Still Under Development?

[Darkbridger]

Xendor wrote:

Vic Wertz wrote:

No change: Not dead, but not currently in active development.

Okay...then how about a deal with another company for ready made adventure paths?

I would buy them for Realm Works (Lonewolf), D20pro or Fantasy Grounds....

There are probably a host of reasons why they haven't done this. I can think of reasons why I wouldn't want to use each of those tools. And it's probably not a simple thing on either side of the fence to provide content for APs. Either Paizo has to hire people or the licensed company has to do the same while showing they can integrate the material on a schedule.

Based on what they were originally proposing, I think flexibility and ease-of-use/access are things they view as most important. While licensing a 3rd party might be a fast route, I don't think it will increase market reach significantly. I also don't think Fantasy Grounds is even possible given that they are already a 5e licensee. The browser based solution was at least trying to serve a potentially larger audience.

But as soon as you go the route of custom solution, you bump into the problem of monetizing it, and that I think is the biggest stumbling block given the cost it would take to do it right. Sure, it might sell more books, but they still have to pay the full cost of development before they ever see a return. Hopefully Paizo will get back to this someday, as I'd love to see a good digital platform.

[Doug Davison]

We are still interested and willing to carry Pathfinder RPG Adventure Paths and other conversions for Fantasy Grounds. We visited with Paizo at Gen Con again this year to discuss details and shared some thoughts on the subject with Mike Kenway, the new person in charge of licensing. I can't speak for Mike directly, but he seemed very open to the idea at the time.

We believe that people should be able to play any and all game systems they enjoy and we currently support D&D, along with Savage Worlds, Deadlands, Castles & Crusades, Rolemaster, Call of Cthulhu, Mutants & Masterminds and more on our system officially. We support Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society Gaming with OGL content only at the moment, but we would love to support it in an official capacity. I personally try to play several different systems and that includes playing in a Skull & Shackles campaign and a Council of Thieves Campaign.

[Darkbridger]

Doug Davison, SmiteWorks wrote:

We are still interested and willing to carry Pathfinder RPG Adventure Paths and other conversions for Fantasy Grounds. We visited with Paizo at Gen Con again this year to discuss details and shared some thoughts on the subject with Mike Kenway, the new person in charge of licensing. I can't speak for Mike directly, but he seemed very open to the idea at the time.

We believe that people should be able to play any and all game systems they enjoy and we currently support D&D, along with Savage Worlds, Deadlands, Castles & Crusades, Rolemaster, Call of Cthulhu, Mutants & Masterminds and more on our system officially. We support Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society Gaming with OGL content only at the moment, but we would love to support it in an official capacity. I personally try to play several different systems and that includes playing in a Skull & Shackles campaign and a Council of Thieves Campaign.

Well, color me wrong on at least a couple points then. Will be interesting to see if anything develops along these lines.

[Steff]

Greetings. I was just wondering about this very subject. I just finished converting Giant Slayer AP #91 into Fantasy Grounds so that I can run it online and I was wondering what the rules are around sharing. I know the OGL does not allow for me to sell material pertaining to story lines etc, and I am not looking to gank Paizo out of money.. but, at the same time, FG is set up so that once content is created, it is very easy to export for use.

The main reason I want to share is that I know there are other much more advanced users that would be able to vastly improve on what I have done. Would love to see what someone who really knows their way around the VTT could do with it.

Maybe a surcharge or some sort of exchange that Paizo could set up so that users could provide content like this to each other while ensuring they still get compensated. Maybe I could send the module to them for evaluation/editing and then they could offer it to their regular subscribers for some small fee like 5 bucks on a per/purchase basis.

I am not looking to make money or be compensated and I don't mind spending the time doing the conversion (It takes me about 2-3 weeks per AP to convert the pdf for online use).

I just think that Paizo's AP's are friggin amazing and FG is an awesome VTT (I used to use Roll20 but FG is much, much better IMO) and I think there is a (small) market for this sort of thing.

Any guidance in this area would be appreciated. I do not want to just dump their proprietary property onto the internet for anyone to steal. But at the same time, I hate to see people have to entirely reinvent the wheel from scratch.

Thanks.

The Steff, the most electrifying game nerd in professional nerd entertainment.

[Vic Wertz]

Any such distribution needs to utilize our Community Use Policy. And if it includes any Open Game Content, it also needs to use the OGL.

[Mage Evolving]

It really is a shame that this isn't off the ground yet. I know so many people who were waiting for it to be realized and have since just moved on to roll20. The chances that they will ever come back to paizo for game space are slim to none. It just makes me sad...

[Herald]

I would still be interested.

[Kohl McClash]

Try tabletop connect, 3d vtt. Still in development phase but I've used it 3 times now and the group enjoyed it.

[Count Buggula]

So...since the official line has been for over two years now that it's not dead but not in active development, can we finally safely say that this is dead? I'm not sure what other definition for dead you might be using, but unless something has changed and there is now a programming team actively working on this, I'd call that dead.

I'd love an official Paizo VTT, but if it's not gonna happen, just let us know and we'll focus on something else.

[Vic Wertz]

"Dead" suggests that any plans have been completely abandoned, and that's not the case. We have other priorities, and so many of them that nobody is scheduled for active effort on it at the moment, but that doesn't mean it's never going to happen.

[Steff]

so, out of curiosity, why can't this be punted to the pathfinder community in some form? I could be wrong, but if I remember correctly, one of the strengths of roll20 is its robust system for allowing users to develop improvements; working with advanced users to program modules for use during the game. They not only contribute, they pay extra each month for the honor. Couldn't you roll out a basic system and then let it become something that the community works to improve? They would still pay monthly subscription fees so there is monetization there and you would still control content in regards to how AP's and modules are presented and obtained (more monetization) but the burden of development might be more spread out.

Never underestimate the sheer overwhelming power of a large group of nerds on a mission.

History is replete with products that were shelved for so long that eventually, when it was time to develop, the ship had sailed.

[Anguish]

Steff wrote:

so, out of curiosity, why can't this be punted to the pathfinder community in some form? I could be wrong, but if I remember correctly, one of the strengths of roll20 is its robust system for allowing users to develop improvements; working with advanced users to program modules for use during the game. They not only contribute, they pay extra each month for the honor. Couldn't you roll out a basic system and then let it become something that the community works to improve? They would still pay monthly subscription fees so there is monetization there and you would still control content in regards to how AP's and modules are presented and obtained (more monetization) but the burden of development might be more spread out.

Never underestimate the sheer overwhelming power of a large group of nerds on a mission.

History is replete with products that were shelved for so long that eventually, when it was time to develop, the ship had sailed.

I can't imagine that happening.

Not the least factor is liability. Not necessarily legal or monetarily. If Paizo endorses community code, and there's back-doors, mistakes, or security flaws involved, it's going to reflect badly on them. I use the word "if" as if it were somehow less than 100% likely that a community RPG game-space web app would have security flaws.

If the community has the talent and inclination to produce such an application, the community is free to do so. Paizo isn't required to be involved in any way. Sure, it'd be nice to put some of their IP into such a product, but hey... if you produce something that works and works well, it's time to talk to them about a licensing agreement.

But no. Nobody's lifting a finger except the one or two existing tabletop virtualization companies. And that's the real reason why this won't fly.

[Kohl McClash]

Of interest but might be leaning toward D&D and Fantasy Grounds.... Tabletop Connect was bought out by Fantasy Grounds and they are working on the 3D vtt i mentioned in an earlier post. Carl Pinder signed on with FG as well so I'm hoping it comes to fruition.