Reflecting back on 2012

As another year draws to a close, it is time to start reflecting on what happened in 2012. Last year, I posted a similar post and I found it fun to write as it forced me to think over things I did, things I liked and things I didn't like.

The Mayans

First, all those who placed any faith in the Mayans... Really? I mean. Really? I can't wait for the next whacky theory. I'm sure we'll have a few years to wait for... 2020! Or will it be 2018? Doomsday prophecies are funny.

Home Front

There are a number of things that happened this past year. However, I don't feel right to post it here.

My two daughters are growing and becoming girls indeed.

Josiane attended two cons for the first time this year, something she really enjoys. She's not much of a gamer yet, but I'm sure she'll grow into one.

Kitty attended her first RPG session earlier in December. Unlike Josiane she is very imaginative in these things and really impressed me. Now if only she'd talk a little louder...

Action Man grows all the time. He is a big fan of superheroes, particularly Batman and Superman. I'm proud to say he can name about 10 members of the Justice League and most Avengers (except Thor, which he never remembers). Because of him, I've been revisiting a number of animated series (Batman, Superman, Justice League) with him.

NeoExodus

This year, NeoExodus has gone big. FINALLY! We now have our Setting book out and available. Not just that, but it should start appearing in your local game stores! We have more than one book, right now we have three available: The Campaign Setting, the Folding Circle and the First Ones.

Not only has NeoExodus seen the release of "core" material, but we also released a number of adventures (with a lot more to come). We started working on a number of small products: Treasures of Exodus, Cities of Exodus, and a few more still in development.

It's a very interesting time at LPJ Design. (As a side note, we are looking for more authors to produce more material, contact me or LPJ if you are interested).

Although perhaps the biggest bit of news is the launching of the NeoExodus Legacies with two great gals: D'Anne Nelson and Linda Weygant-Robison. We are frantically working on getting more products out all the time for it. The campaign is gearing up. More and more material is coming.

In the dying days of the year, some local stores have begun carrying NeoExodus! You can find them at Enchanted Grounds, Gamer's Haven and Petrie's Family Games, with more locations to follow. Ask your local game store for NeoExodus and I'll get it to them!

After many years without running my own home game, I finally started a home campaign for NeoExodus! My campaign, which I call "The Mark", deals with the PCs having "lost" three months of memory and finding out all the bad things that happened during that time. I currently do not have any plans to publish it, but never say never.

To add to all this, this year saw two successful Kickstarters for NeoExodus: One that led to "Undying Legacy of the First Ones" and another that led to the expansion of "Origin of Man".

Pathfinder Society

The big news here was my parting ways with PFS after Gencon. I'm not really interested in going over it. I'm very proud of the community I helped build. Although I am much less involved these days - I prefer to spend my time GMing/playing NeoExodus - but I do enjoy playing with many people playing PFS. I found that I *MUCH* prefer to play the Pathfinder Modules as they provide a wider scope and makes me feel more important and impactful.

Miniatures

This year was the first year I did not play a single game of Warhammer 40k. I received the new edition with what so many said they would do: I did not have anything to do with it! I did not buy the starter set. I did not buy any GW's overpriced models. I can say that I have no interest in playing it anymore. Oh! And I did not play.

I did, however get into a few new things. First I am participating in the latest Batman HeroClix campaign as one of the Joker's boys... I am enjoying playing heroclix more than I expected. The one thing I dislike about them is the flat maps. I like watching terrain and 3d effects. Heroclix does not have that...

But the gameplay is simple to understand but hard to master: a great combination! Even better: Action man likes the models and Julie enjoyed playing the game. Isn't that all a man wants?

I played in my first Warmachine tournament - using my Legion of Everblight - and had a good time. There is a very active community for WM/H here in the Front Range of Colorado. Too active for me actually. But I do enjoy friendly games of it. And the models. Though in all honesty, I get to paint more than play.

Real Work

2012 started on some rocky grounds here after I - unwittingly - created a major bug in the code. Stressful few months to start the year. Things have calmed down as I put my nose to the grindstone and worked it off. I really do not want to repeat that experience.

Non-Gaming Books

This year I got into comic books a lot.

Shield of Three Lions by Pamela Kaufman, the story of a young girl disguised as a boy going off on Crusade with Richard the Lionheart.
Les Mensonges de l'Histoire by Pierre Miquel, a somewhat philosophical examination of the use of lies throughout history.
Azure Bonds by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubbs, definitely one of the classics of D&D litterature. I love this one because it was a one-shot deal. The story starts, evolves and end. It is not written as a series.
Winter Witch Over the course of a number of plane trips, I finally finished this one. It was enjoyable, but not something I really cared for. Big plus: story was a one-shot.
Wolves of the North a tale of Vikings and Saxons
Captain America Essentials #1 Collected comics from the 60s
Daredevil Essentials #1 Collected comics from the 60s
Spider-Man Essentials #1 Collected comics from the 60s
Thor Essentials #1 Collected comics from the 60s. This is the one I liked the least of the lot. Then again I was never a fan of Thor.
Superman: Our worlds at war This collection was disjointed and hard to follow in many places. I really wanted to like it, but the story didn't flow. A crossover that was poorly executed.

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher, I gave up. It was laborious, boring and well I gave up on it after a few chapters.

Other RPGs

Dark Trenches This year I wrote a new Call of Cthulhu adventure called "Dark Trenches" about which I posted this, this, and this. This descent into madness set in World War I really sparked my interest in this almost-century old war. I am debating about what to do about it. I think I might publish it in a CoC Monograph or even self-publish. However before I do so, I want to have at least two more adventures with a similar theme to make the ensemble more attractive.

The Lion sleeps tonight This year, Petrie's put up a Halloween-theme all-night game event. During that time, I dusted off "The Lion Sleep Tonight", the first Call of Cthulhu adventure I wrote and produced for a convention (Gaelcon 2000). Since that time I ran it at numerous events in at least 4 countries: Canada, France, Ireland and now the USA. Almost on cue, I received a message from a German Call of Cthulhu magazine asking me if they could publish the adventure in German. I immediately agreed - though I could not provide the German translation.

DC Universe This year, I really got into a super hero phase (see the list of things I read). And DC Universe RPG was a natural choice. I got the book but never really got a chance to play it. Well this year I have. I played under Bruce in his all-night game event and had a blast. I also ran two slots at MicroCon.

Doctor Who I ran a few Doctor Who events this year again. Fun game, easy to learn and very story-oriented.

Obsidian Apocalypse LPJ ran a kickstarter for his reboot of Obsidian Twilight - now Obsidian Apocalypse - and I got in and wrote a few sections of it. I am looking forward to the final product as this has the potential for a lot of coolness.

Wargames Illustrated Three years ago, I wrote an article for Wargames Foundry about the Illyrian Rebellion of 6-9AD. After years of not hearing back from them, I approached Wargames Illustrated to get it published. And it was! I may be doing it more often in the coming year(s).

Traveling

In 2012, I did a fair bit of traveling from my home in Colorado Springs. Most of these featured NeoExodus.

Denver Cons This year, I ran Pathfinder Society at Genghis Con and Taction. At both, I offered NeoExodus adventures. These adventures were received positively by the player base and encouraged me to write more. Obviously I will be back in 2013 to both. This year, both of my daughters will be attending the con and I cannot wait! (Neither can they) The feel like "big "

PaizoCon PaizoCon exploded this year. From a small con, it became huge. I am very glad to see it grow. After going there for two years, PaizoCon 2012 might've been my last one for a while. Next year, LPJ & I talked about attending GenCon and offer a lineup of NeoExodus events. I cannot wait! This is a very exciting time.

Fandemonium I returned to Boise for another year. Man I really like the people there! CA is an awesome host and a dear friend. This is a small con (compared to all the others on this list), but one that is dear to my heart. I will try to return again in 2013!

SoCal Smackdown In 2012, I went to the Los Angeles area for the first time to attend SoCal Smackdown. What a fun time. Sure it may have been a little smaller (RPG-wise) than I expected, but I had loads of fun. Robyn, Brian and Will are awesome and definitely doing a great job! I am trying to see if I can squeeze a trip to Los Angeles again in 2013.

There are so many places I want to see in 2013... LPJ and I talked about GenCon, DragonCon in Atlanta and I want to attend KublaCon in San Francisco. I have to travel to Montreal in the spring, so that's one more thing to do! I hope to run some NeoExodus in all of these locations. It would certainly be great!

Blog Milestones

The blog saw more traffic every month this year than the highest number reached last year.

• Posts This is #453.
• Most Prolific Month August with 19 posts
• Most Visits in a Month November with 5,446 visits
• Most Popular Post Microcon’s Doctor Who RPG Marathon with 3,203 views
• Top 3 Readers Origins USA, UK, Canada

Real Life

This year was the year of the Waldo Canyon Fire that destroyed parts of Colorado Springs. I remembered watching the column of smoke over the house that turned the sky orange. Then when the fire reached the houses I could only watch in horror on TV. I have to give a HUGE thanks to the men and women firefighters and public service people who worked together to save the town. I believe our mayor, police chief, fire chief, news networks and the US Forest Service did a great job keeping us informed and reassured. My work was near ground zero and it was evacuated.

How can I skip the horror I felt when I heard of the two massacres this year? I'm talking of the Aurora shootings and the Sandy Hook massacre. Really mankind? I mean really? I'm not sure what to do or think on that one. While some people call for severe gun control laws to be put in place, Sandy Hook in particular was done with registered and controlled weapons. I'm of two minds here. I saw how useless the Canadian gun laws were: a total waste of money. I heard from friends who are gun enthusiasts (I'm not one) and their arguments make sense to me. But I also see the need for increased security, particularly for our children.

Unlike foreign attacks (like 9-11), these domestic terror attacks do not have someone clear to focus anger and hatred... I pray the families find peace and that, as a society, we find a solution that can make all of us better. But frankly I doubt it will happen.

Which leads me to the third real-life event... I am a center-right person, a libertarian (my wallet dictates where I go). The 2012 election, I found had a terrible outcome. I am not a fan of President Obama, mostly for what I see is his failure to bring any consensus together, like other presidents I admire: Reagan and Clinton who DID managed to work with people across the party line and accomplished good things. That is my biggest beef with him.

The election led to 2 years of the same dead inertia with both sides slinging the blame at each other and accomplishing very little. Oh well! That's the cycle of politics... I look forward to seeing what will happen in the new year.

LPJ leans center-left (which I jokingly call liberal-tarian), which leads to many good things in NeoExodus, forcing both to confront our ideas with the others'. Since NeoExodus is a very political setting, this clash of real-life ideas results - from my part at least - in creating a "no good guys" and "no bad guys" situation. Where every nation on Exodus can be the villains in any adventure and the good guys the next moment. It is a dynamic I really enjoy as it keeps me on my toes and keeps NeoExodus fresh and exciting.

Finally

I wish all of you health, fun, and plenty of gaming opportunities in the new year.

I have a lot to post.

JP

Sunday Funnies: NSFW Wonder Woman Sex Tapes

This is hilarious but totally not safe for work!

Commission: A Dwarf!

Here is a personal commission, I won't get to use... I painted this character for me, but when I got Stonehaven's kickstarter druid, the character went from a male to a female character. I LOVE the druid I got from the kickstarter... For some reason, the antlers did it for me.

So this model is available to anyone who wants it...

NeoExodus: Meet the Janus Horde

After posting the Janus horde separately, finally comes a chance to see them all together in their Mobbish glory! When all together, they really seem like a heterogeneous mob!

Merry Christmas!

It is getting close to that time of the year where I go off-grid to celebrate baby Jesus and Santa's arrival. Quite simply: Merry Christmas to all my readers. May it bring you peace, prosperity and fun in your lives.

If you're wondering what I've been up to, its pretty much a case of same-old same-old...

In the "New" category, NeoExodus is now available at local stores: Gamers' Haven, Petrie's Family Games and later next week, at Enchanted Grounds. This is pretty exciting stuff. If you need anything, ask the folks at these stores and they'll get you set up. They have 3 books available: the NeoExodus Campaign Setting, The Folding Circle and The First Ones. Do let us (and them) know what you think of them! Expect the books to appear in more locations as well in the coming months. If you are not in the Denver/Colorado Springs area, your FLGS should be able to get them.

I've been working on the next 2 NeoExodus Legacies adventures (with a release date of February). I still have one to finish. Also I've been working on the interactive for said convention.

I'm trying to finish the Khador I bought at the last auction as the next one is scheduled for late January.

So Merry Christmas again!

JP

Tales from the Auction: Khador Manowar Demolishers

So this installment, I bring you a unit of Khador Man-O-War Demolition unit. These guys strongly resemble my Rhulic Horgenhold Forge Guard but are tougher. I got 4 of models I painted up. Then I realized they come in units of 3 or 5!

GAH!

Well that did not phase me. I painted them anyway. One of them had a broken arm. So that seemed like an open invitation for... A FLAG BEARER!!! My drill and my other tools immediately came into play. And thus...

I would see that flag bearer as an objective.

JP

Tales From the Auction: Khador Great Bears

Today, the Auction yielded some Khador Great Bears. These are part of the trio of named characters that each faction has. I painted another such group, the Cygnar 13th Strike Team last summer.

Unlike the Cygnar models these were rather bulky and uninteresting to paint. I wasn't inspired to use these guys anywhere... I'm sure they're good but I did not enjoy painting them. Felt like a chore...

Plus I discovered that one of the model's axe was glued on backwards (by the previous owner)! I left it that way...

More Sneak Peeks from the Genghis Con Interactive

More models for the interactive... This time I have Kalisans and Prymidians. The models are a mix of Foundry, Wargames Factory, Old Glory with Privateer Press bitz and weapons.

For those who don't know yet, the interactive at Genghis Con deals with the launching of the Caneus Empire's Crusade to destroy the Janus Horde. This will bring the number of armies operating in Sametia to three. After the Protectorate last year, then the Dominion in the early spring... Now the Caneus Empire embarks in the adventure.

What can go wrong?

Kalisans are white-skinned cannibalistic marauders. They form a large part of the Janus Horde. They are perfectly creepy, hard to kill and hungry. Oh! And they are the civilized version of the Calibans...

The next group are Prymidians. While I tend to associate Prymidians with a more civilized component, having a few among the horde makes a lot of sense. They too would've been swept in the wide uprising that gave birth to the Horde.

JP

Batman No Man's Land Tournament

This past Saturday, I took part in the Batman Heroclix event at Gamers' Haven. it was the first time I participated in such an event. Though I had the opportunity to play before, this time was different for a number of reasons.

First, Action Man is really liking the models. As a growing little boy, he is getting very much into superheroes. I have never been much of a DC guy, but with his growing up, I'm discovering DC heroes and their villains.

As a minis guy, the Heroclix are pretty cool and they come pre-painted (okay I don't mind painting, but it saves me a lot of time). Plus out of the box, Action Man can play with them. Being plastic, I don't really care that they also produce a lot of action... A three year old boy and miniatures... not the best of combos.

The format was a sealed event: you buy 2 packs and make an army from what you get! This levels the playing field as everyone starts "equal". I took part in similar formats for Magic back in the 96 or 97...

To see who wins, you pick a faction (Joker, Batman, GCPD, Two-Face and 2 more), I chose the Joker because I like him... he's nuts and so funny. So it was a natural choice... I chose the Joker faction (which seems to be common).

I built my 300-point force as follows:

Model	Value
The Joker	127
Katana	76
Arkham Asylum Guard	45
Aaron Cash	44

For a total of 292 points. Close enough. The Joker was the most expensive models I got in my packs. Thinking about it for a while, I chose the 2 guards (Aaron Cash is a guard) because the Joker has an ability that allows him to pass on damage to his minions provided they are worth 50 points or less. That gave me a rather large war band with 4 characters (a few guys also had 4, most had 3 and one had 2).

Scoring was simple: win/loss and you scored points equal to the total of KO'd models you took out. Here is a quick After-Action Report:

Game 1: Jeremy

Jeremy is one of the local big wigs in Flames of War and someone who knows the game very well. His war band included Batman, Batgirl and Bruce Wayne. I won't go into much detail, but he proceeded to kick my butt, wrap it in shrink wrap and put a bow on it.

In spite of being unable to hurt him (dice and bat tactics on my part), I learned A LOT about the game. We went to eat and discussed the game some more. I got a new vision of tactics with my force and I planned on putting it to good use.

Result: Loss, 0 points scored

Game 2: Chris

With a new appreciation and tactics for my force. Chris had the 200-points Batman (a real tough hombre!) and the Black Cat. I cringed as that 200pt Batman beat me up in practice games. Beat me up bad.

The game started poorly for me: Katana went down before dealing any serious damage. But then Chris' dice went cold. And when I say cold, I mean REALLY COLD. For three rounds in a row, his Batman failed to roll a 6+ on 2d6... Finally, my Joker - down to his last health - managed to take down Batman. I really pulled one out of my rear end. I expected I was gonna get killed but Chris' bad luck saved my bacon more than anything else.

Result: Win, 300 points scored

Game 3: Steve

The final game was against Steve who had a force similar to mine. He had KGBeast, Katana, Poison Ivy and a lady cop named Sasha (?). Here I was able to block him in and have the Joker slowly kill him using his poison ability.

I managed to win that one. The Joker is very hard to kill when he is back up by though minions who can take the hits for him!.

GO JOKER!

Result: Win, 29X points scored

Finally

When the bust settled, I managed to win 3rd place! I'll admit I was both shocked and pleased! I had absolutely NO expectation but 3rd out of 10-15 (I did not count but I think there was 11 of us). That was a cool experience and I was able to come home with models for Action Man and I.

I cannot wait for him to grow up so we can play together!

One thing I particularly enjoyed was the map that would flip when the earthquake event happened. I am thinking of putting something together a small RPG game (using DC Universe OF COURSE) based on those events. The premise is simple: a major earthquake hits Gotham City and the heroes have to deal with it.

Well that's it for now! A big thanks to Gamers' Haven and to Ed Klein for organizing and doing a good job of it: keeping us on-track, making it all come together and give out a TON of prized. A great day!

But wait! I wasn't done yet... in another post, I'll talk about what I played AFTER I left Gamers' Haven. I wasn't done!

JP

Sunday Funnies: Why Knowledge checks are important

Tips from the pros this is good for war gamers and real-life soldiers!

NeoExodus Interactive Sneak Peek

Today, a little sample of some of the goodies I'm slowly preparing for the interactive at Genghis Con this coming February (14-17th). All the First Ones will be present (D'Anne, Linda and myself).

Our first multi-table interactive will be Friday night with limited seating. Here is the Blurb:

92-LI-03 Opening Moves Written by The First Ones Over a year ago, the Arman Protectorate invaded the lands of the Janus Horde. A year later, the Dominion also has an army in Sametia. From towns and fortresses all along the border, the Caneus Empire will launch a Crusade aimed at reducing the Horde. War on three fronts... This is a mutli-table, story-binding interactive event. An Adventure for APL 3-5 (Character levels 3-6).

So without saying much about the specifics of the adventure, here are some of the miniatures we'll be using. These are all human models. The models are a mix of Foundry, Wargames Factory and Privateer Press bits.

Yes, yes I know there are quite a few females that are showing... huh... more that is appropriate. Well they are barbarians - by choice! And they are not the only or the last ones of the bunch. I bought a collection of Foundry Nymphs... turns out more than half of them (okay more like 75%) where partially dressed. Enjoy!

JP

Tales from the Auction: Khador Warjacks Galore

Today a mob of Khador warjacks!

The First One is a Beast-09 wanna be. I got this guy already painted with textured paint and all. Though I originally planned on stripping it, the paint job is pretty good, so I kept it and plan to use it as Beast-09.

Next is a slightly-converted Destroyer. I had a spare cannon I played with, so I had to be a little creative to make is stick. It was originally a juggernaut, but I wanted some variety...

Finally three juggernauts.

Not shown on the pictures,I used some pseudo-Russo-Soviet writing to "name" the Destroyer and the Juggernauts with code numbers based on the countries of the old Iron Curtain: HUN, CZE, POL, etc. This differentiates the 5 juggernauts that I have... (the 5th one was posted here, back in January of 2012)...

Tales from the auction: Aleksandra Zerkova and Koldun Lord

It's been a while since I posted a painting update to the blog. Well, mini fans, the wait is over, I have more than a week's worth of goodies. A lot of it are "Tales from the Auction" that have been waiting on my painting desk. Many people have noticed the many red hand I had when attending games and the like... No, those weren't scabs. Neither were they painful. They were merely remnants of paint jobs...

Today I have two Khador models: Warcaster Aleksandra Zerkova and a Koldun Lord. Like all my previous Khador, I have yet to field them in an actual game.

Zerkova loves warjacks, Greylords and Doom Reavers (which I do not own). What I like most about he is the mini's sculpt she is dynamic.

The Koldun Lord will be great with my Greylords.

JP

NeoExodus Legacies on DawforgedCast

This past Saturday, I ran 92-LC-01 Bloody Ice, the first adventure released fully for NeoExodus Legacies. It premiered at this year's Tacticon. The adventure is includes mystery and action.

Andrew from Dawnforged Cast filmed the game and posted it on his youtube channel.

I never knew I was that bald!!! Dang camera! It's really weird to watch and hear yourself... Cool, but weird.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Seriously... This video shows the game as it happened on December 8th at Gamer's Haven in Colorado Springs.

JP

Sunday Funnies: Epic Stuff!

I laughed out loud when I saw thing... not to mention the many ideas this brings to mind for NeoExodus!

DOWN LPJ! DOWN!

JP

NeoExodus Free RPG Day 2013 takes shape

Just a quick word to let you know that LPJ has posted an avatar for the upcoming Kickstarter for Free RPG Day 2013. You can see the it to the right.

We have a basic idea of what we want to do and have plans for expanding the adventure... Should be really cool. I'm pretty excited about it! I really hope we go through a lot of stretch goals because the basic idea is FULL of potential! I mean we're talking big time. This will also be the first time I work on a project of the sort. I read plenty of similar products, but this one will be the first one I work on myself.

I can safely say that the current plans are for an exploration-based adventure. After last year's successful "Undying Legacy of the First Ones" (which I really like running) we have to top ourselves.

A few constraints I will impose on myself: the adventure must serve as an introduction to NeoExodus, it must present some of the setting's unique elements, it must have a fun story, and finally it will be allowed as part of the NeoExodus Legacies campaign (meaning you will get rewards for your Legacies character by playing).

I can't wait to start writing the adventure! More playtests on the way!

So exciting!

JP

Update: Obsidian Apocalypse, zombie hordes and invid

This week has just been crazy for me. Real work has been crazy - I won't go over the details. Suffice to say that I have put a lot of hours.

To add to that the work I have to do for NeoExodus results in my having very little free time. I have so many projects going on at once: NeoExodus Legacies (3 adventures in the works), finishing adventures that came back from the editor, doing some work on Obsidian Apocalypse and trying to fit in my family into that.

I have been thinking a lot about Obsidian Apocalypse lately. I had ideas on how to build a cool and unique campaign out of it. I'll get LPJ to scream but to me, what I love about Obsidian Apocalypse and why I wanted to be part of the project was because in some way I see this a fantasy version of "The Walking Dead". Survival horror against endless hordes of dead is unique and extremely fun. For the same reason that I love the Robotech setting "Invid Invasion" (set before the "Return of the Invid crap"): everything you own is valuable and you have to find a way to get more stuff. I kid you not, I did look at my Palladium books for extra inspiration...

As a side project, I've been thinking about running a Robotech one-shot recently... I would be very interesting to revisit all my old Robotech material. I really loved that game... The rules could be improved on - and simplified to be less early-80s static, but the basic mechanics work well enough.

Ah... what a trip down memory lane!

But that is not what I've been doing. Maybe one day you will get a link to the adventure. Maybe. *sigh*

I submitted a template for OA undead a few months back as part of the Monster Contest (what do you mean you didn't participate!?) The template I provided tried to explain why a few high-level clerics would not channel the problem of the zombie hordes away. But it actually makes for cool story potential too.

I also tried to come up with some ways to do things other than what you usually see in Pathfinder/ D&D. Really make for a unique way to have replacement characters. After all in OA, you can't simply "walk into a bar and meet a mysterious elf who is looking for work."

What did I put in there? You'll have to wait for the book! I think that book will be SWEET!

JP

[Rant?] Pathfinder MMO: Do I like it? Is this really a rant?

I have been thinking about this post for about a week. Trying to be sure that my mind was made up correctly. But also because I felt like I was going to crap all over a friend's valiant effort. This post is not that. It's just me trying to understand the whole affair.

I mean to talk about the Pathfinder MMO Kickstarter. Last summer, they put together a Kickstarter for their demo to pitch to investors. They gathered about 300k$. Significantly more than I thought. It showed the devotion and love the community has for the game and the setting, something I never doubted.

Personally, I only play MMOs once they go free to play, for budget reason (I've played a lot of Guild Wars I, D&D Online, Star Trek Online, Conan online and more recently, DC Universe Online). I simply cannot commit family resources to something I can't predict how much I'll play. I debated with myself for a long time about whether or not I should chip in - if only for the special adventure they offered. In the end, I chose not to (for personal reasons that had little with the project itself). I did re-tweet and talk about the project to people.

I look at the Paizo Con stills in awe. The goblins Paizo showed were looking great. Seoni looked... Well she had generous tracts of land and a "High Charisma". The look was impressive and I did admit to have second thoughts. Then again... the kickstarter offered little-to-nothing about the game itself: no guarantee to get in on the Beta, no play-time, just an adventure... Granted the names writing that adventure: Erik Mona, Jason Buhlman, Ed Greenwood!

So I take it the people at Goblinworks did their tech demo, created Sandpoint and parts of Varisia, met with some investors...

This new kickstarter brings up many questions.

Where are investors?

Seeing that in November/December they come back with ANOTHER Kickstarter?

Did they already blow the 300k$?

Are they just trying to get some extra cash?

This whole thing leaves me... Filled with questions and without a satisfactory answer for them. I had the chance of being somewhat on the inside at Paizo and the easy answers of "they're looking for a quick buck" just... just doesn't makes sense.

Then I saw that others were sharing my views and not being on-board as much. It made me re-think about it. I really liked Ironwolf's blog post. His post was spot-on and mirrored my reasoning perfectly. Some people I follow on the twitterverse echoed similar thoughts.

I wasn't alone.

So I've been thinking: is the community love affair with Paizo ending? Did they jump the shark on this? Does the community really want this MMO?

Looking at the first day and the numbers climbed quickly up to 100k$ (as of this writing, it has gone up to 172k$), I'll wait and see if the community really want it. But 1 million is a lot.

Then thinking back to the 300k$ they got in June... That was five times more than they asked for. What happened to that money? I don't think Paizo needs to tell the community anything. But it just seems... So quick. Like they're looking for a quick buck, garner their bank account before they start the full implementation.

That impression of the quick buck is... Well I can't get that out of my head. I don't like it. But it seems is the only answer I can get from what I've read.

On the other hand, I like the idea of the product and the look of what I see thus far. But I can't help but feel like something is... Something is... Weird.

I hope they do well and that they reach their goal.

But I don't feel right in participating in that Kickstarter. I'd love to. This one was the one I was waiting for when the first one was announced. The timing is just weird. Just so quick. How did they spend the 250k$ they got in extra money five months ago? Why are there no investors interested in the product?

This had to be the weirdest, weakest rant EVER. The worse thing about it all is that I don't feel any different... I still feel confused about the whole situation... Normally writing provides some form of relief, some form of clarity, but not this time.

I'm stuck with the same questions as I was... And that's something I can rant about! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

JP