[Rant] Paizo's four specials at Gencon

I know I mentioned last week that I had a full blown rant for Paizo about their Gencon offerings. Well here it is... I spent the last week thinking about how best to formulate this rant.

First off, what got me going was their announcement that they would produce and run four special adventures. With three evenings at Gencon, this meant they were going to put the squeeze on all the prime time game slots throughout the con. As a partner and competitor, this annoyed me as I felt they were bypassing the usual con etiquette which is to allow everyone a chance to shine. And by doing that, they drew people away from a number of other great events. I completely support Paizo's desire to run a big event during the con. I would even be supportive of running this event every evening to give as many people a chance to play the adventure. And allow players a choice between that and other thing. The keyword here is choice. However, many people feel they have to participate in the premiere.

Four unique specials is just in bad taste. I have so many ideas on how Paizo could release these adventures. One or two for Gencon, one around Thanksgiving, and final one in February or March. Doing so would stimulate the community year round, create events people will want to attend. Work through the millions of Venture Officers to get this content out, like the previous -EX adventures were. This would give the VOs some added clout and reasons to get invited places.

And allow the smaller guys to shine some at Gencon.

After posting a rant warning on Monday, I received some notes from friends about the fact that Erik Mona posted that such work was too much on their editing staff (see Erik's post). I like to believe that my rage and anger got to others as well and that both fans and staff asked Erik not to attempt this madness again (self-centered me!). I always known Erik as a level-headed and sharp guy. Once again he played his hand like a master. Thanks Erik.

Looking forward to what will happen this year.

A stroke of Genius

Now there is one place they made a masterful stroke. As soon as I was told, I immediately lauded and praised the idea: Running a special on Sunday Morning. What a great way to ensure people actually attend their slot. By having a special. Stroke of genius, Paizo.

JP