Determining a formula for accepting races from the ARG sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure how one would go about determining that without running the risk of unintended inclusions or omissions. Personally, I would feel much more comfortable continuing our trend of accepting things based on proposals. It's a lot more work, yes, but I feel it's the most sure-fire way to avoid unintended consequences. That's just my two cents.
Formula may not be the best word. My feeling now is that we don't even have a general feel as to what we want to consider when adding a race. It seems to be skipping a step to be analyzing the Wayang so closely when I don't have a feel for what the community thinks about a proliferation of races.
I don't see the need to rush this particular decision. This rush is even less felt when Paizo is about ready to unleash a whole new set of playable races, custom races, etc.
We are in the upcoming months going to have a whole slew of races to consider and decisions to make. We can certainly look at each case individually if that is what the group thinks is best, but at this point I don't even have a good feel for what the LPF community wants. Do we want a tremendous number of races to choose from or are we more comfortable with a smaller number of races for player choice? I would like to hear from players of LPF, not just judges on this.
I've stated before that I do not like a tremendous number of unusual races in my games. It just breaks what I consider a fantasy world from my perspective. I don't like playing with unusual races in my party, I am a bit plain jane, vanilla like that. It is actually a turn off to me.
With that said, I am very well aware that an "unusual" race is a very subjective opinion and what I consider unusual would not be by others. As a judge I also realize I need to vote with the community in mind, not my personal preferences. And I am willing to vote that way, but right now I don't feel like I know what the community wants and do not feel rushing this vote through is the appropriate path.
Qik said:
As I said earlier, putting off this proposal would in my view net little except for stalling. I can't really see Paizo making any changes that would have an impact on our decision: given the relatively close proximity of the release of the Dragon Empires to the ARG, I would imagine the casting of Wayangs will be relatively consistent. Putting off this proposal whilst deciding what to do about allowing new races in general, on the other hand, strikes me as more sensible, although again, I'm not entirely convinced that we'll be able to come up with an overall consensus on factors which dictate the inclusion or exclusion of races which would enable us to much more smoothly deal with the incoming new races from the ARG. I could, of course, be entirely wrong on that, though.
I don't see it as stalling. I see it as not rushing, getting input from more LPF community members than just judges. With the Races Guide coming that will potentially open the flood gates to new and unusual races I want to know what the LPF community thinks of additional races. Do people want limits, do they want more races, if they want some limits what factors should we consider?
I agree consensus could be difficult on this topic. I've already stated my opinion on races that drift from what I consider mainstream. But as I have also said, I realize I need to vote as a judge and not purely my personal opinion, but I need to know what the community thinks. If there are more people that think like I do then I intend to stand by "No" votes on additional races. If it seems my personal opinion is the minority then I am willing to help get things included that LPF players want. And if we fall somewhere in between then I would like to get a better feel for where that in between is.
Asides from my reservations of non-mainstream races, the fact the Advanced Races Guide is coming makes me want to have a better feel for what people want to see in LPF and less tempted to rush this approval along until we have some consensus from the group (i.e. not just judges) as to where they sit on the issue.
