It is late so this is quick and to the point.
The webiste Pathfinder Chronicler is "a group of professional and non-professional writers creating works based on Paizo’s Pathfinder® world of Golarion. Our goal is to create “publishable works” that we can proudly present on our website."
Check them out here.
Also I found a thread over on the Dragonlance Nexus forums about a site called macrayskeep that facilitates playing on line. I haven't checked out the site yet, but I'm pretty sure it is play by post. Check out the Dragonlance Nexus forums for a list of the available games, which range from 2nd edtion D&D to Palladiums System games, as well as another link to the site.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Spreading the Word
After my last post I'm now trying to think of new ways to "spread the word" about games other than D&D.
The only problem is that I'm not exactly sure what would be the optimal way to do this. I mean I can blog about it all day but I doubt that will be very effective. Mostly because we bloggers are predominately blogging for each other and not really exposing many other gamers to what we know and love outside of D&D.
I have discussed other games with the group I DM for, but again that is a fairly self contained group and the discussion doesn't generally go beyond my dining room walls.
I had thought about making flyers for the RPG Bloggers Network and hanging them in various comic book/gaming shops, as well as non-gaming stores but again I'm not sure how effective that would be. I mean really, who looks at those flyers anyway.
So I'm asking the bloggers and readers of the RPGBN to make some suggestions. I'll keep thinking and trying to come up with good ideas, posting them for feedback from on occassion, but I am happy to use or take part in someone else's idea. Also I wouldn't be against this being a group effort. After all we are a pretty resourceful group of gamers, from all walks of life, located all over the country/world, surely together we can come up with something.
The only problem is that I'm not exactly sure what would be the optimal way to do this. I mean I can blog about it all day but I doubt that will be very effective. Mostly because we bloggers are predominately blogging for each other and not really exposing many other gamers to what we know and love outside of D&D.
I have discussed other games with the group I DM for, but again that is a fairly self contained group and the discussion doesn't generally go beyond my dining room walls.
I had thought about making flyers for the RPG Bloggers Network and hanging them in various comic book/gaming shops, as well as non-gaming stores but again I'm not sure how effective that would be. I mean really, who looks at those flyers anyway.
So I'm asking the bloggers and readers of the RPGBN to make some suggestions. I'll keep thinking and trying to come up with good ideas, posting them for feedback from on occassion, but I am happy to use or take part in someone else's idea. Also I wouldn't be against this being a group effort. After all we are a pretty resourceful group of gamers, from all walks of life, located all over the country/world, surely together we can come up with something.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Is D&D really all that most gamer know?
Usually when I stop by Emipre Comics to pick up my books, I am either heading to or from work/school so I don't get a chance to browse and chit chat. I tend to run in and out with little more than a polite "hello" and "see ya next time" , but the other day I was fortunate enough to have a few minutes to browse and actually have a short but thought provoking conversation with the shop's owner and another customer.
The conversation started after I took a few minutes to browse around the gaming area of the store, which I had never really done before. I was checking out some of the newer 4e Dungeons & Dragons books when I noticed a shelf that still held many 3e/3.5 books. Upon noticing these older books I immediately glanced around to see if there was a copy of Pathfinder on any of the shelves. There wasn't.
I already own a copy of the Pathfinder RPG Core book, which I pre-ordered on Amazon as soon as it was available, but I was a little disappointed to not see a copy on the shelves. As a Paizo fan and 3.5 supporter, there is definitely a part of me that wants to see the system not only succed but thrive. I freely admit that I do entertain the fantasy that PfRPG could knock the industry giant off its pedestal. I know this is unlikely, much like the super hot lady that wears chainmail bikinis and finds your character concept to be fascinating, but it is my fantasy after all.
I walked up to the counter and waited for the owner to get my comics from my file before asking him if he was planning to carry Pathfider. He said that he was planning to carry and support the game if he could ever get a copy. Now the owner is a pretty smart guy so he began to talk about print runs, small publishers, and things of that nature. Things that I have heard/read and discussed on the various forums or RPG blogs. He also mentioned that people had started coming in asking for Paizo products, or products that Paizo happens to produce as if they were new concepts, despite the fact he has carried them for years. This made me feel a bit hopeful that my desire to see Paizo become one of the gaming industries big dogs would come to be. But then he said some things that honestly took me by surprise.
He mentioned the fact that the customers, more specifically experienced gamers, had been asking about Paizo and Pathfinder because they had just recently heard about them/it. As I said before, I was taken by surprise and could not believe that anyone who had ever gamed did not know about Pathfider. After all it has been discussed on every message board and blog on the net for over a year. I expressed this to George who replied that most gamers didn't even know that games other than D&D even existed. I believe the number he used was 1 out of every 30 had played other systems, which I felt was ridiculous.
I was about to tell him this when I thought about the people I had gamed with over the years, including my current group. Sure I own a ridiculous amount of gaming books and have almost an obssessive desire to keep up with the latests and greatest systems, but everyone else I have played with pretty much only owned D&D.
The group I originally played with as a kid naturally all just owned D&D, that was back in the 1e & 2e days, but we were kids with very limited funds and new to gaming so that was understandable. That group grew up and we all went our seperate ways, but I branched out and started buying new systems. I assumed that those in the original group that kept gaming had done the same. Never really considering that maybe that hadn't.
Then I thought about the short lived 2e groups I had in my early 20's and realized that once again, other than myself, they had all owned only D&D with few exceptions. Granted there were a few guys I gamed with during that time that had played Champions or Palladium systems, and natrually Magic the Gathering, but they never asked to play anything but D&D/AD&D.
After those groups I didn't game for 3-4 years, until finding the foundations of the group I currently play with, and have mentioned a few times in various posts. Of that group only 1 guy still remains as a full time member, though my fiance who was also in that group still sits in on the rare game. Most quit playing all together or due to various circumstances (divorce, broken friendships) moved on to other groups. Yet when I think about them only one, the guy that is still in the group, had every played anything but D&D, and maybe Vampire. As a matter of fact, at the time I started gaming with them none of them even knew 3e was coming out until I took over DMing duties and switched the group from 2e to 3e. Naturally the last remaining member has played a few of the systems I own over the years and is a little more amiable to trying new systems, but he only owns D&D. Until I brought up the fact that Pathfinder was coming out, he had no idea it even existed and assumed we would continue as a 4e group or go back to our 3e books given that we were only moderately happy with 4e.
Of my current group 2 of the regular players are teenagers, and are new to gaming so their lack of knowledge is understandable, but the other 2-3 have been gaming as long, if not longer,than I have, one still runs a 2e game with another group. How could they not know about games other than D&D?
Because of the internet, the countless blogs and messageboards I have erroneously assumed that every gamer is as well versed as those of us that blog or post. I was apparently way off base.
D&D is the industry giant not only because it was the foundation of the industry, but because that is all most gamers know. Since D&D is generally the game we start out with, I can completely understand that newer gamers have yet to be exposed to the other great systems being produced. But what about the older, more experienced gamers? Outside of D&D, and more specifially the system they are currently playing, nothing else seems to exists to them.
Now it could be argued that those of us that do expand beyond D&D are more "hardcore" or that those other gamers are more casual. Yet the groups I have played with, regularly played weekly if not more often. That's not really casual in my book.
I started to argue the point with my comics shop's owner that as a member of the RPG Bloggers Network, there are tons of gamers out there that have played and own other systems. After all there have been numerous posts about how many books we all own since the network came into existence. Surely, the gamers in my area are a fluke, an anomoly in the gaming world.
Then it hit me that many of the same people on the RPGBN are the ones who are posting on the message boards, producing podcasts and leaving comments on the various blogs. Then I thought about the various posts on the RPGBN, the majority of which are about D&D. I had no argument. We are not the standard in gaming, at least given the circumstantial evidence I can come up with.
So what is the point of this post? Honestly I'm not 100% sure. I just found the revelation a bit surprising and suppose I am curious to see if this is something that others have encountered. Are those of us on the RPGBN and the various message boards, numerous though we seem, really in the minority? Are the majority of our fellow gamers really so isolated and uninformed about what else exists in this age where information about nearly any topic is just a Google search away?
If this is the case and our fellow gamers are caught up in a world where D&D is all that exists, how can we change that? Surely there is some way to "spread the word" and get D&D only players to try other systems. I'm not saying that they should abandon D&D, I love the game too, but they should know there are other options available to them.
I'm open to suggestions.
The conversation started after I took a few minutes to browse around the gaming area of the store, which I had never really done before. I was checking out some of the newer 4e Dungeons & Dragons books when I noticed a shelf that still held many 3e/3.5 books. Upon noticing these older books I immediately glanced around to see if there was a copy of Pathfinder on any of the shelves. There wasn't.
I already own a copy of the Pathfinder RPG Core book, which I pre-ordered on Amazon as soon as it was available, but I was a little disappointed to not see a copy on the shelves. As a Paizo fan and 3.5 supporter, there is definitely a part of me that wants to see the system not only succed but thrive. I freely admit that I do entertain the fantasy that PfRPG could knock the industry giant off its pedestal. I know this is unlikely, much like the super hot lady that wears chainmail bikinis and finds your character concept to be fascinating, but it is my fantasy after all.
I walked up to the counter and waited for the owner to get my comics from my file before asking him if he was planning to carry Pathfider. He said that he was planning to carry and support the game if he could ever get a copy. Now the owner is a pretty smart guy so he began to talk about print runs, small publishers, and things of that nature. Things that I have heard/read and discussed on the various forums or RPG blogs. He also mentioned that people had started coming in asking for Paizo products, or products that Paizo happens to produce as if they were new concepts, despite the fact he has carried them for years. This made me feel a bit hopeful that my desire to see Paizo become one of the gaming industries big dogs would come to be. But then he said some things that honestly took me by surprise.
He mentioned the fact that the customers, more specifically experienced gamers, had been asking about Paizo and Pathfinder because they had just recently heard about them/it. As I said before, I was taken by surprise and could not believe that anyone who had ever gamed did not know about Pathfider. After all it has been discussed on every message board and blog on the net for over a year. I expressed this to George who replied that most gamers didn't even know that games other than D&D even existed. I believe the number he used was 1 out of every 30 had played other systems, which I felt was ridiculous.
I was about to tell him this when I thought about the people I had gamed with over the years, including my current group. Sure I own a ridiculous amount of gaming books and have almost an obssessive desire to keep up with the latests and greatest systems, but everyone else I have played with pretty much only owned D&D.
The group I originally played with as a kid naturally all just owned D&D, that was back in the 1e & 2e days, but we were kids with very limited funds and new to gaming so that was understandable. That group grew up and we all went our seperate ways, but I branched out and started buying new systems. I assumed that those in the original group that kept gaming had done the same. Never really considering that maybe that hadn't.
Then I thought about the short lived 2e groups I had in my early 20's and realized that once again, other than myself, they had all owned only D&D with few exceptions. Granted there were a few guys I gamed with during that time that had played Champions or Palladium systems, and natrually Magic the Gathering, but they never asked to play anything but D&D/AD&D.
After those groups I didn't game for 3-4 years, until finding the foundations of the group I currently play with, and have mentioned a few times in various posts. Of that group only 1 guy still remains as a full time member, though my fiance who was also in that group still sits in on the rare game. Most quit playing all together or due to various circumstances (divorce, broken friendships) moved on to other groups. Yet when I think about them only one, the guy that is still in the group, had every played anything but D&D, and maybe Vampire. As a matter of fact, at the time I started gaming with them none of them even knew 3e was coming out until I took over DMing duties and switched the group from 2e to 3e. Naturally the last remaining member has played a few of the systems I own over the years and is a little more amiable to trying new systems, but he only owns D&D. Until I brought up the fact that Pathfinder was coming out, he had no idea it even existed and assumed we would continue as a 4e group or go back to our 3e books given that we were only moderately happy with 4e.
Of my current group 2 of the regular players are teenagers, and are new to gaming so their lack of knowledge is understandable, but the other 2-3 have been gaming as long, if not longer,than I have, one still runs a 2e game with another group. How could they not know about games other than D&D?
Because of the internet, the countless blogs and messageboards I have erroneously assumed that every gamer is as well versed as those of us that blog or post. I was apparently way off base.
D&D is the industry giant not only because it was the foundation of the industry, but because that is all most gamers know. Since D&D is generally the game we start out with, I can completely understand that newer gamers have yet to be exposed to the other great systems being produced. But what about the older, more experienced gamers? Outside of D&D, and more specifially the system they are currently playing, nothing else seems to exists to them.
Now it could be argued that those of us that do expand beyond D&D are more "hardcore" or that those other gamers are more casual. Yet the groups I have played with, regularly played weekly if not more often. That's not really casual in my book.
I started to argue the point with my comics shop's owner that as a member of the RPG Bloggers Network, there are tons of gamers out there that have played and own other systems. After all there have been numerous posts about how many books we all own since the network came into existence. Surely, the gamers in my area are a fluke, an anomoly in the gaming world.
Then it hit me that many of the same people on the RPGBN are the ones who are posting on the message boards, producing podcasts and leaving comments on the various blogs. Then I thought about the various posts on the RPGBN, the majority of which are about D&D. I had no argument. We are not the standard in gaming, at least given the circumstantial evidence I can come up with.
So what is the point of this post? Honestly I'm not 100% sure. I just found the revelation a bit surprising and suppose I am curious to see if this is something that others have encountered. Are those of us on the RPGBN and the various message boards, numerous though we seem, really in the minority? Are the majority of our fellow gamers really so isolated and uninformed about what else exists in this age where information about nearly any topic is just a Google search away?
If this is the case and our fellow gamers are caught up in a world where D&D is all that exists, how can we change that? Surely there is some way to "spread the word" and get D&D only players to try other systems. I'm not saying that they should abandon D&D, I love the game too, but they should know there are other options available to them.
I'm open to suggestions.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
RPG Blog II: Erik Mona Interview: Pathfinder, Customer Service, and Old School
RPG Blog II: Erik Mona Interview: Pathfinder, Customer Service, and Old School
This is a great interview, though I would love to see a longer, more detailed interview or one with another Paizo staff.
I just got my print copy of Pathfinder, I got the pdf the day it was released, and could not be happier. With the exception of DM prep-time still being kind of time consuming, though there is some improvement made in that area, the game improves every issue I had with 3.5 and adds to the rules in a very good way.
I hope Paizo only continues to grow and put out the high quality products I have come to expect from them.
This is a great interview, though I would love to see a longer, more detailed interview or one with another Paizo staff.
I just got my print copy of Pathfinder, I got the pdf the day it was released, and could not be happier. With the exception of DM prep-time still being kind of time consuming, though there is some improvement made in that area, the game improves every issue I had with 3.5 and adds to the rules in a very good way.
I hope Paizo only continues to grow and put out the high quality products I have come to expect from them.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Team Fortress 2 RPG
I just found an article that came out earlier this month in regards to a rpg being home brewed based on Team Fortress 2.
Not sure how many of you have seen it as I missed it the first time around.
http://tf2rpg.blogspot.com/
Not sure how many of you have seen it as I missed it the first time around.
http://tf2rpg.blogspot.com/
Friday, July 24, 2009
I voted, why haven't you?
Gen Con is getting closer and naturally that means it is time for the Ennies once again. Voting is going on now and I encourage everyone who loves gaming to vote for their favorites. If like me you will be unable to attend Gen Con this year, that still doesn't give you an excuse for not voting. So click the link, support your favorites, and make your opinion known.
VOTE NOW!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A few intersting tidbits.
In keeping with my current Pathfinder obsession I thought I would bring another Pathfinder site you everyone's attention. The Pathfinder Database is a new site that is supposed to eventually have useful information for those, like myself, who will be playing PRPG. The site " aims to provide a home for Pathfinder RPG fan-created content and will go live on August 13th 2009"
If you have an account, it's free, you can add your own races, creatures, NPCs and adventures for others to use. Apparently pretty much everything you want to publish is fair game, except house rules. It isn't active yet, but it couldn't hurt to go ahead and get you account set up now.
Pathfinder Database website.
On a side note has anyone been keeping up with the Blackest Night storyline running through Green Lantern comics? If not you should, it looks to be frakkin awesome! The first issues of the mini come out... this week I think.
If you have an account, it's free, you can add your own races, creatures, NPCs and adventures for others to use. Apparently pretty much everything you want to publish is fair game, except house rules. It isn't active yet, but it couldn't hurt to go ahead and get you account set up now.
Pathfinder Database website.
On a side note has anyone been keeping up with the Blackest Night storyline running through Green Lantern comics? If not you should, it looks to be frakkin awesome! The first issues of the mini come out... this week I think.
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