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Unpopular Viewpoint: There's something missing in organized gameplay.
Growing up in the 1980s, many of us saw ads in various product inserts for the RPGA. Back then, the local group I gamed with, and for that matter, nobody in the town or greater city area had anything to do with them. Game stores, if we had 1, didn't involve themselves in any kind of organized game play.
In the 1990s, I was still aware of the RPGA and the existance of other game conventions like GENCON and a few relatively local conventions. Still, most who played the game, weren't members. And getting to understand the value of joining was a bit sketchy, even after reading about them. We didn't have that much of the internets back then, although we could sense organized game play was still occurring.
And much to the chagrin of my fellow Paizonians, I am sure, most people who played the game didn't think too much of them. Most didn't even think highly of them. It always seemed to us, over those decades, that playing the game with close friends, and in the natural style of the DM who was running the game, seemed to trump any lure of attending a game run by a stranger, and according to rigid rules.
In the 2000s with the advent of easily accessible .pdfs I was able to view some historical documents from Gary's tournaments! My friends and I, and other gamers were aware of tournament-style games, because several old modules had tournament characters in the back of them. Gleep Wurp was always my favorite name from those lists.
And then, the game had changed.
It moved from the realm of total imagination and a bucket-load of ambiguity, toward a streamlined entity choc-full of sensible refinement that was codefied, and although complex, perfectly reasonable. It seemed the "game" no longer had "scarequotes" and it became much more of a codefied game. The ice monsters had damage resistance against cold! And the precision of movement coupled with the variety lured me back in, I dare say, to play more often than in college. But still, no memberships, no dues, no excess rigidity, and no signature forms. We played without any worry as to what level of treasure we were allowed to have by any centralized high-command. And I never heard of anyone playing in organized play that had earned anything of amazing worth in real life.. perhaps a free book or something, so there seemed still no incentive.
Now, in the 2010, I actually play more often than ever. I would have never believed I'd be running a weekly game with six players, a monthly game with 6 different players, and also be a player in other groups. The fact is... almost 30 years have passed, and there's been no understanding on my part as to what the charm of organized play is.
Then in the latter half of the 2000s I became disenchanted with wotc entirely, and swore fealty to PAIZO the "day the Dungeon died" (magazines). When wotc removed all the legacy .pdfs from sale in the darkness of one sudden night, then released the iron-clad first version of the GSL, I was absolutely through. So joining any kind of organized play with them was forever a non-issue. Then came Pathfinder Society. I'm like member #40 or something.
I support PAIZO through my purchases and have in other countless untold ways. I'm aware that mini-4-hr modules of some kind exist. I'm aware that there's a form to be filled out when attending, and one for game masters to fill out and send in somewhere. But I still don't understand it, something seems missing.
With the advent of the Beginners Box in October, and with Pathfinder Society in full swing at conventions such as GENCON, I attended a Pathfinder event. And, my friends, my review was less than adequate. I sat down at a table as the GM barked out for some special ticket he had to collect, then proceeded to shallowly run encounters with no depth, meaning or flavour - and did I mention, with no roleplaying!
I received texts from other friends at the table who planned to leave the table early. I asked them to hold on, saying, "I wish to understand this." The game itself is awesome, but a bad GM can break any semblance of fun. This session included in-game Pathfinder Society npcs, devoid of life. We were dragged by the nose through a few encounters, then time was up. My friends were relieved the ordeal was over.
What's missing?
I've wondered whether "organized play" means some kind of shallow tournament competition? I've tried to figure out if organized play just means you're playing the game at tables in a room with others playing games at the same time? I'm not sure if organized play means getting participants to play a whole lot under a sub-ruleset that places some restrictions on which books you can use, what spells the pre-gen characters have, etc. I'm not sure what is earned or what kind of organized play experience I should have expected.
I'm okay with saying, "we had a lousy GM" who's intention was to run a game just like any of us would. I've read the form that the basic organized play sends out, but its kinda goofy looking to me, and I must be missing a lot of context.
I do understand that organized play, helps a game company meet their customers, and promote their games - this I see as a positive. I also recognize that organized play can somehow be fun if collectively they affect some kind of event in the published game world; a novel idea. Still I wonder - what's missing?
For example... am I missing a monthly newsletter with tabletop games in my area? I could use that. Am I not being sent some membership perks to get or see new stuff before it hits the shelves? Dunno if I even need that. Should I be using some kind of membership discount somewhere? I already have a discount from PAIZO for my subscriptions. Is there a website or database somewhere where I can meet other Pathfinder RPG enthusiasts such as myself? I could use that, especially since game stores don't have LFG bulletinboards anymore, if they ever did.
I guess I really wish to understand the draw more clearly. And with that understanding, I would do more. If I received free monthly 4-hr game module to run at gamestores, I'd probably start gathering groups to come learn Pathfinder. I could do this anyway, but it brings me no closer to understanding organized play.
Maybe its just a social setting to help norm gamers to playing the same way, and to have a common language about mechanics and stuff. But if that's the case, I still don't see the draw. If membership in an organized gaming system were somehow more relevant, accessible, fun.. I could see it being a great springboard to introduce new players to the game. Conversely, if I could see the existance, or sign of life, of any organized play at gamestores or anywhere locally, I would be sure to find interest in it. Perhaps most of these are located in towns or cities where the most product is sold, and other areas are not sought after? I could understand that, but that doesn't seem sensible.
And there's one final thought to this lengthy story... it has always struck me that organized game players, in the few arenas where I've seen it happen, tend to express the rules, rules, rules, rather than holistically playing a roleplaying game. In the few times I've witness this type of play, purchased boosters of minis were involved, or the group tended to be more concerned over a familiar's spell mechanic than any kind of real "mood" of playing a fantastical game with spells and dragons! This was always a turn off to many folks I knew, and frankly the one sticking point that I would dislike. I know you cannot change people, but I would become active in a society of gamers who were adherant to any mantra set forth by the game company that said, "keep the mood of a roleplaying game, tell/play the story and rules come second".
Help me understand organized game play better?
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Hmmm. It's a very interesting question that you pose. First let me state that you aren't missing out on any kind of newsletter or extra perk, what you see is what you get.
Maybe it will help if I tell whyi love PFS. I can't answer that for anyone else. For about a year, I had a PFS character, but played PFS very sporadically. We didn't have a regular group of players, so this was an opportunity for me to play the same character when I did get that chance. My husband and I played some games online, and played a few times in game stores. To be honest, i really would have preferred a home game. I had dreams of APs, either playing in them or GMing them. I admit, I wasn't fond of the idea of just up and going to a random place to play with people I don't know, especially since I'm female, which results in unwelcome assumptions about my experience level.
Rather than make a huge post about what happened from there, I'll tell you the biggest thing that happened. Atlanta got a Venture Captain (Mike, who has just been announced today as the new Campaign Coordinator). He organized disparate groups around Atlanta, and asked us to really get involved. My husband, a friend and I volunteered to coordinate groups at two local game stores, once a month each. Getting involved was the best thing that happened to us. Now, instead of showing up to games and wondering what's going to happen, we are the ones who are making the game better. New people show up every month.
The reason I love organized play is not just because I can take my character anywhere. Its the same reason why people do any kind of organized event: to be a part of something bigger. At first it was just to scratch that gaming itch. But then I became a part of this community that I had an influence in.
Now, I run a home game two weekends a month and PFS two weekends a month. They are very different, believe me. Of course I have a lot more flexibility at the home game. Of course we can have whole 4 hours of roleplaying. But those PFS gamedays are days when I get to be out and having fun with other people. Teaching brand new people the game. Spreading the word about a system I am passionate about. Having fun in a completely different way than I would in my Legacy of Fire game.
I'm sorry that your OP xperiences have been bad. I hope you don't stop trying because there's a ton of wonderful GMs out there, and some of my best experiences have been at cons (and worst, but it comes with the territory). I hope you will take it upon yourself to become a part of PFS, so that no one will have a bad experience with you behind the screen. And if not, it's ok. OP is not for everyone, and I totally get that. Do what is best for you. Just know that with PFS, you can help make it what you want to see.
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Here's some thoughts from a yahoo who's played/GMed over 100 PFS tables.
Some players are lame and some GMs are lame. At first I thought this was a problem with organized play, that it was a home for lamers who couldn't find a normal game to play in.
Turns out your random organized play player is just as likely to to be awesome/lame as your random non-organized player, I was just spoiled from hand picking my groups for many years. Of course some people have good days and bad days,
As for your specific experience at GenCon I'm sorry to hear that you didn't have much fun at your table. It unfortunately happens more often then any of us would like to admit but I would hate to see you paint all of PFS with the damning brush of one bad experience.
If free modules are all that's stopping you from running and promoting PFS I suggest you look at the organized play guide and find your nearest Venture Captain and contact him. I've found they frequently are able to provide modules to be run at stores.
Also it can be difficult to fit all the RP and adventure in PFS adventures into 4 hours. If you want more time to roleplay and flesh out the adventures I'd suggest scheduling 5 hour timeslots instead of 4.
As for a message board to find gamers I've heard that EN world's gamer search thing is useful but have no experience with it myself.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/gamersseekinggamers.php
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Help me understand organized game play better?
First, I'll echo the stuff above me. Organized play actually isn't a format for everyone. It's a format for a heck of a lot of people (10000+ in our case), and it tries to have the broadest appeal possible, but at the end of the day not everyone is going to like everything.
Second, it's too bad you didn't have a great experience at GenCon. Again, a lot of people did. I debate weather playing in a room with 300 of your newest friends is the best way to experience organized play for the first time or not. That in itself could leave a lot of people feeling out in the cold.
What organized play for me is: a way to enjoy a game I love, in a format and context that makes is much more accessible to people's scheduling. Trying to run an ongoing campaign with 4 players and a GM is hard enough for my regular group, and we want to play every other week. Life gets in the way for one of those 5 people and it's reschedule time. In organized play, the people who can play at that time, show up and play. Since the format is a 4-5 hour scenario, it's not that important if you miss this week's game, or next week's game, or only play 1/month. The point is, you play when it works for you. There needs to be a common framework in place to allow that kind of thing to happen, and that means some things are banned, or changed, etc. There is an additional rules layer that has to exist to act as a translation layer. This is the part that a lot of GMs buck up against. "Nobody is going to tell me how to run my game" and all that.
For me the value of portability of play - literally around the world, the shared experience of being able to swap stories with other players, how their groups solved this problem or that encounter, and the friendships I've made are worth that and more.
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EN World's newly appointed Paizo/Pathfinder Correspondent - Steel Wind, recently posted an excellent Blog article on EN World's front page "Why Organized Play has been an Awesome Experience". Highly recommended read.
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
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I wanted to respond to the OP, but Steel_Wind already did such a good job of it that I thought it better just to link to his post on ENWorld here.
Edit: Australo-Ninjaed!!
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Unpopular Viewpoint: There's something missing in organized gameplay.
And there's one final thought to this lengthy story... it has always struck me that organized game players, in the few arenas where I've seen it happen, tend to express the rules, rules, rules, rather than holistically playing a roleplaying game. In the few times I've witness this type of play, purchased boosters of minis were involved, or the group tended to be more concerned over a familiar's spell mechanic than any kind of real "mood" of playing a fantastical game with spells and dragons! This was always a turn off to many folks I knew, and frankly the one sticking point that I would dislike. I know you cannot change people, but I would become active in a society of gamers who were adherant to any mantra set forth by the game company that said, "keep the mood of a roleplaying game, tell/play the story and rules come second".
As someone who has played about as long as you have and also as someone who has organized several hundred tables Pathfinder Society and Living Greyhawk before that I might have some insight into what you are experiencing.
People who thrive in organized play tend to like to play the tactical game as much, if not more than the roleplay side. This is especially true in a loud game room at a con. I could offer other generalizations but I will stick with what I like about organized play.I prefer to play a character in a portable setting. Where the GM and other players are not the same week in and week out. In fact I often start to regard a home game as something of a grind after a while. I tend to get bored. Two things about organized play prevent this. I end up playing with a larger pool of people and there is usually a time limit that keeps the game moving. The cuts the boredom that I inevitably feel if I am at a RP heavy home game.
The players I like to play with the most in an organized play setting have a solid grasp of the rules and can role play well. In fact I do not consider it a slur to be called and to call others "rules lawyers".
I also find that often the players that are the best lawyers are also the best at RP within the confines of a limited time scenario.
What tends to happen is that these best players are already at full tables due to the amount of people that have played with them before and would eagerly do so again. This is especially true at cons. What the new player ends up seeing all to often is those players that are left over. This would be the new players and the kinda irritating ones.
There is a chance that this is what happened to you. The other chance is that you are not compatible with organized play. Some players do prefer flavor over rules. I tend to consider the rules to be part of the flavor. There is nothing wrong with that so long as you know that OP is not a plot to force you to play in a different style.
Enjoy your gaming, organized or otherwise.
Den
Venture-Agent, Virginia—Hampton Roads
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Pax,
I can tell you that I would love to sit at one of your games as it sounds like it would be a blast. I can also tell you we both have the same view of organized play. Pathfinder Society was my last shot at giving organized play and real thought. Here is why. (Warning Long story)
I tried in the early 90's (high school years) to get into RPGA but it was hard to find a constant group growing up in the Marietta, Ga area and keeping the parents happy. What I did have was a solid group of friends who just made things up on the fly, rip off the Dragon and Dungeon magazines as much as possible. Mechanics weren't a big issue and for the most part I couldn't tell the difference between 1st and 2nd edition D&D. I also played Rifts, Cyberpunk, MechWarrior, Earthdawn, and even some games we made up ourselves. It was just about story. I am sure we were overpowered. I mean who has STR:18/91, Dex 17, Con 17 Int :12 Wis : 13 Cha 9 fighter?
I joined the US Navy after high school and hit the gaming bug hard at that point. I read everything I could get my hands on. One of my favorite things in this world is the Dragon Magazine Archive that had the first 250 dragon issues in one compact place. I was playing in 2nd edition D&D games and finding players wasn't hard but keeping a constant set of players in the military just doesn't happen for long. People rotate around and your always breaking people in to the way you play or better yet breaking yourself in to the way they play. RPGA overseas to me was just dead as no one was willing to organized it. So once again it was freelance DM's who just made stuff up on the fly and rolled with it. These navy games were very over the top. Monty Hall all the way and it was good fun and a easy way to make a duty weekend go by faster. Once the day 3rd edition came out I opened my big fat mouth about how I would do this and that and soon discovered myself behind a DM screen going what have I gotten myself into and apparently I liked it.
After I got out of the navy and moved to Virginia to take on my new job as a civilian I was completely displaced and used the wonderful world wide web to find fellow gamers. This is when I finally found an RPGA group in place about 45 minutes from me and it seemed to be a large group. So off I went to finally give the RPGA system a chance and what I went through was horrific. When I arrived to the store and found the correct people I introduced myself and said I would like to play. I know the system but just never tried to do RPGA. The coordinator told me that I was wasting my time and that the group was just doing some high level play for the next few months or so and level 1 PC's were not welcomed at all. Needless to say I was just...I will go with upset. Just insert a whole bunch of colorful four letter metaphors. I a few months later tried a different store and the GM there didn't want to take me through the registration process caused I showed up only 15 minutes early and it would take too long to get me setup. So at that point a gave up on D&D and just played battletech for several years at a local hobby shop.
My battletech group was in the mood for a game change and I through in let's play 3.0 D&D. Here is when I noticed a big change in play styles that I was not used too. Players were using miniatures and on a battlemap to play D&D. I never had seen that before. The group I was in was a part of the RPGA system and were more focused on the game mechanics than I was accustomed too. It worked out fine in the end and all was well.
Then WOTC ended a gaming foundation and stopped Dragon and Dungeon magazines and Paizo came out with Pathfinder soon afterwards. I was very skeptical of Paizo even though I thought they did great with the magazine before they ended but the adventure path I admit was leery with but I had just gotten like 3 year subscriptions to the old Dragon and Dungeon and converted to credit to the Adventure Paths and through the dice. Wham I thought it was good stuff.
Paizo announces Pathfinder Society Play was starting up for the beta test season and I wanted to run my own game and started up a home game right when Silent Tide was released. Now we are in season three and some of your views I think have merit. Some of the modules in PFS I could run for 12 hours easily but you can't do that in a game ran at a CON or out of a local hobby store as it isn't practical. In public games you generally don't know who is going to be playing with you until game time and you don't always get a cast of characters you want to play with as bad apples happen.
My biggest gripe with PFS play (of which I have a few on the boards here) is that in the 4-5 hour time slot I want to get more of the background story which is at the front of every scenario out in the open during the course of play. I want the players to see the motivations or the antagonists and see what effects of the story can have on the PC's and the game world. I want to see players role play the PC's instead of just saying "I roll my diplomacy check". I think combat mechanics is the one thing I would like to use less of in most games (Not just Pathfinder or D&D). Some of these ideas are best done in a home game and better to avoid organized play. The beauty of organized play is that gamers get to be more social. We interact and learn new things from new players. We are willing to try things out when in the group just to avoid boredom when a plan "A" goes wrong and you get to learn a new RPG, miniature game, or even a board game.
Organized game play is there to allow a large group of people experience a common story so we can all swapped adventure stories when we meet each other at cons. People get all bogged down in the rules, mechanics, and optimization of PC's because it is human nature. Organized play is also good for allowing people to run a 4-5 hour game with a completely defined story to play when their time is limited for various reasons. I get out of PFS what I am looking for. Fun, Excitement, adventure (I would make a poor Jedi it seems) and meeting new players and helping with the local hobby stores and the community. One day I might get to be a Venture Captain. I have met many of the people on these forums and because of them I have tried to up my game. Nani Obringer is one of the best GM's I know. She adds personality to NPC's that many GM's just don't bother with. Doug Miles make maps for his games that are just simply amazing.
On that note I say try it out with your group and have fun with it. Can't hurt to try. This was a lot longer of a post that I meant to be but you get the idea. Off to bed.
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I too have had to think twice or thrice about organized play. Back in the days of Living Greyhawk, memories which I fondly caress, I didn't come even close to wonder. I believe it's merely the feeling of being part of something big; at least that was the case back then. My character could become the captain of the guard of some city (and actually, did!) or my actions might have unbalanced the powers etc. The need to be able to reach up and affect things was a huge plus.
Personally I can't find people who'd all be able to play once a week at the same time; always something going on, preventing people from playing. So all Adventure Paths and other large campaign with the same people are out of my list. I just can't do them. That's why organized play is there, why it's the best solution for me.
Being isolated from most other PFS groups here in Finland I've, admittably, felt a little left alone. Around the times of Living Greyhawk (I'm gonna mention this more than once, get used to it) we had one triad member who had been churning out modules at a quick pace, and practically developed the story on his own. Some would say we were playing his campaign. We could see how the scale of power tipped from one side to another, another great war looming just around the corner. The cries of "we can stop it" inside my head were constant. It pulled you right in.
Organized play tends to have this effect, regardless of nature. Since it attracts a lot of people, others, 'untainted', get curious and investigate. Some stay, some don't. Actually these bad experiences often turn away players forever, which even happened at Ropecon 2011. Bad experiences, however, are not because of organized play; they are because of bad players and/or GMs.
There have been cases where a player or players have been evicted due to their distractive and/or nerve-breaking game-style and/or personality. The games started to feel a lot better, and there wouldn't be more sighs about "oh no not him again". Otherwise you see the good players go. GMs and players alike are often too intimidated to say these things aloud, since they've been given to understand organized play is meant for everyone and anyone interested can play, and you can nothing about it.
I echo Pax Veritas about how some see organized play as a tournament-game. I wish there would be a way to change this, maybe address "Pathfinder Society organized play" as "Pathfinder Society Global Campaign". Would it sound better? Would it pull more people in, sound more 'sexy' and less of a bureacratic block of adventures with nothing but combat encounters? As I've gathered, this is the common concept of what organized play (Pathfinder Society, Living Greyhawk, Living Forgotten Realms) is.
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A lot of long posts here, I'll try to be short and sweet as to why I like PFS:
1) my campaign games fall apart in the summer. People's schedules pick up and we never seem to get enough of everyone to justify gaming. But PFS can draw from such a large collection of gamers that I never have to cancel. Say my schedule very suddenly opens up, and I want to game next friday night. I can, with very little notice to the community, do that and expect that a game will actually happen.
2) No pressure gaming. No one's gonna yell at me if I have to cancel at the last second. It's one four hour session stand-alone, so if I miss the next "episode", I don't have to spend that day tapping my foot and wondering what I'm missing. If I'm running, I can plan for it in an afternoon. No long back story to remember as a PC or GM. I don't have to spend large amounts of time statting NPC's, I just have to read thirty pages or so. It may be RP-lite, but it's stress free pure guilty pleasure. And every once in a while, I need that.
Now, if you have a large, dedicated group that can make gaming a priority enough times a month to scratch your itch, it may not be for you. If you are satisified with a small community and don't feel the need to get to know the fellow gamers in your town, state, country, world, then it may not be for you.
It sounds to me like you get everything you want out of gaming without PFS. If that's the case, that may be why you aren't seeing the appeal that everyone else does.
And that's just fine.
Game on.
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I've been playing D&D since 1975. I started in college and continued in a variety of campaigns over the years. Gamers back in those days didn't seem to be as segregated as today: the same people that played D&D, Traveller and The Fantasy Trip (predecessor to GURPS) were also into boardgames and miniatures (Napoleonic primarily, but also American Civil War, Ancients and Fantasy).
I got into convention gaming and the RPGA around 1989 at the encouragement of someone I worked with and who I'm still gaming with today. In those days, the RPGA was classic (character provided) tournaments and Living City (the first organized play campaign) was a Gen Con only event. I liked conventions because I could play games/systems that I couldn't play at home.
Over the years, organized play took over the RPGA with Living Arcanis, Living City, Living Death, Living Force, Living Greyhawk, Living Jungle, Living Verge, Virtual Seatle and a few others. The WotC decision to quit supporting over companies products took a toll as did the elimination of all classic events. Organized play is good for people who don't have a home group, but the limitations associated with the genre severely restrict the content and themes. A classic module allows you to immerse yourself in the character and your relationship to the other characters as defined by the author. The module is written for the specific characters, so it feels more "real".
I have a friend who loves the 90 minute D&D encounters because of spousal pressure, but that doesn't appeal to me. Different strokes for different folks.
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EN World's newly appointed Paizo/Pathfinder Correspondent - Steel Wind, recently posted an excellent Blog article on EN World's front page "Why Organized Play has been an Awesome Experience". Highly recommended read.
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
And he has great taste in avatars!
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You're right, there's definitely something missing from Organized Play:
1) There's no continuity in the storyline compared to a campaign.
2) In campaign play, it feels like any action you do is always weighed against your personal beliefs FIRST. In PFS, the desires of the PFS and your faction seem more important and many people obey without question. (But it's really up to you how you play your PC)
3) There are no constraints in campaign play, if your character disagrees with something, PVP is possible. Anything is possible.
4) Nothing is customized to your character. When you sit at a table, most players and GMs will leave knowing almost nothing about your character. (It's up to the player to convey this information however, no one else is to blame.)
5) In general, there's less roleplaying, but that will vary from table to table, GM to GM.
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The benefits of Organized Play are:
1) The main benefit is that you can run a monthly game and it doesn't matter whether you have 3 players attend or 7. It's good for people with busy schedules.
2) If a PC doesn't show up, it doesn't hurt the storyline or you don't have to cancel the session.
3) There's no need to recap or remember what's going on, which is important if each campaign session is 4+ weeks apart. The storyline for a campaign can also get lost if there's too much time between sessions.
4) PFS takes less time (and broken up into smaller chunks) for a GM to prep compared to organizing an entire campaign.
5) Scenarios are designed to fit into a certain time frame, which is great for busy people who can only play a certain number of hours.
6) The scenarios are generally good quality.
7) You're exposed to new players and GMs. With this you get a better grasp of the rules, tactics, tricks, etc. In general, being exposed to new ideas makes you a better player or GM. For me, I wasn't really comfortable roleplaying outside of my home game before, I am now.
8) You get to know the RPG community, which is important because our numbers are dwindling. You get to meet new people.
9) No commitment. New players can easily join in and play a pregen. They don't have to read through pages of campaign threads to join. So you can attract new players easier and new players can try different GMs without any commitment as well.
Basically, without PFS I probably would not be playing PF. For the 30+ crowd, people just can't even commit to a monthly game, so there's no point in me spending hours making a campaign that might not even make it through its first book. Also, when key players don't show up, you might have to reschedule to play every 6 weeks, which is too long for campaigns. If you have a group that can play weekly, by all means play an Adventure Path!
However, for me, it's PFS or nothing. And it's been a great experience so far.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I've personally never been to a Con, but I do all my Pathfinder-ing at local PFS games.
For me, the reason I even started in the first place was because it was NOT an ongoing "campaign". I always worry that I won't be able to make the time commitment necessary to see a campaign/story arc through to the end, or that a couple of ill-timed absences will cause headaches for the other players. But with PFS sessions being one-shot adventures, I don't disrupt anything by not showing up - and I don't need to call anyone to let them know I won't be there, etc. Ironically, I haven't actually missed very many sessions of PFS since I started, but still, it's nice knowing that I can decide to skip it at the last second without causing problems for other people.
Of course, if your schedule is predictable enough that you don't need that much flexibility, then that might be a noteworthy perk for you.
Another thing I like about playing in PFS regularly is the variety I get from session to session. One week I might be playing a low-combat murder mystery, the next I might be wandering through a labyrinth, the next I'm trying to convince vikings that Pathfinders are pretty cool guys (while said vikings are attacking us), the next I'm trying to expose a noble's double-life as a crimelord, and so forth. I love not knowing what the next mission will be or who my next party will include. One week there's a half-orc cleric babysitting a flock of halflings, another week there's no casters ("With three greatswords, who needs fireball?"), and another week there's a "classic" four-man party. Trying to be ready for any type of challenge with any group of allies and trying to position myself to make the best use of my strengths and keep my weaknesses from getting in the way is tons of fun for me.
I also really like being able to make more than one character. You can't play more than one at the same session, but you can have any number of active characters. I currently have a level 5 fighter, a level 2 cleric, and a level 1 rogue; and I'm considering making another character, too! I really enjoy making characters, so being able to bring in somebody new without disrupting a story is pretty nice.
And finally, shopping between scenarios is awesome fun. :D
Pretty much every session of PFS I've been in there has been someone who asks mid session, "what are we supposed to be doing in this adventure?"
The intro box texts are always too long, and I see everyone's eyes start to glaze over... I know mine do. Listening to someone read a long detailed mission statement, littered with fantasy names, is actually pretty hard to do. I try to take notes of what we need to do.
And this never happens with players in a home game? Your home DM doesn't use fantasy names? Never gives any sort of mission statement or campaign recap at the start of a session?
Players that ignore the DM's setup/backstory will do it no matter the backdrop of the game they are in.
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How can you have played the Year of the Shadow Lodge and not notice the continuity?
You'd think it would be obvious, but adventure path campaigns have a depth in their storyline (which drive every session), character interactions, character motivations, background, that go far beyond organized play. PFS are disparate one-shots, it's very nature means limited continuity.
What our PCs do in one scenario doesn't really affect what happens in another. That's continuity.
Campaigns have depth, which is both good and bad.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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What our PCs do in one scenario doesn't really affect what happens in another. That's continuity.
Although I'm relatively new (kinda) to PFS, I've played in a scenario that had tie-ins to another scenario I'd previously played in. So there is some continuity.
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How can you have played the Year of the Shadow Lodge and not notice the continuity? We've been getting the forshadowing of the major changes coming up faction wise and within the Society itself.
Because my group is picking up year 0, 1 and 2 modules based on tiering. We started with 1-5's, went to 1-7's, then 5-9's and next we will go to 7-11's before hitting the retirement series. We're probably more organized than most groups in that we're working towards have a full table for the level 12 modules, but I think it's safe to say that few people are following the campaign years in order.
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Something to consider too is, that GMs come in with all sorts of strengths and weaknesses. Some people come to Gen Con to GM and frankly can be pretty green.
And I kinda like that. Because often GMs sit around during sessions and ask the sort of questions that you really can't ask almost anywhere else. Hey how do you run this encounter, why does this encounter seem to hard, or to easy. Its a trial by fire.
Was your experience, sub par. Maybe and I'm sorry about that. On the other hand, maybe to truly understand the draw, you should grab one of the free scenarios and run it for your friends. That's the benchmark I'd go with.
Almost all of the people I play with feel that I get the RP out in the game. I really enjoy bringing characters to life. Don't get me started on Grandmaster Torch and the Courtisan Rutowski, I really like bringing them to life.
To me PFS is like a TV show, a really good TV show. But a home game is like a good movie. There is room for both.
It stands to reason that if there is only one of "those guys" at the table, you'll see more of "him" in organized play than you will in your home game.
It is litterally impossible to make an organized play scenario centered around the PCs, because thousands of different players run through each scenario. If that's a problem, then obviously OP is not for you. And those "elaborate backstories" are also known as "setting immersion". Without the setting and backstories, the scenarios really ARE just a string of encounters and gofer missions.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
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...you should grab one of the free scenarios and run it for your friends.Makes sense - I'll do that. I'm willing to keep trying the different things suggested in this thread to better understand.
Glad I could help and I hope the scenario impresses you and your friends. Running the scenarios is what hooked me.