Pierce Watters's page

Evan Tarlton wrote:

Is Cosmo really an avatar of the Elder Gods?

Honestly, I don't usually go over that far on that floor...but when I do, I bring an elder sign.

Yes, he is.

I am checking, looking for stores in Portugal that can help you. Stay tuned.

Pierce

Hi Katataban,

Most of our European distributors ordered the new version of the Beginner Box. They were shipped from the printer in Hong Kong, and this might have delayed their receiving it.

If you can get the name of the distributor your store uses, I will see where they stand. What country are you in?

I live in Australia - how can I get copies of the cards and the main game?..I wanted to playtest but Australians weren't allowed...:(

I might be able to help you. Send your email address to me at pierce.watters@paizo.com. I will forward it to a distributor who should get in touch with you. A limited number of cards will be in Australia, but I don't know how they will be given out. Anyway, this will give you a chance.

There has been a problem with Esdevium ordering/receiving a few items. We don't know what happened but we are remedying it now.

Well, auto correct won't let me write "s" "e" "z" sorry.

grrr, typos: on sale date is; think he sea...

I know this is out of Pazio's hands, is anybody else ordering from Barnes n' Nobles? I just got an email from them saying I won't get a delivery until June 2013, then asking if I wanted to cancel my order over all. (only reason I'm ordering from B&N is gift card).

I know Amazon has done this before and then the order came on time. I'm not sure if is the same with B&N. Anybody have any insight on this?

Sadly, I'm concerning canceling my order all together though since I was getting the book for a dhampir undead slayer type PC for Carrion Crown. If BotN isn't going to add much more then what I can already get out of ARG and a solid ranger build, is there really much point? I'm not a big fan of pure vampire PC

I've already been disheartened with Blood of Fiends. It isn't looking good if this books is a greater disappointment then the other 2 Blood books.

BN.com has this book on order. They have not received it. It will be available. The on sale date i a computer error at our distributor, which will be corrected. I THINK, think, he sea, those mistakes are corrected on Fridays. So try again next week.

I will get this corrected. Just a glitch in the Diamond system.

The official Street Date is 9/26. It is now 10/1. Several factors ranging from distributor order date to shipping time (including reshipping in some cases) usually means Amazon will have the product approximately 3 weeks after the official on sale date. Also, no distributor is allowed to ship to Amazon. Amazon is notified when the product is available and they determine when they will pick up said product. The book channel always involves shipping to more than one warehouse and then breakup and shipping to stores...so it will always be available later that buying direct or from hobby stores.

This problem is usually generated by our distributor who sells to Amazon, and not Amazon itself. I know for sure the distributor has received the book. I cannot yet tell if Amazon has picked up their share of the goodies. I have also pinged our distributor to fix this error.

Besides, it would give me something to snuggle with that reminds me of him while he's gone to a million-and-one-cons this summer. ;-)

It's got his smile.

Well, kind of. My middle name IS Brittain.

This is not BN's fault. Their distributor is out. We will be getting some copies to them. It should be back in the channel shortly.

The Buy Button is back up for this title. Still no explanation from Amazon as to what happened, but their Vendor Central site seems to be down, so we can't go in and look right now.

All we know for sure is that a few customers have reported problems. We don't know what those problems are yet, and are waiting to hear back from Amazon.

Once again, Amazon is revisiting their packaging. A few copies are arriving, to the customer, damaged due to the way Amazon packages the Core Rulebook. So the button will be down until they resolve this.

Ghost Stories is, at least in theory, out? Dude...I've been slackin'...

No, I had pre-ordered Ghost Stories but now it is delayed until July.

Liane Merciel wrote:

I will be there for one of these. I don't know *which* one yet, but definitely one of them.

Come over to the bar and get a sneak preview. If you do, I'll run to my room to grab a book for you to sign.

I thought it was a lounge.

Often times, pre-ordering yields a discount or sale price. For me, that is worth while and gives me reason to pre-order.

I pre-order sometimes from Amazon to get a better price. Then I just try and forget I ordered it. So many factors affect delivery, one can be driven nuts...assuming one is not there already. I was fretting this morning over the delay of the new Jim Butcher book...but beyond my control.

Our distributor in the U.S., to the book trade, is Diamond Book Distributors. We ship all books intended for the book trade, including Amazon, Overstock, BN, Borders, Hastings, BAM, et al, to Diamond. Then they ship to the individual chains (except Amazon, who always pick up their books at the Diamond warehouse). Then the chains break down the shipments and send them out to their individual stores. Figure the chains get their copies 2 weeks after we ship to Diamond, on average. Then the individual breakdown and distribution times vary from chain to chain and store to store. Hobby has a simpler distribution flow so your FLGS will almost always have the book before a book chain store will.
As for on sale dates...we set an approximate date when we solicit the book five months in advance. We set an exact date once the book has arrived at our warehouse. Typically, the book chains are very slow at adapting to new on sale dates, and in some cases, they have formulae which determine on sale dates that are only kinda-sorta related to any dates supplied by the publisher.

I am pretty excited about this thing. I have to confess, though, that I am not a big drinker of mead or beer (or wine, for that matter), so will regretfully have to pass on any offers of either.

Froofy cocktails, that's my scene. ;)

Dave is the King of Cocktails. Tell him what you like and he will order one up or severly chide the barkeep for insubordination.

I didn't see any Pathfinder in my local B&N, where they have a ton of D&D books in their games/manga section.

Pathfinder books are now available in many B&N stores.

Liane Merciel wrote:

Dave Gross wrote:

Excellent opening. I can't wait to see how the rest unfolds.

So, ahem, uh, where's my copy of Prince of Wolves cough cough hint?

I signed it for you on the first day of Gen Con and watched Pierce put it into a pre-addressed envelope. Granted, I didn't escort him to the post office, but I expect you will receive it soon.

You should have watched me Dave. I didn't mail it in Indianapolis. I kept forgetting to bring it down from my room. However, I did mail it on the Tuesday of my return. So it has been a week.

Dave Gross wrote:

Excellent opening. I can't wait to see how the rest unfolds.

Thanks dude.

So, ahem, uh, where's my copy of Prince of Wolves cough cough hint?

(Verily, I am subtle. Srsly though I really want that book.)

Well Liane, let me see, I emailed the original review to Marlene as soon as I wrote it. I will resend it tonight. I am meeting with the KQ Publisher this weekend and will get a copy of the magazine for you. I think the review looks great with your sidebar. As to your Prince of Wolves, Dave signed one for you at Gen Con and I mailed it last week. I don't know why it has not arrived. Let me know.

I reviewed Liane's novel The River King's Road in the current issue of Kobold Quarterly. Liane kindly supplied a sidebar on how gaming influenced her writing.

This is not just at Amazon. I have seen it appearing lately at many retail book sites.

Marcus Ewert wrote:

Okay- now my curiosity is piqued-

Liane, what book of yours do you recommend I read first?

(I have a book out too, btw- the world's first transgender-themed kids' picture book- for real! 10,000 Dresses. On Amazon, and in some stores - depending on where you live!)

I only have one book out right now (the next won't be on the shelves until sometime in spring 2011) so that question has an easy answer. ;)

I was wondering if you were that Marcus Ewart. I thought: "naaah, what are the odds that guy would be into gaming too, gotta be a coincidence." Color me (pleasantly!) surprised.

James - hi, and thanks for the welcome! I've been lurking around for a week or so trying to get a better feel for Golarion.

Gotta say, you guys set the bar pretty high here. Dave Gross' work is seriously awesome, and I've been a fan of Elaine Cunningham's for literally more than half my life. (I still maintain the Arilyn and Danilo novels are among the best FR books ever written.)

But if I get over being intimidated by the awesome I will certainly send you an email. ;)

Liane's first novel is The River King's Road from Simon and Schuster. I loved it. In fact, I reviewed it in Kobold Quarterly...the current issue? I lose track sometimes, but read that novel, seriously.

Well, I just have to put my two cents worth in (Blame Cosmo). I don't claim to know about all tea, but I do know a lot about Chinese tea. First of all, if it does not contain camellia sinensis (or, the Indian variant camellia assamica) it is not tea, it is a tisane.

Now as to taste, it depends on what taste you want. If you want mint, why not brew up a nice minty tisane? If you need caffeine, pop a couple of caffeine tablets.

Tea should taste like tea. Gentle additions are okay as long as you can still taste the tea. Otherwise, why bother?

Good tea can only rarely be found in the supermarket. It either began its life as tea dregs swept up off of the floor, or it was grown in the dark, moist crotch of a festered orc. Sometimes it is simply too old.

Stay away from Lapsang Souchong. It is bad tea flavored with turpentine-like smoke. The Chinese smoked cheap tea over pine fires and sold it to unsuspecting foreigners.

If you want good, fresh high quality tea, the easiest solution is Tazo's China Green Tips in tea bags. This is pure Chinese Mao Feng, considered one of the top 4 green teas in the world. For sublime brewing pleasure buy the loose leaf and brew from scratch. You can get it at Starbucks. If your local store doesn't carry it, ask for it. They can get it.

Be warned, this is pure green tea, no mint or berries or Pelor-knows-what, just tea. Although one Paizo-ite recently described it as tasting like "Lucky Charms without the marshmallows."

For added flavor, try something like Zen which has mint in it.

If you want to explore tea culture, I recommend Devitea.com. You can buy a tea brewer (Lu Yu Brewer--Lu Yu is the father of tea)from them that emulates the traditional Gongfu Brewing process (this brewer takes less than three minutes for a small pot, also, you can use the leaves more than once--3 or 4 times, or Pu-erh up to 7), and their loose leaf teas are first class.

If you want green, try a variant--yellow tea. Devi's yellow bud is delightful, traditional, authentic, and a former Tribute Tea (as was Mao Feng). For a little more flavor, try the Jasmine Pearl or the Display Teas (which are also lovely to look at). These are both fine, long-bud green teas scented with jasmine flowers.

Want something a little more hearty? Try the Tie Kuan Yin oolong (Iron Goddess of Compassion) or a little stronger, the Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty or Big Mouth) oolong--which means black dragon.

If you really get into Chinese Tea Culture, you can buy a lovely little Yixing Clay tea pot and learn the true Gongfu (Kungfu) method.

According to some Chinese Tea Masters, these are the 7 types of Chinese tea:

1. White--most delicate, prescribed as medicine in China, lots of polyphenols
2. Green--try Mao Feng, Dragonwell, or, if you are rich, Bi Luo Chun. Do not buy cheap Bi Luo Chun!
3. Yellow--nuff said
4. Oolong--more oxidized than the above, means black dragon because the traditional ball style was thought to look like little sleeping black dragons. The first caress of the water is said to "awaken the dragon."
5. Black--invented in India, but several wonderful blacks from China like Keemun, and Golden Tian Hong.
6. Pu-erh (Puer)--The only tea valued for its age. Secret processes developed to satisfy the Ching overlords. Careful, lots of bad Pu-erh out there. Try Devi's Green Pu-erh (although their loose leaf black Pu-erh is excellent too!). This green is pressed into traditional cakes for shipping along the horse and donkey roads in old China. A smokey green tea.
7. Jasmine--also lots of bad, cheap jasmine. Devi's is made from traditional long buds and exposed to the jasmine scent 5 times.

Tea, the liquor that exhilarates without intoxicating.

As my Tea Master says: "Tea makes a happy day."

I rest my case.

Pierce