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My big request for the FAQ right now is that it be placed in an easier to find place. Right now it takes about 4 clicks to get to it from the forums and I suspect many people would never think to go to the store to find it. Having a sticky at the top of the rules forum or perhaps a link on the side bar under the PRD link (or even on the main PRD page) might be good.
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I suspect the vast majority of questions could be answered by someone like Jason or Sean... in one day.
They could probably crank out those answers off the cuff in a day but considering the weight people put on their answers I think they likely spend a little more time considering them.
The way I see it the vast majority of the questions don't really need Jason or Sean (or James) to answer, Ross, Mark M., or even a community volunteer could answer 90% of the questions and mark them unofficial until Jason or Sean have a chance to bless them. There are a good number of GMs active on the forums whose judgement I would trust on this who would probably be willing to donate some time.
I agree with Ogre that the location is too "out of the way". There should be an FAQ sticky or it should be a downloadable pdf. I agree that many of the questions are easy to answer, which is why I will only be tagging issues of page X says this, but page Y says that. Even then I think I could get the answer right, but official contradiction probably requires official errata for most people. Some of the issues are things such as spelling and grammar. If I can get the intent I am willing to let the spelling go for the most part.
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I also totally agree that the FAQ section(s) are very well hidden and too hard to find. My guess is that, although the staff has started to answer some questions, the FAQ is probably still not considered ready for prime time yet.
More than likely once the've had a chance to get more questions answered etc., they will do all those super easy to find front page links and big announcements ...
I suspect the vast majority of questions could be answered by someone like Jason or Sean... in one day.
+1
...or I would say, the vast majority of the most common / important questions could be answered in one day. ...or at least in a week.This has been going on far too long.
My point is. there always seem to be an excuse.
My big request for the FAQ right now is that it be placed in an easier to find place. Right now it takes about 4 clicks to get to it from the forums and I suspect many people would never think to go to the store to find it. Having a sticky at the top of the rules forum or perhaps a link on the side bar under the PRD link (or even on the main PRD page) might be good.
+1
I suspect the vast majority of questions could be answered by someone like Jason or Sean... in one day.They could probably crank out those answers off the cuff in a day but considering the weight people put on their answers I think they likely spend a little more time considering them.
I'm not sure that's true.
A) The answers on the FAQ just seems to be quotes from old answers.B) Even if they are not, there are answers made by people like James they can use. Jason simply have to say, - yes, James got it right.
C) a lot of answers, or at least some answers, could be made just by saying yes or no.
"Do druids keep their shield bonus when wildshaped, if the shield doesn't have the wild Special Ability?"
Answer: - No.
Then they can add that this is an errata that will be fixed.
D) " answers I think they likely spend a little more time considering them"? How much more time do they need? 1 month, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years?
the vast majority of the questions don't really need Jason or Sean (or James) to answer, Ross, Mark M., or even a community volunteer could answer 90% of the questions and mark them unofficial until Jason or Sean have a chance to bless them
I think you are wrong and right. I don't want a community volunteer to answer and I think the vast majority doesn't as well.
There are a lot of questions already answered, they only need Jason or Sean blessing to them. So if James have already answered a question and then it gets blessed as an official FAQ answer that's enough. By now people want an OFFICIAL answer, if the answer comes from Jesus, Mary or James doesn't matter, but it does have to be elevated to an official answer. If only Jason and Sean can bless them. Fine let the bless them, but letting a community volunteer create some sort of unofficial FAQ that's, won't do the trick.A community volunteer? So who should we trust? Just look at the Wildshape + shield bonus thread. Would you trust Treantmonk? A lot of people do, but when it comes to reading the rules I don't.
HOWEVER, why not:
1) use a community volunteer - or many - to create a document of question and then match them with unofficial answers by James and others from Paizo, or match them with official answer made by Jason or Sean.
2) then let Jason or Sean bless the answers or modify the answers
3) post the answers.
1 = let's see now, there are one such errata document, fixing a FAQ document would be hard? Just ask the community and they will work for free.
2 = saying yes or no is hard? And if anything goes wrong can it can actually be fixed.
3 = Hey, an intern could to this.
When the issue with the FAQ was brought up there was, as always, excuses. That's fine, sometimes there are valid excuses. One of them was it's too much work creating a PDF. I then suggested they could use the message boards instead of creating a PDF. I kept pestering James about this and guess what, now they use the messageboards, but A) the FAQ is hard to find, B) they still don't get the answers out even if they don't have all the trouble of editing a PDF, C) they don't use community volunteers even if they would and could work for free.
If Jason whet out on the blogg saying: "hey, we need some help. Who would help us for free?" What would happen? They would have a lot of people offering their help. Jason could even offer some sort of bribe. One day visit to the office and a signed book to those who help them. Ask for help and pick 2 or 3 or 4 (or 5 or 6 or 10) people and let them work.
Zark: When people only see problems and not solutions, the only problem is the attitude.
Creative Director
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I think it's fair to say that if we COULD answer FAQ questions within the span of 24 hours... we would.
The simple truth is that we can't. Several days of any particular week, we're actually VERY busy handling one of dozens of products supposed to go to the printer. And we're perpetually behind schedule. There's a mindset at Paizo (and I think it's the CORRECT one) that when a schedule is behind, we put the vast majority of our resources to work getting that schedule handled. Especially, as in the case of Bestiary 2 or Save Doctor Lucky, where if they miss their ship date, we miss out on all of the holiday business.
I (and everyone at Paizo, particularly management) would rather let the FAQ lay fallow for a few weeks than miss holiday purchases of our two biggest holiday releases.
So I'm sorry that FAQ questions aren't being answered as quickly as folks might like... but that's kind of the way it is. HOPEFULLY we'll get to a point where our schedule will permit us to answer questions for the FAQ in a much more timely manner. We just hired several new people (and even if new hires don't actually directly help to answer FAQ questions, bear in mind that they DO alleviate pressure on those of us who do, and therefore every new body at Paizo helps!), and we'll be hiring a few more in the hopefully near future. (AND: For the record, the concept of deputizing messageboard folks to help has been floated a few times, but for various reasons, there are some compelling issues that, for now, prevent us from utilizing such a practice; and no, I'm not going to go into that in any more detail.)
As for the FAQ's accessibility... I kind of agree with you. I'll ask around and see if we can get it somehow easier to access or get to... there may be plans to do just that already, in fact.
So in closing, I understand folks's desire to see FAQ answered. We're doing as good as we can, so all I can ask from you is patience.
Thanks James for your answers.
I can only speak for me, but I don't expect Pazio to post the 100 most FAQ within a week. I never did. However there are some questiosn that seem reacure, 10 or 15. (and I have 4 or 5 that you allready have answered, but that I would like have the stamped official. I guess that's true for most of us, we all have our pets). Just start with fixing some of them, then build up more answeres slowly. If not today, tomorrow. If not this week, next week. etc.
You ask for our patience. Cool. I can wait a day, a week, but the question is, haven't we been patience? Again, there will always be a project that needs to be done. If not, you would be out of business. I know this. We know this. No new releases = no cash = no Paizo = no fun.
patience because you are busy? Sure I can be patience, but the problem is
1) we heard this before. We heard it just before the new errata released, and when the errata was released, it was a slap in the face. Do I have to remind you of that thread? It was uggly.
2) we have been patience, for moe than a years, how much longer?
3) Sure I think we all could give you some more time, the problem is there will always be some new project. This won't change.
Be patience? I will try to, but honestly I don't have a choise, do I?
Owner - D20 Hobbies
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"Do druids keep their shield bonus when wildshaped, if the shield doesn't have the wild Special Ability?"
Answer: - No.
Having a community member answer these type of questions isn't a problem unless that person uses the flawed "RAW" stance where everything exploitable is permitted unless explicitly denied.
In other words, the statement "armor bonus" in the wild shape rule includes shield bonuses. Did they mean to say "armor class"? Probably.
Having a community member answer these type of questions isn't a problem unless that person uses the flawed "RAW" stance where everything exploitable is permitted unless explicitly denied."Do druids keep their shield bonus when wildshaped, if the shield doesn't have the wild Special Ability?"
Answer: - No.
Perhaps you are right, but your reading of wildshape + shiled/armor bonus does prove my point.
In other words, the statement "armor bonus" in the wild shape rule includes shield bonuses. Did they mean to say "armor class"? Probably.
I think you are wrong. I think they meant bonus from your armor and shield.
I think you should keep deflection bonus (from rings etc) and natural armor bonus (from amulets) and insight bonus (from Ioun stones).A would also let a wizard (or druid) keep his AC bonus from mage armor/bracers of armor.
So if your reading is lose AC bonus, they would only lose AC? They would keep other bonuses from a shield or armor, such as a Energy resistance shield and a slick armor?
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Chief Technical Officer
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As for the FAQ's accessibility... I kind of agree with you. I'll ask around and see if we can get it somehow easier to access or get to... there may be plans to do just that already, in fact.
Reposted from here:
We know the FAQ is hard to find... and it's intentional, for now.
As some of you know, the FAQ system is still young—in beta testing, really—and as a result, the FAQ doesn't *contain* much yet. So at this point, we don't want to draw a lot of attention to it, as it isn't putting our best foot forward. Once it has enough content that it's no longer so embarrassing, we'll do more to make it more visible.
With Bestiary 2 wrapping up, I've been assured that we'll be able to pay some more attention to expanding the FAQ in the very near future. Maybe by the time Gary gets back from his vacation, we'll be ready to make it a bit more prominent on the site.
I *think* Jason looked at Kor's spreadsheet, but I can tell you that if somebody else pushes that data through our FAQ system, it'll probably be officially dealt with much faster, as that's where our focus is going to be.Are we going to have to flag already known issues, or will the list made by Kor be used?I'm pretty sure there was no point in Kor collecting and organizing that data. Everyone has to do it again.
I had created that spreadsheet sort of for 2 reasons:
1) I believed it would make it easier for Paizo staff to identify some of the errors that have existed since the 1st printing (or even the Beta in some cases). I think this was well received by some Paizo staff, especially since they did express an eventual desire to fix all errata no matter how small.2) I wanted to use it as a tracking method (like a checklist) for the community so that corrected errata could be acknowledged on the list. This way, rather than searching threads to find an answer, someone could just check the spreadsheet.
The downside is, I do not have a lot of free time and what little I have has been going into my Excel Character Creator. I have not had the opportunity to scan the forums to see if any of the 100+ items identified have been addressed. Additionally, I also wanted to update it, since I did not include a lot of minor mistakes like items out of sequence in lists.
One unfortunate thing I only recently realized, is that I did not know you could link directly to someone's post, anywhere in the thread. I was not aware that if you click on the "date of post" hyperlink, that it was a seperate URL than the title of the post. Had I realized that, I would have included hyperlinks to all the posts which would have made adding FAQ's to them really easy. Had I only read the Alternate text that appears over the cursor when you hover over the link which says "link to this post". Hey, what the heck do you expect from an orc???
So this is something I will do, and quite possibly this weekend since I am about to finish my Alpha testing phase of my Character Generator.
stuff
You are my hero Kor, but I don't understand why you bother anymore.
...Hey, what the heck do you expect from an orc???
Obviously, we expect perfection Kor, absolute perfection. ;)
I do agree however that you don't have the time. Treantmonk is getting tired of running...methinks it is turn for an orc :)
My big request for the FAQ right now is that it be placed in an easier to find place. Right now it takes about 4 clicks to get to it from the forums and I suspect many people would never think to go to the store to find it. Having a sticky at the top of the rules forum or perhaps a link on the side bar under the PRD link (or even on the main PRD page) might be good.
Where is the FAQ anyway?
My big request for the FAQ right now is that it be placed in an easier to find place. Right now it takes about 4 clicks to get to it from the forums and I suspect many people would never think to go to the store to find it. Having a sticky at the top of the rules forum or perhaps a link on the side bar under the PRD link (or even on the main PRD page) might be good.Where is the FAQ anyway?
You go to the particular product's page, and there is an FAQ tab.
You go to the particular product's page, and there is an FAQ tab.My big request for the FAQ right now is that it be placed in an easier to find place. Right now it takes about 4 clicks to get to it from the forums and I suspect many people would never think to go to the store to find it. Having a sticky at the top of the rules forum or perhaps a link on the side bar under the PRD link (or even on the main PRD page) might be good.Where is the FAQ anyway?
I would never have found that if it wasn't for this message. First, I have to look at a specific product, rather than the general pathfinder page. It's not linked to from the Pathfinder page's FAQ. Once I'm on the product page, I have to scroll past all the product description to the middle of the page, where I have to click the "Frequently Asked Questions" tab. If I scroll too far or too fast, I end up in the middle of all the reviews, with no indication that there's a FAQ link at the top.
It really needs to be better located.
stuff
+1
Good to have the link, but that's only the Core FAQ. There's also FAQs on the Bestiary and the APG pages.
There really needs to be one central page with all FAQ answers (possibly grouped by book). Ideally, there'd also be a way to see all FAQ-flagged posts too. Currently, if 10 people post threads with the same question worded differently, and one other person FAQs their question, that'd show up as 10 FAQs with 2 votes each, as compared to one FAQ with 20 votes. Whether this makes a difference to Paizo's system, I don't know, but I can't see how it wouldn't make that a lower priority than a question that's only come up once but has 10 votes.
If it's in the works people will know not to keep clicking FAQ on it.And people will feel like progress is being made and it's not like those crosswalk buttons to make you feel better but nothing is really affected.
One thing WotC did really well with 3.0 and 3.5 was their question-answering system. They had a portal set up on custhelp.com, and would generally respond to questions submitted within 2-3 days. As the main rules-person for my group, I submitted something like .9 questions a week (on average - it usually came in batches) for two and a half years.
Obviously, Paizo doesn't have the manpower to staff something like that all day, but I'd think even 2-4 man-hours a week to answer FAQ-flagged entries would help us players a lot without interfering with ongoing development.
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Good to have the link, but that's only the Core FAQ. There's also FAQs on the Bestiary and the APG pages.
There really needs to be one central page with all FAQ answers (possibly grouped by book).
Also, as I remember it higher on this thread it was mentioned by Vic(?) that the current system of displaying the FAQs was a temporary bridge to when they could have a more comprehensive system in place.
I don't want a customer service like they did to answer questions. Those guys often were incorrect and had no more knowledge than many of the board members
I think the system is fine as it is. And as has been stated, they are currently a little behind because of the books they bring out. I think that remodeling for the next round of gametesting ultimate combat is more important at the moment.
I'm sure after that, that more FAQ will be answered by the most competent people.
I think the system is fine as it is. And as has been stated, they are currently a little behind because of the books they bring out. I think that remodeling for the next round of gametesting ultimate combat is more important at the moment.
I'm sure after that, that more FAQ will be answered by the most competent people.
It is not fine as is, but they are working on it. After RPG superstar they will be gearing up for Gencon, then it will be back to RPG superstar, rinse/repeat. There are only 3 people that I see answer FAQ's so I am not worried about random people giving official answers.
I think that remodeling for the next round of gametesting ultimate combat is more important at the moment.
I'm sure after that, that more FAQ will be answered by the most competent people.
That's what I'd been hoping for following the release of the APG and the end of the Christmas rush.
After RPG superstar they will be gearing up for Gencon, then it will be back to RPG superstar, rinse/repeat.
That's what I'm afraid of. I'm obviously in no position to comment on what goes on at the Paizo offices - I've never even worked in publishing or a related industry - but from my perspective, two or three people sitting down for an hour once a week to address FAQs would be more than sufficient to get questions answered in a timely manner (which was the point I was going for with WotC's system), without disrupting publishing timelines in any significant manner.
After RPG superstar they will be gearing up for Gencon, then it will be back to RPG superstar, rinse/repeat.That's what I'm afraid of. I'm obviously in no position to comment on what goes on at the Paizo offices - I've never even worked in publishing or a related industry - but from my perspective, two or three people sitting down for an hour once a week to address FAQs would be more than sufficient to get questions answered in a timely manner (which was the point I was going for with WotC's system), without disrupting publishing timelines in any significant manner.
I was complaining about this time last year about the errata, and the reason I got was that they were trying to get everything done for RPG superstar and gencon so I figured it was a never ending cycle. I figured 1 question a day would be a good start. That would be 30 a month.
but from my perspective, two or three people sitting down for an hour once a week to address FAQs would be more than sufficient to get questions answered in a timely manner
I believe it's been stated that that is pretty much what the Paizo staff is currently doing. And yet, as months pass, I'm afraid I'm not really seeing the results.
I don't want a customer service like they did to answer questions. Those guys often were incorrect and had no more knowledge than many of the board members
Quite Often they had less (sometimes directly contradicting things written in a book).
You go to the particular product's page, and there is an FAQ tab.My big request for the FAQ right now is that it be placed in an easier to find place. Right now it takes about 4 clicks to get to it from the forums and I suspect many people would never think to go to the store to find it. Having a sticky at the top of the rules forum or perhaps a link on the side bar under the PRD link (or even on the main PRD page) might be good.Where is the FAQ anyway?I would never have found that if it wasn't for this message. First, I have to look at a specific product, rather than the general pathfinder page. It's not linked to from the Pathfinder page's FAQ. Once I'm on the product page, I have to scroll past all the product description to the middle of the page, where I have to click the "Frequently Asked Questions" tab. If I scroll too far or too fast, I end up in the middle of all the reviews, with no indication that there's a FAQ link at the top.
It really needs to be better located.
Just to add to this, two more navigational issues: There's a large "Frequently Asked Questions" link on the Pathfinder RPG page, which is entirely useless for finding it (I mentioned that it doesn't connect, but I didn't mention how prominent it is in the first place). Also, I actually came across an answered FAQ today, but it didn't link to the correct place, so I had to already know which book the item in question was in before I could find the FAQ entry on it. The "Added to FAQ" text should be a link to the appropriate answer.
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On this subject, until Paizo get's their FAQ situation straightened/figured out, people are encouraged to check out the FAQ page on d20pfsrd.com.
I recently added (embedded) the Official Paizo FAQ pages (those that exist) to the right side of the page so you can view the "official" faq's on the same page as the unofficial rulings made by Paizo folks further down on the page.
If/when Paizo decides to get their FAQ situation all figured out I'd be more than happy to scrap our page.
Yeah its been quite some time and several more new products are now out the door. Will there be some time dedicated to this now?
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My big request for the FAQ right now is that it be placed in an easier to find place. Right now it takes about 4 clicks to get to it from the forums and I suspect many people would never think to go to the store to find it. Having a sticky at the top of the rules forum or perhaps a link on the side bar under the PRD link (or even on the main PRD page) might be good.
I still have not been able to find it.
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I still have not been able to find it.
In the spirit of lighting candles rather than cursing the darkness, links to several of the FAQs are at the top of the "Frequently Unknown Rules" and "Crying out for FAQ" summaries.
For others looking for them in their native environment, go to the link for the Pathfinder RPG. It has all the products. Scroll down to the product that you need FAQ for. Click on that product. Scroll down to the tab that has FAQ.
I still have not been able to find it.In the spirit of lighting candles rather than cursing the darkness, links to several of the FAQs are at the top of the "Frequently Unknown Rules" and "Crying out for FAQ" summaries.
For others looking for them in their native environment, go to the link for the Pathfinder RPG. It has all the products. Scroll down to the product that you need FAQ for. Click on that product. Scroll down to the tab that has FAQ.
Howie, you're a breath of fresh air, man.
Keep up the good work!
To me, the mere existence of a FAQ system is just amazing. The fact that James and countless others (including the folks who wrote the actual text people are asking about) respond to questions in this manner is one of the things that makes Paizo my favorite gaming company.
This. ^
Also, I'd like to give a special thanks Jason and Sean for their recent flurry of FAQing - especially on some of the wilder rules questions (defending weapons & readying charges).
Thank you for being actively concerned with the implementation of your game and the rules there of, rather than letting simply letting them go into the aether. Which is something you could have done, but you chose not to do. You all deserve a lot of respect for that.
It is refreshing to see a company that is willing to have such an intimate relationship with their consumer base. I know that I am not alone when I say that I appreciate the effort you all are putting in for us.
That being said, I'll see you in the Rules Forum - duty calls you know ;)
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Chief Technical Officer
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Way, way back a few pages, I mentioned that we didn't want to make the FAQs more prominent until we had more content in them... well, since Sean and Jason were finally able to buff them up a bit, we've made them a bit more visible—clicking the Help/FAQ link at the top right of any page in the site brings you to the main Paizo FAQ, and the individual product FAQs are now listed there in a box at the top of the page. Of course, they still exist as tabs on the product pages, next to reviews and discussion.
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Way, way back a few pages, I mentioned that we didn't want to make the FAQs more prominent until we had more content in them... well, since Sean and Jason were finally able to buff them up a bit, we've made them a bit more visible—clicking the Help/FAQ link at the top right of any page in the site brings you to the main Paizo FAQ, and the individual product FAQs are now listed there in a box at the top of the page. Of course, they still exist as tabs on the product pages, next to reviews and discussion.
In my browser the link is on the top but on the other right when I'm on the forums.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Way, way back a few pages, I mentioned that we didn't want to make the FAQs more prominent until we had more content in them... well, since Sean and Jason were finally able to buff them up a bit, we've made them a bit more visible—clicking the Help/FAQ link at the top right of any page in the site brings you to the main Paizo FAQ, and the individual product FAQs are now listed there in a box at the top of the page. Of course, they still exist as tabs on the product pages, next to reviews and discussion.In my browser the link is on the top but on the other right when I'm on the forums.
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Help/FAQ should actually appear on the top right corner of every page, as well as in the left sidebar of every page that displays left sidebars.
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Help/FAQ should actually appear on the top right corner of every page, as well as in the left sidebar of every page that displays left sidebars.Way, way back a few pages, I mentioned that we didn't want to make the FAQs more prominent until we had more content in them... well, since Sean and Jason were finally able to buff them up a bit, we've made them a bit more visible—clicking the Help/FAQ link at the top right of any page in the site brings you to the main Paizo FAQ, and the individual product FAQs are now listed there in a box at the top of the page. Of course, they still exist as tabs on the product pages, next to reviews and discussion.In my browser the link is on the top but on the other right when I'm on the forums.
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Ah... I didn't see that one up there.
Check the top right corner of the page; there's a Help/FAQ button which leads to a page listing various product-specific FAQs.
Guys, the FAQ system seems to be broken down. There’s been only one new FAQ in either the Core Rulebook or the APG in 4 months, while many posts have been marked. What’s going on?