- the room was very very noisy -- at times we simply could not hear the GM
Then don't play at Cons. That's nothing Paizo can do, fix, or should concern themselves with.
I disagree. Quite often there are one or two tables that end up being "more rambunctious" than the others. Then those around them have to start talking louder to be heard and it spreads around the room.
Eventually, everyone suffers because of it.
I've personally gotten up and walked over to tables before and politely reminded them that they are not the only ones playing in the room.
What could Paizo, or any campaign organizer, do about it?
They could walk around the room and look for tables where the players are talking above "normal conversational" levels. Remind those folks that there's four or five other tables within six feet of them in different directions and they are hindering their enjoyment of the game.
I recognize they may not have the additional staff to dedicate one or more to be noise monitors. Considering the number of tables that were playing the PFS room at GenCon, it certainly could have warranted one or two volunteer positions to help keep the noise down.
Also, perhaps a general reminder at the beginning that the acoustics are bad and players should attempt to use "table voices". I was very disappointed in the etiquette of the room as a whole. The couple of times that Josh used the bullhorn to try and get everyone's attention to put out information, nearly half the room continued talking and going about their business.
There are players that equate RP with volume, which is just a poor excuse for a lack of imagination.
Clint Eastwood didn't scream out at the top of his lungs GO AHEAD KID, MAKE MY DAY!, he nearly whispered it.
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Oh yeah as far as faction goals go, it all depends on your character combined with what faction you are.
** spoiler omitted **
Thank you Bellmaker, you know who you are. :)
graywulfe
Yes, it's amazing that if you don't act like your being sneaky, people assume you are not doing something sneaky. I even showed the rest of the group what I was stealing. The look on some of the players faces when they found out that was my faction goal was priceless:)
Andy Terrill
aka Guntermin the Bellmaker
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- the room was very very noisy -- at times we simply could not hear the GM
Then don't play at Cons. That's nothing Paizo can do, fix, or should concern themselves with.
Wrong; it was the Pathfinder room in particular. I played in multiple slots of LFR and ran three, and at no time was it even CLOSE to as loud in the Sagamore Ballroom as it was in the Pathfinder room. As I mentioned before, the Pathfinder room was bad enough to completely kill my enjoyment (which is why I ended up *playing,* rather than just judging, LFR, BTW).
No one's blaming Paizo for the acoustics (the convention center is being upgraded, making space hard to come by), but they asked for feedback, so people are providing it.
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I disagree. Quite often there are one or two tables that end up being "more rambunctious" than the others. Then those around them have to start talking louder to be heard and it spreads around the room.
Eventually, everyone suffers because of it.
I've personally gotten up and walked over to tables before and politely reminded them that they are not the only ones playing in the room.
What could Paizo, or any campaign organizer, do about it?
They could walk around the room and look for tables where the players are talking above "normal conversational" levels. Remind those folks that there's four or five other tables within six feet of them in different directions and they are hindering their enjoyment of the game.
I recognize they may not have the additional staff to dedicate one or more to be noise monitors. Considering the number of tables that were playing the PFS room at GenCon, it certainly could have warranted one or two volunteer positions to help keep the noise down.
Also, perhaps a general reminder at the beginning that the acoustics are bad and players should attempt to use "table voices". I was very disappointed in the etiquette of the room as a whole. The couple of times that Josh used the bullhorn to try and get everyone's attention to put out information, nearly half the room continued talking and going about their business.
There are players that equate RP with volume, which is just a poor excuse for a lack of imagination.
Its interesting, given that I was in the room for almost every session, that I got a completely different impression. Aside from an infrequent exclamation, most of the tables didn't seem, individually, to be very loud at all.
I don't know, it seemed to me like most people were speaking in fairly conversational tones, but since every table was running at the same time, there was a constant dull roar that just seemed to be at the right noise level to make it hard to hear people talking.
I'm not sure how well I would have taken it having a room monitor walking around telling me and/or my players that they need to keep the volume down. I guess I may have been being rude, but I was intentionally trying to project so that the table could hear me, and while I wouldn't have taken it badly, I probably would have been pretty worried about talking too loud and probably would have had a lot more confused players.
I guess to accurately compare, I'd have to see a similar event in a different room.
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Also, the faction goals were a little *too* balanced. Or the GMs were way too nice about interpreting whether you succeeded at them - in all four sessions, everyone at the table finished their goals, and everyone at the table got the same amount of Prestige. If that becomes NORMAL, there's no way an "unpopular" but clever/sneaky/skilled faction can come out ahead of a stupid but extremely popular faction like Cheliax.
Whoa, popular but stupid? Did you see a lot of Chelaxians? In the three scenarios I played in I was the only one from Cheliax. All three of my groups were mainly Andorens and Taldans. My last group consisting of 4 Taldans, an Osirian, and me from Cheliax.
I will agree though, it was something that I pondered on while I played. If we are not allowed to interfere with other factions from achieving their faction goals, and so the only way someone doesn't achieve their goal is because they possibly forgot to, then how does the the season not end up being won by the faction with the most members?
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To those players I hindered I am sorry. I hope that I didn't come across as abusive and I'm sure it doesn't come to any consolation that I enforced a rule the same way every other time it came up. But what can I say I'm just human. I hope that next year you can let me have another shot.
Oh and by the way. At least in my game, I wasn't fudging any rolls. You guys were handling your own very well. You ran a very good team.
Herald--don't sweat it!! Believe me, you didn't hinder our game. It's something every player, and DM has to deal with--different interpretations of the rules. You were absolutely right to stick to your guns, and your post above was spoken like a gentleman.
we had a good time in *all* of our Pathfinder events, including yours. You did not bring down the average calibur of the DMs we had, and I'd definitely give you "another chance." No worries there.
(and tahnks for the compliment on our group!)
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I also had the opportunity to participate in Ascension of the Drow ...
... Long live Queen Sho'Benigm and House Sardavic!-George
Yeah. the Ascension event was wonderful. frustrating at times, but overall wonderful.
The PFS and Ascension events have stuck with me. Will be running the PFS as a Chapter soon. Grand time.
and Indeed. Long live Queen Sho'Benigm Sardavic ... Vonnarc?
You know, she is Queen. She can do as she wishes. Perks of the Job.
/peace
Daniel / aka co-House GM for House Vonnarc