Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Indianapolis
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I don't know. I'm not in that position, so it's difficult for me speak with any real insight into the situation of 4/5 GMs. It's a great question to pose to the 4/5 star GMs though. :)Happy to oblige! :)
2008 Play Sessions: 1
2012 Play Sessions: 11
2012 GM Sessions: 282013 Play Sessions: 51
2013 GM Sessions: 682014 Play Sessions: 89
2014 GM Sessions: 962015 Play Sessions: 13
2015 GM Sessions: 18Well, it's good to see me keeping my numbers about right. ;)
Hold on: in 2014, you ran 96 sessions and played 89??? Good grief! That's 185 games for the year, which is like 3.5 games a WEEK! Clearly, I'm doing something wrong! :D
Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Ok, here's my breakdown...
Year - Play/GMd
2011 - 19 / 13
2012 - 28 / 62
2013 - 22 / 86
2014 - 51 / 77
2015 - 10 / 12
Sometime in 2013-14 I realized I'd run three times as much as I'd played. I've started fixing that. :) Having a local minion who is happy and willing to run helps with that, as does a homegroup with 3-4 others willing to GM most of the time so I can play.
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I started playing PFS in Jan 2013 and GMing in Mar 2013 and have GM'd, apparently, 132 games since I started. I know each week I usually end up running 2 games and playing 1 but sometimes I get to run 3x and this week I got to play 3x (helps letting your VC get a break and actually get to play sometimes)
I am looking forward to getting more exclusives to run, I am a few specials and games short of my 5th star but hopefully will get it this year.
I have been afraid to run Bonekeep too much because I don't like killing players but we did have a lot of fun running 5 pregens through it successfully so as not to risk actual characters. Turns out the ACG pregens and Lini are actually really well prepared for their adventuring career in Bonekeep.
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Massachusetts—North Shore
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Here is my Break Down, I became VL in April of 2012 just kept running. This also does not include my 3 AP home games I have yet to report for PFS credit and PAX East from this last weekend.
Does this help
2011 played 2 GM 0
2012 Played 4 GM 30
2013 Played 14 GM 64
2014 Played 30 GM 60
2015 Played 2 GM 4 Due to the Weather we have had to cancel alot of games in my area.
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I entered GMing somewhat reluctantly, but now it's old hat. I've only run one special, though, and that was last September. I'm enormously excited to run the 4-star exclusive. I hope to have my 5th star by 2016. It'll be a nice feather in my cap, so no rush.
Played/GMed:
2012: 55/4
2013: 51/48
2014: 43/81
2015: 8/12
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The only issue I have with only allowing it for 4-5 star GMs is, that these scenarios are unlikely to be offered at all tables at bigger conventions outside the US. At least in Germany we have more VOs (14) than 4-5 star GMs (3, all VOs). And we only have one 5-star GM at the moment, so he would have a hard time offering the chance of playing a kobold or an aspis agent to all players in the country. (And really, who doesn't want to play either of these ;D).
Also, i would really like to run both the exclusives :D
Now seeing that it is quite the accomplishment to get to that many tables run and it should be rewarded, I can understand if such a corner case does not really factor into the decision. But just thought I'd add my two cents.
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Venture-Captain, Alabama—Birmingham
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Not counting APs or Modules as extras, just raw entries. I run 2 weekly and one monthly gamedays, taking off for Magic Prerelease events, Snowmageddons, or Icepocalypses.
Year play/gm
2011 26/5
2012 19/96 Appointed VC in Sept, just weeks before I would have had 4 stars anyways.
2013 23/113
2014 26/90
I haven't used a star replay yet. I welcome the 5 star exclusive wholeheartedly and look forward to scheduling some special events. I usually try to pass on the exclusives and specials to give other people chances to get those credits towards 5 Star, but would really appreciate one that's just mine.... or at least mine for a few weeks til Zandari gets his last few tables in.
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My numbers are broken down by season. These includes all scenarios, quests, modules and adventure paths.
Play/GM
2009-10: 1/5
2010-11: 5/16
2011-12: 13/19
2012-13: 21/23
2013-14: 28/18
2014-15: 22/20
The majority of my games run are for my local gaming group. I have found and manufactured more opportunities to play by playing at large and local conventions and game days. I have recently started to GM at some public venues and have groomed a coup of players to GM for our local gaming group as well.
I will likely hit 150 table credits next season but I currently only have 1 Special/Exclusive run under my belt so it might take some time to get that 5th star. Having new Exclusives and specials available will make this task easier as does the ability to run them in both regular PFS and Core.
Thank you Paizo for the efforts to increase GM rewards and to improve PFS overall.
Venture-Captain, Germany—Bavaria
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...And it is a question I have posed to more than 250 four and five star GMs. From feedback I've received, and as a five star GMAs far as rewarding 4 & 5 star GMs, they get a +4 or +5 respectively to their reroll in every game and they get to replay 4 or 5 scenarios (per recharge, which may be a seasonal thing), right? That said, I understand that some scenarios are complicated enough that they should probably only be run by experienced GMs and the star system helps build confidence in the experience of said GMs. Scenarios that fit that bill should probably be limited to 4/5 star GMs just to ensure they are run correctly each and every time (although there will probably still be a few cases where there are errors made).How often do you think 4 and 5 star GMs play compared to the time they spend GMing? Do you think the bonus to one reroll a game and replay is sufficient reward for someone who has dedicated more than 500 volunteer hours to PFS to give at least 400-600 people entertainment? Or should we strive for providing additional rewards for those folks?I don't know. I'm not in that position, so it's difficult for me speak with any real insight into the situation of 4/5 GMs. It's a great question to pose to the 4/5 star GMs though. :)
I've always been of the mind that exclusion tends to breed contempt. In this case, I don't particularly care one way or another. I do know that the higher star GMs I play with make liberal use of their bonus to rerolls. As a player that doesn't have that bonus, it looks like a pretty nice reward when I see it used.
Edit: That last part wasn't in there when I replied. If it's the case that 4/5 star GMs want something more, I guess any reward will be exclusionary by nature. I certainly wouldn't want to drive away those that have assisted in building PFS into what it is by not recognizing the efforts they have put in.
I could be wrong, but I think my VO Sebastian Schirrmeister might be the only 5 star GM in Germany. As "funny" as it would be to have him GM the exclusives in all slots, for 7 person tables at our Game Days and our yearly convention.. that doesn't really sound like fun experience for him.
While I have no doubts, that he would not complain about this (he is pretty damn awesome) the ability to share the load with his fellow VOs and VLs seems like a neat idea... and might make scheduling easier.I think we have quite a number of 4 star GMs though.
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Well, my numbers, counting everything played or GMed as a single item:
Played/GMed
2008: 1/0
2009: 1/0
2010: 19/4
2011: 30/16
2012: 35/11
2013: 39/19
2014: 42/32
2015: 7/3
That does not include two or three sessions run in the past few weeks that I haven't reported yet. Nor does it show any of the sessions I tried to run but failed due to insufficient players.
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I may be a little late to the game (in multiple ways) but (this is for a new 4-star GM):
Year - Play+GM=Total
2013 - 62 + 28 = 90
2014 - 53 + 44 = 97
2015 - 11 + 14 = 25
That's unique sessions, again. No wonder why my wife wonders who I am these days. ;) Guess for shear volume over the last few years, that's pretty good.
Nick, I manually counted as well.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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Is there some easy way to get to those numbers (filters?)...or do you have to go back through your play/gm history and count it yourself?I copied/pasted my sessions into MS Excel, deleted a few columns, and used some "countif(" formulae to get the numbers.
I did this as well
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Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Martinsville
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OK, my totals..
Year - Play+GM=Total
2011 - 8 + 0 = 8
2012 - 77 + 14 = 91
2013 - 43 + 47 = 90
2014 - 53 + 50 = 103
2015 - 9 + 3 = 12
This year I am moving out of the apartment and then broke my ankle, so my PFS time is easing a bit. I am also running out of Scenarios to play in PFS play, though the new Core Mode is going to allow me to play again.
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I did this as well
Is there some easy way to get to those numbers (filters?)...or do you have to go back through your play/gm history and count it yourself?I copied/pasted my sessions into MS Excel, deleted a few columns, and used some "countif(" formulae to get the numbers.
Now we're seeing who the smart ones are...
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Is there some easy way to get to those numbers (filters?)...or do you have to go back through your play/gm history and count it yourself?I copied/pasted my sessions into MS Excel, deleted a few columns, and used some "countif(" formulae to get the numbers.
I did something like this, but just removed extraneous columns, used Excel's autofilter to find by year, then, for the years with a bunch, used a count limited to the visible lines to get the total.
Had to do some other massaging, since the info pasted in with extra blank lines, and some merged cells....
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...the guy who is moving and who broke his ankle is running games at a faster rate than I am. I feel shame.You go to da box. Two minutes. You feel shame."Denis Lemieux continue la saison magnifique..."
-written from Moosejaw Saskatchewan
"I say, 'Who own da Chiefs?'"
"Yeah, and, what'd he say?""Ownz! OWNZ!"
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8
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2010 Play Sessions: 4
2012 Play Sessions: 50
2012 GM Sessions: 33
2013 Play Sessions: 92
2013 GM Sessions: 136
2014 Play Sessions: 73
2014 GM Sessions: 79
2015 Play Sessions: 18
2015 GM Sessions: 7
2014 ACG Play/GM Sessions: 56
2015 ACG Play/GM Sessions: 27
And there are various modules/APs scattered in there which give additional credits.
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John has said they're working on a spoiler-free "The Story Thus Far" for ppl who can't keep up regularly with the campaign.
Is that something that would work for you? Or were you implying/asking about something else?
There is also (as was suggested many times in this thread) online play, including Specials and Season Enders, that increases access to normally Convention-only scenarios.
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Well, "spoiler-free" is mor or less the opposite of what I am looking for. Basically I would just like to be able to read these adventures without having to wait for several years until they are made available to the lowly public.
I don't think there's any meaningful PFS games around this part of Germany, I have tried on more than one occasion to contact the person who is ostensibly in charge here because I thought I might start something for PACG, but he never deigned to respond.
I am not a fan of play-by-post-gaming, to be honest I can't even imagine how that works. But I thought those specials were intended to be convention-only, so even participating in local or online PFS would not help here.
Thing is, I am OK with the scenarios being restricted for the purpose of play in PFS games, but I don't like that you can't even buy and read them unless you are in a small, very elite group of people, and one that I couldn't even be a member of if I wanted to. I feel I am left out of a part of official Golarion canon, I and I don"t like that.
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There is more than one person in Germany you can contact.
Just searching this forum for the word "Germany" brought up threads of VCs and 5-Star GMs, like this one.
You may be surprised at how large your community actually is.
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Yes, but they are organized by region, and there is exactly one person responsible for my region. If I wanted to go to an actual game, it would pretty much have to be in Cologne. I don't know where you live; it may appear small to Americans who are used to drive 30 Miles to the closest supermarket, but Germany is actually quite large, at least from the view of a person who doesn't own and usually doesn't need a car.
That is all beside the point, however. Actually, I don't even know if I'd want to play PFS, as, from what I'm reading, it is a quite a different experience from "normal" home gaming. It even seems competitive somehow. What I do want, however, is to be able to keep up on Golarion canon, and if there is material containing such that I cannot buy as a Paizo customer, I feel a bit like a second-class customer.
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The specials for the most part have been focused mainly on the Society rather than Golarion at large. I suppose there may be some canon material mentioned, but the biggest example of that was Race for the Runecarved Key Part 2, run only once at Gencon. Such a scenario has specifically not be done since then due to the limited use versus development costs. Have you purchased the earlier season specials Zaister, and found them to contain the kind of information you want?
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Yes, but they are organized by region, and there is exactly one person responsible for my region.
There's one venture critter. That doesn't mean that there's only one place that games happen.
Europe may be a little different, but here in new york if you look at the map for venture people you would see New York and albany with nothing in between, even though there are at least two places with regular games in between. Chances aren't that bad that the ventureperson can point you to a game happening a little bit in your direction.
There's no central organized site for where games are occurring, which is a little annoying.
If I wanted to go to an actual game, it would pretty much have to be in Cologne. I don't know where you live; it may appear small to Americans who are used to drive 30 Miles to the closest supermarket, but Germany is actually quite large, at least from the view of a person who doesn't own and usually doesn't need a car.
To an american, 100 years is a long time. To a european 100 miles is a far distance...
That is all beside the point, however. Actually, I don't even know if I'd want to play PFS, as, from what I'm reading, it is a quite a different experience from "normal" home gaming.
If you play with a semi regular group its not that different.
It even seems competitive somehow.
What I do want, however, is to be able to keep up on Golarion canon, and if there is material containing such that I cannot buy as a Paizo customer, I feel a bit like a second-class customer.
hmm? Anyone canbuy scenarios. YOu can use them for a home game.
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What's stopping your home gaming group from playing PFS? What's stopping you from organizing these bigger events every now and then in your area? No, you're not going to be able to run, or even read, some of the one-off adventures because likely they weren't even published. I remember reading about one that was just a Word document. Paizo is not going to release a Word document, and they're not going to put in the money and time to format something for publishing that can't be used in-game.
If some people getting something you don't/can't because they went to a convention that you didn't/couldn't makes you feel "second-class" then I'm sorry your self-perception is so fragile. No one is ever going to have access to everything. Paizo is not going to cheapen the experience of those who managed to be there by releasing that exclusive experience to everyone.