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Personally I'm wondering why the book downloads couldn't be hosted on the Humble Bundle site like literally ever other humble book bundle
My first guess is personalization - Paizo might not want a massive wave of non-watermarked PDFs surging onto the Internet.
Second guess is marketing - this method brings people to the site, potentially exposing them to other items of interest or bringing them into the community.
Just spitballing, though. ^_^
FWIW your profile doesn't have that many posts and I see no PbP aliases, meaning that maybe you don't visit Paizo as often as I do? I PbP quite a bit which means that I check the forums often, daily. All I can say is that it is common (once or twice a week typically) that over a block of time (minutes up to hours) when I visit Paizo.com the browser times out and shows the "Paizo goblins computer bug technical difficulties" artwork indicating that the site is down for some reason. I have seen this for 2 years or so.
I love this site and it brings me large amounts of fun, so please don't take this as a complaint per se. I'm just pointing out that I've never seen another website that is down as often as Paizo.com, in light of the thread discussion.
I visit the forums daily. Haven't done PbP yet, though right now I'm following one of the new "Black Fang" adventures. I've seen the "technical difficulties" screen 3 or 4 times since the Humble Bundle thing went live, and a few times, but not many, in the several years I've been here before that. Maybe you're just unlucky. :-)
Developer
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My concern would be that without watermarking, the pdfs are not valid for use in pathfinder Society, which is huge and many new players get into. I don't know that it's an official concern, but as a bystander I certainly wouldn't want to sell more than 60k sets of pdfs people would then they couldn't be used in the popular and active organized play group the company runs.
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Having items on your Paizo.com account, instead of elsewhere, also ensures that you can get updated versions when/if those PDFs are updated.
My concern would be that without watermarking, the pdfs are not valid for use in pathfinder Society, which is huge and many new players get into. I don't know that it's an official concern, but as a bystander I certainly wouldn't want to sell more than 60k sets of pdfs people would then they couldn't be used in the popular and active organized play group the company runs.
They aren't?
I did not know that. When they use the rulebook or something like that, how does one check the player's books to see if they are watermarked (if they are using PDFs?).
In addition, is using the PRD valid?
(just starting to look at PF society options currently, so don't know all the rules or how it works).
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Contributor
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A printout or PDF will show the watermark, and if they have a physical rulebook, watermarks are considered unnecessary.
The PRD, however, is not a valid source for PFS. You need to have paid money for a source to use its content, with the exception of the Core Rulebook.
Hopefully this helps. ^_^
Organized Play Coordinator
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They aren't?
I did not know that. When they use the rulebook or something like that, how does one check the player's books to see if they are watermarked (if they are using PDFs?).
In addition, is using the PRD valid?
(just starting to look at PF society options currently, so don't know all the rules or how it works).
Per the free Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide found here
Pathfinder Society Organized Play assumes that every player has the following resources.• Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook
• Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide (this document)
In order to utilize content from an Additional Resource, a player must have a physical copy of the Additional Resource in question, a name-watermarked Paizo PDF of it, or a printout of the relevant pages from it, as well as a copy of the current version of the Additional Resources
list
If your interested in PFS and want to know more, check out the list of Venture-Officers here. One of their duties is to introduce new members to the Society.
Cheers!
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~50% of all web traffic is now mobile, so that's not an insignificant chunk of visitors, but the issues are the same on a tablet as on a computer.
PnP RPG gamers are a turbo technologically conservative group, I can imagine the percentage of mobile users is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay lower than on a 'normal' website.
I have used the site for a while so I might know how it works. I actualy don't like drive through rpg looks like so cluttered with pictures. But then again I stopped compalining to linux luddites about talking about phones as it caused them to talk about phones more.
That's funny because I've never liked Driethru's site, and their mobile site is downright awful.
-Skeld
That's an interesting observation.
I actually do about half my browsing on mobile.
Currently, don't like Drive Thru either. I can get around with a PC, but on mobile some of those things just don't work right (primarily, the scrolling menus where you scroll through them...once again, it could also be the settings which I have the devices at which help with a majority of the internet, but maybe are counter to a mobile view of Drive Thru).
Paizo's site can act wonky, it depends on your settings. I have the settings so it looks like it does no a PC screen and magnify if I have to touch something in more detail. A big screensize on your device helps though. If you have an itty bitty screen, I could see some problems, or if you have your settings in a certain way.
I do believe that old topics like the playtests and 'design a blank'should be put into an archive section of some sort so it cuts down on space taken.
For what it's worth the main page of the website and it's focus on the golem made me think this was a 3rd party seller (as in a separate company that was selling pathfinder).
That's as someone who was not looking for the message boards or even knew they existed to begin with - it's not much better today. Also the PRD honestly should be linked off the main page.
As a side note - now that you have re-branded pathfinder and feel comfortable with calling it your own game and not a 'compatible with D20' game - perhaps it's time for you to actually brand your website as well and embrace your new identity?
The Pi-golem has been Paizo's trademark since its founding in 2002, well before Pathfinder ever existed. Do you mean that you think Paizo should rebrand itself as Pathfinder, now that that's its main line of business?
The PRD is linked in the left sidebar on the main (and every) page, though it could certainly be more prominent.
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I gotta agree with the OP. A lot of the messageboards may as well be a wasteland. It takes a lot of scrolling (to the point it's easy to overlook things) to get to different topic areas. It's especially noticeable as ugly and flawed when you have to trudge through all the old playtest headers.
A good forum would be something like the one at Giant in the Playground where stuff is neatly organized, easy to find, and has sensible subforums.
And for the love, a decent formatting and editing system would be a godsend. :|
personally, I find GitP to be much less usable than the Paizo forums. Paizo has probably my favorite forum navigation.
How do you close a subforum?
The Pi-golem has been Paizo's trademark since its founding in 2002, well before Pathfinder ever existed. Do you mean that you think Paizo should rebrand itself as Pathfinder, now that that's its main line of business?
The PRD is linked in the left sidebar on the main (and every) page, though it could certainly be more prominent.
The Golem is cute once you figure out what it is - considering my first trip here was based off of *pathfinder* and I don't see 'the golem' on anything pathfinder I own - yes it really feels out of place. Just because something is trademarked and used doesn't mean it's a good trademark. In this case I think the golem gets in the way from really understanding what paizo is about. Back in 2002 when the business was making magazines and they were a 3rd party company supporting other products it probably made perfect sense - today when the product brand eclipses even the company brand - yes that branding should be more of a focus at least on the landing page.
As to the second point - I see the PRD - actually only because you said it was there - I had to scroll up and down 3 times before I figure out where it was!
I love the company but seriously the landing page for the site feels more like a hub for a poorly run online store - it doesn't make you feel like you are visiting the most popular game publisher or even like it's focus is on the main product that they make - it could really use a refresh.
my first trip here was based off of *pathfinder* and I don't see 'the golem' on anything pathfinder I own
It's on the back cover and title page of every book, though not prominently, I admit. Basically, Paizo is to PfRPG as WotC is to D&D ... but WotC has another property in Magic.
Now that Planet Stories is no more, Titanic (now Paizo) Games is dormant, and the Gamemastery line of accessories has been rebranded, it might well make sense to drop or de-emphasize "Paizo" in favor of "Pathfinder."
How do you close a subforum?Do you see the little arrow next to the header? Try giving it a click. ^_^
Oh, that. I usually view the forums in "focus" mode, so I don't see those. Still, I suppose it can be useful when I defocus (to see new threads, for example).