So . . . I sent in a submission at 11:30 last night (pacific time) and have NOT received confirmation of receipt. I know I'm not supposed to re-submit for 72 hours, but that is very clearly after the deadline, and I'm getting worried.
I understand if it's taking some time to get through mountains of submissions, but I want to make sure my submission has not been lost in the tubes. Is anyone else in this position? That would reassure me somewhat :S.
I'm not at work. If you don't get a "Received" response from me by end of day on Monday, resend.
I'm not at work. If you don't get a "Received" response from me by end of day on Monday, resend.
10-4 good buddy;
Thanks for the AMAZINGLY quick response :).
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I'm only insulting your fanbase if you believe your fanbase cosnists entirely of creepy obsessives.
I think he was referring to the comment about Asperger's. You probably did not intend to do so, but the way it was worded made it sound like you thought people with Asperger's were all obsessive and had no imagination. I've worked with several young people diagnosed with Asperger's and they've all had plenty of imagination.
We'll also be doing an Open Call for one or more scenarios every month. So those of you who didn't get in this time will have plenty of opportunity to wow us.Every month! Hooray!
that makes feedback that much more important, hopefully they will have time to give some to those that are not chosen.
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I'm not sure how insulting our fan base is going to make you any friends around here. Or get you hired as a freelance author, for that matter.Really Josh, I'm not insulting anyone, I'm just warning you about something.
Shouldn't we give Josh and the rest of Paizo the benefit of the doubt about fanatical fans? I know J.R. Rowling was surprised when such fans pounced on her about Harry's mother's bloodline status, but I'm pretty sure Josh, James, and the staff have encountered "rules-lawyers" both in their games, at the cons, on the boards, and even their peers, on how to run their business.
But still, a big part of the responsibility of the prospective author is to keep abreast of a company's announcements. Writing for Paizo isn't a prize, it's a job, and if one wants to do it and be successful, one should dedicate a portion of the day to watching our blog and website and messageboards like a hawk, perhaps even posting now and then to ask about writing opportunities.
Who doesn't want the best? I had assumed, when Paizo made the call, they did consider writing skill as important as knowledge of Golarion.
I get the impression you didn't think so from your "warning".I'll be blunt, Gailbraithe. Your posts sound like a case of sour grapes. How about, instead, you try following Paizo's way like the rest of us "creeps" (which, of course, excludes yourself. Because you have a life and we don't.) and submit material at the next open call.
We'll also be doing an Open Call for one or more scenarios every month. So those of you who didn't get in this time will have plenty of opportunity to wow us.
Cool!
A friend of mine couldn't enter this time around, he'll be happy to know that there will be a second chance, and a third, fourth etc.
Director of Brand Strategy
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Some offensive stuff about being an obsessive fan equalling having no imagination
I was absent from the discussion yesterday when it was starting but I'd like to point out that, as one of these continuity-loving "obsessives", I for one have never taken issue with anyone knowing less than me, and have worked hard on the PathfinderWiki to expand the amount of available information for others interested in the setting who might not, like yourself, be able to purchase every Golarion product Paizo releases.
And don't you think that perhaps you're playing the foil to the obsessive fan you seen to so despise, venting your "free-floating aggression" toward Paizo because you either missed the numerous announcements and discussion of the Open Call before the deadline and for your lack of detailed knowledge of the world. If you don't think the Open Calls or writing for Golarion is for you, I'm sorry to hear that, but there's no need to inject vitriol into a thread that had, up to that point, been filled with civil and constructive criticism and encouragement from those who are taking part in the contest.
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I learned a lot just from working on my two entries and if I don't make it with these scenarios, I'll be able to apply them next time.
I strongly concur.
Two things stood out for me (well, three if you include "remember not to get ill 2 days before the deadline").
First, that tiering can be a real pain -- pirates & spiders essentially got completely redone twice because I had trouble with key encounters not scaling very well accross the tiers while keeping the flavour; and second, 750 words really isn't very much, and the wrong way to reach 750 is to start at 1000 words and work backwards.
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I learned a lot just from working on my two entries and if I don't make it with these scenarios, I'll be able to apply them next time.I strongly concur.
Two things stood out for me (well, three if you include "remember not to get ill 2 days before the deadline").
First, that tiering can be a real pain -- pirates & spiders essentially got completely redone twice because I had trouble with key encounters not scaling very well accross the tiers while keeping the flavour; and second, 750 words really isn't very much, and the wrong way to reach 750 is to start at 1000 words and work backwards.
Tiering was a trick, but I found myself happy using middle-ground encounters to provide an average challenge for the low end and minimal challenge for the high end. Then I could tinker more with the final encounters since I had to do so anyway. I found the whole process quite fun.
Contributor
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750 words really isn't very much, and the wrong way to reach 750 is to start at 1000 words and work backwards.
LOL! Yeah. I planned the word count by taking the quidelines for a completed scenario and dividing by ten. That gave me a starting point of how many words I could allot to each section.
For me the hardest part was working with the faction missions. Although they're not necessarily the most important part of the story, they are critical and (as far as I know) unique to PFS. I found that I had to read and re-read the reqional sections of the campaign setting and the Society Guide a few times before I settled into things that would work well for the first one.
For the second scenario I did, I actually worked backwards. Once I had a firm grasp on what I wanted for the story, I decided what I wanted the faction missions to be, then created encounters that allowed for those missions. Of course, I had to go back and refine certain missions once the encounters started to gel, but I found that methodology made overall design work well.
Also, (these comments are starting to sound more appropriate to *another thread*, but) how many of you took the faction feats and other PFS-specific material into account? I tried to consider that in the scenario development, but it was hard to get that across in the outline.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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HOORAY! Another opportunity is great - I was quite sick during this last Open Call, so I'm flabbergasted that there'll be another one within a month!
That's . . . AWESOME! Thank you, Josh Frost!
As for the eventual continuity-crunch that Golarion will someday, inevitably suffer: I'm not worried. YET.
The Pathfinder Universe is young, but built on ancient foundations. And some time, long from now, when Varisia is as old as Waterdeep is today, the Powers at Paizo may have to perform a delicate continuity reset on the whole of Golarion; drop another Starstone on the Isle of Kortos & start over from scratch.
But my feeling is that, at the moment, Pathfinder is far, FAR from being too over-crowded with canon. In point of fact, I think it's crying out, DESPERATELY, to be filled with canon! It's this vast world of potential, draped with tingling hints and tantalizing rumors, just begging to be explored and made real - and as a Pathfinder, I find that WILDLY exciting!
Do I think the world could ever get too full of continuity and canon? Yes. But, while randomly flipping through my PCCS the other day, I came across a reference to the Ekujae Elves of Mwangi (pg. 215, under Sevencoat Serpent). Never heard of them. In fact, that was something I had never even dreamed of before, and it struck me like a bat across the nose. THAT is good writing - left me excited, left me wanting to know more!
The world of Golarion has DECADES worth of undiscovered country still waiting to be mined and turned over and developed, with great stories along every part of the way.
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At some point I might consider teaming up with someone with extensive knowledge over Golarion. Then again I'm currently working on some independant projects, hoping they won't stall, dust, and die.
Gailbraithe is just frustrated. Understand his high adrenaline-values and let him cool off a bit. Now since the chances keep on coming and he (or she?) knows where to look for more details, I bet he (or she?) is .. well, hopeful.
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But my feeling is that, at the moment, Pathfinder is far, FAR from being too over-crowded with canon. In point of fact, I think it's crying out, DESPERATELY, to be filled with canon! It's this vast world of potential, draped with tingling hints and tantalizing rumors, just begging to be explored and made real - and as a Pathfinder, I find that WILDLY exciting!
Do I think the world could ever get too full of continuity and canon? Yes. But, while randomly flipping through my PCCS the other day, I came across a reference to the Ekujae Elves of Mwangi (pg. 215, under Sevencoat Serpent). Never heard of them. In fact, that was something I had never even dreamed of before, and it struck me like a bat across the nose. THAT is good writing - left me excited, left me wanting to know more!
I think the key thing is making sure the broad & deep information is all easily available without being scattered accross too many sources. If you're looking for info on a particular topic then, depending on what it is, you may already have to flick between lots of different sources, some of which aren't obvious, and some of which (the early Pathfinder issues) are already going out of (hardcopy) print.
I've big hopes for the Pathfinder wiki, this could be a great resource (so long as it dosn't tread on Paizo's IP too much!), but what I'd also like to see is a comprehensive, current, online, official index maintained of what's where. A good index can make a big difference to a single reference book, having a good index accross multiple references would be invaluable (though possibly a bit of a pain to set up, depending on how Paizo do their existing document management).
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I'm not sure how insulting our fan base is going to make you any friends around here. Or get you hired as a freelance author, for that matter.I'm only insulting your fanbase if you believe your fanbase cosnists entirely of creepy obsessives. So apologies if they are necessary, Josh, but I'm pretty sure I'm not insulting anyone's fanbase. I'm part of your fanbase, and I'm certainly not insulting myself. I mean, I don't think I'm a creepy obsessive.
I'm just saying something that's true about any fandom. As Pathfinder grows, and as it's fanbase expands, and most importantly as the volume of material produced under the Pathfinder brand increases, you will eventually reach a critical mass where you will be dealing with very element of fandom, including the highly obnoxious elements. Really Josh, I'm not insulting anyone, I'm just warning you about something.
I mean really, am I insulting Paizo fans by pointing out that some crazy obsessive person is eventually discover what you're doing here, and that person is eventually going to know more about Golarion than anyone on the Paizo staff? You got to be prepared for that eventuality. Continuity errors will be made, they are unavoidable (unless you're editors have talent on loan from god, something will eventually get past them...heck, I bet something already has), and that's when you'll meet a distressed obsessive-compulsive who has transformed his free-floating aggression into a consuming hatred for everyone at Paizo because someone dared to forget that the bartender in the Jade Dragon Inn has blue eyes. Every fandom that gets big eventually attracts that guy. And that guy is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to weird fans. Remember, fans are fanatics, and fanatics are sometimes really weird people. Really, really weird.
And I'm just saying, that guy, he's not going to be a better writer for his ability to never forget any details about the world. And writing adventures that will appeal to him --...
That's why they have editors. Just write something good, try to fit it into the setting best you can, do a little research on the location (if it's in Absalom, at least read the Campaign Setting thing on Absalom if you don't have the Guide to Absalom for example) and if something doesn't mesh right but they like the pitch itself, they'll let you know and likely offer suggestions on what to change (or just change it themselves)
I've big hopes for the Pathfinder wiki, this could be a great resource (so long as it dosn't tread on Paizo's IP too much!)
Yay for wiki fans! It's becoming a great resource, but it's only ever going to be as good as we, the fan community make it. We're trying hard not to tread on too much IP, and the citations we're implementing in every article. If you're liking what you see so far, please contribute to the wiki in any way possible. I have big plans for this site, but it's a lot of work for the small group of people currently working on it. Your assistance is certainly welcome!
I'm not at work. If you don't get a "Received" response from me by end of day on Monday, resend.
Send mine friday about 10:30 PST.
but we were having some internet issues with the local ISP, so may i resend if i don't hear by tomorrow morning that you got both?
I've responded to all entries I received.
I've responded to all entries I received.
May I inquire how many you received?
I've responded to all entries I received.May I inquire how many you received?
Sure, doesn't mean I'm going to tell you though.
Nearly down to less then 100 pages of the CS left to go over, and then we shall see... :)
<demented burbling, and my-eyes-ache noise>
Thank you for all your work, CE25. You're doing a great job! I'll be very surprised if your posts aren't incorporated in a CS, 2nd edition.
Hang in there.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4
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Clinton,
You're stepping up to the plate?
Well, yeah, but ... there's no proof, as of yet, that I have any talent at pitching 750 word adventure outlines for preset Scenarios.
*grin*
Now, if the assignment was "300,000 words; minimum of one stat-block over two pages long destroy Golarion in the most bombastic way possible", I'd be set!
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Now, if the assignment was "300,000 words; minimum of one stat-block over two pages long destroy Golarion in the most bombastic way possible", I'd be set!I think I'd give you a run fer yer money. : }
Guys, you can buy Monsterpocalypse over here.
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RPG Superstar 2013
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Funny thought on the topic of monsters. At Iron DM this year, I asked my table for six extra random elements to write my game around, one from each player. One of them gave me puppies. So at some point they are traveling through an ancient forbidden forest on their way to the Necromancer's Clock, and these massive retile things come crashing out of the forest, nipping and barking and rolling over each other. The ranger realizes they are tarrasques. Instead of attacking, the tarrasques paw at them and chase them like while the party tries to escape (in abject terror). After a few minutes, one of them realizes "Ahh...they're PUPPIES!" and the party just moves away from them until they starting throwing each other back over trees.
Imagine what tarrasque puppies would do to New York City, just rolling over it and pouncing on each other. JJ Abrams should make a movie out of that.
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Contributor
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750 words really isn't very much, and the wrong way to reach 750 is to start at 1000 words and work backwards.LOL! Yeah. I planned the word count by taking the quidelines for a completed scenario and dividing by ten. That gave me a starting point of how many words I could allot to each section.
For me the hardest part was working with the faction missions. Although they're not necessarily the most important part of the story, they are critical and (as far as I know) unique to PFS. I found that I had to read and re-read the reqional sections of the campaign setting and the Society Guide a few times before I settled into things that would work well for the first one.
For the second scenario I did, I actually worked backwards. Once I had a firm grasp on what I wanted for the story, I decided what I wanted the faction missions to be, then created encounters that allowed for those missions. Of course, I had to go back and refine certain missions once the encounters started to gel, but I found that methodology made overall design work well.
Also, (these comments are starting to sound more appropriate to *another thread*, but) how many of you took the faction feats and other PFS-specific material into account? I tried to consider that in the scenario development, but it was hard to get that across in the outline.
I just wanted to say, that your approach is exactly what I recommended to someone else who wanted to enter and asked my advice, especially the part about balancing wordcount in the proposal with the final version and focusing on the faction missions. I don't know if that's the best approach, but it's what I would have done!
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I just wanted to say, that your approach is exactly what I recommended to someone else who wanted to enter and asked my advice, especially the part about balancing wordcount in the proposal with the final version and focusing on the faction missions. I don't know if that's the best approach, but it's what I would have done!
Thank you for letting me know that, Craig. I don't know if I'll win over the judges with my idea, but it's nice to know that my methods were somewhat in line with what you would do.
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I just wanted to say, that your approach is exactly what I recommended to someone else who wanted to enter and asked my advice, especially the part about balancing wordcount in the proposal with the final version and focusing on the faction missions. I don't know if that's the best approach, but it's what I would have done!750 words really isn't very much, and the wrong way to reach 750 is to start at 1000 words and work backwards.LOL! Yeah. I planned the word count by taking the quidelines for a completed scenario and dividing by ten. That gave me a starting point of how many words I could allot to each section.
For me the hardest part was working with the faction missions. Although they're not necessarily the most important part of the story, they are critical and (as far as I know) unique to PFS. I found that I had to read and re-read the reqional sections of the campaign setting and the Society Guide a few times before I settled into things that would work well for the first one.
For the second scenario I did, I actually worked backwards. Once I had a firm grasp on what I wanted for the story, I decided what I wanted the faction missions to be, then created encounters that allowed for those missions. Of course, I had to go back and refine certain missions once the encounters started to gel, but I found that methodology made overall design work well.
Also, (these comments are starting to sound more appropriate to *another thread*, but) how many of you took the faction feats and other PFS-specific material into account? I tried to consider that in the scenario development, but it was hard to get that across in the outline.
Furiously writes notes to improve chances for next call....
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I just wanted to say, that your approach is exactly what I recommended to someone else who wanted to enter and asked my advice, especially the part about balancing wordcount in the proposal with the final version and focusing on the faction missions. I don't know if that's the best approach, but it's what I would have done!Thank you for letting me know that, Craig. I don't know if I'll win over the judges with my idea, but it's nice to know that my methods were somewhat in line with what you would do.
And just so you know, the other person he gave that advice to didn't write anything up in time ;)
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I concur. I found that the faction missions were a valuable tool for moving PCs around. During one Act, I wanted the party to split up, normally a ridiculously difficult thing to do.
So I gave missions to three factions, all of which would trigger at that time and required them to "duck out for a moment".
Worked like a charm. At that point, hilarity ensued.
I've responded to all entries I received.
...and with that I say, good luck everyone!
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The coordinator will attempt to respond to all submitters with feedback, but this may not always be possible.
I wonder if those who receive feedback will get a brief but detailed delivery of why it wasn't up to snuff; a form letter (e.g., "We're sorry, but we cannot use your scenario at this time...."), or a Simon Cowell dismissal (e.g., "Your piece of drekk is not worth the electrons used to be viewed, never minded typed into your Macintosh....").
All of the above?
Since I hope to use the PFS open call to help grow new freelancers for Paizo, my responses will be constructive. :-)
If I have time to respond to all of them ... or any of them. We'll see.
I'm tickled by...
...?
TV has already seen a show called "Touched by an Angel."
Can the world really be ready for Fox's new hit series, "Tickled by a Daigle?"
it is good to hear that Josh will at least try to reply with constructive criticism... just to ask about how many entries over-all did you receive Josh?