Svevenka's page

But first, a few more posts from other threads that seem to support my opinion:

When I read the blog last night I actually started to get excited for this game. Now that I've had time to sleep on it, I'm starting to lose that feeling. 4500 people cap? So if I'm 4501 I have to wait a month to give you money? No thank you, I'll be back in 6 months or more if ever.

But wait, if I rush out and start playing another MMO right now and join a guild I may get selected to seed the world with a ready built player organization? My happy thoughts of supporting this game are going away.

Unrestricted, standard approach means high initial interest but how many of those will wait 3 or more months to get into a game?

In days, when majority of the MMO market is moving or already is operating under F2P model to achieve lowest entry barrier possible, Goblinworks wants to go complete opposite and introduce the heaviest entry barrier ever seen?

This does not seem as out of box thinking, it seems dotty to me...

There was a considerable amount (to say the least) of negative 'feedback' on the SW:TOR forums when EA/Bioware announced that they would be restricting the launch regions for The Old Republic. Setting a limit of 4500/month is going to be akin to dousing yourself in chum and jumping into a shark tank.

*sigh* Sorry, but I'm sticking to my guns. I'm not going to pretend it's something else. It's not a beta test! Paizo's new model may be revolutionary, but, by definition, it also restricts access (vs. the existing model where you simply pay to play, and no one gets turned away).

Sorry to be so vocal, but obviously I have a problem with that. I'd hate to see Paizo shoot themselves in the foot because they didn't create enough supply to meet demand. Hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned! :)

I have no doubt Paizo will stick with a player cap (they pretty much have to for the rest of the plan to work), but even measuring demand and then adjusting the cap accordingly would help. In fact, I assume Paizo has already done this to a certain degree. I was thinking more along the lines of measuring demand via pre-orders, but 4,500 is a very specific number. I'd be curious to know what criteria went into that decision.

Paizo's always been transparent with us, and I hope they continue to be. I'm sure more details are forthcoming, so I'll try to shut up now, lol! ;p

I realize that what I'm saying may sound weird/contradictory. Let me try to explain one more time. I'm not worried about the wait between now and when the game comes out. I'm worried about the wait between when the game comes out and when I can start playing. Those are two different things. I'm not worried about the wait while the game is being produced. If anything, it will be fun to follow its development and have something awesome to look forward to.

My concerns have more to do with feeling left out. Because there's a player cap, some people might get to play and have fun while other people get left out. It's like knowing there's a really cool party going on, and you're not invited. Only, in this case it's worse because you might be a longstanding, loyal Pathfinder/Paizo fan who's passionate and willing to pay, and you still get left out!

Paizo probably already has a plan that will take care of this (at least I hope they do). I realize they have to go with a feasible business model given monetary limitations, risk, etc. I actually think their plan is quite brilliant! I just worry as a fan/consumer about getting immediate access to the game upon its release. At that point, I won't want to wait 2 days, let alone 2 months. Does that make sense?

A lot of people have mentioned the reduced timeline for creating Pathfinder Online, as if that offsets the wait that may occur from not being one of the initial 4,500 players. I understand what you're saying, but...

To me, that's mostly irrelevant. Like I said, I understand the business model. Sooner would OBVIOUSLY be better than later, but I don't care how long development takes as long as they make a great game.

All I'm saying is that once Pathfinder Online is ready to play--whether in 2 years or five--I want in! I don't want to be kept from playing because there aren't enough open slots. That's the whole point of this thread.

I tried to look through other threads to make sure I wasn't doubling up, but I missed a couple:

I have to say, the limited number of new players each month is a bit distressing. When you factor in that just about everything with "Pathfinder" in the name has sold far more copied than initially anticipated, if you have 50,000 people interested in the game when it launches, and turn away over 90% of them, some are simply going to not try again. Either because they get involved with another game instead, or hold a grugde over having their money turned away to play a game they wanted to, it strikes me as a way to generate far more ill will towards the game than beneficial.

When you also factor in the very realistic situation of having one player get in one of the first few months, and love the game, only to find out that even though he's plugged the game to his other gamer friends (either other MMO players, or tabletop gaming group, etc.), they can't get to play for several months until they are able to get in....by then the original player may have become dissolussioned with the game and his friends never join to play with him.

Finally, giving preferential treatment to guilds from other games is simply elitist a major turn off to potential new players (at least some of them, counting me - I don't claim to speak for everyone) when there's only a limited number of openings. So I potentially can't get to play because people who play another game get a "fast pass" to the beginning of the line?

Now, if these first 7 months are the Beta period, that's one thing, but the blog post doesn't indicate this is the case. By not being a Beta, it's a finished product that's able to be paid for, and I can't fathom the business sense of actively turning away customers.

And this was someone else's response:

Agreed, on every account. There's no better way to destroy your fan base then to ignore them, sort them or label some as better than others. Despite the best intentions that may be the motive here, letting in such limited numbers of people for several years is bound to have some type of negative backlash associated with it. I just don't see this as positive in nearly any light. I want this project to succeed but to use a famous quote, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Maybe I missed something. Are the initial 4,500 players beta testers, or are they the first players let into the game world at launch? The blog at goblinworks.com leads me to believe it's the latter.

Who's to say they won't?

Maybe they will. What I'm looking for are assurances NOW that I don't have to worry about it.

So far, the only way they've mentioned to secure a spot is "being an active and contributing member of the global Pathfinder community." I don't want to have to jump through hoops to prove my loyalty to Paizo. The number of Pathfinder products I've purchased should do that already! ;p

I just hate to think that loyal fans who are excited and willing to pay might be turned away while other people get to play the game.

Maybe Paizo should let people "pre-order" a spot if they're willing to pay ahead and commit to six months or a full year.

I absolutely LOVE Pathfinder. I've been on board from day one when my Dragon magazine subscription carried over into Rise of the Runelords. I absolutely love Paizo as a company as well. When Pathfinder Online was announced, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

That being said, I am VERY concerned about Pathfinder Online's initial 4,500 player cap. I understand the limitations and the business model, but when the game comes out, I want to play it. If I can't, words cannot describe how disappointed and unbelievably pissed off I will be.

I realize the plan is still taking shape. I know we'll hear more over the coming weeks and months about how all of this will work. As a devoted Pathfinder fan, I'd like to be able to relax, follow the game's development, and look forward to playing it. Instead, it appears I get to worry and stress about how to get a spot in the game.

NOT. COOL.

Am I missing something? Jumping to conclusions? Overreacting? Does anyone else share my fears?

I have to say of the various lust gods and goddesses I've seen in D&D I have to say I've found Calistria to be one of the more interesting in that, well, I find nothing about her appealing. Everything about her meant to be enticing is simply... a turn off. Nothing about bees or wasps is appealing, I find the color of yellow unappealing in just about any form... hell, even traditionally it deviates from things lustful, heh, even the hair in her depiction...

Funny. I really like Calistria, and I felt the same way about the art in Gods and Magic--not sexy! This thread from two and a half years ago came to mind when I saw the new Calistria art in Faiths of Balance today. Wow! Now THAT'S sexy! I realize the art is more likely one of her followers, not Calistria herself, but now I feel like the the old art has finally been "fixed." :)

Druids dwelling near such breeches often display an affinity for a natural world that doesn't really exist.

Breeches are pants. I think you mean "breaches." Either I'm wrong, or I'm surprised no one caught that yet.

+1 You can count me in for this too!

In fact, I already suggested something like this and you can read more *here*.

Here's the *link*.

It took the real world a long time to include druids, and it took 4E till the 2nd player's handbook. Let me just say that I, for one, am glad druids got the love from Paizo/Pathfinder right from the start! :)

+1

Most GM's I know are obsessed with accurate representations of their monsters, settings, etc. often spending hours drawing intricate maps, assembling/painting mini's, and finding items to serve as "stuff" like crates. It can be very cost prohibitive to buy masses of miniatures. Svevenka makes a good point about the cartoonish imagery with most of the paper mini options. Heavy tokens, similar to the stock used for Wizard's dungeon tile line, with images direct from the Bestiary and Adventure Paths would be awesome!

Hello, TwilightKnight. Yay! More support! I like your idea of dungeon dressing tokens like crates. The possibilities there are virtually endless, though that might require new artwork. Tokens like that would be an added bonus!

I forgot to mention the high cost of miniatures, too. That's one reason I think this would totally rock! If you can just buy a complete set like, say, the Bestiary (as opposed to packs containing a random assortment of tokens), then you don't create a black market a la WotC's D&D minis where people pay exorbitant prices for rare/individually needed minis.

+1 million. I don't use minis, paper minis, etc. But I do love tokens w/ art. I bought most of the 3.x Fiery Dragon tokens, and have all of the 4th edition tokens w/ the Claudio Pozas art. And I don't even play 4th edition!

I would absolutely love to see the same done for PF.

Hi, BenS. Thanks for the support. I can now tell Paizo with authority that over 1 million people have voted in support of this idea! :)

I've seen the Fiery Dragon tokens, too (I especially like the Battle Box). I like Claudio Pozas' art OK, but not for like every single token! ;p Paizo already has a great stable of art that they could use for these from all different artists.

The Fiery Dragon tokens are square, and the 4E Red Box ones are round; I wonder--what is everyone's preference? Does it matter? You can fit more art on a square token, but I think the circular tokens look better.

I'd probably buy a physical product like this, I'd DEFINITELY buy PDF type products along those line. This is one of my goals to eventually do, create stand ins for the monsters my gaming group uses instead of resorting to using random mini's or dice boxes.

Hi, Michael. So what would you do with the PDFs? I can see a few options. You could print them on cardstock, although that's kind of flimsy. You could also print them on regular paper and then glue them to something (or just print them on sticker paper). I know some people like to stick them to metal washers so they stay put on the gaming table. I know cutting them out can be a pain. I've seen people use a 1-inch circle or square craft punch. In fact, there's a cool tutorial on that *here*. You can also glue them to magnets if you game on a magnetic whiteboard. Some of these ideas get harder for larger creatures. Anyway, what's your plan?

Did you consider the Pathfinder Paper Minis?

Hi, Lanx. Personally, I'm not a big fan of paper minis. I find that they're a little flimsy, require assembly, don't store easily, etc. My main complaint, however, is the cartoony style of the Pathfinder Paper Minis. Don't get me wrong. The artwork is good (and cute!)--just not what I'm looking for. I don't want to offend anyone who uses paper minis. Like I said, to each their own. With Paizo currently supporting the paper minis and Reaper metal minis, I worry they'll never go for heavy cardstock tokens, though.

OK, I know this has been brought up before, but I just saw the thick cardstock monster and character tokens from the new 4E Red Box starter set, and now I really, really wish Paizo would make some!

I think about all the great artwork in the Pathfinder Bestiary, for example, and how awesome it would be to have monster tokens for all of them. I realize you can make your own, but some official, well-made ones would be extremely useful!

I think it would be cool if you could buy a set of tokens for each bestiary that comes out, but also sets for each adventure path. The adventure path ones could come with exactly the tokens you need, and the larger bestiary sets could provide multiples of monsters that are commonly encountered in groups.

These would probably need to be produced on page-size sheets (as opposed to card-size) to be able to accommodate huge, gargantuan, and colossal creatures. Just as long as they aren't random! I don't want to have to buy multiple packs to get the tokens I need.

I know tokens aren't for everybody. If you prefer minis, paper minis (i.e. that stand up), or something else, that's fine. To each their own. But I am curious how many people out there would buy something like this, or if they have any other visions of what these could be like.

BOO-YAH, BABY! :)

I was just going thru my PDF of the Bestiary.

They included EXACTLY the eight dinosaurs I wanted.

Here's my long-winded post from 9 months ago!

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/olderProducts/pathfind erRPGBeta/announcements/letThereBeDinosaursButWhatKIND&page=5#206

OK, so I know it wasn't all just for me, but still... I'm excited!

As for this whole PDF thing... link.

Oh, the irony!!!

I just got my PDF of Kobold Quarterly #9.

In it--on page 60, if anyone cares--is an ad for RPGNow.com that reads as follows:

"Only at RPGNow can you get the absolute latest and best releases from Wizards of the Coast for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons the day they are available, and always at a fantastic price. You can also find all of the great D&D products from now to years gone by, enabling you to have the most complete collection of D&D products ever."

Um,... no. Sorry. Not anymore!

You think WotC will reimburse them for whatever that ad cost? Just kidding! ;p

P.S. Coincidentally, the only products shown in the ad are all 4E D&D--the Player's Handbook (volume 1), Martial Power, and Manual of the Planes.

What the hell kind of name is "Harsk," anyway? It sounds like a Norwegian rock band. Oh, wait... it is a Norwegian rock band.

Oh, well. I guess that's cool then. I mean, who am I kidding? My name makes me sound like a Russian Bond girl. ;)

So we're stuck... with a dwarf... for a ranger.

That's just frakkin' peachy! :(

Why, James, why? Did we elves fail you in some way? Or were you just trying to throw the mangy little curs a bone since there's no "Dwarves of Golarion" yet?

have somebody you don't like open all your packages from Paizo for a while... ;)

ROFL!

The direct link still works; you just can't find the thumbnail on WAR's gallery pages.

Holy crap! Either I'm blind, or they've removed the cover art from Wayne Reynolds' website.

The plot is definitely thickening around here.

I sincerely hope I haven't caused any problems. That was not my intention.

O...K... So, at the moment, they just took the cover art off the Paizo Blog (as well as the "Lansdale on Kline" entry) and replaced these with the "Legacy of Fire Outline" entry.

Did I seriously burst their bubble or what? I feel like David. I just struck Goliath right between the eyes and he's reeling as if in a drunken daze.

With my luck I really did get WAR in trouble and we won't see his art on another Pathfinder product ever again. Oh, man would that lead to my untimely death! If someone else didn't get me or hire a hitman to do it, I'd do it myself. ;)

Hopefully they just had a technical glitch and we'll see the cover art and other post back up soon.

Here's what I would like to see:

1. Monster books with general variety instead of a single theme for the whole book. That being said, however, I think it would be cool if each one could have a special emphasis/section. "Hey, look! Paizo's new Bestiary just came out, and this one spotlights constructs!" The fey/fae deserve some attention. Just look at how many Ennies Changeling: The Lost won for White Wolf this year--including Product of the Year! Oh, and I would love for the monster books to include a healthy section of new templates. Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary is a favorite of mine!

2. I would like to see an Unearthed Arcana type book, but here's what I'm thinking: Have it include variant rules and house rules from both Paizo staff and Paizo fans. I think that would be a great community-building contest/project!

3. I like psionics, and I actually really liked Magic of Incarnum. I would LOVE to see Paizo come up with its own alternative magic system. I'd almost rather they leave the XPH alone, though (or rebuild it from the ground up), and come up with something entirely new. I'm not sure what, but I'm confident the creative minds at Paizo could come up with something cool. What I like about both books is simply that it gives me something fresh, new, and different for my casters to use.

4. I would love to see a Steampunk book! The list is long, but things like firearms, clockwork golems, airships, Victorian fashion, etc. done by Paizo would be absolutely delicious! :)

I like new classes and races if they're unique and well thought out. I think the four Eberron races are a great example. I just don't want to see the glut of feats and prestige classes that we've seen from WotC. Sure, your wizard could technically collect all the available spells in an Encyclopedia Brittanica size spellbook, but your character could only ever use about 1% or less of all available feats and prestige classes. That's lame!

hero to the masses

Now that would be a good forum tag to have attached to your avatar!

"Svevenka, Hero to the Masses."

Yeah, I like the sound of that! ;)

Note how Paizo has been silent on this thread.

Hmmmmm.

Silent no longer! Did you see today's post on the Paizo Blog?

I think I really did steal their thunder. :(

I hope they're not mad. I don't want to be on F. Wesley Schneider's poo list!

Or anyone's poo list for that matter.

I liked Chad's name better when it was Spoiler McSpoilsalot...

Yeah, I saw that thread. :)

I should get an honorary forum title on my avatar.

I'm not sure I like "Spoiler McSpoilsalot," though.

How 'bout "Thunder Thief." Get it? ;p

Or what about simply "Investigative Reporter"? That goes well with the research I had to do here: Overall Villain Submission Thoughts.

We'll I'm certainly glad that ISN'T it Spoiler McSpoilsalot. :P

Heh! You're referring to me. I should get an honorary forum title on my avatar that says Spoiler McSpoilsalot! ;)

In my own defense, I just kind of stumbled into it, not unlike Cayden Cailean's journey through the Starstone.

As I said in my original thread, though, I'm not real fond of "Spoiler McSpoilsalot." That would be Wayne Reynolds for violating his NDA. Just kidding!

I was thinking either "Thunder Thief" (get it?) or "Investigative Reporter." The latter goes well with my research for the "Overall Villain Submission Thoughts" post.

And Chad Bartlett's sleuthing found that, credit where credit is due. : D

Thanks to baron arem heshvaun, Le Cacahuète Galerie, et al for defending my honor! :)

~Svev

Nice detective work !

Nice find!!!

Thanks, guys! :)

Did I just see what what I think I saw? Will this be the final cover art for the Pathfinder RPG? I was just browsing Wayne Reynolds' website and came upon this:

http://www.waynereynolds.com/Fantasythumbnails/Pathfinder_RPG.jpg

Note the name of the image file.

I think it's an awesome picture! I love WAR's art like no other, and I think it's a very iconic image--dragon, sword, and sorcery! :)

It also looks to me like there just happens to be room on top and bottom for a logo, byline, etc. ;p

Anyway, judge for yourselves! ~Svev

P.S. If someone already pointed this out in an existing post, my apologies. I searched and couldn't find one.

We do not acknowledge the existence of The Knack in polite company... :)

(but we secretly groove whenever we happen to randomly hear it even today)

Thanks, Jason. Someone finally validated my lame pop culture reference! ;)

Oh thanks!

Thanks, Svevenka!

You're welcome! :)

*sound of crickets chirping in the night*

OK, someone better recognize those song lyrics!

You guys are making me feel old. :)

Sorry. I couldn't resist. :) ~Svev

I'm not saying that the villain entries didn't deserve it, but I was kind of surprised just how many were "not recommended to advance" by the judges.

Less than 30% of the judges' responses (38 out of 128) were favorable, and less than 18% (23 out of 128) were recommended to advance without some kind of "lukewarm," "only just," or "with serious concerns/reservations" comment.

Clark and Sean only recommended 6 entries apiece; Wolfgang and Ed each recommended 13.

Here are some more statistics about the judges' voting:

Unanimous YES: 2 (Gulga Cench and Bracht Darkhouse)
3 Votes YES/1 Vote NO: 6
2 Votes YES/2 Votes NO: 4
1 Vote YES/3 Votes NO: 4
Unanimous NO: 16 (= the ones that shouldn't advance?)

Times one judge disagreed with all three of the other judges:
Clark: 4 (way to be an iconoclast, Clark!)
Wolfgang: 3
Sean: 2
Ed: 1

I'm not even sure why I'm posting this. It's late and I'm tired. :) I'm not trying to point fingers or criticize anyone (even though it may sound like it). I just thought I'd share my findings.

I love the RPG Superstar contest! I think it's awesome the judges put so much time and effort into giving considered, honest, and professional feedback. ~Svev

I like the idea of using the spider hook to set a trip wire.

You could spring it at the last possible second. :)

James, I hope you read this. I don't post very often, but I really wanted to add my 2 cents on this one. I've carefully read everyone's responses and given this a lot of thought. I even went so far as to catalog everyone's special ability suggestions and compare them to the following list.

I think oetbeholder's ideas are close to ideal for me...

Tyrannosaurs: augmented criticals (incredible jaw strength), disease (like modern day komodo dragons), bleeding wounds (serrated teeth), frightening presence (it's a T-rex!)
Deinonychosaurs: pounce/rake (they already have these, but they're still perfect fits), improved flank or other pack hunting bonuses, camouflage (like the ranger ability... this could be terrifying).
Triceratops: impale (free grapple and continuing damage on a critical hit), shield rider (riders can get cover behind the neck frill), automatic bull rush and extra damage on charge attacks.
Pterodons: Flyby attack with improved grab, so they can carry PCs back to their clifftop nests. Bonus damage for diving charges. A line about using them as mounts, since any encounter that starts with someone on the back of a flying dinosaur is made of win.
Big sauropods: Crush/trample attacks, deafening whip-cracks with their tails, tail sweeps that hit everything in a wide swath and knock targets down on a hit. Super bonus cool points for rules on climbing up onto their backs, or for any picture that shows a dinosaur with a howdah.
Stegosaurs: Defensive stance with crazy AoO bonuses. Knockback if struck by the thagomizer (best word ever).
Ankylosaurs: Tail sweeps that stun. Free attacks when flanked. Crazy high AC and fortification, but with a soft underbelly (encouraging nimble PCs to dive underneath, or work together to try to flip it over).

The only alterations I would make are as follows:

1. Replace the tyrannosaur disease ability with pin under foot--not only because that's cooler to me, but also because I don't like the idea of the tyrannosaur being unhealthy/toxic in some way instead of a healthy/unstoppable apex predator. Also, make sure that the frightful presence isn't always active but instead happens when the T-Rex roars.

2. I would keep the sauropod crush/trample attacks, the stegosaur defensive stance with AoO bonuses, and the ankylosaur high AC/fortification, but here's what I would do with the tail attacks: All tail attacks can trip and/or knockback, but the sauropod can strike multiple targets at once, the stegosaur can get a critical piercing attack, and the ankylosaur can stun. No deafening whip-cracks. No free attacks when flanked.

By the way, oetbeholder, I mean no offense in making changes to your suggestions. I thought your ideas were amazingly good! And, yes, the word "thagomizer" rocks!

OK, now to actually answer the original questions. :)

1) How many dinosaurs is the right amount to do a good show of it?

Six. The ones listed by oetbeholder above, except for the pterosaur since it's not technically a dinosaur. HOWEVER, if space allowed, I would love to see oetbeholder's pterosaur get included along with a plesiosaur (i.e. so-called "aquatic dinosaur") for a total of eight creatures. Does anyone have special ability ideas for the plesiosaur? Oet, you wanna take a shot at that one? I thought some kind of surprise breaching attack from the depths would be cool--you know, knocking people overboard and into the water!

2) What four dinosaurs would you hope to see in the book more than any other?

Tyrannosaur and deinonychus for sure. If the pterosaur and plesiosaur did get included, I would say those two. That way you'd get the four aggressive carnivores instead of the herbivores. Otherwise, I'd have to go with triceratops and the big sauropods for the greatest possible variety of special abilities.

3) How important is it to maintain all five dinosaurs from the MM? Can we get away with just one dromaeosaurid (probably the deinonychus), with the assumption that one can make a megaraptor by simply advancing the deinonychus?

Not that important. I would say it's Paizo's version--do your own thing. Only go with the deinonychus instead of two dromaeosaurids.

4) If #3 above is true, would it better to replace the deinonychus with the velociraptor? Velociraptor is more well-known these days, and it's easy enough to say that a velociraptor advanced up one size category is a deinonychus.

Leave it as deinonychus. That's the size it needs to be in the game, even if Jurassic Park got the name wrong.

5) Dinosaurs don't have to be boring. They don't have to simply be hit points and a bite attack. Currently living animals have a wide range of biodiversity, with special attacks like poison, constriction, electricity generation, stunning attacks, ranged attacks (like tarantulas flicking poison hairs, archerfish spitting balls of water, or cobras spitting poison), and the like. Would it be too strange to give some dinosaurs a bit more flavor by giving them attacks that aren't necessarily supported by the fossil record?

The abilities listed by oetbeholder are all realistic. I would steer away from weird abilities for two reasons. One, people have a general sense of what dinosaurs are and what they could do. Two, I think they're cool enough and scary enough--especially due to their imposing size--without having to add anything to them. I love having areas of Golarion where you're entering dinosaur territory!

6) Is there anything in particular with how dinosaurs have been stattud up in the game before that rubs you the wrong way that you'd like to see changed?

Other than the abilities listed above which are slightly different from the MM (for example, I would always have a triceratops lower its horns and frill to bullrush--never raise it to trample), the only thing I would change is getting rid of the tyrannosaur's swallow whole ability. I'm with the other posters on that one!

Well, there you have it! My long-winded response. ;p Hope it helps! I welcome other people's comments. ~Svev

I have the D&D cartoon, the first half of Galaxy Rangers and Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors on DVD.

I am SO glad to hear someone else mention Galaxy Rangers! That is hands down my 80s favorite! :)

Just out of curiosity, does anyone remember Tigersharks? It was the sea version of Thundercats (Silverhawks being the air version).

I just saw this on WotC's site. If you want to read the whole paragraph, click here:

Otherwise, here are the parts I found interesting: "From a business perspective, the core rulebooks are already well into their third printing...we’re going to crush our original projections for 4th Edition in 2008!"

Either they set their original sights low (unlikely), or 4E is, in fact, doing well.

...at a time when 4e is apparently selling pretty well, why is it that WotC is eliminating jobs?

You know, I've been curious about something for a while now. How do we know 4E is selling well? Does anyone have any info/links about WotC's sales numbers? Just how well is 4E actually doing?

I specifically did not give Wavechildren continuous water breathing for a reason - I want them to have it be something they can do part of a day

I like that idea. It negates my concerns we might be making these too powerful. As for the windling/skyborne, maybe we could go along those same lines--they can hold their breath for a really long time but not indefinitely.

Allow me to pose another question. I know we're trying to get away from WotC concepts and start fresh, but do you think clerics of these races should be required to take their element as a domain?

Nice work, Kvantum. I've always loved the elemental planetouched races! I fondly remember the para-genasi from Dragon #297: dust, ice, magma, ooze, smoke, and steam. One of my favorite characters I ever played was an air genasi rogue named Amara.

Do you guys think adding their "breathless" immunity to drowning, suffocation, and attacks that require inhalation make the windling overpowered? And if not, what could we then give the other races listed above to balance things out?