An open letter to Randy Buehler

I see Hussar confirmed it himself: Petulant posturing.

Suggestion: In future, if you don't know what you're talking about, keep your mouth shut.

--Erik


Big fan of yours Erik, and I know we are all human, but gotta say: not cool, very unprofessional :(
 

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Now, I cop to being an asshat on this. I was 100% totally wrong.

But, Erik, what other issues have I been spouting off about? The only other criticism I've ever made about Dungeon or Dragon is that the last three (two, I misremember), web enhancements were never done.
 


Okay, back to the subject.:heh: The 4E DMG is replete with advice about needing to know the outline of your adventures and campaigns and how to help get and keep your players on track (chapters 6 Adventures and 8 Campaigns specifically). The biggest peice of advice, provided multiple times, is sketch an outline or overview, albeit a loose one, so you know where you are heading.

quote DMG pg. 141: "Once you have some idea of how your campaign theme will shape the story and have developed a historical backdrop, you can sketch out its major events".
. . .
"If nothing else, though, you'll at least have an idea of the campaign's climax and how the characters can get there. When they stray from your outline - and they will - you'll have some sense of what. . . (to do). . . to get them back on course".

Without an overview, this is almost impossible for the DM. Without an overview of the AP, DM's are going to end up retconning events, and resorting to a certain amount of railroading in order to keep on track with the adventures as written. Now of course, DM's can deviate from an AP at will, and can adapt what they want or don't want. But, this nullifies the major advantage of an Adventure Path - convenience of pre-preperation. With an AP the DM doesn't have to come up with all of the things the DMG talks about concerning making adventures and campaigns. However, without an overview for the DM, it's just another collection of random adventures, no different than any other adventure in Dungeon.

So, in short WoTC, without an overview for the DM you have eliminated the APs' strongest selling point. Doesn't seem like the best way to do business. Personally, I will not pay for an incomplete product.
 



However, without an overview for the DM, it's just another collection of random adventures, no different than any other adventure in Dungeon.

So, in short WoTC, without an overview for the DM you have eliminated the APs' strongest selling point. Doesn't seem like the best way to do business. Personally, I will not pay for an incomplete product.

Well, the overview is a good thing IMO, but...

I think it's assumed that the adventure publishing will outpace actually playing through them anyway, so you'll know an adventure or more ahead of time what's what. It can give you more time to react, and it's not a bad thing really. It just limits your own DM ability to foreshadow more.

You also have the option of course of just not running them until they're all out. I don't know how many adventures it'll be, the published adventures are 3 to a tier I think, so maybe that's the same for the path?

What it doesn't allow is you to judge whether the adventure path is to your liking ahead of time. If it develops into something you don't want to run after half way, then you need to go from there on your own, but then you'd have been on your own without the path anyway....

It's an inconvenience, and no advantage to a DM, but it's not a major problem IMO.
 

I believe Erik's problem isn't this one occasion, but that this problem between Hussar and Paizo has happened more then once before now.

This would be why I asked, because, before now, I don't recall having any issues particularly with Erik or with Paizo, besides that one of not publishing the final web enhancements for Dungeon.

AFAIK, I haven't interacted with Erik in a very long time and I haven't posted to the Paizo boards in probably about a year, not that I posted a lot anyway.

So, honestly, I'm at a loss as to the level of reaction here. I knew that there was no outline set out for Shackled City (or at least I had a pretty good idea that there wasn't), I quite honestly forgot the Overload download on the Paizo site, and, while I have a reasonable collection of Dungeon magazines, I don't happen to have 138 and was unaware that the overview was published.

Did I way overstate my case? Yup. Total asshat. Mea culpa. I posted out of ignorance. But certainly not out of petulance or malice. I honestly thought that there weren't outlines published, based on my faulty knowledge.

I'm completely in the dark as to what other issues Erik has with me.
 

If I'm understanding the new AP right, it seems kind of insane... If you publish 1 adventure per month, and each one covers a level, and you go up to 30... Well, that's 2-1/2 years to get a complete campaign.

I'm not surprised that they're not publishing an overview, since I think my game would move much faster than this - I'd probably need 2 installments per month, even meeting only 4 hours per week.

-O
 

If I'm understanding the new AP right, it seems kind of insane... If you publish 1 adventure per month, and each one covers a level, and you go up to 30... Well, that's 2-1/2 years to get a complete campaign.

I'm not surprised that they're not publishing an overview, since I think my game would move much faster than this - I'd probably need 2 installments per month, even meeting only 4 hours per week.

-O

They actually say "6 per tier, so 1&1/2 years", so double what I thought above, but no where did it say 1 adventure per level, I think.
 

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