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It's mostly just Jason, although he does have some help from the editorial staff here and some consultation help as well.
The short answer to your second question: You can't. At least not directly. If you engage in the discussions of the Alpha rules on the messageboards, though, Jason will appreciate your feedback. :)
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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I mean... one man can only do so much. I'm finding myself more and more disappointed by the mechanics of Pathfinder (mostly because they don't actually fix anything - except grapple! That was a monumental triumph!) and I was just hoping that there would be a larger design team working on this. Don't get me wrong there's a lot of cool new stuff with Pathfinder, but none of the real glaring mechanics problems have been fixed as far as I can tell.
Just out of curiosity, what glaring problems still exist?
If you would like to become "involved" in the project, find the appropriate thread in the Alpha forum (or start your own) pertaining to each "glaring problem."
I think it would help if you listed your specific gripes, and possibly offered ideas on how to "fix" them. I think that's the best way to get involved - from what I've seen, Jason is reading a lot of the boards.
But, changes can't be made based on generalities - the more concrete your examples are, the better they can be addressed.
Okay, so does it seem like a bad idea to anyone else that there is basically one man writing Pathfinder who is taking suggestions from playtesters?
I mean... one man can only do so much. I'm finding myself more and more disappointed by the mechanics of Pathfinder (mostly because they don't actually fix anything - except grapple! That was a monumental triumph!) and I was just hoping that there would be a larger design team working on this. Don't get me wrong there's a lot of cool new stuff with Pathfinder, but none of the real glaring mechanics problems have been fixed as far as I can tell.
And based on the answer to my second question: So Paizo is not currently looking for any further designers to help Jason? They are happy with having one Lead Designer, and only that Lead Designer working on a product they hope to compete against 4E with?
I don't have a vested interest in the conversation, but it might help us all take you more seriously if you had some professional credentials to tell us about.
I mean.. is this secretly Roger E. Moore under a psuedonym? Or this just some guy with an opinion?
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And based on the answer to my second question: So Paizo is not currently looking for any further designers to help Jason? They are happy with having one Lead Designer, and only that Lead Designer working on a product they hope to compete against 4E with?
I also said "and some consultation help." Perhaps I should have been more complete with my answers, but I'm a busy man, so I pray you'll forgive me my shortcuts.
Jason is indeed writing everything by himself, but he's not designing alone and in a vacuum. That would be insane. What would also be insane is to have more than one person trying to write something with so many integrated parts. The 3e and 3.5e core books all have lead designers, because someone has to be the poor shmo who sits down and actually puts all those words on "paper." But the lead designer does not work alone.
If you're looking to get into the game design business, start small and build your resume. I also recommend losing the snarky tone of your messageboard posts in the forums of one of the largest game companies extant, because the people who WILL give you that start can see what you're saying...
Furthermore, as an amateur designer myself...You and every other poster on these boards.
Edit: and on all other D&D boards.
Quoted for truth.
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Furthermore, as an amateur designer myself...You and every other poster on these boards. Edit: and on all other D&D boards.
I'm offended. I claim to be nothing more then an overly opinionated and at times rude poster when I see something I don't like. If I wanted to call myself a game designer there'd be a lot more work being done to make my campaign setting a reality then having day dreams about. :)
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To echo Mike's comments... Jason is the Lead Designer for the Pathfinder RPG, but the entire RPG team at Paizo works together with what he's done to get it into the shape we all want.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it's not a brand-new game, it's a new edition of a game that's been in circulation for many years. In a way, all of us here at Paizo have been playtesting this game since we started playing 3rd edition... or 2nd or 1st or before that, honestly. We're not TRYING to build an entirely new game, and rebuilding things in 3.5 to be entirely different isn't the goal. You won't see us build a new magic system, for example. Nor will you see a drastic new way for handling monsters. In fact, everything you see in these Alpha releases are HIGHLY subject to change before the Beta... we could decide to drop all the sorcerer bloodlines for example, if they end up being too complex or not popular enough.
But really? The HARD part is done. Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams (and of course Gygax and Arneson etc.) have already built the game we want to publish adventures for. We're in a transitional phase now, though, and that's the perfect moment to make refinements to the game that we've been itching to do over the past several years, or that we've heard our readers and customers want to do, or that other game designers suggest, or from feedback on these boards, and so on. And we still have about a year to make it all shiny and nice.
So in the end, yeah, there's not many folk working on it, but unlike 4th edition, this isn't a new game from the ground up. It's the same one we've all been playing for the last 8 years or so.
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Creative Director
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I mean... one man can only do so much. I'm finding myself more and more disappointed by the mechanics of Pathfinder (mostly because they don't actually fix anything - except grapple! That was a monumental triumph!) and I was just hoping that there would be a larger design team working on this. Don't get me wrong there's a lot of cool new stuff with Pathfinder, but none of the real glaring mechanics problems have been fixed as far as I can tell.
And to be a bit more specific to this post...
What "glaring mechanics problems" are you seeing that haven't been fixed? It's hard to address concerns when they're worded so vaguely.
As to whether it's a bad idea to attempt something like this with such a small team... we'll know the answer to that in about 16 months.
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I would think that if Eric and James and Mike (sorry if I'm leaving any one out) thought they needed more then Jason doing the bulk of the writing/work, they'd poke and prod Lisa until she got some freelancers on payroll (who I hear is a DM herself and could roll up her sleeves and get down and dirty with these rules.)
And since I already claimed to be a rude poster to things I don't like, bkdubs123, if they did need help, there are a few freelancers they could go to that already do work for them waaaaay before they turn to you and your massive contribution of 2 posts on these forums.
I would think that if Eric and James and Mike (sorry if I'm leaving any one out) thought they needed more then Jason doing the bulk of the writing/work, they'd poke and prod Lisa until she got some freelancers on payroll (who I hear is a DM herself and could roll up her sleeves and get down and dirty with these rules.)
And since I already claimed to be a rude poster to things I don't like, bkdubs123, if they did need help, there are a few freelancers they could go to that already do work for them waaaaay before they turn to you and your massive contribution of 2 posts on these forums.
Easy SirUrza. I think the point has been made by the Paizo Guys. This is a place of business as well a social gaming discussion board. A reputation for mean spiritedness doesn't help sales.
And while I agree with what you've said, there are some people who start from humble beginnings with their fair share of faux pas.
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And while I agree with what you've said, there are some people who start from humble beginnings with their fair share of faux pas.
It's true. I am one of them. I was once in bkdubs123's shoes and had to be smacked down a couple times before I got my first big break.
It's great to be enthusiastic, and I hope you continue to pursue your dreams of being a game designer, bkdubs123. First, though, you must learn to crawl. Then we will let you walk. And some day we might even let you run.
:)
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bkdubs123,
Because you actually came back to this thread after the drubbing you received shows that you're not a troll looking to start a fight. My respect for you just increased by a lot. :)
Keep watching Paizo.com, Wizards.com, and other websites of the major playehs in the RPG industry for freelance opportunities and don't let a few (or a dozen) rejections get you down. :)
Good luck out there!
Actually in a odd way Paizo has the ultimate dream team and nightmare team of all time. Every single player who wants Pathfinder to be their game. I understand you fustration, hell I share it to an extent. But if your not willing to put something constructive out for the discusion then its hard to be impressed. For example, love the new Sorcerer bloodlines, did the same thing (diff. powers) in combination with BoEM sorcerer.
Haven't played tested it yet, but have two grips right off.
1. Undead? How do I put this, they don't breed, lest not much, so how bloodline?
2. Giants, gotta have giants as a bloodline. There is always room for giants, emm, well you know what I mean.
This may not help much, hell the Paizo team might not even notice this, but maybe just maybe it'll spark an idea.
So please address your personal grips with 3.5 rules. Paizo may not agree with you, but they can't even consider what they are if you don't voice them.
2. Giants, gotta have giants as a bloodline. There is always room for giants, emm, well you know what I mean.
Can I second this? I'm going to have to go post this on some of the sorcerer threads.
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Actually in a odd way Paizo has the ultimate dream team and nightmare team of all time. Every single player who wants Pathfinder to be their game. I understand you fustration, hell I share it to an extent. But if your not willing to put something constructive out for the discusion then its hard to be impressed. For example, love the new Sorcerer bloodlines, did the same thing (diff. powers) in combination with BoEM sorcerer.
Haven't played tested it yet, but have two grips right off.
1. Undead? How do I put this, they don't breed, lest not much, so how bloodline?
2. Giants, gotta have giants as a bloodline. There is always room for giants, emm, well you know what I mean.
This may not help much, hell the Paizo team might not even notice this, but maybe just maybe it'll spark an idea.
So please address your personal grips with 3.5 rules. Paizo may not agree with you, but they can't even consider what they are if you don't voice them.
BOVD had things called Necrotic cysts. Having one didn't make you dead, well not right away. Perhaps the bloodline just had someone exposed to "necrotic" infection... over exposure to negative energies, Ghoul fever, or how about an good old fashioned family curse.
I can think of any number of ways that you can get this worked out. folks. Let not forget that this is a fantasy RPG.
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I'm just starting to look for freelance work myself, so no, I don't have a "professional" portfolio, though I have a large body of material that I have worked on by myself, just nothing yet published. I guess I need to go look for some better gateways.
No, look at ALL gateways, even the ones without much promise. When you no longer look for in-roads into an employment opportunity, that is when you are pretty much assured that there won't be any.
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Haven't played tested it yet, but have two grips right off.
2. Giants, gotta have giants as a bloodline. There is always room for giants, emm, well you know what I mean.
The thing I like about Pathfinder RPG's direction, is building systems which I hope will become standard for future options. For example, a Shoanti chronicles book providing new tribally flavoured Rage powers for Barbarians, a Acadamae sourcebook providing new arcane schools (elemental earth, air, fire, water) for Wizards, and (probably also in a Shoanti book?) the Giant bloodline for Sorcerers.
The thing about placing these new systems in the Pathfinder RPG rulebook, is that they'll then be available for any future sourcebooks to use, without a proliferation of new sub-systems each time someone thinks of a better way of handling something, which have to be re-explained every time they're used because they don't appear in the Core.
It's all about not painting yourself into a corner, but developing open-ended systems that anyone can use to add their own flavours.
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Anyway, I'm not sure this is the place to address my opinions of what "glaring flaws" have been left in the 3.5 system. It just seems like the wrong place to address them. I find myself torn. Most of the rules of 4E seem to be fixing a great many of my concerns for 3.5, but the bulk of my amateur work has been for 3.5 (leaving me with a vested interest in Pathfinder).
Every person who downloads the alpha rules will view the project from their own personal viewpoint, experiences, biases and desires, and I am sure a healthy percentage of those will also have an interest in 4E.
However, please forgive me if statements like "glaring flaws" and "4E seems to be fixing a great many of my concerns" raise warning flags for me, in relation to Pathfinder RPG playtesting and development.
Yes, Pathfinder RPG presents an opportunity to smooth over some rough spots, but it's main goal is simply to keep a version of the D20 SRD in print so that Paizo can continue publishing great 3.5 adventure paths! Therefore, backward compatibility remains a primary goal - there may be players using the PHB sitting alongside players using the Pathfinder RPG at the same table, playing the same game.
If 4E addresses your concerns with 3.5's "glaring flaws", then maybe that is the better system for you. Not everyone has bought into the "3.5 is broken" propoganda.
3.5 and 4E are different games, and 3.5 will retain many of the things changed in 4E. I think we just need to accept that and move on, otherwise it will no longer be 3.5.