Chapter 8 Questions & Answers

[Cliff Worthington]

Trust me, I know the value of things, and I give when I can and Im all for helping them any way they need it. I just don't want the grid to be left out, its what keeps me coming back, and I'm sure many others. If the grid ceased to exist tomorrow, how long would Path's player base last?

If its only going to be players who write that can effect the chapter, then have it so it can't effect the grid players. If something is going to effect the grid, then grid players should have an option. Its only fair.

[Banto (DELETED 11777)]

Didn't we just get a few days worth of entirely grid based bonuses (XP gain, AP gain etc) on behalf of the developers - and the announcement just made to essentially buy a developers attention towards something specific does more than ease my concern that the grid is going anywhere?

[Alexandrea]

Trust me, I know the value of things, and I give when I can and Im all for helping them any way they need it. I just don't want the grid to be left out, its what keeps me coming back, and I'm sure many others. If the grid ceased to exist tomorrow, how long would Path's player base last?

If its only going to be players who write that can effect the chapter, then have it so it can't effect the grid players. If something is going to effect the grid, then grid players should have an option. Its only fair.

Maybe you have misunderstood?

the grid is not going away and the guys will continue to fix things and update when possible.

It's chapters that might not continue.

This is instead of nothing, regarding chapters.

[Cliff Worthington]

Trust me, I know the value of things, and I give when I can and Im all for helping them any way they need it. I just don't want the grid to be left out, its what keeps me coming back, and I'm sure many others. If the grid ceased to exist tomorrow, how long would Path's player base last?

If its only going to be players who write that can effect the chapter, then have it so it can't effect the grid players. If something is going to effect the grid, then grid players should have an option. Its only fair.

Maybe you have misunderstood?

the grid is not going away and the guys will continue to fix things and update when possible.

It's chapters that might not continue.

This is instead of nothing, regarding chapters.

Nope, I understood it completely. Just making points.
Chapter stuff in the past caused parts of the grid and mechanics change/removed.
If this chapter doesn't allow for grid players to contribute, then no changes should be made to the grid, to reflect grid players not having a voice in this chapter opposed to former chapters. All effects of the chapter should reflect RP only.

That's what I'm getting at.

[Alexandrea]

okay, I see. I just don't agree, lol. Peace? :) <3

IMO, and I've been a gamer only many times, if you don't rp then why would you care what the chapters do?

And any results from the chapters that might get added to the grid are just changes. Change isn't always a bad thing, even though I always hate it. >.< lol

No one kicked and screamed like I did when David changed the grid. (for those who are newer, the entire look of the grid part of the game is different than it was originally) But it was a good thing after the bugs were worked out and now I can't even remember what the old grid looked like.

And aren't you sort of putting the cart before the horse? There haven't been any changes scheduled for the grid due to the new chapter yet and for all we know, there might not ever be.

[Mooncalf]

As a gamer first and a role player second, I do get the complaints. It does pain me, and part of me hates that we have to go in this direction. I always saw creating a game where the grid actions could be a form of roleplay which helps to shape the story.

But as others have said, there weren't any plans to continue the story, due to a lack of funding right now. That didn't show any sign of changing massively, and setting up a new grid based chapter takes a lot more time than we have spare after trying to earn a living in ways other than Path. Sorry to be a broken record, but we likely would not have been able to do any more chapters if it wasn't for this change. People were asking for the story to continue, and this was the only way that was possible.

All of that said, this also means we don't have time to do extensive grid updates after each chapter. The chapters will be coming more frequently, but we won't be able to add a ton of grid consequences after each one. So yeah, you can probably rest assured that story only chapters = *mostly* story consequences, with a few grid changes here and there depending on the result. For the most part (but not entirely) the consequences of chapters will be story consequences, and dictate the story itself and the theme of the following chapters.

All of this aside, there are two huge advantages to doing it this way: no bugs, and no balancing issues! These things were a HUGE problem in most previous chapters. It was extremely difficult to make it even for both sides in every chapter, while still maintaining an interesting story. And when there was a bug that screwed one side but not the other? Ooooh boy. That was not fun. The chapters didn't feel fair before, quite often, and now they are, and there's a lot to be said for that.

[Mooncalf]

I'd also like to remind everyone that if you want more grid updates (as many as you want!), the best way to do it is to become a patron on our Patreon page. At the $25 or more per month tier you get to dictate exactly what I work on for 1 hour every week. That's PER $25, too, so if you went in for $50 per month you'd get to tell me to work on a specific grid update that you like the idea of (within reason, as long as it's sustainable and works with the rest of the game) for 2 hours every week.

Between the 30 or so hardcore grid players here, who really mostly want the grid updated and improved, and new content added, if just 15 of you guys were able to buy into this tier then you'd be looking at 15 hours every week on grid updates. That would be a ton of new content every month. Hell, I'd be able to do something similar to chapters purely for grid players at that rate, as long as it continued and people were on the same page about it.

Patreon funds are split 50/50 with Josh, too, so be aware that I'd essentially be working for $3.12 per hour, which is about 1/3rd of my country's legal minimum wage. So as you can see, I'm not trying to be a greedy mega-capitalist by asking for donations before more content, I'm just trying to get by and ensure that I can actually afford to put time towards Path.

[Azraeth]

David put it a lot more succinctly than I did, but I agree with basically everything he said.

[Sullivan (DELETED 11708)]

Question: Is the Saint James Foundation connected to the Order of Saint James?

If you can't answer that, is there a way for a person of the public to know about the foundation and approach them?

It might be a coincidence, with the name, but I'm wondering if it's related to the Paladins and if Sully could get in contact with his fellow Paladins.

[Azraeth]

The naming is intentional, but it's also maybe somewhat deceptive. Which is to say that the Foundation is aware of the Order of St. James. I don't want to say exactly who or what their group is comprised of, but a paladin could certainly reach out to try and make contact.

It depends on the plot you come up with, how they'd respond exactly, and I'm happy to talk specifics up to a point.

And I'd honestly say that with their name, I could see a paladin (or someone 'in the know') approaching them. I imagine they get covered by the news periodically, but it's always small stuff. Sort of like the stuff you see scrolling across the bottom of the screen when a news anchor is talking. Nobody actually talks about it, but you might see something like "The St. James Foundation held a fund raiser tonight and amassed..." St. James is the patron of pharmacists/apothecaries, and the foundation claims that all of its proceeds go to funding the research of medicine for children.