gbonehead Owner - House of Books and Games LLC |
ReckNBall |
LazarX wrote:+1 ... well ... +all actually :)I'll give you my thanks in the one sincere way that truly matters...
My ongoing subscription.
You want to thank a professional. Buy their stuff.
+1 x2. I just increased my alloted recreational money and it goes straight to Piazo. There goes my family vacation next year. Anyone want to trade houses? Handicapped accessible...
And btw Nice Avatar!
xanthemann |
I, much like the Goblin, have been playing for decades (from first ed. to current). I skipped 4th edition. Already armed with the knowledge of what Gary had done for all of us with the advent of 3.5 and what WotC had done when he passed (a moment of silence) I knew I wanted no part of what they were shoveling. It breaks my heart to see original artwork and original rules being republished by them.
Then along came Pathfinder! 3.75 as my crew knows it, may have been second out of the gate, but they won the race.
There are many things I miss from the original though. One of the things I wish was still in the system is the Deities & Demigods (Cthulhu Edition). It was very informative, much like an quick overview of mythology you could take to the classroom for study. Can we please get that back?
Always a fan of the real thing,
Xan
Screamer |
I'd actually like to make the case for specifications writiers. If you're writing a rulebook, it's pretty close to preparing a design for a building. You're setting the rules for the contractor to follow... It's not close-ended because there is a lot f room for the contractor to embellish, but it's the framework that needs to be followed.
My gaming group is mostly environmental engineers / consultants (with a restaurant owner and a teacher), but we consider ourselves "rules lawyers." It's what we do for a living and we LOVE to argue /parse / cuss and discuss the rules.
My "rule" for y'all to think about: Say it once, the way you want to say it. Refer to that statement frequently rather than re-stating it or re-wording it.
So I'd like to make the case for hiring engineers for the "book team" - we do great work!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There are many things I miss from the original though. One of the things I wish was still in the system is the Deities & Demigods (Cthulhu Edition). It was very informative, much like an quick overview of mythology you could take to the classroom for study. Can we please get that back?
Sure!
Check out Pathfinder #46, "Wake of the Watcher." It's got an article about the Lovecraftian deities and how they work in Golairon, along with entries for nine Great Old Ones and Other Gods presented in a manner similar to how we presented demon lords in Book of the Damned II.
Also a giant-sized bestiary of Lovecraftian critters in that one, including stats for things like the colour out of space, spawn of Cthulhu, and mi-go.
Thorkull |
My "rule" for y'all to think about: Say it once, the way you want to say it. Refer to that statement frequently rather than re-stating it or re-wording it.
That's actually part of the design of 3E (and, by extension, Pathfinder). You'll notice that when a special ability appears, the text describing it is always the same (unless it's been modified in errata). One of the stated design goals of 3E was to make sure that "stunned" (for example) meant the same thing every time it was applied.
The text is repeated in multiple locations, but that's just for ease of use.
Fredrik |
I believe you about the intentions, Thorkull, but sometimes the implementation of a work fails to meet all of its design goals. For example, a few months back I wrote a rather epic post on the boilerplate text for trap and hazard spells in the CRB, because it's still different (and mostly wrong) in different spells. I guess that publishing isn't like a program, where you can just have a single instance of the phrasing, with a pointer to it wherever you want to insert it.
(To be clear, I'm not pimping my post, although I'm honestly rather proud of it. It has more than enough FAQ flags already. It's just the most well-documented counterexample that I know of off the top of my head. Fact is that Screamer's right, in that Paizo could use a better system for maintaining consistency when the same rule is repeated in different places.)
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I believe you about the intentions, Thorkull, but sometimes the implementation of a work fails to meet all of its design goals. For example, a few months back I wrote a rather epic post on the boilerplate text for trap and hazard spells in the CRB, because it's still different (and mostly wrong) in different spells. I guess that publishing isn't like a program, where you can just have a single instance of the phrasing, with a pointer to it wherever you want to insert it.
(To be clear, I'm not pimping my post, although I'm honestly rather proud of it. It has more than enough FAQ flags already. It's just the most well-documented counterexample that I know of off the top of my head. Fact is that Screamer's right, in that Paizo could use a better system for maintaining consistency when the same rule is repeated in different places.)
I'm personally a big fan of the type of consistency you seek (in the game business, we refer to it as "templating." If we'd started from scratch, the rules would be much more templated, but we started by modifying Wizards' SRD, which itself was an evolution of ages (we found and corrected errors that had been in the game since 1st edition!), and as a result, it has a lot less templating that we'd like.
Cthulhudrew |
Actually... having a background in physics or chemistry or any of the hard sciences is a GREAT advantage to a designer or developer here... because the fact is that we're creating worlds here at Paizo, and the more real-world knowledge we get into the company, the better.
I say you could use more Anthropologists.
And by more, I mean one.
And by one, I mean me. :)
xanthemann |
I had originally posted this in my thread about Vow of Poverty 3.5 vs 3.75 after things got a little out of hand, but I think it deserves to be said again (if not over and over).
We do appreciate the fact that Pathfinder is backwards compatible and not moving in a direction that makes all out previous investments completely obsolete. Thank you.
Never before has there been such dedication from a company that it would open itself so completely to allow communication between their customers and themselves to this degree.
We, as customers, need to keep this in mind and give the respect that act and bravery engenders. This doesn't mean we shouldn't speak what is on out minds, but it does mean we need to be mindful of how we say it.
Thank you again. Thank you for your dedication. Thank you for being involved in the community right beside us. Thank you for listening to what we have to say. Did I say thank you? I ask because I can't say it enough.
GoldEdition42 |
I've only been playing since 1991 but still have most of my books packed away in a safe/dry corner of the basement.
Except for all my HarnWorld stuff. Man, I loved that world; there is some finely detailed works in those pages.
In early 2000's I gave most of it to a co-worker whose son was looking for a setting for a new group he was starting up. I didn't have time to join, but I gladly passed on a milk-crate full of great ideas and adventures.
I still have my giant, laminatied Harn map somewhere. It is rolled up with my giant,laminated Hyborian War map.
Laminate...