SCAG Thread

[Mithreinmaethor]

For sake of your requested transparency, there will be another meeting tomorrow at WOTC to discuss the latest version of the SCAG announcement based on the write up the Admins submitted (following several rounds of discussions with Admins, RCs, WOTC, various constituencies). After that if its approved we'll announce this week. If not it will come back to the Admins again for revisions, we will make requested changes, if they are substantial we'll send it around to various people to review again, and we'll resubmit again and another meeting would have to be scheduled to seek approval.

Thanks for the information.

So at this point if we are lucky and all goes well it could be announced late tomorrow or Wednesday, but is more likely going to be another week, or 2 weeks or a month from now.

 

[Ainulindalion]

That sucks to hear about the DC area. My FLGS is celebrating our AL-versary this week, and we just ran Dues for the Dead on Halloween. Perhaps some kind of similar event could be run at your FLGS to reignite interest. You could change the party in DDEX2-1 to be more of a harvest festival for a Thanksgiving weekend game. I'd personally like to see Expeditions that take place on the FR holidays to tie into our real-world holidays.

That'd be delightful. But no one would DM. Or, if we had DMs, no one would be available to play. I can barely cover regular game days (many of which have been reduced to 2x2 tables instead of 2x3 tables already, and lots of weeks those tables don't even fill up). I have 200 people on my mailing list for 5 different FLGS (one of which, one of the oldest, is closing the end of the month). The FLGS' put our game days on their websites and their calendars. I've held New DM seminars - the only people who show up already DM.

Long time players and DMs (people who consistently played through 4E, play PFS, and other TTRPGs) are dropping like flies for various reasons that I've enumerated previously. A good number of them are still playing 5E. Just not AL.

 

[Mirtek]

Look at Pathfinder Society, where they've created an entire alternate campaign structure (the Core Campaign) to address massive power creep in the standard PFS campaign structure.

Are there any figures which of the two structures is more popular?

 

[Pauper]

Are there any figures which of the two structures is more popular?

Not that I'm aware of, but it's worth noting that PaizoCon 2015 scheduled the same number of Core tables as they did Normal tables. A quick glance at the old GenCon 2015 schedule suggests a similar split at PFS tables there.

If all the tables actually filled, this would be a sign that the Core Campaign (which was only launched in January of this year) has become at least as popular as the Normal Campaign (which has been going on for some time now). Whether it's because of new players preferring the simpler Core style, existing players tired of the power-gaming in Normal switching to Core, or a combination of both, PFS players clearly appreciate a Core option.

If we're going to choose one or the other for Adventurers League, it would seem Core would be the better option.

--
Pauper

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

If we're going to choose one or the other for Adventurers League, it would seem Core would be the better option.

--
Pauper

Yes if there was a giant rules bloat for 5e as there is was for 3.x/PF it would make sense to want to go with such a concept. But luckily WotC has decided to go away from dumping splat books on the players year after year. So there is not really any reason for restrictiveness at this point in AL's life.

 

[skerritthegreen]

Yes if there was a giant rules bloat for 5e as there is was for 3.x/PF it would make sense to want to go with such a concept. But luckily WotC has decided to go away from dumping splat books on the players year after year. So there is not really any reason for restrictiveness at this point in AL's life.

Its easier to let things in rather than take away. We would prefer to not retroactively remove rules options when broken combos appear rather than instead make some proactive effort to control the entrance of new rules items into the campaign. There is currently no plan or discussion about changing the story origin rule.

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

Its easier to let things in rather than take away. We would prefer to not retroactively remove rules options when broken combos appear rather than instead make some proactive effort to control the entrance of new rules items into the campaign. There is currently no plan or discussion about changing the story origin rule.

So you are saying that AL as part of the "marketing arm" of WotC does not trust the Alpha Testers, Beta Testers and WotC to produce content that will not be broken according in the view of AL?

Being slightly facetious here

But unless something changes with WotC's release schedules I do not foresee a ton of problems with player crunch becoming a problem in AL. The only thing I have seen restricted that makes any sense to me is the restriction for PC races with flight. I have not seen anything else released that makes any sense to be restricted, and truly do not believe that SCAG should be restricted to one seasons Story Origin.

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

So you are saying that AL as part of the "marketing arm" of WotC does not trust the Alpha Testers, Beta Testers and WotC to produce content that will not be broken according in the view of AL?

No. Rather that it's far easier to loosen preemptively tightened restrictions than try to cut away the bad parts after they're in the wild.

 

[skerritthegreen]

So you are saying that AL as part of the "marketing arm" of WotC does not trust the Alpha Testers, Beta Testers and WotC to produce content that will not be broken according in the view of AL?

No, as WOTC is fond of saying, they release lots of options intending to give DMs many choices for their game.They never intend for every option to be available if a DM doesn't approve it and if two rules together end up being particularly powerful, they always assume the local DM would just say no, I don't want that combo in my game. Its harder to do that in a large shared OP like we have and thus we preemptively limit new rules items and then choose what gets in.

 

[tila]

That'd be delightful. But no one would DM. Or, if we had DMs, no one would be available to play. I can barely cover regular game days (many of which have been reduced to 2x2 tables instead of 2x3 tables already, and lots of weeks those tables don't even fill up). I have 200 people on my mailing list for 5 different FLGS (one of which, one of the oldest, is closing the end of the month). The FLGS' put our game days on their websites and their calendars. I've held New DM seminars - the only people who show up already DM.

Long time players and DMs (people who consistently played through 4E, play PFS, and other TTRPGs) are dropping like flies for various reasons that I've enumerated previously. A good number of them are still playing 5E. Just not AL.

Have you talked with your Local Coordinator about helping to get DMs? Contact me offline and I will give you his email.