TheAuldGrump's page

Cr1ms0nsh4d3 wrote:

I'm going to be selling all my Paizo material, over $1000 worth and I will not be buying another thing from this company. Not only have they endorsed Ninja Division and assured us they would make sure they followed through, they are blatantly not making us customers a priority. This will probably be deleted because it speaks truth.

I think its a little quick to condemn Paizo so readily.

This is a legal issue involving a large amount of $$$ and multiple companies and multiple overlapping contracts.

These kinds of things take months to resolve, not days or weeks. Given that I suspect 1 party in the agreement (Ninja Division) to be uncooperative and non-communicative this can't be easy.

Form a post below it sounds like Paizo is communicating with the manufacturer (Archon) directly and trying to find a solution that's equitable to both companies. That sounds like they are following through to me.

Given that any such agreement is likely to involve both companies losing money out of there own pockets I'd hardly call Paizo's actions "blatantly not making us customers a priority", that's a bit strong.

Selling your stuff is your decision, but before you do so maybe take a deep breath?

Paizo allowed a company with a history of failing to complete projects to pick up the license - with a manufacturer that also has a history of failing to complete projects.

I think that 'not making customers a priority' sums things up quite nicely.

Due diligence should have been enough to put the kibosh on this KS, instead it got this far and then imploded.

My wife and I did not back this Kickstarter - because we DID take a look at the companies involved. There were red flags that were quite easy to see.

Honestly? My group HATES PF2, or at least the playtest version - even after the updates.

My wife ended up giving me an ultimatum to stop trying the playtest version.

I am more worried about what Paizo will do if PF2 flops as badly as I fear it might than I am in trying to fix it.

As it stands, my group is sticking with PF1, with no intent to move to the new edition.

Which means that I will no longer be buying supplements, adventure paths, or any other PF material from Paizo. (Not a threat - there is just no interest, so no reason to buy.)

Third party publishers may or may not make the move to PF2 - and d20PFSRD had a survey about interest in keeping PF1 releases going instead.

Several releases from my favorite Pathfinder publisher - Frog God - will already be skipping PF, since they still have a large back catalog of PF1 material.

So, I guess my plea is that Paizo keep an eye on the market, and be ready to react to either a positive response, or a negative one. Not to get so locked in to their 'vision' of the game that they end up holding to an anchor on its way down.

I am hoping that I am wrong, but 4e... left me cautious, in this regard.

BryonD wrote:

Let me asking you bluntly: Are SOME people walking away? Do you have any evidence that it is NOT a significant portion?

The "What pace are you keeping?" thread has 27 groups described in it and exactly one poster mentioning that they might drop out because it's not fun.

That's, what, a little under 4%?

And that 96% is most likely 4% of the people actually trying the system....

The ones posting are the ones dedicated to making THIS system work, not the ones that think that THIS system will end in broken glass, tears, and spilled scotch.

Most people dropping out of the playtest AREN'T posting.

Four groups in my area - that I know of - started the playtest.

Two did not get past character generation. A 50% failure rate BEFORE ACTUAL PLAY.

My group just dropped out - which leaves ONE active group still playtesting - and that assumes that they haven't quit as well.

By comparison - in the local area the PF1 playtests continued to grow during the testing.

And most local playtesters adopted the PF rules.

PF2 is not just competing with a rejuvenated D&D - it is also competing with PF1.

The Auld Grump

Three weeks ago I got an ultimatum from my wife - no more PF2 playtest.

She does not dislike most of the changes - she LOATHES them.

She can, will, and has gone on a rant about how you spend more time creating a character in PF2, but end with a less competent character.

How race has been reduced to a choice of what starting feat you go with.

And she is not the most extreme example in our group - we, as a whole, do not find PF2 to be anywhere near as enjoyable as PF1.

Even the Alpha playtest of PF1 - we could feel where the game was going, and while we disagreed about some of the changes, we felt like the game was heading to a place we would enjoy.

PF2 just does not leave us with that feeling.

The surveys became a major choking point - because we felt that they were asking the wrong questions. And that on a lot of the questions that should have been asked the proper answer was DON'T.

That the right answer for how to fix Resonance points, as an example, is Get Rid of Them.

There are exceptions - We liked the action economy enough that we have started using it - having pretty much ignored that section of Unchained until then.

Three Actions and a Reaction WORKS.

Some changes are problems, but not insurmountable ones -

Character generation is long and involved - but with a LOT of work might work.

But the biggest problem is that with each attempted session, our interest shrank. The time investment was not rewarded by enjoyment - instead it became a chore.

The idea of hanging everything off of the Feat economy was a bottleneck, and left the players underwhelmed by their characters.

With PF1 each session made us more invested and more interested.

And, I have to agree - a final survey for 'Why You Are Leaving The Playtest' might be a very important addition.

I know why I quit - general group consensus was almost entirely negative.

She Who Should Be Listened To made it clear why she refused to go further - frustration with pretty much everything involved with character generation hanging off of feats.

I know why ONE other player was irritated - he felt that his barbarian was left with fewer otions, aside from combat.

The other players? I know they were not happy, but don't know WHY - just that every player was unhappy, to one degree or another, and for multiple reasons.

If my group is typical - and I suspect that they are - then Paizo needs to stop and back up. Make room in the schedule for a major rebuild, and kill some of their darlings.

Or they may well be facing a 4e problem - where the systems don't need tweaking, they need to be scrapped.

This was a rant, but it arises because of the consensus of our group - dissatisfaction is outweighing the enjoyment. 'Twenty minutes of fun packed into four hours' as the old complaint goes.

We almost never completed a play session of PF2. And it was getting less likely, week by week.

By comparison - the PF1 games are running overtime more often than not. People are having fun.

The big questions on all of the surveys should include 'Did this change make your game easier, more accessible, or more enjoyable' and 'Did your group as a whole have fun?'.

And if the answer is no, then some rethinking is in order.

The Auld Grump

Well, this Blog post confirmed what I suspected and feared about ability score generation.

Already pretty much done with P2, and it isn't even out yet - my interest in playing or running is higher than it was for D&D 4e - but not by much. And is lower than my interest in running or playing D&D 5e - but also not by much.

Maybe 4 out of 10. (Current Pathfinder is 8 out of 10. D&D 3.5 gets 7, 4e gets 3, And no game gets 10 out of 10.)

I liked the sound of the changes to combat and to spell casting - but not enough to balance the changes that I do not like.

Hardwiring ability scores to the classes is one of the big issues, with a dislike of getting rid of weapon sizes affecting damage coming up as a distant second.

I do want to say thanks to Paizo for the information they have been letting out - I would have been furious if it had come as a surprise, instead I am just disappointed.(Trust me, that is an improvement.)

And, I can't complain too much - I have plenty of material for Pathfinder first edition.

TheAuldGrump wrote:

With this one Blog post my interest in Pathfinder 2 has been halved. :(

Up to now my interest had been slowly building, but I really do not like the way ability scores are created, and I loathe getting rid of damage adjustments for smaller sized characters.

It could still turn back around for me - but as of now, I am much more likely to stick with the current edition.

You realize, we don't know how they are doing stat generation just yet. There are guesses, sure, but they're just guesses. And hell, it was stated you could have a Cleric with a Wisdom of 10 - which suggests some form of point distribution exists.

And why the hell are people so enthralled with screwing over small-sized races? Seriously, how many people have NOT chosen to play a halfling or gnome or other small-sized race because it would negatively impact their chances of acquiring magic armor and weapons that were not custom-build for them? I think I can count the number of times small-sized magic weapons were left in the entire Runelords Adventure Path on just two hands. Compare that to the dozens of medium-sized weapons and armor.

If you don't like it, just think of the scene in The Hobbit when Bilbo takes up an elvish blade and feels it would suit him like a sword, even though it was "a pocket knife" I think was how Sting was described? Bilbo repurposed an elvish dagger to serve him as a sword. Given how blades are forged with the pommel separate from the blade, it would be fairly easy to remove an existing pommel of a short sword or dagger and replace them with one designed for the somewhat-smaller fingers of halflings and gnomes.

I just cannot fathom why weapon-size would be a deal-breaker.

You DID bother to read the actual post, right? Where they describe starting with 10, and then modifying from there?

THAT is not a 'guess' - that is what the good folks at Paizo themselves have said.

I prefer to create the base stats and work from there - not have it dribble out in stages during character generation.

You don't get why a longer sword - with more leverage and greater mass - would do more damage than the same design at a smaller size? Or why wanting big weapons to hit harder than small weapons might be a deal breaker? Okay...

I hate to tell you this, but there is a thing called verisimilitude... not reality, but the SEEMING of reality - and this is diminishing that seeming of reality. 'Cause, you see, BIG THINGS DO HIT HARDER - and this is something that people know from real life. They may not know how a magic missile does damage, but they DO know that a big hammer hits harder than a small hammer.

Simple, yes?

Bilbo claiming that a dagger is a sword is a really great way of saying that Tolkien didn't know anything about how weapons are used.

While it COULD have gotten a new hilt and pommel (though there is a bit more to it than popping off the old and popping on the new - proportions are not the same between a dagger and a sword - size aside) at no point in the story does Bilbo actually DO so.

Much as I love Tolkien's writing, holding him up to explain how weapons work is only slightly better than using Middle Earth as an example of world building through applied geography.

With this one Blog post my interest in Pathfinder 2 has been halved. :(

Up to now my interest had been slowly building, but I really do not like the way ability scores are created, and I loathe getting rid of damage adjustments for smaller sized characters.

It could still turn back around for me - but as of now, I am much more likely to stick with the current edition.

A webcomic about super heroes and sidekicks, some of whom have odd... hobbies.... (By odd, I mean Pathfinder.)

The Auld Grump

CotCT remains my favorite as well - followed by Kingmaker and Runelords.

Two out of my three favorites have had hardcover editions - If I were a betting man, I would say that Kingmaker will be the next to get the hardcover treatment... but not anytime soon. (Much as I would love to run out and buy it in hardcover right now.)

Like others, my advice is to talk to the player - and let him know that he won't be getting a solo adventure if he is not with the party.

Find out what is wrong - without knowing the group, there is no way to give other advice. (My bet would be on fear - that if he follows the lead then bad things will happen to his PC - but I could well be wrong.)

I did have a player that did the same thing - and in his case it was fear that something bad would happen to his character - and the result was that the rest of the party go stabbed, beaten, half drowned... and had a great time.

Meanwhile that one PC stayed completely warm and safe in the inn, and then had the nerve to complain that nothing had happened.

The rest of the party looked at him as though he had gone daft.

The Hobbit would have been an awfully short book if Bilbo had decided that he was right about adventures, and stayed snug in Bag End.

The Auld Grump

The first, and last, time I had a party of murder hobos, I had the entire party hanged.

PC death can be a learning experience.

I told them that I like the heroes to win, if the PCs become the villains... then I still want to see the heroes win, it just means that the PCs will be where the actual heroes get their XP.

Chaotic Neutral PCs were your first warning sign, shoulda kept the rope handy....

The Auld Grump

Rysky wrote:

Not sure why I'm getting thanked but I'll take it!

Eh I just felt like it. ;)

Mean time, MORE Blood pig!

You just want Paizo to release Blood Pig as a board game, don't you?

Would you believe that people are STILL interested in this?

Yes, I am one of them....

My good lady has never played Keep on the Borderlands, it is time to fix that. >:^)

Gary Teter wrote:

This is why you don't iterate over unordered collections. We are testing a fix now.

I have no idea what the first sentence means, but I completely understand the second one. That makes me happy. Not just understanding it, but also knowing that it's being worked on.

C++ talk....

The Auld Grump

Man, that has slowed way down - but it's so close. :(

The Auld Grump

Did I trust WotC: Yes, once upon a time. I felt that the folks in charge of the company were headed in a good direction, and were worthy of a certain level of trust - the trust was in the people that were in charge at the time.

Did WotC destroy that trust: Yes, in a long campaign of actions that I felt inconsiderate of their fans and supporters.

Were there reasons beyond the failing of trust that I do not like 4e: Yes - I cannot stand the game. They effectively turned what had been a roleplaying game into a tactical boardgame.

Were there reasons beyond the rules that I do not like 4e: Yes, in the lead up to 4e WotC decided to annoy me at every step, downplaying the parts of the game that I liked best and insulting me into the bargain.

Do I trust WotC now: No.

Will I buy 5e: No.

Will I buy anything from WotC ever again: Unlikely.

Cool beans!

I missed these the first time around - and worse... I let somebody else buy the last set at our (now defunct) local game store... after all... they were still going to be around, right?

Say Hello to Nethyrmaul....

The Auld Grump, will you be my friend?

Vampire x1 $100

Fire Giants x1 $10

Ebonwrath x2 $20

Frost Giants x1 $10

Mind Your Manors x1 $10

There Be Dragons x2 $30

Demons x1 $15

Haunts x2 $12

Deathsleet x2 $20

Undead Giant x1 $10

Clockwork Dragon x1 $15

Red Dragon x1 $10

Fire It Up! x2 $10

Spider Centaurs x1 $10

Fire Giant Warriors x1 $10

Forces Of Nature x1 $15

Jabberwock x1 $10

Nethyrmaul x2 $25

Deep Dwellers x1 $7

Hydra x1 $15

Kaladrax Reborn x1 $10

Mythos Monsters x1 $10

So, 28 items, minus the Sophie which has already been received.

I'm... gonna be a while. :P

The Auld Grump

Anyone seen the brute that is going to be Kaladrax?

Found a picture on Dakka Dakka - Jumpin' Jimminy Cricket! The thing is huge!

I am thinking... Ancient Wyrm Red Dragon Ravener?

Been spreading the word - I am glad to see this back in the light of day.

I also want to see Ebon Shroud, in the dark of night....

The Auld Grump

Saw this thread, shared the news on two other forums.

Very classy way to handle the pre-orders - you are definitely getting a thumbs up from me!

I would not say no to Ebon Shroud, either.

The Auld Grump, who missed the original pre-order

Taking the *BUMP!* as an opportunity to ask: How is Operation Get The Art Back going?

I was not one of the original folks to order - so no worries about refunds. I just want to see the book. :)

The Auld Grump

Thanks for the post Mothman - I had no idea that there had been closure.

I very much liked what I had seen, and am sorry that the company failed.

The Auld Grump

I sent Amazon a complaint as well. I don't expect it to do much (or anything, for that matter) but I felt it worth complaining.

Stewart Perkins wrote:

See that would be understandable, EXCEPT one pc could already translate the journal which basically gave us directions. Two of us were well versed in geography and survival, and we got approached pretty much rigfht after we got back to town. Also we to;ld the npcs nothing, told them we killed ghouls and the person who betrayed us and then it till happened that way. Granted the DM is new to running games and had never ran an AP before, but I still think a plausible way for EVERYONE to get the info and the events to make the moves they did for the story to progress should have been in the adventure itself (some way that didnt involve us telling anyone) for people to catch on to wat we were doing so that they didnt know before we even started doing it.

I seem to have not been clear enough in part of my explanation.

Translating old text is more than just being able to read and write the language. It is knowing the context that goes along with the words.

Without googling it or looking anything up in a book, can you translate the following:
"Light a shuck"
"Lineback Dun"
"Ditty Bag"
"Dog House"
"Drygulch"
"Necessary"

The references that your characters would need to understand the context would likely have raised interest in certain others.

You would have a similar problem with geography. What land features have changed in 10,000 years? What cities have different names? (if you take a look in Europe or the Middle East, a lot of cities have had several names over time - either destroyed and rebuilt by someone else, or conquered and the new management liked a different name)(in North America, there are addresses alongs the lines of "third house after the blue house" - after 10,000 years, how accurate would that be?). What books or sages would your characters consult to be able to figure out the current references for the directions?

A'yup m'm, I can. :)

But then I am a fan of 19th fiction and the pulp era. :) (And of Cockney rhyming slang, for that matter, which makes that seem simple....)

Drive me players up the wall, betimes. :P

Tip of the tit'fer, mum.

The Auld Grump

I blow Dr. Pepper out of my nose laughing, and say 'well, at least this one didn't kill himself with a fumble!'

This ALWAYS happens to my big bads. Likewise, the PCs aren't phased by a dragon, but some freakin' gobbo with a bow will manage to one shot the barbarian!

By now I am long since used to it.

The Auld Grump

Cheapy wrote:

If I had to choose between a character at a lower level versus a new character, I'd always make the new character. I'm sure a lot of players would do the same.

So if you had say, a 10th level character, he dies, is raised and therefore looses a level, and the GM says "Okay, you can keep playing this current character at 9th level or make a new 1st level character." You'd make a new one because the old one is now in your mind broken???

I'm the first to admit that I'm an old "You kids get off my lawn!" gragnard, but I just don't understand the mindset of players today...

Walks off scratching his head in confusion

First off - I AM a Grognard, proper (1975).

Most DMs in my experience, myself included, even back in the day, brought new characters in at or near the average party level, not first.

We had a term for DMs that insisted that a first level PC could tag along with a twelfth level part. The term was 'Remember the guy we used to game with?' If he were especially obnoxious the term would gain a corollary in the form of 'Yeah, and the concrete booties looked so good on him, hur, hur, hur!' :P

It was not fun for the new character, or for the rest of the party.

And let us be honest, a Con penalty is not fun, though it means more now than it did back then.

The Auld Grump

Endora?

Actually 1 Samuel 28:7-20.... (Yes, I had to look it up.)

The Auld Grump

Hey! The Biblical Witch of Endor was downright grandmotherly! (Ye cads, she basically told King Saul 'you're too skinny, you need to eat more.'

As for European witches... when it came to burning they really didn't seem to care whether the witch was male or female - both fed the flames. And as for King James... do not get me started on King James.

The AoO does seem a bit much - it takes a good deal of the fun out of the class, and other classes can do similar things without provoking an attack. (Hit it! Mr Bard!)

The Auld Grump, and Pratchett's witches are wonderful. :)

Danubus wrote:

Will you start selling the books Thrs night at GenCon? My friends and I were planning on going Saturday and really afraid they will be gone by then. I am going to try and get them to go Friday if possible.

At GenCon, we will start selling books on Thursday morning at 10am when the exhibit hall opens.

-Lisa

So, anyone start a betting pool on how long until you sell the last one on hand? (I bought my print Beta at Gen Con last year, I seem to recall they went out the door pretty darned fast. :) )

The Auld Grump

Folks looking for glues should also look into double sided tape - seems to working rather well, especially on wide flat areas like the walls.

The Auld Grump

I purchased two copies at Gen Con - one for me and one for one of my players. I have a second copy for myself on order at Amazon, which may or may not ever arrive (I placed it fairly late). The second copy is so I will have a loaner - not all that important given that the game is available as a free PDF. :) (I buy 'loaners' of most of the games I like, being able to loan out a copy makes it easier to bring in new players.)

The Auld Grump

Well, I like the idea. :)

I also like the idea of the temporarily animated undead created by a spell. I may use this regardless of its inclusion in PF.

The Auld Grump

Gonna Smurf city, gonna have some fun.
Gonna Smurf City, gonna have some fun.
One Girl for...wait, just one girl? Total?

Blow this for a lark!

The Auld Grump