After GenCon.
Senior Software Developer
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With any luck I'll start printing labels tomorrow. But keep in mind, this is a LOT of new, untested code, and we've never tried to ship quite this many orders simultaneously before. So I might have to interrupt the process to fix bugs.
Also, I have no real good idea just how long it will take. It looks like it will take a few seconds to print each label, but on top of that is round-trip communication to the bank and UPS and/or USPS.
Ah. And I just remembered one more chunk of code that I have to write tomorrow before I can start. Hopefully that won't take too long....
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With any luck I'll start printing labels tomorrow. But keep in mind, this is a LOT of new, untested code, and we've never tried to ship quite this many orders simultaneously before. So I might have to interrupt the process to fix bugs.
Also, I have no real good idea just how long it will take. It looks like it will take a few seconds to print each label, but on top of that is round-trip communication to the bank and UPS and/or USPS.
Ah. And I just remembered one more chunk of code that I have to write tomorrow before I can start. Hopefully that won't take too long....
Thanks for the update I appreciate it allot. Keep up all the GREAT WORK and I'll leave you alone to toil away at the keyboard.
John B.
With any luck I'll start printing labels tomorrow. But keep in mind, this is a LOT of new, untested code, and we've never tried to ship quite this many orders simultaneously before. So I might have to interrupt the process to fix bugs.
Tomorrow? In like.. Sunday? Do you guys work all week?
The pleasure of working for Paizo is its own reward.
Expect to be rewarded twice as much next year.
If he's like most IT people, Gary has an army cot in the server room and drives around with a suit in his car.
All Paizo employees are company property and may be fed to the furnace if they outlive their usefulness. Retirement benefits include continued use of water and/or oxygen, at slightly reduced percentages.
Work! Work! Work! There are monkey boys in the facility!
Yeah.
Vacation. Soon! Bring no laptop. Stay away from internet kiosks. Leave the cell phone and pager at home.
For what it's worth, your efforts do not go unappreciated. I'm constantly astounded by the clean look of the pages, smoothness and quick loading of the forums, and overall proper operation of the site. Nice work!
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Vacation. Soon! Bring no laptop. Stay away from internet kiosks. Leave the cell phone and pager at home.
For what it's worth, your efforts do not go unappreciated. I'm constantly astounded by the clean look of the pages, smoothness and quick loading of the forums, and overall proper operation of the site. Nice work!
Ditto! I can't even imagine how much coffee you all must go through any given week ;)
I cannot praise the work done by the Paizo crew enough, yet I'm a little disappointed concerning the very first number of Pathfinder.
I've been a charter subscriber for a little while, as has many others (hence the distinction CHARTER subscriber). We showed our support by signing up for the adventures before much information had been shared... however, some mook who's able to attend GenCon is now able to get his hands on the first book before ANY of us charter subscribers. I'm not even just talking about the physical book itself, but even access to the pdf file I should think would have been one of our privileges. But no, we have to wait until next week to get access to the pdf (and another whole month or so for the actual book to show up for those of us living across the water).
Well, I'm a little miffed, to say the least.
On that front, I think Paizo has left us down. What have the people at GenCon done to deserve first rights to the adventure, as opposed to those of us who actually ensured that you were able to go ahead with the project in the first place?
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Senior Software Developer
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GentleGiant, this is entirely my fault. We should have started shipping them on Monday but I didn't have the code in place to enable shipping.
I haven't had a day off in two weeks, and I've been working 10 to 12-hour days to get it done.
Please accept my apologies. I hope to start printing labels later today.
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On that front, I think Paizo has left us down. What have the people at GenCon done to deserve first rights to the adventure, as opposed to those of us who actually ensured that you were able to go ahead with the project in the first place?
I think, in this case, it's just one of those things. While I'm practically glued to email so I can snag Pathfinder #1 the very second it becomes available to download, there has been a lot of other stuff going on at Paizo lately. I'm guessing at least some of the delay is due to Gary taking on a major rewrite of the store code in order to accomodate combined shipping of Pathfinder and GameMastery modules.
Paizo staff (both at GenCon and not) are staying active here on the boards answering questions and giving us updates as available. Anyone back at Paizo HQ is working seven days a week to get everything caught up, which shows that they take their customers' satisfaction very seriously.
It's obvious they're literally doing everything they can to get this stuff out the door, so while I'd prefer not to have to wait (!!) I'm summoning the strength to do so as patiently as I can manage ;)
GentleGiant, this is entirely my fault. We should have started shipping them on Monday but I didn't have the code in place to enable shipping.
I haven't had a day off in two weeks, and I've been working 10 to 12-hour days to get it done.
Please accept my apologies. I hope to start printing labels later today.
Oh alrighty then, you're forgiven... But don't do it again! ;-)
From what I had gathered from various threads I had a feeling that was the issue. I'm glad to hear that the current circumstances weren't planned that way.I'll now join the choir that praises you and urges you to take that rightly deserved vacation (after doing all the Pathfinder stuff, of course ;-))!
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GentleGiant, this is entirely my fault. We should have started shipping them on Monday but I didn't have the code in place to enable shipping.
I haven't had a day off in two weeks, and I've been working 10 to 12-hour days to get it done.
Please accept my apologies. I hope to start printing labels later today.
With all the 4e news poluting the ether I really wish I had my pathfinder to distract me.
BUT as an IT guy myself I want you to know, if for whatever reason my label causes a hold up, skip it and move on. I can wait another day or two.
Hang in there, brother.
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The funny thing is, I'll probably be in Seattle visiting for PAX and the Layne Staley tribute when Pathfinder finally makes its way to my home in Texas...I almost wish I could just get them to hold it and I'll just swing by Paizo Friday morning to pick it up (then I'd at least have something to read on the flight back).
Rob
/de-lurk
I just wanted to give a shout out to Gary and Mike for staying back and holding down the Fort and working diligently on getting out subscribers their Pathfinders AND manning the posts during such a turbulent time within the D&D community.
Paizo fan-boy 4life! Word!
/lurk
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GentleGiant, this is entirely my fault. We should have started shipping them on Monday but I didn't have the code in place to enable shipping.
I haven't had a day off in two weeks, and I've been working 10 to 12-hour days to get it done.
Please accept my apologies. I hope to start printing labels later today.
Consider yourself fired. That said, I understand that there might be teething troubles in a new venture like this. It is a little irksome that wasters with no jobs who have the time to go to GenCon (and in case you fail your Detect Levity roll, that is a joke) get it first. But that is life.
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GentleGiant, this is entirely my fault. We should have started shipping them on Monday but I didn't have the code in place to enable shipping.
I haven't had a day off in two weeks, and I've been working 10 to 12-hour days to get it done.
Please accept my apologies. I hope to start printing labels later today.
Gary, all your work and dedication (and that of the Paizo staff too!) is very, very highly appreciated.
Grazie. ;)
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Senior Software Developer
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Well, I was about the throw the switch and fire off a ton of labels... and one last double-check of a test label exposed a bug that I absolutely have to fix before we can proceed. But I need to get some rest before tackling it. So apart from the lucky few who got labels printed during testing, it's going to be at least another day.
The bug? The nightmare kind. The kind involving potentially thousands of people and their money: Using your ongoing sub first (ie charging your credit card) instead of your converted Dragon or Dungeon sub first. Obviously this would be a huge problem if it affected everybody, which is the worst-case scenario I have to assume until I've figured out why it hasn't come up during testing before.
(Oh, and, umm.... if your card got charged during my final rounds of testing and it shouldn't have been, I'll be refunding that money tomorrow. But hey, at least you've got your PDF before everyone else. :-)
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What I think is amazing is, considering that Pathfinder is replacing both Dungeon Magazine and Dragon Magazine, Pathfinder is being released the SAME MONTH as the mags final issues. Not the following month or even later.
When you think of it like that, is a little extra wait a big deal?
No.
And what's the big deal if someone else gets it before me? They are going to get me my Pathfinder as soon as they can. I don't expect anymore than that.
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What I think is amazing is, considering that Pathfinder is replacing both Dungeon Magazine and Dragon Magazine, Pathfinder is being released the SAME MONTH as the mags final issues. Not the following month or even later.
When you think of it like that, is a little extra wait a big deal?
No.
And what's the big deal if someone else gets it before me? They are going to get me my Pathfinder as soon as they can. I don't expect anymore than that.
Yeah, that.
And what's the big deal if someone else gets it before me? They are going to get me my Pathfinder as soon as they can. I don't expect anymore than that.
The big deal for my part (even though Gary has been let off the hook ;-)) is the constant clamouring of my players to get things started, which I can't do until I get access to the pdf so I can start reading the darn thing! :-)
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The big deal for my part (even though Gary has been let off the hook ;-)) is the constant clamouring of my players to get things started, which I can't do until I get access to the pdf so I can start reading the darn thing! :-)
Yeah. I'm in the same boat here.
Our first session last night turned into a character creation and general BS session. Which was cool, because I didn't plan on doing much more than that anyways.
Next Saturday we're supposed to get the actual campaign rolling. So, the PDF would be great so I would have some time to look it over. But, all things aside, I have a back up module on standby for next week, just in case. Overall, if I do have to run the standby module next week, it wont be a big deal in the scheme of things.
You'll get access to the PDF when your volume ships from our warehouse. That definitely won't be today because I have yet to write the new remote watermarker code. (That's today's todo item!)
Will this be on a specified subpage or will access be made via email?
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But hey, at least you've got your PDF before everyone else. :-)
Gary,
I might have been one of the folks included in the test. I have Pathfinder 1 in my downloads. I customized it and downloaded a 25.7Mb zip to my computer.
When I go to open it with WinZip, I get a bunch of "The following invalid folder name was found in the archive" and it gives my a pathname. Additionally, there are about 11 more of these, but refer to PDF filenames (presumably in the invalid path).
Finally, WinZip chucks and gives me the following:
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\072-079_PZO9001 Thassilon.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\004-005_PZO9001 Credits-TOC.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\086-095_PZO9001 Bestiary.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\006-007_PZO9001 Foreword.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\008-057_PZO9001 Burnt Offerings.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\080-085_PZO9001 Journal.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\096-097_PZO9001 Characters.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\Covers.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\003_PZO9001 Title.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\058-071_PZO9001 Sandpoint.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
No files to process
I re-personalized and tried this on 2 different computers (one using WinXP SP2 wnd the latest freeware Winzip, then other with WinNT and an older Winzip) both with identical errors.
Is Pathfinder 1 not actually in there? Because I've managed to download 25.7Mb of "something." Also, Gamemastery D2 came down with no problems.
-Skeld
But hey, at least you've got your PDF before everyone else. :-)
Gary,
I might have been one of the folks included in the test. I have Pathfinder 1 in my downloads. I customized it and downloaded a 25.7Mb zip to my computer.
When I go to open it with WinZip, I get a bunch of "The following invalid folder name was found in the archive" and it gives my a pathname. Additionally, there are about 11 more of these, but refer to PDF filenames (presumably in the invalid path).
Finally, WinZip chucks and gives me the following:
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\072-079_PZO9001 Thassilon.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\004-005_PZO9001 Credits-TOC.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\086-095_PZO9001 Bestiary.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\006-007_PZO9001 Foreword.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\008-057_PZO9001 Burnt Offerings.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file "Pathfinder #1?Rise of the Runelords Chapter 1: "Burnt Offerings" (OGL) PDF\080-085_PZO9001 Journal.pdf", the time stamp in the central directory is invalid, using the current system time instead.
For file...
I had a similiar problem that I posted a little bit ago on the Store Questions board. Mine tells me that Windows has blocked the files. No problem with D2 though.
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Senior Software Developer
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I might have been one of the folks included in the test. I have Pathfinder 1 in my downloads. I customized it and downloaded a 25.7Mb zip to my computer.When I go to open it with WinZip, I get a bunch of "The following invalid folder name was found in the archive" and it gives my a pathname. Additionally, there are about 11 more of these, but refer to PDF filenames (presumably in the invalid path).
Well, that is weird. I noticed yesterday when I was testing the Pathfinder #1 PDF that it didn't set a creation date for its files (so on my Mac they were all 1969). The new watermarker has been in place a few days now (sorry, I don't remember exactly when I rolled it out), and so far it's been (apparently) working OK (and the code is not that much different from the previous watermarker code that's been in place for a long time).
I was debating earlier this morning whether I needed to set dates on the .zip entries (never had to before)... apparently I need to start doing this.
I'll take another look tomorrow.
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The fact that you are able to download D2 without problems indicates that perhaps the problem might be elsewhere. Perhaps the dash in the Pathfinder #1 product name (which shows up as a question mark).
Thanks for the quick response.
I just want you to know that it taunts me. It's staring at me right now from my downloads folder.
No worries though; it will be mine soon enough. Oh yes, it will be mine.
-Skeld
~evil laughter~ Now the PDF will be MINE!!! Mine, Mine, Mine!!!
Ok. I think we can start a new game. How long it takes to crash the Paizo servers! j/k!!!
~scratches my head~ Or perhaps not mine. This is the second PDF that I have gotten from Paizo that has not opened. It says that Windows has blocked it. I wonder why?
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~scratches my head~ Or perhaps not mine. This is the second PDF that I have gotten from Paizo that has not opened. It says that Windows has blocked it. I wonder why?
That's the same response I got when I tried opening it with the compressed folder functionality native to windows. That's when I tried using WinZip and found out there were other issues.
The PDF is saying, "No can have!"
-Skeld
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The fact that you are able to download D2 without problems indicates that perhaps the problem might be elsewhere. Perhaps the dash in the Pathfinder #1 product name (which shows up as a question mark).
Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember encounter some issue with Zip files where certain characters in the path and file names caused hiccups during creation that would cause them to be invalid.
-Skeld
Yep. I still can't access it. I have downloaded it twice. When I try to unzip it, nothing shows up and I get an error message. There should be something showing the files that were downloaded, but it is not doing so. Hmmmnnnnnnnnn...... heelllpppp
pathfinder1RiseOfTheRunelordsChapter1BurntOfferingsOGLPDF.zip is the file name. Nothing comes up when I try to unzip it. WTF am I doing wrong?
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pathfinder1RiseOfTheRunelordsChapter1BurntOfferingsOGLPDF.zip is the file name. Nothing comes up when I try to unzip it. WTF am I doing wrong?
Read a couple posts up. Gary thinks there may be a problem with the dates and/or path and file names in the download. Don't sweat it; I'm sure he'll get it fixed tomorrow.
-Skeld
Edit: The Great Eye knows all.
pathfinder1RiseOfTheRunelordsChapter1BurntOfferingsOGLPDF.zip is the file name. Nothing comes up when I try to unzip it. WTF am I doing wrong?You're doing nothing wrong. (I think.) I will fix it tomorrow, once I figure out what the problem is.
Thanks Gary. I do appreciate you doing that.
pathfinder1RiseOfTheRunelordsChapter1BurntOfferingsOGLPDF.zip is the file name. Nothing comes up when I try to unzip it. WTF am I doing wrong?You're doing nothing wrong. (I think.) I will fix it tomorrow, once I figure out what the problem is.
However, I was married once, so I am always to blame. ~WEG~
I'd just like to point out that this thread has the most gloriously acronym-filled title ever.
"Any ETA on the RotRL pdf?"
Outstanding :)
Thx for noticing. - OP
... While I'm practically glued to email so I can snag Pathfinder #1 the very second it becomes available to download,...
I have a great idea for Paizo: just make a page with a countdown to pathfinder and when it runs out, reload the page...oh damn, someone already had this idea before ;-)
Gary, speaking as a fellow programmer - hang in there and when it's ready, it's ready. :)
Of course, I'm as eager as the rest, but I'd suggest you avoid this thread until you're done (if you need to, directly email Sharoth and others to figure out bugs). Believe me, I know the pressure and anticipation (intentional and not) can lead to overly fast coding and missing some little parentheses and screwing up the whole system. I've certainly done that.
If you can get it done and running today, well, rock on! If it's Tuesday, Wednesday, or whatever - just ignore our desperate pleas and get the code solid.
I'm sure this is all obvious, but having been in similar situations with clients breathing down my neck to get the code finished, I feel your pain. So I'd suggest just avoid this thread and let us know whenever it's done - today, tomorrow, whatever.
(Oh, and every day they don't hire another programmer, tell them to pay you for both jobs.) ;)
I'm in IT myself and I definitely understand the pressure to get the job done AND keep the customer happy. I really appreciate Gary's occasional status updates - and I'd much rather read those than a thread full of "is it done yet?" posts!
Gary, one or two updates a day, when you need to take a break from looking at code, seems to be working great. It helps me to be patient... Thanks for the hard work, and as has been said before - when it's done, it's done.
My full understanding and support to Gary, who's been left behind at work alone writing the code, and testing, and all, while the others are out at Gen Con...
But my question is: shouldn't have Paizo as a company tried to manage the launch of their most important product to date a little bit better? I mean, most of us ex Dragon / Dungeon subscribers have been waiting for the release of Pathfinder since April, and they have had all this time to fix things in order to have a smooth start...
It's the same feeling when you see a countdown to a new digital initiative reach zero, and then the servers crash (any reference is purely coincidential).
That said, we are all with you Gary, and of course when the code is ready, it's ready: better waiting a day more than having the credit card double charged!
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But my question is: shouldn't have Paizo as a company tried to manage the launch of their most important product to date a little bit better? I mean, most of us ex Dragon / Dungeon subscribers have been waiting for the release of Pathfinder since April, and they have had all this time to fix things in order to have a smooth start...
I think part of the issue is due to some new stuff that came up after the announcement of the end of Dungeon and Dragon, and the first notice of Pathfinder and GameMastery modules. If I remember right, both the upgrade to monthly subscription option for GameMastery and the combined shipping of Pathfinder and GameMastery got added to Gary's list between then and now, due to lots of requests here on the boards.
I have to say, while I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for Pathfinder to ship, I can't really complain when the delay is due, at least in part, to Paizo's commitment to making its customers happy ;)
