New LGCS Released [Archive] - Wizards Community

New LGCS Released [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Maesto
05-21-07, 12:59 PM Not to steal anybody's thunder, but there has been a new LGCS released (version 7.5). See www.wizards.com/lg/ to get it =)

Cosmetic changes mostly, but a huge change for online play - regionals and metaregionals can now be played online, as well as adapted modules.

Cheers,

Jolyon
pedr
05-21-07, 01:02 PM Regionals and metaregionals can only be played quasi-online, from my reading (though hopefully someone official will confirm whether my interpretation, posted in the Q&A thread, is accurate). Requiring the GM and over 50% of the players to be 'at one physical location within the region or metaregion' makes this more appropriate to video-conferencing than what we're used to regarding online play.

The biggest change is expanding Geoff to cover its traditional location plus everywhere else in the world except within the borders of other regions.
Maesto
05-21-07, 01:05 PM http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=lg/lgcn/20070521a is the release article.

Two thumbs up from me - thanks Britt and other circle members.

(Oh, and I'm going to be pernickety: on the web article: "Note included for adding the Ruathar Gift of the Elves to your CMI at 0 gp." should be 'MIL' instead of 'CMI' =)
evilaustintom
05-21-07, 01:38 PM Not to steal anybody's thunder, but there has been a new LGCS released (version 7.5). See www.wizards.com/lg/ to get it =)

Cosmetic changes mostly, but a huge change for online play - regionals and metaregionals can now be played online, as well as adapted modules.

Cheers,

Jolyon
Online play is still limited. Only in certain situations (usually web-cam based stuff) can you do regionals and meta-regionals.

For example, I live in Indiana. I plan on playing the Greyhawk Ruins series with my friends in Texas (where I lived up until a couple of years ago). One player also lives in Memphis. The two of us remote players are going to play by web-cam with 4 other LG players and a DM, who are all in Dallas.

Now we can't play regionals or metaregionals - that only works if the remote players had their HOME on the RPGA web site listed as in Texas. Now, if we were temporarily somewhere else (say living in Texas, but stationed in Iraq because of the war), we could still play regional BK modules - as long as our home mailing address showed TX or OK.

Still...it is a nice addition.

Tom Thowe
thorinXXX
05-21-07, 02:12 PM I just wanted to say thank you to the circle and Geoff triad. That was a simple but elegant solution to a thorny problem.
pado
05-21-07, 05:04 PM According to this post on Greyhawk Ruins:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=lg/lgad/20070227a

Q: Will we be allowed to use the regional feats for Greyhawk presented in Dragon 315 and 319?

Yes, the feats Expert Dungeoneer, Fiendsign, Greyhawk Method, Mercantile Background, Rhennlore, Well Read, and Zagyg’s Favor can be chosen by characters with the Domain of Greyhawk as their home region.

The new LGCS leaves out Fiendsign which is the feat I was interested in. Is this on purpose or an oversight?

-Larry
Britt
05-21-07, 05:13 PM Fiendsign is on the Closed list, so inclusion of it on tentative lists in the past was in error.
GreatSiron
05-21-07, 09:24 PM Since adaptables can now be played online, I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to run Red Hand of Doom as an online game. (I'd love it if someone did, but I put the chance of it somewhere between no and never.)
Grovar
05-22-07, 12:42 AM Since adaptables can now be played online, I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to run Red Hand of Doom as an online game. (I'd love it if someone did, but I put the chance of it somewhere between no and never.)

Check the Yahoo group OnlineGameDay. There is already some discussion about people wanting to play the adaptables. No Red Hand of Doom as of yet, but some of the others are already being planned for.

By the way, just one issue that I have with the new LGCS. The Verbobonc PoC triad is once again Vernon Vincent.
Iswald
05-22-07, 11:26 PM The biggest change is expanding Geoff to cover its traditional location plus everywhere else in the world except within the borders of other regions.

I'd have thought it better to make the Sea Barons or some new region the default region. But, whatever works. Either way, it doesn't affect me except as to how it propogates LG to a larger audience, likely increasing its continuation.
Timlagor
05-23-07, 08:54 AM Where is this strange idea that LG regions in any way simulate their real world areas coming from?
cycloptic_squirrel
05-23-07, 09:16 AM Since adaptables can now be played online, I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to run Red Hand of Doom as an online game. (I'd love it if someone did, but I put the chance of it somewhere between no and never.)

Are you kidding? We gamers are a stupid breed and I would be surprised if fewer than 6 tables made an attempt at it. I would be extremely surprised if no one did.
Madfox11
05-23-07, 09:31 AM I'd have thought it better to make the Sea Barons or some new region the default region. But, whatever works. Either way, it doesn't affect me except as to how it propogates LG to a larger audience, likely increasing its continuation.

Actually, that would be a bad idea, since than you need to get a new triad, adventures need to be written from the scratch and it would takes a lot of work before the region has started. Since the main reason those regions are dead is lack of vollunteers, doing this might be incredibly hard. Hence it is only going to work with an active already existent region.
Iswald
05-23-07, 11:18 PM Actually, that would be a bad idea, since than you need to get a new triad, adventures need to be written from the scratch and it would takes a lot of work before the region has started. Since the main reason those regions are dead is lack of vollunteers, doing this might be incredibly hard. Hence it is only going to work with an active already existent region.

So, you're saying adding regions is a bad idea? Maybe we shouldn't have had two added recently... Making an existing region the default is easier, not necessarily better.
Haro
05-24-07, 02:11 AM So, you're saying adding regions is a bad idea? Maybe we shouldn't have had two added recently... Making an existing region the default is easier, not necessarily better.

What an incredibly simplistic comment for a complicated issue. Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :)
magebeast
05-24-07, 02:29 AM What an incredibly simplistic comment for a complicated issue. Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :)

Heinlein had a solution that involved this!

It was imaginative, but I don't know how it'd stand up in terms of real world economics.
_metz_
05-24-07, 02:50 AM The theory goes that printing more money in the short term creates a limited increase in the money supply - which stimulates spending, therefore hopefully generating economic growth.

The problem is more money means more inflation, therefore more pressure on interest rates, a devaluation of the currency and an overall overnight loss of existing cash savings as a meaningful resource. (Only savings tied in capital would retain correct value, banks etc would lose all the worth savings as hyperinflation kicks in).

This was tried in Germany Post World War 1, and a few other places too, REALLY doesn't work at all :)

Hence why the Cash Rate of most currencies and currency supply is now linked with central bank inflation targeting in most liberal market economies, and monetary policy on interest rates is mostly concerned with maintaining healthy inflation levels. (some inflation is very good, a lot is bad, and none can be very bad as well, though a few south American nations are experiencing deflation and claiming it is beneficial, in the long term it most definitely is NOT)

But back on Topic, creating a new Triad and generating interest will be difficult in non established regions, better to encourage Europeans to play LG with existing modules and support and then generate a new region then forcing new players to do this entirely on their own... (A helping hand if you will, till numbers, interest, and contributions reach a significant level).

Arguing there should be a new region so flippantly demonstrates naivety in the amount of behind the scenes work and minimal consumer base required to maintain a region.
Madfox11
05-24-07, 04:20 AM Arguing there should be a new region so flippantly demonstrates naivety in the amount of behind the scenes work and minimal consumer base required to maintain a region.

Absolutely correct.
Haro
05-24-07, 10:06 AM Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :)

I keep forgetting that sarcam doesn't read well on these boards. Bah, I'm going to bed! :D
_metz_
05-24-07, 10:08 AM lol I was just joking with my response :)
thalen
05-25-07, 05:35 AM Am I the only one who can't read these files, either using the default Mac PDF reader or the Mac version of Adobe Acrobat Reader? (All the pages read as blank with the former; I get an error about a 'Bad encrypt dictionary' with the latter.)

I assume this is a Mac thing, since it doesn't seem to have affected everyone.
Mommy was an Orc
05-25-07, 09:53 AM Am I the only one who can't read these files, either using the default Mac PDF reader or the Mac version of Adobe Acrobat Reader? (All the pages read as blank with the former; I get an error about a 'Bad encrypt dictionary' with the latter.)

I assume this is a Mac thing, since it doesn't seem to have affected everyone.

It doesn't work with Preview - it will work with Acrobat Reader 8.0...
Iswald
05-29-07, 12:48 PM What an incredibly simplistic comment for a complicated issue. Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :)

:rolleyes: You make it sound like I don't understand the problems involved. How many players have been asking for new regions from places such as South America? Do you even pay attention? Have you considered that they know how to write mods and organize events? Do you think they can't communicate or solve problems? Who's really being simplistic here?
Maesto
05-29-07, 01:01 PM The problem with new regions is the amount of background that needs to be developed. We're experiencing that in Ratik at the moment, and Ratik took the bulk of Perrenland's contributors. Almost a year into the region, we're still developing background material, and that's with a lot of hours from over fifty people. Sure, people who were regionless would love to play mods, but develop the region also? No, that's not usually so high on their list of priorities.
Samwise
05-29-07, 01:25 PM :rolleyes: You make it sound like I don't understand the problems involved.

Well, do you?

How many players have been asking for new regions from places such as South America?

There are hundreds of players that ask for tons of things in every existing region.
There are less than a hundred in every region that ever delivers something useful on schedule.
There are even fewer that can do all the things required to run a region.

Have you considered that they know how to write mods and organize events? Do you think they can't communicate or solve problems?

I'm sure there are people in those regions who can write events. Whether they can write those events to RPGA standards and deadlines is a much different issue.
I am sure they can communicate. The differences between what people think is the required level of communications and what is both required and what they can provide are as different as those between just writing an adventure and writing one for LG.

It is never a question of what person can do to handle one element.
It is getting at least three people to do all of the things to handle every aspect of running a region, particularly getting 8 rounds of adventures out every year. With a region that would be based on "the world," that is not as easy as it might sound.
Iswald
06-02-07, 02:50 AM Well, do you?

Far better than you might expect... LG isn't the only organization run by an insular group in existance. ;)
Eric Anondson
06-02-07, 03:07 AM LG isn't the only organization run by an insular group in existance.Insularity (were it an actual factor, which it isn't) has nothing to do with it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Maesto 05-21-07, 12:59 PM	Not to steal anybody's thunder, but there has been a new LGCS released (version 7.5). See www.wizards.com/lg/ to get it =) Cosmetic changes mostly, but a huge change for online play - regionals and metaregionals can now be played online, as well as adapted modules. Cheers, Jolyon
pedr 05-21-07, 01:02 PM	Regionals and metaregionals can only be played quasi-online, from my reading (though hopefully someone official will confirm whether my interpretation, posted in the Q&A thread, is accurate). Requiring the GM and over 50% of the players to be 'at one physical location within the region or metaregion' makes this more appropriate to video-conferencing than what we're used to regarding online play. The biggest change is expanding Geoff to cover its traditional location plus everywhere else in the world except within the borders of other regions.
Maesto 05-21-07, 01:05 PM	http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=lg/lgcn/20070521a is the release article. Two thumbs up from me - thanks Britt and other circle members. (Oh, and I'm going to be pernickety: on the web article: "Note included for adding the Ruathar Gift of the Elves to your CMI at 0 gp." should be 'MIL' instead of 'CMI' =)
evilaustintom 05-21-07, 01:38 PM	Not to steal anybody's thunder, but there has been a new LGCS released (version 7.5). See www.wizards.com/lg/ to get it =) Cosmetic changes mostly, but a huge change for online play - regionals and metaregionals can now be played online, as well as adapted modules. Cheers, Jolyon Online play is still limited. Only in certain situations (usually web-cam based stuff) can you do regionals and meta-regionals. For example, I live in Indiana. I plan on playing the Greyhawk Ruins series with my friends in Texas (where I lived up until a couple of years ago). One player also lives in Memphis. The two of us remote players are going to play by web-cam with 4 other LG players and a DM, who are all in Dallas. Now we can't play regionals or metaregionals - that only works if the remote players had their HOME on the RPGA web site listed as in Texas. Now, if we were temporarily somewhere else (say living in Texas, but stationed in Iraq because of the war), we could still play regional BK modules - as long as our home mailing address showed TX or OK. Still...it is a nice addition. Tom Thowe
thorinXXX 05-21-07, 02:12 PM	I just wanted to say thank you to the circle and Geoff triad. That was a simple but elegant solution to a thorny problem.
pado 05-21-07, 05:04 PM	According to this post on Greyhawk Ruins: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=lg/lgad/20070227a Q: Will we be allowed to use the regional feats for Greyhawk presented in Dragon 315 and 319? Yes, the feats Expert Dungeoneer, Fiendsign, Greyhawk Method, Mercantile Background, Rhennlore, Well Read, and Zagyg’s Favor can be chosen by characters with the Domain of Greyhawk as their home region. The new LGCS leaves out Fiendsign which is the feat I was interested in. Is this on purpose or an oversight? -Larry
Britt 05-21-07, 05:13 PM	Fiendsign is on the Closed list, so inclusion of it on tentative lists in the past was in error.
GreatSiron 05-21-07, 09:24 PM	Since adaptables can now be played online, I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to run Red Hand of Doom as an online game. (I'd love it if someone did, but I put the chance of it somewhere between no and never.)
Grovar 05-22-07, 12:42 AM	Since adaptables can now be played online, I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to run Red Hand of Doom as an online game. (I'd love it if someone did, but I put the chance of it somewhere between no and never.) Check the Yahoo group OnlineGameDay. There is already some discussion about people wanting to play the adaptables. No Red Hand of Doom as of yet, but some of the others are already being planned for. By the way, just one issue that I have with the new LGCS. The Verbobonc PoC triad is once again Vernon Vincent.
Iswald 05-22-07, 11:26 PM	The biggest change is expanding Geoff to cover its traditional location plus everywhere else in the world except within the borders of other regions. I'd have thought it better to make the Sea Barons or some new region the default region. But, whatever works. Either way, it doesn't affect me except as to how it propogates LG to a larger audience, likely increasing its continuation.
Timlagor 05-23-07, 08:54 AM	Where is this strange idea that LG regions in any way simulate their real world areas coming from?
cycloptic_squirrel 05-23-07, 09:16 AM	Since adaptables can now be played online, I wonder if anyone would be crazy enough to run Red Hand of Doom as an online game. (I'd love it if someone did, but I put the chance of it somewhere between no and never.) Are you kidding? We gamers are a stupid breed and I would be surprised if fewer than 6 tables made an attempt at it. I would be extremely surprised if no one did.
Madfox11 05-23-07, 09:31 AM	I'd have thought it better to make the Sea Barons or some new region the default region. But, whatever works. Either way, it doesn't affect me except as to how it propogates LG to a larger audience, likely increasing its continuation. Actually, that would be a bad idea, since than you need to get a new triad, adventures need to be written from the scratch and it would takes a lot of work before the region has started. Since the main reason those regions are dead is lack of vollunteers, doing this might be incredibly hard. Hence it is only going to work with an active already existent region.
Iswald 05-23-07, 11:18 PM	Actually, that would be a bad idea, since than you need to get a new triad, adventures need to be written from the scratch and it would takes a lot of work before the region has started. Since the main reason those regions are dead is lack of vollunteers, doing this might be incredibly hard. Hence it is only going to work with an active already existent region. So, you're saying adding regions is a bad idea? Maybe we shouldn't have had two added recently... Making an existing region the default is easier, not necessarily better.
Haro 05-24-07, 02:11 AM	So, you're saying adding regions is a bad idea? Maybe we shouldn't have had two added recently... Making an existing region the default is easier, not necessarily better. What an incredibly simplistic comment for a complicated issue. Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :)
magebeast 05-24-07, 02:29 AM	What an incredibly simplistic comment for a complicated issue. Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :) Heinlein had a solution that involved this! It was imaginative, but I don't know how it'd stand up in terms of real world economics.
_metz_ 05-24-07, 02:50 AM	The theory goes that printing more money in the short term creates a limited increase in the money supply - which stimulates spending, therefore hopefully generating economic growth. The problem is more money means more inflation, therefore more pressure on interest rates, a devaluation of the currency and an overall overnight loss of existing cash savings as a meaningful resource. (Only savings tied in capital would retain correct value, banks etc would lose all the worth savings as hyperinflation kicks in). This was tried in Germany Post World War 1, and a few other places too, REALLY doesn't work at all :) Hence why the Cash Rate of most currencies and currency supply is now linked with central bank inflation targeting in most liberal market economies, and monetary policy on interest rates is mostly concerned with maintaining healthy inflation levels. (some inflation is very good, a lot is bad, and none can be very bad as well, though a few south American nations are experiencing deflation and claiming it is beneficial, in the long term it most definitely is NOT) But back on Topic, creating a new Triad and generating interest will be difficult in non established regions, better to encourage Europeans to play LG with existing modules and support and then generate a new region then forcing new players to do this entirely on their own... (A helping hand if you will, till numbers, interest, and contributions reach a significant level). Arguing there should be a new region so flippantly demonstrates naivety in the amount of behind the scenes work and minimal consumer base required to maintain a region.
Madfox11 05-24-07, 04:20 AM	Arguing there should be a new region so flippantly demonstrates naivety in the amount of behind the scenes work and minimal consumer base required to maintain a region. Absolutely correct.
Haro 05-24-07, 10:06 AM	Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :) I keep forgetting that sarcam doesn't read well on these boards. Bah, I'm going to bed! :D
_metz_ 05-24-07, 10:08 AM	lol I was just joking with my response :)
thalen 05-25-07, 05:35 AM	Am I the only one who can't read these files, either using the default Mac PDF reader or the Mac version of Adobe Acrobat Reader? (All the pages read as blank with the former; I get an error about a 'Bad encrypt dictionary' with the latter.) I assume this is a Mac thing, since it doesn't seem to have affected everyone.
Mommy was an Orc 05-25-07, 09:53 AM	Am I the only one who can't read these files, either using the default Mac PDF reader or the Mac version of Adobe Acrobat Reader? (All the pages read as blank with the former; I get an error about a 'Bad encrypt dictionary' with the latter.) I assume this is a Mac thing, since it doesn't seem to have affected everyone. It doesn't work with Preview - it will work with Acrobat Reader 8.0...
Iswald 05-29-07, 12:48 PM	What an incredibly simplistic comment for a complicated issue. Now, I'm off to solve this country's economic problems by printing more money... :) :rolleyes: You make it sound like I don't understand the problems involved. How many players have been asking for new regions from places such as South America? Do you even pay attention? Have you considered that they know how to write mods and organize events? Do you think they can't communicate or solve problems? Who's really being simplistic here?
Maesto 05-29-07, 01:01 PM	The problem with new regions is the amount of background that needs to be developed. We're experiencing that in Ratik at the moment, and Ratik took the bulk of Perrenland's contributors. Almost a year into the region, we're still developing background material, and that's with a lot of hours from over fifty people. Sure, people who were regionless would love to play mods, but develop the region also? No, that's not usually so high on their list of priorities.
Samwise 05-29-07, 01:25 PM	:rolleyes: You make it sound like I don't understand the problems involved. Well, do you? How many players have been asking for new regions from places such as South America? There are hundreds of players that ask for tons of things in every existing region. There are less than a hundred in every region that ever delivers something useful on schedule. There are even fewer that can do all the things required to run a region. Have you considered that they know how to write mods and organize events? Do you think they can't communicate or solve problems? I'm sure there are people in those regions who can write events. Whether they can write those events to RPGA standards and deadlines is a much different issue. I am sure they can communicate. The differences between what people think is the required level of communications and what is both required and what they can provide are as different as those between just writing an adventure and writing one for LG. It is never a question of what person can do to handle one element. It is getting at least three people to do all of the things to handle every aspect of running a region, particularly getting 8 rounds of adventures out every year. With a region that would be based on "the world," that is not as easy as it might sound.
Iswald 06-02-07, 02:50 AM	Well, do you? Far better than you might expect... LG isn't the only organization run by an insular group in existance. ;)
Eric Anondson 06-02-07, 03:07 AM	LG isn't the only organization run by an insular group in existance.Insularity (were it an actual factor, which it isn't) has nothing to do with it.