Director of Brand Strategy
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Do GenCon GMs have an alternate contact address for questions about our slots?
You should send any questions or concerns to me at mark.moreland@paizo.com.
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I missed that part. Who's he working for now?As a video game refugee now living the good life outside the brutal game industry, I can probably venture a good guess: he came to his senses. ;)I doubt that, since he'll continue to work for the super geniuses.
He's (apparently) gone back to his previous job, as a part of Super Genius Games, with Owen KC Stephens.
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I doubt that, since he'll continue to work for the super geniuses. Probably a personality conflict with one of the paizo higher-ups. But this idle speculation gets us nothing, and they seem convinced to keep quiet. Looks they don't want to start a paizo internals soap opera...too bad :)
Oh! I hope they will turn it into a telenovelo like on Telemundo! Los Paizonos! Hai de Me! Hyrum no esta aqui!
(sorry) hehe
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He's (apparently) gone back to his previous job, as a part of Super Genius Games, with Owen KC Stephens.
I can happily confirm Hyrum is once again a full, vibrant, and crucial part of Super Genius Games. And we are thrilled to have him.
He was a founding member, and predated my involvement with the company. We kept his chair warm, and he knew he was always welcome back.
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I doubt that, since he'll continue to work for the super geniuses. Probably a personality conflict with one of the paizo higher-ups. But this idle speculation gets us nothing, and they seem convinced to keep quiet. Looks they don't want to start a paizo internals soap opera...too bad :)Oh! I hope they will turn it into a telenovelo like on Telemundo! Los Paizonos! Hai de Me! Hyrum no esta aqui!
(sorry) hehe
I snorted the coffee on the keyboard. Well played.
¡Los Paizonos!
read that as well....it goes with a rumor I was hearing that Hasbro is trying to do something with Paizo.Oh, oh, oh...please tell! Hopefully they will pay me enough money to buy that island in the Caribbean that I have been eyeing. Should only cost $100 million or so. :)
-Lisa
You can't build a proper island fortress for less than $250 million these days. Better hold out for a better offer.
read that as well....it goes with a rumor I was hearing that Hasbro is trying to do something with Paizo.Kind of interesting that he dropped this little rumor granade and then never came back to back it up or otherwise comment ...
How is that interesting?
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How is that interesting?read that as well....it goes with a rumor I was hearing that Hasbro is trying to do something with Paizo.Kind of interesting that he dropped this little rumor granade and then never came back to back it up or otherwise comment ...
Good point - I sometimes use the word 'interesting' to mean more than I probably should.
Given the fact that a comment such as "Hasbro is trying to do something with Paizo" probably fills most Paizo and/or Pathfinder fans with a sense of slight dread ... I probably should have said something like:
Kind of lame that he dropped this little rumor granade and then never came back to back it up or otherwise comment ...
Unfounded rumors are such fun!
Unfounded rumors are such fun!
How are they fun?
Haha, no, I completely agree with you. I guess it was just some failed attempt at trolling.
Unfounded rumors are such fun!How are they fun?
Haha, no, I completely agree with you. I guess it was just some failed attempt at trolling.
[troll]No, no, no. It's absolutely true! I heard it from some who has authoritative and concrete knowledge[/troll]
What he means is that the voices in his head told him that
[troll]No, that's not what I mean at all!! And stop accusing me of hearing voices. I DON'T hear voices!! But if I did, they told me that TSR was going to benefit from a raise dead spell and THEN buy Paizo. Hasbro has nothing to do with it.[/troll]
:P All the best to you, Mr. Savage!!
As far as I can tell, the threat I started on this subject is gone.
In that thread, Erik Mona said it was "sad" Hyrum was no longer with Paizo. No one has said why Hyrum left the company, but if he was fired it wouldn't make sense for Erik to be sad about it.
The same day it was announced Hyrum was leaving Paizo, in Hyrum's facebook page, Owen K Stephens made it clear Hyrum was back with Super Genius Games.
So as I see it, one of two things is most likely to have happened:
1. Super Genius Games is doing so well, they made a job offer to Hyrum which was too good to pass up, and he left Paizo to take it. He may have offered two weeks notice, and been allowed to leave immediately. that would explain why Hyrum said his day had been interesting before he announced he was leaving Paizo, and why this came out of the blue, AND why they are going to hire someone to replace him.
2. Paizo fired or laid off Hyrum, but wanted to wait until everything was ready for Gen Con before doing it, and Erik isn't happy about the decision. That doesn't make much sense to me, given how much everyone involved with PFS seems to love what Hyrum has done with it (he's directly responsible for every PFS player I know getting into it), but it would still explain why everything was sudden and is still hush-hush.
I suppose Paizo might be afraid the Borders bankruptcy was going to flood the market with cheap closeout-sale Pathfinder books (the local Borders has bunches more Pathfinder stuff than my FLGS), and had to cut a high-paying salary. Then they wont rehire a replacement until they see how bad the Borders fallout is. Though if this is the case, I'd be very, very disappointed in Paizo.
Has anyone seen or heard any other official reasons behind this separation?
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As far as I can tell, the threat I started on this subject is gone.
In that thread, Erik Mona said it was "sad" Hyrum was no longer with Paizo. No one has said why Hyrum left the company, but if he was fired it wouldn't make sense for Erik to be sad about it.
The same day it was announced Hyrum was leaving Paizo, in Hyrum's facebook page, Owen K Stephens made it clear Hyrum was back with Super Genius Games.
So as I see it, one of two things is most likely to have happened:
1. Super Genius Games is doing so well, they made a job offer to Hyrum which was too good to pass up, and he left Paizo to take it. He may have offered two weeks notice, and been allowed to leave immediately. that would explain why Hyrum said his day had been interesting before he announced he was leaving Paizo, and why this came out of the blue, AND why they are going to hire someone to replace him.
2. Paizo fired or laid off Hyrum, but wanted to wait until everything was ready for Gen Con before doing it, and Erik isn't happy about the decision. That doesn't make much sense to me, given how much everyone involved with PFS seems to love what Hyrum has done with it (he's directly responsible for every PFS player I know getting into it), but it would still explain why everything was sudden and is still hush-hush.
I suppose Paizo might be afraid the Borders bankruptcy was going to flood the market with cheap closeout-sale Pathfinder books (the local Borders has bunches more Pathfinder stuff than my FLGS), and had to cut a high-paying salary. Then they wont rehire a replacement until they see how bad the Borders fallout is. Though if this is the case, I'd be very, very disappointed in Paizo.
Has anyone seen or heard any other official reasons behind this separation?
Or Erik and his frogs where stalking Hyrum to lick his back and before they could, Hyrum left. That could make Erik sad.
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As far as I can tell, the threat I started on this subject is gone.
It's not, it just fell off the active topics list—it's right here.
Has anyone seen or heard any other official reasons behind this separation?I haven't seen or heard anything official. While I have my opinion, speculation doesn't do anyone any good.
Your speculation would do ME a lot of good! ;D
As far as I can tell, the threat I started on this subject is gone.It's not, it just fell off the active topics list—it's right here.
Thanks Liz! weird, I looked and looked for that thread. I guess I need to get my eyes checked.
However, having now read it, nothing in that changes my speculation.
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Chief Technical Officer
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I suppose Paizo might be afraid the Borders bankruptcy was going to flood the market with cheap closeout-sale Pathfinder books (the local Borders has bunches more Pathfinder stuff than my FLGS), and had to cut a high-paying salary. Then they wont rehire a replacement until they see how bad the Borders fallout is. Though if this is the case, I'd be very, very disappointed in Paizo.
I don't think Borders' closing will have a noteworthy impact on Paizo, immediate or long-term. Also, we've actually *hired* several new employees in the past few months.
I don't think Borders' closing will have a noteworthy impact on Paizo, immediate or long-term. Also, we've actually *hired* several new employees in the past few months.
So Hyrum left of his own accord?
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Chief Technical Officer
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I don't think Borders' closing will have a noteworthy impact on Paizo, immediate or long-term. Also, we've actually *hired* several new employees in the past few months.So Hyrum left of his own accord?
That's between Hyrum and ourselves. Sorry.
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I don't think Borders' closing will have a noteworthy impact on Paizo, immediate or long-term. Also, we've actually *hired* several new employees in the past few months.So Hyrum left of his own accord?
It would be extremely gauche for anyone at Paizo to discuss private personnel matters -- if not legally problematic. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want us discussing your personal work employment history on a public forum, either.
The only person who has any right to discuss it is Hyrum. Why don't you ask him ... privately?
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That's between Hyrum and ourselves. Sorry.
And it should be.
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As a (mostly) uninvolved party, let me hop in here for a second.
In the business world (and much as we fans love Paizo and Paizo loves us, it's a business -- it has to be, if it's going to be a good shepherd of the Pathfinder RPG, since Paizo must make enough money to continue to exist in order to keep shepherding), there are frequently things you either can't or won't discuss publicly.
Sometimes there are legal reasons for this. Sometimes it's a business decision. Sometimes its just a decision among people who know each other to keep details private. And of course exactly because fans will read, take apart, and analyze everything you say about such issues, it's important (over the long term) not to talk about the why of a silence. Once two groups have made it clear they're not going to divulge details, unless you have a moral or legal imperative to check up on what's going on (as might be the case for reporters, law enforcement, employees, shareholders, or any number of other groups), generally the right thing to do is let the matter drop.
I understand fans are often "stakeholders," who have considerable emotional investment in the game they love, the company that produces it, and the people who work for the company. To a degree that's even good for the hobby. And I know seeing something sudden and surprising change in that structure can be worrisome, or even frightening or anger-inducing.
I don't think there's anything wrong with asking a generic question about what has been said, or if anyone knows more. After all information doesn't travel instantly (not yet, anyway), and there may be an announcement you missed. And there's certainly nothing wrong with the well-wishing I've seen here and elsewhere. But if that kind of early, open-ended inquiry doesn't produce results, point-blank questions aren't likely to produce any more results, and they can put people unfairly on the spot.
Speculating about what might have happened is a gray area, and I try not to do it in public. Whenever you're talking about business deals, employment, money, and potential problems or changes, you're in an emotionally charged area. Exactly because you don't know what's happened, it's hard to know what kind of tone is called for the be respectful of the feelings of others. Obviously if people wanted to talk about it, they would do so when the opportunity was offered.
Vic, quite reasonably, wanted to respond to speculation that Borders' bankruptcy might cause a problem for Paizo. That's good business communication with your customers. I don't think it's fair, or at least it's not polite, to use that as an opening to ask about business matters that clearly aren't going to be elaborated on.
On the other hand this is a fairly open forum, and the question wasn't asked rudely or as a challenge. Vic answered it professionally, and I doubt Dungeon Grrrl meant anything by it. I suspect she didn't see the question as out of place, and tone is very difficult to convey in email and forum posts.
And yes, this exactly the kind of thing that may get discussed more in private, either by email or in a bar at a major game convention. And private questions don't put people on the spot nearly as much, which helps keep tensions down.
Hyrum is a good friend, and a great person to have back at Super Genius Games. I know he's pleased people care how he's doing. Let's not let that positive good-wishing take any of us someplace less positive.
[End $.02]
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So Hyrum left of his own accord?
Here is a further quote form Erik Mona's email, the same one where he mentioned being sad about Hyrum's departure:
"...I am sure he will land on his feet in no time."
That tells me that it was not Hyrum's decision.
(I'd have sent this as a PM, but the message board implementation doesn't appear to support that.)
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I suppose Paizo might be afraid the Borders bankruptcy was going to flood the market with cheap closeout-sale Pathfinder books
They're going to have to do a lot better than what they're doing now to flood the market with anything considered "cheap".
RPG stuff has been only 10% off at all stores until yesterday, where they marked it down to 20% off.
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That's between Hyrum and ourselves. Sorry.
Don't be too sorry. As a higher-up at Paizo, that's just about the only response you *could* give on this.
I'm dying of curiousity as well, but we understand you can't tell us.
I wish Hyrum well, though. I only met him at Paizocon, but was very impressed that he managed to find a spot for me every time I wandered up to the PFS tables. :)
That tells me that it was not Hyrum's decision.
It doesn't really matter anyway. Even if he could talk about it - why should he?
The main thing is that the business relationship between the Super Geniuses and Paizo is still going well, so we'll get great products from both.
While I obviously have no clue about what happened, sometimes things simply don't work out because the person - no matter how much you like the individual personally - ends up not being a good fit for the needs of the particular job.
In a large company you may have the luxury of finding a different position that better suits the talents of such an individual, but in a small company that can be less likely.
Again, I have no idea if this was the case in this instance, but I have witnessed it in my own workplace a couple of times.
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Hyrum has left Paizo. That's a fact. Discussing it further isn't going to make ANYONE (especially Hyrum and the Paizo guys) feel any better about it. Let them get back to work making awesome product, free of whatever it was that caused the pairing of Hyrum and Paizo to interfere with that mission.
The question you SHOULD be asking is: Since I haven't yet had my fill of Hyrum (take that as you will), where can I go to get more awesome Hyrum awesomeness?
The question was answered rather quickly: Right here! With Hyrum back at SuperGenius (which must be a pretty good pairing considering he was back on staff there by the time most of us even knew he was gone from Paizo!) we'll still see HyrumQuality ™ product on a fairly regular basis right here in the Paizo store!
In the amount of time we've wasted debating why he left, Hyrum has already seen credit in two Super Genius products, graphic design for Ultimate Options: Arcane Discoveries and the title credit for Outpost: Qether. He's also intimated on the Dungeonaday forums that he's going to be heavily involved in their next mega-project. So it's not like his leaving is really causing a creative vacuum in PFRPG. If anything, once Paizo fills the position with their well known awesome hiring practices, we'll be seeing MORE quality PFS product on top of our now even stronger 3pp in Super Genius.
So let's stop asking about why he's gone and instead focus on what he's doing.
Matthew Winn
(Unofficial, Unasked-for, and probably Unwanted) Hyrum/SuperGenius/Dungeonaday Pimp
That's between Hyrum and ourselves. Sorry.I don't think Borders' closing will have a noteworthy impact on Paizo, immediate or long-term. Also, we've actually *hired* several new employees in the past few months.So Hyrum left of his own accord?
So, let us hijack the remainder of this thread to argue about Star Trek! ;P
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From a UK perspective, the question we should be asking is now that Hyrum is a private citizen (as opposed to a Paizo employee) does this mean he will actually have the time in the summer of 2012 to get in that UK visit he reportedly wanted to make this year? I mean next summer we have our Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, some sort of sporting event in London, and maybe one or two other things going on... ;)
...
If you convince him to play rugby, I want video...
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So, let us hijack the remainder of this thread to argue about Star Trek! ;PThat's between Hyrum and ourselves. Sorry.I don't think Borders' closing will have a noteworthy impact on Paizo, immediate or long-term. Also, we've actually *hired* several new employees in the past few months.So Hyrum left of his own accord?
The animated series is not, and never will be cannon!
:-p
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My main concern is that this is two designers who were apparently let go by Paizo in about 9 months. The quality of the newest products (UC and UM) has been mediocre at best. Seeker of Secrets was released for PFS a year ago and it is already obsolete. It's one thing to redo the PFS campaign guide - it's another to redo products which the customers must purchase which are required for use in the campaign.
I'm seeing signs of a company which is resting on its laurels and which is not open to new ideas or criticism. That bodes ill for the future. It also appears that they do not have a long range plan of where they want to go and how they will get there.
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Projecting opinion as theory is pretty useless, especially when it comes to product quality. Further, some might find it crass and classless to continue on about why someone lost their job in a public forum. I think this thread has long outlived any usefulness, if it ever had any to begin with
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Seeker of Secrets was released for PFS a year ago and it is already obsolete.
Not really obsolete, it still has PFS-useful content in it. Also, Seekers of Secrets was released in late October 2009, so that's 21 months ago. A fair bit longer than a year, though less than 2.
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The animated series is not, and never will be cannon!
:-p
But it has Kzinti in it!
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My main concern is that this is two designers who were apparently let go by Paizo in about 9 months. The quality of the newest products (UC and UM) has been mediocre at best. Seeker of Secrets was released for PFS a year ago and it is already obsolete. It's one thing to redo the PFS campaign guide - it's another to redo products which the customers must purchase which are required for use in the campaign.
I'm seeing signs of a company which is resting on its laurels and which is not open to new ideas or criticism. That bodes ill for the future. It also appears that they do not have a long range plan of where they want to go and how they will get there.
Strange, I remember the second paragraph. Ah yes, it was folks saying in 2008 that Paizo lacks vision and strategy by sticking to 3.5 and not following the Illustrious Industry Leader.
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Chief Technical Officer
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My main concern is that this is two designers who were apparently let go by Paizo in about 9 months.
Apart from the phrase "let go," which I'm not commenting on...
Do you mean Josh and Hyrum? Neither of them were on staff as designers; their jobs were marketing and organized play. We've actually *hired* a new designer (Stephen Radney-MacFarland) in that period.
The quality of the newest products (UC and UM) has been mediocre at best.
You're welcome to your opinion, of course, but not everyone agrees with you...
Seeker of Secrets was released for PFS a year ago and it is already obsolete. It's one thing to redo the PFS campaign guide - it's another to redo products which the customers must purchase which are required for use in the campaign.
It was released in November 2009, shortly after we launched Season One of PFS. In that time, the Pathfinder Society has grown phenomenally, and its needs have changed. And while Seeker of Secrets is no longer *required* for PFS play, it is by no means obsolete—it's still usable in play, and its still relevant as a sourcebook for the in-game Pathfinder Society.
I'm seeing signs of a company which is resting on its laurels and which is not open to new ideas or criticism. That bodes ill for the future.
Would you care to provide specific signs of that?
It also appears that they do not have a long range plan of where they want to go and how they will get there.
I think you'll find that when most companies in our industry reveal big plans two or three years out, with the exception of new editions of their core games, those plans tend not to materialize. Apart from the period where we announced the Pathfinder RPG, the plans we've made public have always been relatively short term. In fact, one of our key strategies is *not* to tell you about things before we actually have something to *show* you—like when we gave you the Alpha playtest to download on the day we announced the Pathfinder RPG.
Not talking long-term *doesn't* mean we don't have plenty of stuff in the works.
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The animated series is not, and never will be cannon!
Well, of course not! How could you shoot cannonballs out of it?
However, it is, and will always be, true canon, while TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT are not, because it was used for Star Fleet Battles and they weren't!
The world is a much larger place than just what the PCs can see... so's life.
I look at it like this - at least he didn't leave Paizo due to being killed in a head-on collision by a drunk driver (as happened in one of my other hobbies this month) and will be continuing to put out Pathfinder material!
Cause for celebration, that is.
[_]D
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So, let us hijack the remainder of this thread to argue about Star Trek! ;PThat's between Hyrum and ourselves. Sorry.I don't think Borders' closing will have a noteworthy impact on Paizo, immediate or long-term. Also, we've actually *hired* several new employees in the past few months.So Hyrum left of his own accord?The animated series is not, and never will be cannon!
:-p
Beam me up Scotty is from the animated series.
The T in James T. Kirk is first revealed as Tiberius in the animated series.
Uhura is first shown as a member of the command structure in the animated series.
Robert April as the first captain of the USS Enterprise in the animated series.
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The animated series is not, and never will be cannon!Well, of course not! How could you shoot cannonballs out of it?
However, it is, and will always be, true canon, while TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT are not, because it was used for Star Fleet Battles and they weren't!
that is until Roddenberry pulled the canon when renegotiating with paramount and said no one including writers or RPG's ect could make use of it. Or so says wiki.