Venture-Agent, Virginia—Newport News
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As for replay after X year, that leaves two problems:
1: The bookkeeping headache of determining exactly how long ago a scenario was played.
2: This encourages more play of older scenarios so people can replay. New scenarios blow away old ones in terms of quality and variety. There should be every reason to play new, better content.
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As for replay after X year, that leaves two problems:
1: The bookkeeping headache of determining exactly how long ago a scenario was played.
2: This encourages more play of older scenarios so people can replay. New scenarios blow away old ones in terms of quality and variety. There should be every reason to play new, better content.
And then there will inevitably people who read it as "Replay after the scenario is X years old" and just replay ones that are 4 years old, even if they originally played them last Tuesday... "Hay! This thing is a season 1 - and it's on the CON schedule for Slot 6 - Totally signing up for it again then!"
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I can understand the reluctance for no more replay.
I also remember when I was a store coordinator I had people come in the store who had tried PFS in year 0 or 1 that were thinking about coming back, but couldn't remember what they had played and didn't want to expend the effort of trying to find it out.
If there was a timer, I could have probably got some of them back as there would have been no need to try to find chronicles that were lost 2 or 3 moves prior and written by people they don't even know. The "modified chronicle" proposals don't really solve that secondary issue (which to me is a bigger thing than the original, "I want more replays"), so I'd be "meh" at best about it.
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I am also experiencing lots of issues scheduling scenarios that can draw enough players to even have a table. Brand new stuff usually works but beyond that there are experienced players who would come out and play if they could. The evergreens and core isn't attractive enough, players who want to play the characters they like and have built not re-starting a level 0 or core. Yes there have been replay options put out there but so far they are having little impact. Experienced players just stop coming out.
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I am also experiencing lots of issues scheduling scenarios that can draw enough players to even have a table. Brand new stuff usually works but beyond that there are experienced players who would come out and play if they could. The evergreens and core isn't attractive enough, players who want to play the characters they like and have built not re-starting a level 0 or core. Yes there have been replay options put out there but so far they are having little impact. Experienced players just stop coming out.
This, exactly this. My store used to have two tables, a low-tier, and a high-tier. These days its not unusual to have 3-4 players (plus GM) at our tables. When I schedule new scenarios before any other store in the area, we sometimes end up with two (or three) tables again, full of older players. When I talk to the folks who used to regularly play at our location as to why they no longer do PFS at our store, the answer almost always is that there were just not enough scenarios they could play. Every week I literally watch players who used to do PFS at our store playing 5e because of exactly this. Our 5e now has the table population PFS used to enjoy just because there are more things to play with less hassle.
To put things into perspective, the gamer population in our area is quite plentiful, and there are enough locations to support it. If I was to drive 30 min a night, I could easily play (barring issues with replay) 5 games a week. All 7 nights if I didnt mind expanding my drive to ~45 minutes.
How about 4 years after PLUS you've already GM'd the adventure once as well?
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I'm noodling ideas on how to do this without it causing bookkeeping problems, and avoiding the idea of replaying an old scenario 4 hours after you first played it. This one hit my brain out of left field.
There are those that dislike the expansion of the allowed races beyond a certain point, claiming that it makes PFS feel like a trip to the zoo. What if we split off a third stream of the campaign and have PFS / Core / Menagerie options?
Most of the currently legal races would remain in PFS. Menagerie would open up another set of races that could only be played at tables that were formed from that group of races alone.
Would a third chance to replay be enough?
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I'm noodling ideas on how to do this without it causing bookkeeping problems, and avoiding the idea of replaying an old scenario 4 hours after you first played it. This one hit my brain out of left field.
There are those that dislike the expansion of the allowed races beyond a certain point, claiming that it makes PFS feel like a trip to the zoo. What if we split off a third stream of the campaign and have PFS / Core / Menagerie options?
Most of the currently legal races would remain in PFS. Menagerie would open up another set of races that could only be played at tables that were formed from that group of races alone.
Would a third chance to replay be enough?
So long as those legal races included Rust Monster, Mimic & Gelatinous Cube, then I'm sold.
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I am also experiencing lots of issues scheduling scenarios that can draw enough players to even have a table. Brand new stuff usually works but beyond that there are experienced players who would come out and play if they could. The evergreens and core isn't attractive enough, players who want to play the characters they like and have built not re-starting a level 0 or core. Yes there have been replay options put out there but so far they are having little impact. Experienced players just stop coming out.
to me this is a separate issue to the replay issue.
The new scenarios give your old hands a table to play at, and of course new players still get to play at these tables.
Getting older scenarios off is harder if you don't have full tables of newer players, but that's more a recruitment issue then a replay issue.
Again it all comes back to how many games days are you having in your area vs how much content is being produced? are you trying to fun more then 2 - 3 games days a month?
unless there is more content produced, trying to have more then 2 - 3 games days a month is unfortunately going to cause you issues, that no amount of replay is going to solve, as sooner or later you will burn up all your replay options as well
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My personal opinion is that the campaign is pretty generous when it comes to replay (being that unlimited replay in part can cause the end of a campaign in general).
That being said, if you don't want to GM and don't want to play Core, you are in part causing your own issues by eliminating 75% of possible chronicle credit.
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My personal opinion is that the campaign is pretty generous when it comes to replay (being that unlimited replay in part can cause the end of a campaign in general).
That being said, if you don't want to GM and don't want to play Core, you are in part causing your own issues by eliminating 75% of possible chronicle credit.
Or if one is *allowed* to GM and/or has the *time* to play/GM Core.
Do not presume that it is a 'want' situation, please.
That felt a bit offensive, based on personal experiences.
Probably not the intent.
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Venture-Agent, Minnesota
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What if we split off a third stream of the campaign and have PFS / Core / Menagerie options?
Most of the currently legal races would remain in PFS. Menagerie would open up another set of races that could only be played at tables that were formed from that group of races alone.
Would a third chance to replay be enough?
Menagerie could be very popular with those who like to play monster races, but oh... it would turn scenarios on their head to have no humanoids in them! Right now, I'm running an all-tengu game of Murder's Mark in Play by Post. There are many odd things that happen when there are no humans in the group. The whole dynamic of the story changes.
Hmm
PS We'd have to be careful with our monster choices, too. Goblinfinder would be so popular that it would put the Classic campaign out of business! Myself, I would love to play a mimic from the Dark Archive.
My Risen from the Sands group actively recruited the mimic from that game to the Pathfinder Society. I've often wondered how 'Maurice' has been doing since then...
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area North & East
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I'm on board with the 4-year replay plan.
Another option that would help a little (though not enough) would be to let the GM for CORE games receive non-Core credit. Just because the players are stuck with one book doesn't mean the GM has to be.
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I'm on board with the 4-year replay plan.
Another option that would help a little (though not enough) would be to let the GM for CORE games receive non-Core credit. Just because the players are stuck with one book doesn't mean the GM has to be.
Mom keeps me in a closet and never lets me come out to play.
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My personal opinion is that the campaign is pretty generous when it comes to replay (being that unlimited replay in part can cause the end of a campaign in general).
That being said, if you don't want to GM and don't want to play Core, you are in part causing your own issues by eliminating 75% of possible chronicle credit.
Or if one is *allowed* to GM and/or has the *time* to play/GM Core.
Do not presume that it is a 'want' situation, please.
That felt a bit offensive, based on personal experiences.
Probably not the intent.
So you can find TIME to replay regular scenarios, but cannot fine TIME to play Core?
I understand about not having time to GM, it is when you say you don't have time to play Core, but can find to replay that is the WTF moment.
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So you can find TIME to replay regular scenarios, but cannot fine TIME to play Core?I understand about not having time to GM, it is when you say you don't have time to play Core, but can find to replay that is the WTF moment.
You do realize core isn't available in every area right?
It very much is not a solution here. It would split a player base small enough to qualify for nuclear fission.
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I think he was referring to time as in availability. It's hard to find Core in most areas. It's pretty big in France and online, but I'm not sure where else it really flourishes.
Hmm
We run 2 Core tables each month (Compared to 7 Standard tables). Pretty much everyone in our area has played a table or two of Core, even those who prefer Standard mode.
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I'm noodling ideas on how to do this without it causing bookkeeping problems, and avoiding the idea of replaying an old scenario 4 hours after you first played it. This one hit my brain out of left field.
There are those that dislike the expansion of the allowed races beyond a certain point, claiming that it makes PFS feel like a trip to the zoo. What if we split off a third stream of the campaign and have PFS / Core / Menagerie options?
Most of the currently legal races would remain in PFS. Menagerie would open up another set of races that could only be played at tables that were formed from that group of races alone.
Would a third chance to replay be enough?
"Would a third chance to replay be enough?" -
my guess? no. If the past is any predictive of the future, some people would find it way to restrictive.
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A fellow we have locally has said he felt the best way to do it would be that once a character reaches 12, the chronicles it had are unlocked for play. Its an interesting idea.
I think that having GM star replays reset each season rather than getting the one replay for GMing at a con would be better solution though. It both encourages GMing and provides a decent limited reply (5 per year maximum). At worst you get an explosion of GMs trying to get replays, which I mean I don't think anyone is going to say that's bad.
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A fellow we have locally has said he felt the best way to do it would be that once a character reaches 12, the chronicles it had are unlocked for play. Its an interesting idea.
I think that having GM star replays reset each season rather than getting the one replay for GMing at a con would be better solution though. It both encourages GMing and provides a decent limited reply (5 per year maximum). At worst you get an explosion of GMs trying to get replays, which I mean I don't think anyone is going to say that's bad.
I don't think the replay problem is that huge on an individual level. I'm finding at least i can get my own games in (although the stars recharging on their own would probably get me out to an additional con a year, because right now i look at the scheduel and go "played it played it played it...)"
but it's a huge problem for me trying to geek soduku tables. Finding A game A geek (you) can play is exponentially easier than finding a game all the geeks can play.
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The problem is that people want replays but don't want to sit on the other side of the screen.
In some places, yes, but not in all.
We never want to be in the position that someone is running a game purely because they have to to get something else that they want. They should be behind the screen because they want to do that job, otherwise they won't do a good job.
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To minimize Geek Sodoku, we post each month's offering ahead of time on Warhorn.net.
The downside being that many of your old hands look at the schedule and don't come, because there is nothing for them to play.
I may or may not have used this to my advantage. >_>
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Venture-Agent, Minnesota
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And then there's the Flex table, advertised as such, with the caveat that you have to RSVP over a week in advance, commit, and give your I.D. on the PFS Session Tracker.
It's a great concept, the only wrinkle being that sometimes Flex tables don't pay attention to the offerings already scheduled at nearby stores, who are also trying to schedule games that haven't been played in a while. No system is perfect.
BNW, I have to ask, with your Geek Sudoku, do you pick your scenarios then and there? Are you running cold, or do you have 3-4 scenarios prepped ahead of time and just pick the one that covers the most people? I'm curious about how this works.
Hmm
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To minimize Geek Sodoku, we post each month's offering ahead of time on Warhorn.net.The downside being that many of your old hands look at the schedule and don't come, because there is nothing for them to play.
I may or may not have used this to my advantage. >_>
As someone who's been at a table where after the first encounter, a player's said "this sounds eerily familiar" and left (leaving an under-leveled 4-player table playing up in a particularly difficult scenario [we TPK'd, c'est la vie]), I think having the ability to research beforehand is not a downside at all.
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I think having the ability to research beforehand is not a downside at all.The ability to research is not the downside. The downside is half your group not showing up because they can't play. So your under-leveled 4 player table is now 2 players and the GM.
Is there no communication? No situational awareness? It seems that this 'downside' is solved by (at most) two emails.
And it's not the end of the world if a table doesn't make. Talk to your lodgemates and find out why.
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To minimize Geek Sodoku, we post each month's offering ahead of time on Warhorn.net. That way everyone knows what is offered and when.Which results in people not showing up, which is a HUGE problem when you have a small group.
I'm confused, how does having people sign up and commit in advance result with people not showing up?
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BNW, I have to ask, with your Geek Sudoku, do you pick your scenarios then and there? Are you running cold, or do you have 3-4 scenarios prepped ahead of time and just pick the one that covers the most people? I'm curious about how this works.
Hmm
We meet roughly the 1st and third friday of the month. On occasion if there's a 5th friday and my car still has gas, we'll play fifth Friday too.
we usually do a little soduku at the table. People tell me they're not going to be here next time, so i don't scheduel something right up their ally. I beg borrow and plead for a low level DM with people going "not it" so I can run the high table.
I prep a high level game, someone volunteers to prep a low level game. Someone reminds me it's not up on warhorn. Most people sign up, some don't..
the difference between all and most means that we're hovering at 1-2 tables, and some people come to the game right from work. So around 7:15-7:30 we count heads, decide if we're going to have 1 table or 2 and collapse (usually onto the low table) If the other dm backs out I've PROBABLY run that scenario before so I crack open the kindle and run it.