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Liz stole my event. D:
I believe the term is "ninja'ed."
Customer Service Manager
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I really wanted the majority of the descriptions to at least go live so people who submitted events could kind of start spot checking things they submitted. Katina and I are jamming on getting the dates and times entered, shooting to open lottery preference selection tomorrow. Until they get date and time entered, they show up as Friday All Day. I hop this doesn't cause too much confusion.
I've got a stack of Paizo seminars (non-lottery events) that are going up with titles only right now and a stack of events that I was working on with folks that do not have the PDF event sheets so there are still some things that are being added today.
Buddy system question can you have multiple buddies to sign up with for different events? ie. Me & buddy 1 for event ABC then me and buddy 2 for event efg?
I will be attending with my brother and 2 friends and would like to be able to buddy up with them for different events as would they.
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A couple questions from a first time con-goer:
2. If you use the Buddy system, does every lottery event require you to use your buddy? or can you pick which specific events you want with your buddy? My buddy is arriving on an early flight and wants to sign up for events that I wont be in town yet. But we still want to try and get in later events together.
I did the buddy system two years ago, my first year. It didn't work out well. It may have just been the luck of the dice.
My recollection was that you're buddy'd or you're not. So it will apply to all your selections. It significantly reduces your chances of getting into events, I think, because there needs to be room for your buddy AND you when your number comes up. I only got one lottery item that first year and it wasn't one of the high-demand things I really wanted.
Last year went much better. I didn't use the buddy system but kept our ratings the same where we wanted to play together. We each got into more events, got some together, and had a great time. You can attempt to trade events to get more things together once the lottery closes.
I'm going to stick with that approach. I feel like the buddy system is a nice option but is really intended for situations where you'd never want to play alone. You're saying, "No game at all is better than a game without my buddy."
My advice is skip the buddy system, pay careful attention to your ratings, have ONLY ONE item ranked at the highest and next highest level (these have no bearing on your choice relative to other gamers, it just let's Paizo know what is most important to you), and select something for every slot so you have things to offer in trade when trading opens.
YMMV. Others may disagree with my advice completely. But this has worked for me.
Buddy system question can you have multiple buddies to sign up with for different events? ie. Me & buddy 1 for event ABC then me and buddy 2 for event efg?
I will be attending with my brother and 2 friends and would like to be able to buddy up with them for different events as would they.
You can only assign one buddy for lottery events. This is to ensure more even distribution of lottery events among attendees.
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There'll be lots to do. But, if past Paizocons are any guide, you won't get into very many lottery games. Just one, or maybe two.
There are seminars and such that have lots of room to go to. In the non-afternoons, there are PFS games; give one a try if you haven't PFSed before. There will be low-level tables welcoming to newbies.
And, there will definitely be pickup games available as well.
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We recommend with lottery choices to be as honest as you can be with your selections. If you have multiple things per day that you desperately want to get into, rank them all highest.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but here's how I understand that it works:
- Lottery selections are made by blocks rather than the full day.
- Attendees are sorted into random order for block 1, for example Friday morning.
- They take the first name on the list, look at their preferences (which I think ran 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest), and assign the highest rated thing that is available. If I have an event rated 4 with an available slot, I get that slot. If none of my 4s are open, we look at my 3s.
- Once all slots are filled, the list is sorted randomly again and the process is repeated for the next block.
In that system, there is no benefit to ranking multiple things as a 4. No matter how highly I rate any number of events, I'm still going to get one event when my name comes up in the list based on my priority. All that does is result in Paizo having to randomly select one of my 4s or 3s to put me in.
To clarify my advice, it's wise to make choices about what events are more important to you. If you [bold]truly[/bold] don't care whether you get into event A or B, rank them both 4s. (Or rank them both 1s, if those are your only selections. In either case, you would be assigned one of the two when it's your turn.) But in most cases you do care and it comes down to which events you want to leave up to fate and which do you want to get in more than the others.
My model when assigning ratings was to assign 4 to the one I most wanted to get into. 3 was the next highest. Depending on how closely the others interested me, I'd do a handful of 2s. Everything else was a 1.
Am I misunderstanding the system? What benefit is there from rating half a dozen things as a 4? These seem to solely be ranking the order of my choices relative to my other choices. If that's correct, the best use of ranking seems to be to ensure that my top choice is the only top-rated option when my name comes up.
We recommend with lottery choices to be as honest as you can be with your selections. If you have multiple things per day that you desperately want to get into, rank them all highest.Please correct me if I'm wrong but here's how I understand that it works:
- Lottery selections are made by blocks rather than the full day.
- Attendees are sorted into random order for block 1, for example Friday morning.
- They take the first name on the list, look at their preferences (which I think ran 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest), and assign the highest rated thing that is available. If I have an event rated 4 with an available slot, I get that slot. If none of my 4s are open, we look at my 3s.
- Once all slots are filled, the list is sorted randomly again and the process is repeated for the next block.
In that system, there is no benefit to ranking multiple things as a 4. No matter how highly I rate any number of events, I'm still going to get one event when my name comes up in the list based on my priority. All that does is result in Paizo having to randomly select one of my 4s or 3s to put me in.
To clarify my advice, it's wise to make choices about what events are more important to you. If you [bold]truly[/bold] don't care whether you get into event A or B, rank them both 4s. (Or rank them both 1s, if those are your only selections. In either case, you would be assigned one of the two when it's your turn.) But in most cases you do care and it comes down to which events you want to leave up to fate and which do you want to get in more than the others.
My model when assigning ratings was to assign 4 to the one I most wanted to get into. 3 was the next highest. Depending on how closely the others interested me, I'd do a handful of 2s. Everything else was a 1.
Am I misunderstanding the system? What benefit is there from rating half a dozen things as a 4? These seem to solely be ranking the order of my choices relative to my other choices. If that's...
I'm actually also unusually amused by the thought processes behind deciding on lottery ratings.
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Customer Service Manager
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Ok, Katina and I are done for the evening. Still have some Paizo Seminars to get up on the schedule as well as a couple of events that are not entered yet. So don't freak out if you don't see your event up, but currently everything that IS up should have its date and time and other information entered.
[list]Lottery selections are made by blocks rather than the full day.
I'm fairly certain the lottery lists are by day. One or two years were for the full weekend, but then it switched back to day. Since there are events that span multiple (or less than one) partial day block, that wouldn't be particularly effective.
2nd'ing Mark's point to *use* the 0 ranking, if you're sure you wouldn't ever play an event - your "1" there might take it from someone else who ranks it a 4 but was lower in the list than you.
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We recommend with lottery choices to be as honest as you can be with your selections. If you have multiple things per day that you desperately want to get into, rank them all highest.Please correct me if I'm wrong but here's how I understand that it works:
- Lottery selections are made by blocks rather than the full day.
- Attendees are sorted into random order for block 1, for example Friday morning.
- They take the first name on the list, look at their preferences (which I think ran 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest), and assign the highest rated thing that is available. If I have an event rated 4 with an available slot, I get that slot. If none of my 4s are open, we look at my 3s.
- Once all slots are filled, the list is sorted randomly again and the process is repeated for the next block.
In that system, there is no benefit to ranking multiple things as a 4. No matter how highly I rate any number of events, I'm still going to get one event when my name comes up in the list based on my priority. All that does is result in Paizo having to randomly select one of my 4s or 3s to put me in.
To clarify my advice, it's wise to make choices about what events are more important to you. If you [bold]truly[/bold] don't care whether you get into event A or B, rank them both 4s. (Or rank them both 1s, if those are your only selections. In either case, you would be assigned one of the two when it's your turn.) But in most cases you do care and it comes down to which events you want to leave up to fate and which do you want to get in more than the others.
My model when assigning ratings was to assign 4 to the one I most wanted to get into. 3 was the next highest. Depending on how closely the others interested me, I'd do a handful of 2s. Everything else was a 1.
Am I misunderstanding the system? What benefit is there from rating half a dozen things as a 4? These seem to solely be ranking the order of my choices relative to my other choices. If that's...
Tom, thank you for posting that. I was confused as hell with all this, but now I understand.
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I'm fairly certain the lottery lists are by day. One or two years were for the full weekend, but then it switched back to day. Since there are events that span multiple (or less than one) partial day block, that wouldn't be particularly effective.
I think you are right. Reviewing last year's post, I misread "rounds" as morning/afternoon blocks.
The lottery will assign each day's events in separate rounds. We'll randomize the list of attendees and, going down the list, assign people to one of their highest-ranked available events. When we reach the bottom of the list, we'll re-randomize it and start again, continuing this process until no more assignments can be made.
So randomize the list, do a full pass of the list, re-randomize and repeat until that day has no available slots.
Basic idea stays the same—use all rating levels to clearly identify and prioritize which events are most important to you. Zero rate the events you don't want. There is no gain to ranking everything a 4; that doesn't mean you'll get preference over someone who rates a given event a 1. When your name comes up in the randomized list, you will get assigned the highest rated event that has a slot open.
Liz stole my event. D:I believe the term is "ninja'ed."
Nah, if it was ninja'd, they wouldnt be able to identify the culprit :P
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Hey all
I dont know if this is done normally by Paizo, but just in case, and like me you need to visually see how events line up so you can plan your selections, here is a google shared event map...
I'll try and get the rest done later tonight (UK time), but all of Friday is up (so far).
Hope someone other than me finds it useful :P
Heyyyyyyyyy! There will be FOUR HYPER EVENTS! :D
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Is there a reason scenarios 7-01, -02, & -03 aren't being offered, or have they just not been entered yet? It seems weird that all of season 7 except is being offered *except* for the first few scenarios. (And my husband and I still haven't played one of them! I know we can always try to get something scheduled in that middle slot, but I can't imagine we're the only ones looking for one of those.)
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We recommend with lottery choices to be as honest as you can be with your selections. If you have multiple things per day that you desperately want to get into, rank them all highest.
OK, so ... just confirming ...
There are 282 events currently listed. For sake of this question, let's say there are 20 events that a person has some degree of interest in. That person goes in and gives those 20 events a value of 1-4, depending of level of interest. So far, so good.
What about those remaining 262 events? Should one do nothing with them, or is it best to go in and physically list each of those remaining 262 events as 0? If one does NOT do that and just gives 1-4 values to the 20 he is interested in, does that mean the lottery system might put that person in one of those 262 events that he gave no value to?
Thanks!!!
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Is there a reason scenarios 7-01, -02, & -03 aren't being offered, or have they just not been entered yet? It seems weird that all of season 7 except is being offered *except* for the first few scenarios. (And my husband and I still haven't played one of them! I know we can always try to get something scheduled in that middle slot, but I can't imagine we're the only ones looking for one of those.)
Often, the first three of the new season show up at PaizoCon, GenCon, or both. That may be why they're not on the list for the season-ending cons.
When are you getting in? People usually arrange a game or two on Thursday for early arrivals. You might try to convince somebody to run some of those then if you'll be there. (I'll be looking to run or play a game or two myself, but haven't yet figured out what it'll be.)
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Is there a reason scenarios 7-01, -02, & -03 aren't being offered, or have they just not been entered yet? It seems weird that all of season 7 except is being offered *except* for the first few scenarios. (And my husband and I still haven't played one of them! I know we can always try to get something scheduled in that middle slot, but I can't imagine we're the only ones looking for one of those.)Often, the first three of the new season show up at PaizoCon, GenCon, or both. That may be why they're not on the list for the season-ending cons.
When are you getting in? People usually arrange a game or two on Thursday for early arrivals. You might try to convince somebody to run some of those then if you'll be there. (I'll be looking to run or play a game or two myself, but haven't yet figured out what it'll be.)
While I don't know the specific reason, I know that those three scenarios are not being offered on the official slots. Best bet is to coordinate with the unofficial games in the afternoon slots and see if someone can run them. (If it's 7-01 you need Alanya, I may be persuaded to run it for you.)
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Is there a reason scenarios 7-01, -02, & -03 aren't being offered, or have they just not been entered yet? It seems weird that all of season 7 except is being offered *except* for the first few scenarios. (And my husband and I still haven't played one of them! I know we can always try to get something scheduled in that middle slot, but I can't imagine we're the only ones looking for one of those.)Often, the first three of the new season show up at PaizoCon, GenCon, or both. That may be why they're not on the list for the season-ending cons.
When are you getting in? People usually arrange a game or two on Thursday for early arrivals. You might try to convince somebody to run some of those then if you'll be there. (I'll be looking to run or play a game or two myself, but haven't yet figured out what it'll be.)
I'll be there a whole day early too. If you get any games started, I'd be happy to play/run with you guys.
Hey all
I dont know if this is done normally by Paizo, but just in case, and like me you need to visually see how events line up so you can plan your selections, here is a google shared event map...
I'll try and get the rest done later tonight (UK time), but all of Friday is up (so far).
Hope someone other than me finds it useful :P
All four days now populated as of time of this post.
I will probably go through and linkify events at some point.
I also added a line on Saturday for the Banquet for those going to that :)
Enjoy.
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While I don't know the specific reason, I know that those three scenarios are not being offered on the official slots. Best bet is to coordinate with the unofficial games in the afternoon slots and see if someone can run them. (If it's 7-01 you need Alanya, I may be persuaded to run it for you.)Is there a reason scenarios 7-01, -02, & -03 aren't being offered, or have they just not been entered yet? It seems weird that all of season 7 except is being offered *except* for the first few scenarios. (And my husband and I still haven't played one of them! I know we can always try to get something scheduled in that middle slot, but I can't imagine we're the only ones looking for one of those.)Often, the first three of the new season show up at PaizoCon, GenCon, or both. That may be why they're not on the list for the season-ending cons.
When are you getting in? People usually arrange a game or two on Thursday for early arrivals. You might try to convince somebody to run some of those then if you'll be there. (I'll be looking to run or play a game or two myself, but haven't yet figured out what it'll be.)
Thanks all! We're getting in sometime on Thursday, but I don't know when yet. We actually are looking to play 7-02, as it's the only one (so far) we missed this season. Once the lottery results are determined, we'll know which afternoons we have free, and try to coordinate something then. I was just surprised to not see those three on the official schedule, as I thought last year all of the (then) current season was offered.
Customer Service Representative
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Paizo Classics (http://paizo.com/events/v5748mkg0biag) has two different event times listed between the title/schedule placement and the times listed in the event description.
Hi bdk86,
I'm looking at the event, and I see it listed both in the title and the description as being on Friday from 2pm - 6pm. Is it still showing up differently for you? If so, it might be best to send us a screenshot of what you're seeing to paizocon@paizo.com. Otherwise, whatever was causing that display error may have fixed itself.
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Paizo Classics (http://paizo.com/events/v5748mkg0biag) has two different event times listed between the title/schedule placement and the times listed in the event description.Hi bdk86,
I'm looking at the event, and I see it listed both in the title and the description as being on Friday from 2pm - 6pm. Is it still showing up differently for you? If so, it might be best to send us a screenshot of what you're seeing to paizocon@paizo.com. Otherwise, whatever was causing that display error may have fixed itself.
It is, but I realized when I went back to check this is most likely because my profile's time zone is set to CST. So the formal event entry, which looks to be using the PFS event code/format, is automatically adjusting to said timezone. I verified this when I saw it was happening with every event =D
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Paizo Classics (http://paizo.com/events/v5748mkg0biag) has two different event times listed between the title/schedule placement and the times listed in the event description.Hi bdk86,
I'm looking at the event, and I see it listed both in the title and the description as being on Friday from 2pm - 6pm. Is it still showing up differently for you? If so, it might be best to send us a screenshot of what you're seeing to paizocon@paizo.com. Otherwise, whatever was causing that display error may have fixed itself.
Here's what it says for me:
Paizo Classics
Friday afternoon, 2:00–6:00 pm • Cascade 10
When PaizoCon 2016: Fri, May 27, 2016, 05:00 pm – 09:00 pm
Where DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
I think bdk86 is right - the second time is automatically adjusting to viewer's timezone. Not sure if that's easily fixed, but as it is, it might cause confusion for folks when the Lottery starts ...
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Customer Service Manager
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The voting system itself, how the lottery is run, was taken from academic papers published by expert researchers into the math and psychology of voting systems. Be honest with your rankings, its designed to work best if people ranking honestly.
Ranking things honestly will mean something different for each attendee based on their unique preferences. The best advice for the lottery is: rank things honestly whether that means putting a 0 for something or a 4.
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Customer Service Manager
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If you want to know more about the lottery system here are some links to info about the buddy system and the lottery (all links stay on paizo.com):
How it works.
and how it works in plainer english
and why you can't have multiple buddies
and the buddy promise
and buddy use cases
and how the lottery works straight from the javadoc
and how it worked in 2015
Heyyyyyyyyy! There will be FOUR HYPER EVENTS! :DWhat are hyper events?
Events that are for or involve Hypercorps 2099. :D
While I don't know the specific reason, I know that those three scenarios are not being offered on the official slots. Best bet is to coordinate with the unofficial games in the afternoon slots and see if someone can run them. (If it's 7-01 you need Alanya, I may be persuaded to run it for you.)
TOZ, you're awesome for volunteering to run something!
I'll be getting in on Wednesday night, even with down-time to relax, if I could join the queue for 7-01 or 7-03 it'd be pretty gosh darn cool, thank you!
It really depends on how the lottery goes and what things I get into. Between finding time for my home Raptor Squad group, running my slots, and getting a shot at playing the new stuff before I have to run it, I can't promise anything.
Completely understood on that one.
Prepping is kind ofsuper-important, as well as playing and not burning.
Not sure if I've made a gross conceptual error here or not, please correct me if I have?
The PFS events were showing sign-up not open, but I was able to put in a bid on a singular event with Mr. Compton?
Thank you for the prompt response!
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Also, if you do notice a mistake with an event and you can grab the URL of the event, please do, it makes it a really fast fix on our end.
Hi Sara,
Event http://paizo.com/events/v5748mkg0bibb (Owen KC Stephens Monday Emerald Spire game) is showing as signup on Monday, and the Saturday event is showing as a lottery. I just wanted to give you a heads-up as I'm not sure which is correct or if that is as intended.