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OK, so I have very carefully been preserving the 3 SkyKey scenarios for Paizocon, with the idea of taking my character-du-jour through all three back to back to back.
So imagine my disappointment to see that, given the way the tables have been scheduled, there is no way to do that.
There is no Scions of the Skykey on Friday at all.
On Saturday, all three are being run at the same time.
On Sunday, no SkyKey
On Monday, all three at the same time.
One would hope these scenarios showed up on Friday and/or Sunday, so that one could play through the series.
Very frustrating...
duncan davenport
aka
The Grim MacKay
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OK, so I have very carefully been preserving the 3 SkyKey scenarios for Paizocon, with the idea of taking my character-du-jour through all three back to back to back.
You might want to check back again in a few days. Not all the events are entered yet. See http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2s3iw?PaizoCon-2015-Events for more info.
I looked there. Part of my concern was that Friday was "finished" - and no Scions
Customer Service Manager
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All of the PFS events have been entered. Data entry for events is not the most user friendly (though its a lot better this year after some improvements) and if something seems amiss with events, I am more than happy to double check if its intended or a typo. In this case, the PFS schedule from Mike does have all 3 Sky Key scenarios on Monday.
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All of the PFS events have been entered. Data entry for events is not the most user friendly (though its a lot better this year after some improvements) and if something seems amiss with events, I am more than happy to double check if its intended or a typo. In this case, the PFS schedule from Mike does have all 3 Sky Key scenarios on Monday.
Yes, I can see that, as I mentioned in my initial post. But these 3 scenarios are a SERIES. Having them all at the same time means you cannot play the series. As it stands now, I can play one on Saturday, and one on Monday. I cannot get all three.
This is the first Paizocon I have been to where this has happened - and it seems to be a scheduling issue. Why isn't the series being run on Friday or Sunday? Or the sessions spread out over the weekend instead of all being at the same time?This just makes it unnecessarily impossible to play the series at Paizocon.
Please reconsider this schedule.
thanks
duncan
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I've alerted Mike Brock to the thread to maybe shed some light on this.
That is very much appreciated. I am sure with the overwhelming volume of Stuff on your plate, this must seem like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. But I've actually turned down sessions in order to save this series for my Paizocon run, so I guess I'm a bit invested.
Thanks for your attention!
duncan
All of the PFS events have been entered.
Wow, really? Only 13 scenarios on the schedule, and all from this season? I'm pretty sure there have been more in the past (though Sara Marie would know better than I), and there have definitely been a few throwbacks in there in the past.
Majuba - is that Warhorn page you set up going to have slots to plan and sign up for afternoon games during the Con? It looks like it only has Thursday games at the moment, it would be great to be able to add in other games.
Global Organized Play Coordinator
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OK, so I have very carefully been preserving the 3 SkyKey scenarios for Paizocon, with the idea of taking my character-du-jour through all three back to back to back.
So imagine my disappointment to see that, given the way the tables have been scheduled, there is no way to do that.
There is no Scions of the Skykey on Friday at all.
On Saturday, all three are being run at the same time.
On Sunday, no SkyKey
On Monday, all three at the same time.One would hope these scenarios showed up on Friday and/or Sunday, so that one could play through the series.
Very frustrating...
duncan davenport
aka
The Grim MacKay
My apologies for that. I scheduled odd number scenarios on one slot and even numbered the next slot. This was before I knew that part 3 was also going to be an even numbered scenario. Is there an opportunity to play part 1 before you arrive and parts 2 and 3 at the show? If not, we can try to find a GM that can run additional tables for people interested in other scenarios, such as part 1 in slot 1.
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Global Organized Play Coordinator
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All of the PFS events have been entered.Wow, really? Only 13 scenarios on the schedule, and all from this season? I'm pretty sure there have been more in the past (though Sara Marie would know better than I), and there have definitely been a few throwbacks in there in the past.
Majuba - is that Warhorn page you set up going to have slots to plan and sign up for afternoon games during the Con? It looks like it only has Thursday games at the moment, it would be great to be able to add in other games.
I've notified Sara Marie. Something appears to be off. I scheduled #6-01 through #6-21, as well as 6-97 and 6-98. That's 23 different scenarios. And it is a conscious decision to run the full current season at PaizoCon. With more than 200 scenarios in the library. It's impossible to schedule all of them. It's also very difficult to know what is wanted from previous seasons so we generally plan for it on an as needed basis and when we have extra Gms available to run a game.
I've notified Sara Marie. Something appears to be off. I scheduled #6-01 through #6-21, as well as 6-97 and 6-98. That's 23 different scenarios. And it is a conscious decision to run the full current season at PaizoCon. With more than 200 scenarios in the library. It's impossible to schedule all of them. It's also very difficult to know what is wanted from previous seasons so we generally plan for it on an as needed basis and when we have extra Gms available to run a game.
Thanks very much, that's great news! My count was based on the search options on the left side, which only listed 13. Looking through the schedule itself, it does look like the games go up to #6-21, they just don't all appear in the search options.
And I understand the challenge of pulling past scenarios back into play, I just noticed it was different from previous years and wondered about it.
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My apologies for that. I scheduled odd number scenarios on one slot and even numbered the next slot. This was before I knew that part 3 was also going to be an even numbered scenario. Is there an opportunity to play part 1 before you arrive and parts 2 and 3 at the show? If not, we can try to find a GM that can run additional tables for people interested in other scenarios, such as part 1 in slot 1.OK, so I have very carefully been preserving the 3 SkyKey scenarios for Paizocon, with the idea of taking my character-du-jour through all three back to back to back.
So imagine my disappointment to see that, given the way the tables have been scheduled, there is no way to do that.
There is no Scions of the Skykey on Friday at all.
On Saturday, all three are being run at the same time.
On Sunday, no SkyKey
On Monday, all three at the same time.One would hope these scenarios showed up on Friday and/or Sunday, so that one could play through the series.
Very frustrating...
duncan davenport
aka
The Grim MacKay
So, shall I take it from this response that the existing schedule will remain unchanged? I admit disappointment. My PaizoCon experiences have been 2012: Quest for Perfection I,II,III (missed 2013) and 2014 Destiny of Sands I,II,III. I was really looking forward to Scions of the Sky Key I,II,III. It just seems really ill-conceived to make that completely impossible.
Doing a series back to back is great draw. If it's not gonna happen, it's not gonna happen, but I admit disappointment. Sorry to be critical, but I kinda feel like the growth of the Con has not necessarily resulted in ... something better.<heavy sigh>
duncan
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Duncan, let me know which of the three you need to fill out your schedule and what day. I only have one locked in slot other than the two specials, so I am sure I can fit you in somewhere. I'm unfortunately running Part 3 in the 3rd slot, so that will make it slightly more difficult, but there will be open slots to take advantage of.
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Duncan, let me know which of the three you need to fill out your schedule and what day. I only have one locked in slot other than the two specials, so I am sure I can fit you in somewhere. I'm unfortunately running Part 3 in the 3rd slot, so that will make it slightly more difficult, but there will be open slots to take advantage of.
Well, thank you sir. I appreciate the offer. I guess I would have looked to run Part I in the Friday (not scheduled) or Saturday (already scheduled) PFS slot, Part II on the Saturday (already scheduled) or Sunday (not scheduled) PFS slot, and Part III on the Sunday (not scheduled) or Monday (already scheduled) PFS slot.
Beyond that, I expected to organize the rest of my activities around whatever time remains.
But let me say - this shouldn't be about ME. I mean, come on, I can find a way to get this in before the Con without anyone making special considerations for duncan. Not the point. The point is the schedule does not appear to be thought out. As Michael points out above, the assignments were made based on the numbering of the scenarios - odd/even. Not the story - not the flow or relationships between the scenarios. Pretty much randomly. That seems...rushed. Hasty. And while with most scenarios the relationships are fuzzy at best, in the trilogies (and every season has at least one trilogy), the sequence, and dependency, are very evident. I don't feel the convenience of randomly assigning the schedule should trump the playability of the season.
So I feel it does a disservice, not just to me, but to everyone, to schedule things in such a way that being able to play the season's trilogy at Paizocon is impossible without someone making special accommodations for what ought to have been there to begin with... (as you have generously offered to do).
I think the schedule - or at least parts of it - should be reconsidered. But that probably won't happen, and I will adjust and I'm sure have a fine time anyway. :)
But I'll bytch a lot. (Stick with what you're good at)
duncan
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Global Organized Play Coordinator
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It wasn't rushed or hasty. Development knows what kinds of scenarios we plan for the season. However, exact scenarios aren't always assigned to specific months afore the ful year, or even six months, ahead of time. With the call for volunteers having to go out in late January or early February, that means we may not have titles, tiers and/or exactly which scenarios are going to be released in which month for the later part of the season. As volunteers can attest, they received schedules with events they were running listed like #6-21: TBD. It's the price we pay for getting the call out to volunteers early.
Additionally, this is the first big show where we are assigning both Core mode and normal mode and we needed to make mustering slots manageable with as many options as we offer each slot. Just because there are only 13 different scenarios to muster each slot, we still have to marshal 26 different RPG OP events and 3-4 card game OP events, and we have to do it in less than 10 minutes. Having odd scenarios one slot and even the next slot allows HQ to better prep chronicles, tracking sheets, printed copies of scenarios, and all of the other things that go into marshaling 44 tables of games (we also have to marshal card game op at the same time) at the start of each slot. So, no, it wasn't rushed or hasty. It is what makes mustering the most manageable, and allows us to seat more than 250 players and 40 GMs in less than 10 minutes. We've found if it takes more than 10 minutes (and realistically closer to 7 minutes) to seat everyone, it ruins peoples' games and puts them in a bad mood for the rest of the slot.
In the past, three part series haven't all been even numbers so this problem has never happened. Unfortunately, the three part series just fell on all even numbered scenarios, and part 3 wasn't officially assigned to a month until after the call for volunteers went out.
On another note, I had thought about scheduling #6-01 through #6-10/11 in alternating slots with #6-11-#6-21. But then we run into the problem that people who have played all or most of the first half of the season have no options at all for those slots. The only other option we have is to schedule every scenario in every slot. If we do that though. Then we have 21 different scenarios that double to 42 when you add Core, leading to longer marshal times. In addition, that means we can't offer multiple tables of the newest scenarios every game slot, so everyone who wants to play the debut of them at PaizoCon wouldn't get that opportunity. I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve the schedule and the even/odd seemed to be the best way to approach the schedule this year with the addition of Core mode. Again, not a rushed or hasty decision. It was thought about at length.
For future PaizoCons, we will be more cautious. However, that may mean the call for volunteers gets delayed by a month or two. On a side note, we only have had one three part series over the last few seasons so it doesn't seem to be a huge issue. It is just a weird hiccup this year that we will make sure to correct in future years.
I believe the warhorn unofficial site has all the midday slots setup, ready to be assigned scenarios or other events. They don't show up without a scenario setup. Anyone who'd like to run pm me or anyone else setup as staff there. Probably focus more after the lottery when people know what they have. Pick your favorites for the best experience.
On the three-parter topic, we have had one each year. I didn't get to run part 3 of Glories of the Past in a slot where you could only have played one part before it at the con (2 & 3 were brand new, 1 mostly new). Not that I have any suggestions given the constraints. :)
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Customer Service Manager
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If people want to add PFS games during the 1pm-6pm slot and have them be on the event schedule I am more than happy to put them up so people can sign up for them on paizo.com if that's of interest. I'm willing to put them on the schedule until May 6 (they'll miss the program book but would be on people's event tickets). As that gives people time to see what their lottery results are before deciding if they want to GM a PFS game during that middle slot.
The convention spaces is pretty large and for almost the whole convention I didn't have to use the Grand Ballroom during the 1p-6pm slot so there will be loads of room for pick up games or stuff planned on warhorn.
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On the three-parter topic, we have had one each year. I didn't get to run part 3 of Glories of the Past in a slot where you could only have played one part before it at the con (2 & 3 were brand new, 1 mostly new). Not that I have any suggestions given the constraints. :)
FWIW, the suggestion/solution appears simple. Swap 6-14 on Saturday with 6-13 on Sunday. No conflicts, and the whole trilogy is available. But evidently changing the numbering scheme will make the logistics of mustering untenable, and have a cascade effect across the entire convention. So never mind.
I never dreamed this would be as big an issue as it turned out to be - I had assumed it was an oversight in the bustle to organize everything, and would be fairly simple to adjust once the oversight was evident. My bad. At this point, I am just giving up trying to get the trilogy in at this event, as there are plenty of other scenarios to play in.
And I don't really want to be any more irritating than I already have been. My work here is done. :)
duncan
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If people want to add PFS games during the 1pm-6pm slot and have them be on the event schedule I am more than happy to put them up so people can sign up for them on paizo.com if that's of interest. I'm willing to put them on the schedule until May 6 (they'll miss the program book but would be on people's event tickets). As that gives people time to see what their lottery results are before deciding if they want to GM a PFS game during that middle slot.
The convention spaces is pretty large and for almost the whole convention I didn't have to use the Grand Ballroom during the 1p-6pm slot so there will be loads of room for pick up games or stuff planned on warhorn.
I would be greatly disappointed if I wouldn't be able to play PFS in the afternoon slots. It's a bit confusing to me why we would have to sign up for sessions on different websites. If/when afternoon sessions become available could this be more clearly delineated on the paizo website? Thanks!
Afternoon PFS will only be available when people volunteer to run them, which many are planning to. Sara's offer is fantastic, but it will take volunteers to make it happen.
Grim, I get you, unfortunately the slots were already assigned to volunteers, who may have made their own plans related to them.
A volunteer to run part 2 on Saturday afternoon would solve the issue for 6 people. Just have to email paizocon@paizo.com to offer it (with all the details).
Edit: That's through May 11th I believe - you can PM me (or TOZ) after that to get it added to the unofficial warhorn site.
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How about a couple of volunteers? My fiance and I are more than happy to run a table each (normal, not core) on either Friday OR Saturday afternoon. Since we've played them all, we can run whatever people need. We can even each run a different part! We want to keep at least one of our afternoons free to wander and see what's up as this is our first PaizoCon, so we would only be willing to commit to one of those two days. What would people prefer?
Alanya - since Scions is first offered on Saturday Morning, I'd suggest you either run Part I on Friday afternoon, or Part II on Saturday afternoon.
Or you could each run a different part to cover for people going to different ones on Sat. Morning...
I guess I would say the sooner it's added, the sooner people will see it and sign up. Given how fast my Fri afternoon slot filled, I doubt you'll have any trouble.
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Alright, email sent! Assuming it's approved, my fiance will run part 1 on Friday afternoon, and I will run part 2 (both normal). There's a little bit of a story discrepancy if you play part 2 first, but it's not too bad. This way if people are already signed up for part 1 on Saturday morning, they don't have to scramble to readjust.
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Customer Service Manager
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I am happy to still add any PFS scenarios middle slots (1p-6p) on the online paizo.com schedule so people can have them added to their schedule when they register. I can add things up to May 11th and Mike has said that reporting can be lumped in with the rest of PaizoCon PFS reporting (just talk to the folks at PFS HQ). Just email me at paizocon@paizo.com with the scenario you will run, and any specifics you wish to add (otherwise I'll enter it just like a standard PFS event.
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Customer Service Manager
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Yes. Middle slot (1pm-6pm Fri, Sat, Sunday (can be shorter than 5 hour block but not longer) only. Please fill out the form found here: http://paizo.com/paizocon/eventSubmission The event will not appear in the program book as we are too far along in that process. No special room or table needs. Tables can comfortably fit 6 players, absolute max is 7 + 1 GM.
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Thanks Sara
I definitely have no conflicts, my worry was that if I signed up on Warhorn and I had missed it on the official site, I might have lost a player spot.
The curse of being 8 hours ahead in the UK I guess, typically means when a lot of the activity on the boards happens whilst I'm asleep and I miss it :(
Can we add games that aren't PFS games to the middle slots? (Either non-PFS Pathfinder, or other systems entirely?)
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Please schedule with Sara Marie OR warhorn, not both :)
Someone mentioned the Unofficial Warhorn. I've been looking but I haven't seen it yet.
Someone mentioned the Unofficial Warhorn. I've been looking but I haven't seen it yet.