO, but it's like comparing apples to oranges! Jail time suspension would definitely be silly in Elder Scrolls because it is not a multi-player game! A game doesn't have feelings. A multi-player gaming community certainly does.

I completely understand Sadurian's point. MMO's by nature are rife with opportunity for real people to hurt and upset other real people. GW is very aware of this issue and very sensitive to it. I think we'll see Reputation utilized very strongly and will be more important than many people realize yet.
PFO is trying to maximize realism at levels we have really never seen before. I think jail time is very legit.

There are really only 2 factors that make a video game of any interest to me: Character Customization and Game World Immersion. I'll play PFO till the end of my gaming days, to the exclusion of all others, if the Character Customization matches or surpasses Eve Online and if the game world becomes everything I know Ryan wants it to be.
I see, understand and empathize completely with his vision. I know my lofty expectations will not be fullfilled on EE, or even at OE. But by the end of the first year or two I will have been a starting participant in what I believe will be the greatest MMO for many years.

It would be very nice to see the GW web site more active. The last news article was last December!
I know we would read anything and everything they posted there (little info sponges that we are!). But even more importantly, it is far more encouraging to the new people that we are actively trying to enthuse. An inactive website just doesn't send the right message for a new MMO, you know?

Simply put, a good rogue is Always behind his target. :)

Now, we certainly cannot have rogues running around one-shotting us from behind, but with a strong and enthusiastic eye towards realism, being able to just warp behind a target is totally cheap and cheesy and draws forth painful memories from World of Warcraft. On the flip-side of the coin, spinning throught the air over the head of an armed opponent is precisely the Worst place to be. Even with lightsabers.

Anakin Skywalker: You underestimate my power!
Obi-wan Kenobi: Don't try it!
And Anakin got both his legs chopped off.

In the unenviable position of a rogue watching his now wounded and pissed off opponent turning around and drawing weapons, I would expect to see him doing a lot of rolling/tumbling to the side for 90 degree lateral dagger thrusts, or openly retreating for a more inventive maneuver i.e. - scrolls, potions, flash power, throwing sand in the eyes, luring opponents into pre-set traps, that sort of thing.

A Thief that can stand toe-to-toe with a Fighter is . . . a Fighter! Or, more practically . . . a dead man.

Short of magic, ranged weapons or actually being a warrior yourself, the only way to defeat a warrior in single combat is with trickery. And acrobatics is just not good enough in a game where so many more creative options could exist.

Oh and BTW:

Thank you Nihimon for the link! Everything you're doing is brilliant and very appreciated. I have your page saved to favorites!

Ah well. It's ludicrously early to be worrying about alts anyway! My ranger will have plenty to do for a long time! I am certain I will not be "terribly dissappointed" about Anything regarding this game!

And I am now a proud new member of the Keepers of the Circle!
Huzzah!

Greetings and Salutations!

I would be honoured to join your circles of Wood and Shadow as I step into this world that is Golarion!
My lady will almost certainly be joining me within your circles. We are faithful guardians of flora, fauna and freedom and love playing characters that epitomize Neutral Goodness.

Despite this very early hour I still feel like a latecomer! Tragically, I missed the Kickstarter, so if anyone knows of any open windows by which I could make a late contribution I would be delighted to trade cash for benefits!
For now I have registered an account on your site and look forward to contributing in any way I am able from here forward!

Warmest greetings to all!

I'm stepping in brand new here with my first post and hope someone sees it. (I realize no one has commented on this thread in over 2 months!) but regarding Destiny's Twin:

I don't have it. I completely missed the Kickstarter. I discovered this upcoming game just within the past couple weeks by searching online for a new game to enjoy and I'm very excited to be joining the Pathfinder online community in eager anticipation of the game's eventual launch.

But does anyone know if Destiny's Twin will be available for purchase via Skymetal or any other way?
It represents such a wonderful advantage in so many ways that I will be terribly disappointed to play Pathfinder without it. If anyone has any good news or ideas for a humble latecomer eager to enjoy what benefits he can scrape up I'd love to know what I can do!

And BTW - IF GW launches another Kickstarter I will POUNCE on the opportunity to contribute and hopefully pick up Destiny's Twin as well as join the Goblin Squad (and grab whatever other perks I can!) But that could be a long shot. They may not need another Kickstarter. If they do they may not offer Destiny's Twin as a benefit.

Thanks in advance for whatever reassurance anyone may provide!
Now I'm off to look into joining a settlement!