Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let everyone know of some changes here at Paizo. Starting today I'm going to be in charge of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program, with Mark Moreland continuing his role as the developer on all future scenarios.
We'd both like to thank Josh for his tireless work on the Society and wanted to let all of you know that Josh is always welcome to contribute as an author down the road, but for the moment has decided to pursue some other goals.
What does this mean for PFS? Right now, not much. No structural changes are being planned for right now and for most of you things will remain the same. FAQ answers will probably be delayed a bit as we sift through everything but rest assured that we'll get questions answered. Down the road we may make tweak things a bit, but our goal is to always give you the best Organized Play program we can.
If you've got any questions please don't hesitate to post here or you can email us.
Hyrum.
Errr ... congratz Hyrum ! Will you keep your position of Marketing Manager ?
Thanks.
Yep, we really feel that one of the best marketing programs we have is the Pathfinder Society.
Hyrum.
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Welcome to the post Hyrum. I understand that you’re just getting on your feet right now. I know that some people are waiting on word about being regional coordinators, has that been put on hold or will there be word on that?
+1
Good luck to Josh on his future endeavers (we all know that in this industry, no one ever leaves or retires, and you bump into them again).
Congrats Hyrum, we look forward to seeing how PFS shapes up under your guidance! You have the tiger by the tail now!
Robyn
Director of Brand Strategy
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I'm sorry to see Josh go, but I'm glad things are in capable hands. Hyrum, I submitted a full Pathfinder Society scenario for Josh to review about a month ago--has this been transitioned over, or should I resend it to you (or to Mark)?
Review of PFS open call submissions will transfer to me, but there should be no need to resubmit anything. Don't expect an immediate response, however, as there are a lot of things on our plate during the transition. Rest assured, however, that accepted or rejected, I'll provide feedback as soon as I can get to it.
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I am going to repost this here..
I am kind of Sad about this announcement, Josh is awesome and my favorite with Paizo, and my main encouragement for playing pathfinder and running PFS games... Good Luck Josh in your Future endeavors.
And Hyrum , I hope you take a joke as well as Josh does, and the first thing you need to learn is I am awesome! and Kyle is not. ;)
Ok... Kyle is ok...
Hyrum changed his named to Hyrum because it passively injects "Hire 'em" into an employer's subconscious. Very subtle NLP at play there.
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So I promise I'll wait for at least ten minutes before I start asking with the current slate of "outstanding issues" (Paizocon/Gen Con entries, regional coordinators, the latest revision of the OP Guide).
All kidding aside, it's something that will help settle the restless natives if we could get a 1000 foot view of the 'state of PFS' especially with several outstanding irons in the fire. Status quo isn't something we are likely to want to hear given the sudden nature of this change.
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I sincerely hope it was a mutual decision and there's no bad blood, Josh did a fine job of organizing the Society. I wish him the best luck in his future endeavors.
Hyrum, you've got some big shoes to fill, but I'm sure they wouldn't have given you the job if they didn't think you'd be great, so I've got confidence.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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All kidding aside, it's something that will help settle the restless natives if we could get a 1000 foot view of the 'state of PFS' especially with several outstanding irons in the fire. Status quo isn't something we are likely to want to hear given the sudden nature of this change.
Are there specific irons you have in mind?
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All kidding aside, it's something that will help settle the restless natives if we could get a 1000 foot view of the 'state of PFS' especially with several outstanding irons in the fire. Status quo isn't something we are likely to want to hear given the sudden nature of this change.Are there specific irons you have in mind?
I think that he's talking about :
"outstanding issues" (Paizocon/Gen Con entries, regional coordinators, the latest revision of the OP Guide).
Welcome to the job, Hyrum. I am also sad to see Josh go, but with as little as he has seemed to post around here since GenCon, I was seriously worried that he was getting burned out by it all. I do hope he found a better situation it is was not just burn out that caused him to stop running the PFS.
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All kidding aside, it's something that will help settle the restless natives if we could get a 1000 foot view of the 'state of PFS' especially with several outstanding irons in the fire. Status quo isn't something we are likely to want to hear given the sudden nature of this change.Are there specific irons you have in mind?
The list MisterSlanky had is pretty representative.
1 - Summer Event Reporting - Hire a temp data entry worker and be done with it, please :)
2 - Version 3.1 of the Guide - lots of people are waiting for various books to be added to Chapter 13. Some idea of when that might happen would be great. End of Oct? Before Thanksgiving? End of the year?
3 - Regional Coordinators - Everyone's favorite subject after these 2.
Beyond that I there is some specific vision Hyrum has with respect to Organized Play. I would assume that he wasn't picked to fill this position just to keep the lights on, so sharing that vision with the feet on the street would be an awesome start.
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Welcome to the job, Hyrum. I am also sad to see Josh go, but with as little as he has seemed to post around here since GenCon, I was seriously worried that he was getting burned out by it all. I do hope he found a better situation it is was not just burn out that caused him to stop running the PFS.
+1 and wellcome onboard.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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The list MisterSlanky had is pretty representative.
1 - Summer Event Reporting - Hire a temp data entry worker and be done with it, please :)
2 - Version 3.1 of the Guide - lots of people are waiting for various books to be added to Chapter 13. Some idea of when that might happen would be great. End of Oct? Before Thanksgiving? End of the year?
3 - Regional Coordinators - Everyone's favorite subject after these 2.Beyond that I there is some specific vision Hyrum has with respect to Organized Play. I would assume that he wasn't picked to fill this position just to keep the lights on, so sharing that vision with the feet on the street would be an awesome start.
All three of the specific issues you raised are among the highest priorities for Hyrum and myself as we push forward. I'll let Hyrum chime in about the latter question if he feels this is an appropriate time and forum to do so.
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All kidding aside, it's something that will help settle the restless natives if we could get a 1000 foot view of the 'state of PFS' especially with several outstanding irons in the fire. Status quo isn't something we are likely to want to hear given the sudden nature of this change.Are there specific irons you have in mind?
If my dinosaur animal companion is wearing an Explorer's Outfit and is carrying an extra Artisan's outfit, do they both count against encumberance, or just th Artisan's Outfit.
It's a Deinonychus if that makes a difference.
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All three of the specific issues you raised are among the highest priorities for Hyrum and myself as we push forward. I'll let Hyrum chime in about the latter question if he feels this is an appropriate time and forum to do so.
Published material gets (and usually hits) deadlines. These kind of topics should get the same kind of treatment. At least it doesn't feel like they do from this side of the wall...or is that perhaps why we find ourselves having this conversation in the first place?
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If my dinosaur animal companion is wearing an Explorer's Outfit and is carrying an extra Artisan's outfit, do they both count against encumberance, or just th Artisan's Outfit.
It's a Deinonychus if that makes a difference.
Mark no need to answer that question, either his Druid or his Companion will be killed in our next game...
And when did your Wolf start wearing a Deinonychus disuise wearing an explorer's outfit?
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Yep, we really feel that one of the best marketing programs we have is the Pathfinder Society.
Yes, Pathfinder Society is a strong marketing program. However, I think it is also important to see that it generates play and purchases due to the quality of content and the the expectation of integrity within game playing environment.
I make this point because RPGA completely missed in in making the changes that they did in moving the LFR campaign and the campaign rules that associate it. RPGA alienated long-standing members by abandoning the association with excellence in gaming.
Free-for-all replay. Destroying the wall between player and character by allowing not just universal unlimited replay, but also playing adventures after reading the adventures. Abandoning the approach of the game as an attempt to model a world and the actions there. These are failings of 4e, RPGA, and LFR in the the last two years.
I am certain that you and the rest of the management staff have a highly developed understanding of your marketing strategy and direction. I hope that by calling out this deficit in how a competitor handled things poorly can serve to keep in focus what NOT to do.
Best wishes in your expanded role and I look forward to good things.
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Venture-Captain, Missouri—Cape Girardeau
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Here's to hoping the transition runs smooth from one coordinator to another. Mr. Frost has been my point of contact for the various (three) local conventions that I run organize Pathfinder Society for, and I am saddened to see his leaving. Much luck to you, fine sir, in your future endeavors.
How the aforementioned "Big Three" issues are handled will give us some indication on the abilities of Hyrum to stay on top of the Organized Play scene for Pathfinder. I wish you much luck as well, though I know with the help of mark, you should do just fine. Please be patient with us, as we will be with you during this transition.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Wow, Josh is willing to go to great lengths to not have to personally enter all of the Gen Con events a third year in a row! :)
Hyrum, is that one of your "new guy at Paizo" tasks now?
Mark was working on this when I dropped by a little while ago... it's quite the stack, and it can't be his only priority, so it'll take a little while—but it is actually happening!
I make this point because RPGA completely missed in in making the changes that they did in moving the LFR campaign and the campaign rules that associate it. RPGA alienated long-standing members by abandoning the association with excellence in gaming.
Free-for-all replay. Destroying the wall between player and character by allowing not just universal unlimited replay, but also playing adventures after reading the adventures. Abandoning the approach of the game as an attempt to model a world and the actions there. These are failings of 4e, RPGA, and LFR in the the last two years.
The replay rules in LFR were one of the finest changes they made and kept me playing far more than I would have done otherwise. Tackling the same challenges with different characters and different groups was fascinating and fun. It's not like they were forcing you to do it...
What stopped me playing 4e was the constant errata. In a game where the only constant is your character, continually undermining that one piece of continuity just killed it for me. Some examples:
They waited until my Avenger had hit 10th level before deciding that actually I couldn't wear armour after all (without losing class abilities), because it wasn't how they envisioned the class. If it wasn't how they envisioned the class then why did they put it in the book in the first place? And why did it take a year or so to make the change?
My rogue uses a superior weapon and was looking at a paragon class based around superior weapons, but then they decide a rapier isn't a superior weapon after all, two years after printing it...
And my wizard has had *every single spell* erratad, some of them multiple times. If we're talking about excellence in gaming then it has to be get the rules right first time and don't mess with people's characters. Build things slowly and surely and preserve that continuity.
Josh did a good job with PFS, long may it continue.
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Chief Technical Officer
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So who will be replacing Josh for all the writing of the scenarios he used to do? Will you be going out more to freelancers?
I know A lot are done by freelancers already but Josh used to write like nice chunk of them.
When staffers write products, they're treated just like other freelance projects, and done off the clock. Nothing has changed there on our side; employee or not, he can still write them just like any other freelancer.
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The replay rules in LFR were one of the finest changes they made and kept me playing far more than I would have done otherwise. Tackling the same challenges with different characters and different groups was fascinating and fun. It's not like they were forcing you to do it...
Glad it works for you. I don't have a way of continuing this line of conversation without threadjacking or going off topic for the site.
Good Gaming!
Hey everyone,
Still going through everything and getting a handle on it but I wanted to pop in and say I've been reading ever post and will continue to do so.
As for the "Big 3" questions, Vic has answered a few of them, but we're definitely working on getting all of the results put into the system (plus brainstorming new ways to make it easier and faster). We're also discussing Chapter 13, and we'll be making the Regional Coordinator announcement early next week.
Hyrum.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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So who will be replacing Josh for all the writing of the scenarios he used to do? Will you be going out more to freelancers?
I know A lot are done by freelancers already but Josh used to write like nice chunk of them.
I hope Josh continues to write for PFS. His adventures have played a large role in defining the Society as it now stands and I know he had a lot of great ideas on the horizon, both with already announced products like his three-part story arc next year as well as others that are still secret.