Paizo and SmiteWorks sign an agreement for official Pathfinder support!

[JohnD]

3d seems like a great idea until you spend 40+ hours working on a map for a game with your players and they spend a total of 35 minutes of game time on it and will never be back.

[Nylanfs]

But you can use it elseware or tweak and use it again.

[damned]

3d seems like a great idea until you spend 40+ hours working on a map for a game with your players and they spend a total of 35 minutes of game time on it and will never be back.

The preview that Carl did on Table Top Connect showed a very rapid dungeon deployment - but of course that would not stop people from spending much more time on it - nor players bypassing it!

[AstaSyneri]

3d seems like a great idea until you spend 40+ hours working on a map for a game with your players and they spend a total of 35 minutes of game time on it and will never be back.

OR you could just focus on features that a) enable you to play with friends/players all over the world and b) help you reduce the overhead on bookkeeping and calculations so you can concentrate on what roLEplaying really is about ;-).

Oh right, that's what FG has been doing all along!

[LindseyFan]

OR you could just focus on features that a) enable you to play with friends/players all over the world and b) help you reduce the overhead on bookkeeping and calculations so you can concentrate on what roLEplaying really is about ;-).

Oh right, that's what FG has been doing all along!

AstraSyneri.. For The Win!

[daplunk]

All of Paizo's digital content partners have the same license requirements but it seems the FG implementation will be slightly different because of Steam. With all the other partners there is a back end library service that sychs your official .pdf purchase across all the platforms and the Paizo store. The benefit here is that you don't have to repurchase the official content on each virtual platform. Here's my understanding of how this is all going to work.

Realm Works example: if you buy an adventure path .pdf on Paizo.com you can then buy the same Adventure Path in Realm Works but only have to pay the developers cost. If you don't already own the .pdf then you can purchase it directly from the Realm Works store, along with the Real Works content, and it will be available on Paizo.com and sync across all the other platforms.

Fantasy Grounds example: we had a long conversation about this earlier and I think I have it figured it. FG has some restrictions due to Steam that do not allow them to check for external content before allowing a purchase. The workaround it seems is charging the consumer full MSRP of the print product. Basically FG buys the .pdf from Paizo at MSRP on your behalf and gives it to you in the form of FG content (note that you do not get the .pdf itself in this instance). Their costs/profit are then covered by the cost increase from .pdf MSRP to the print MSRP. ddavison did mention that they are working on how to implement a discount via the FG store if you own the official .pdf. I assume this would credit you the MSRP of the .pdf and you would only then have to pay the difference between that and the print MSRP. So this is the the same license model as everyone else, they just have to go about it a bit differently because of Steam.

If this is indeed true then it would appear that the worst way to purchase Pathfinder material will be via Fantasy Grounds on Steam. You are paying for the copy of the pdf but not getting an actual copy where all other sources you get the pdf and the digital content. If they do end up implementing the same system on the FG store as everyone else and the Steam version is different I certainly wouldn't want to be in charge of customer satisfaction results.

The only way I see them doing this (due to the Steam restrictions) is all purchases on Steam come with a way to claim a copy of the pdf also.

[Talyn]

What he's getting at is that Steam throws a wrench into Paizo's digital licensing, so the end result is that Fantasy Grounds is "grandfathered in" and will not require a verification of the PDF owned from your Paizo account in order to purchase/use Pathfinder DLC here on Fantasy Grounds (regardless if you get it from Steam or the FG Store). It sounds like Paizo will set the prices, just like WotC sets the prices of the 5E DLC.

[LordEntrails]

Why don't we just wait and see? Hasn't all this speculation run its course?

[Zhern]

Of course not, Lord Entrails - this is the internet. Speculation never runs its course!

[daplunk]

To put some context on it... think about it this way.

Tomorrow you buy the content from FG and you are happy.

The next week a new company releases a must have digital tool that would supplement your experience in FG or replace it completely. They adhere to the same licensing policy that everyone else is apparently adhering to. You go to buy the content and you are faced with two prices. The price is cheaper should you own the PDF. The price is more expensive if you don't.

Now you are sitting here wondering why your full cost FG purchase didn't give you personally the rights (ownership of the pdf) to purchase the cheaper option. You have already paid for it after all. All the other users who have come from other digitals tools are talking about how good the Paizo policy is because they only had to buy the pdf once and now get a discount on everything else.