I appreciate the release of the Q4 2009 Adventure Schedule with a few weeks to go before the end of the quarter. There's a lot to get excited over, though I had a few thoughts while reading this over.
Quantity
My first (and second) thoughts: Wow. If we hit December 31st with all of these adventures released, I will be impressed. My hope is that the campaign isn't biting off more than it can chew, and that the next three months aren't plagued with continual 'Where is module X?' posts or problems with adventures rushed out the door without proper editing to meet a deadline.
Separated at Birth?
Are CORE1-16 and TYMA1-6 part of a series, or just authors happening to think alike and luck of the draw that they're both out the same week?
Arts and Crafts
Love the idea of two L1-4 adventures released the same week that relate to each other. Would have loved it a lot more if the adventures were released two weeks earlier, since these sound like they would have made great additions to Weekend in the Realms gamedays for new players.
Slightly perplexed at the idea of L1-4 adventures as prequel modules to a paragon story arc, for obvious reasons.
Major Quests
From blurbs, it looks like the 1-6 and 1-7 modules are calming down a bit with the major quests, with more being finished than started. This is a good thing, as the major quests were starting to get a bit out of hand--over-using that system leads to problems, as (a) players start not wanting to play anything that's not a major quest (because otherwise they risk missing out on things later) which can easily turn into a vicious cycle of writers wanting to only do major quests, and (b) players get frustrated as they level out of being able to play conclusions to storylines.
Not to pick on Aglarond, but I'm in that geographical region and would have liked to actually follow those storylines, so I'll use them as an example:
* Tome of Twilight Boughs: AGLA1-1 (L1-4) -> AGLA1-4 (L4-7) -> AGLA1-7 (L7-10, December 2009)
* Shadows of Thay: AGLA1-2 (L4-7) -> ????? [earliest possible next part January 2010; probably L7-10]
* Something Smells: AGLA1-3 (L7-10) -> AGLA1-6 (L11-14, October 2009) -> ????
* Invisible Road and Circle of Stones: AGLA1-5 (L1-4) -> ???? [assuming these two quests started in one module will continue in separate ones (otherwise, what's the point of having two?), the earliest at least one of these quests could be continued would be in AGLA2-2 (which means earliest in April 2010); odds are it will be continued in a L4-7]
I'm sure you can see the problem, with it being unlikely that any PC who played the adventures as they were released will ever actually see the end of a storyline.
Two-and-done major quests (which each one coming out in successive quarters) are fine; three-adventure quests, with two in the same level band and same quarter and the conclusion in the next level band and next quarter, are also good. Spreading them out so that a PC who plays regularly is unlikely to ever actually be able to play all of a series is not.
At the minimum, I'd like to see an explicit rule that sequels to a major quest must be one level band higher for each quarter since the first part's release--if Part 2 is the same level band as Part 1, it needs to be the same quarter; one level band higher needs to be released the next quarter, and so forth.
At the beginning of the campaign, I thought that the lack of continuity between adventures was bad for the campaign. While that is the case, continuity you don't get to participate in because of 4e's breakneck advancement pace and LFR's tight level bands is even more frustrating.
Are CORE1-16 and TYMA1-6 part of a series, or just authors happening to think alike and luck of the draw that they're both out the same week?
Although the blurbs do sound a bit similar (both talk about missing scholars) the two adventures are not part of a series and are really nothing at all alike. I feel quite confident that one could play those adventures back-to-back and not feel like there had been anything repetitive about them.
I won't predict that every single adventure will be released on time, but unless the final WotC review kicks something back to a Global Admin, I don't expect much more than the usual hickups getting adventures loaded in the database.
Keith
This is a pretty ambitious schedule. I will be extremely impressed if even half of this stuff gets released on time.
Arts and Crafts
Love the idea of two L1-4 adventures released the same week that relate to each other. Would have loved it a lot more if the adventures were released two weeks earlier, since these sound like they would have made great additions to Weekend in the Realms gamedays for new players.
Slightly perplexed at the idea of L1-4 adventures as prequel modules to a paragon story arc, for obvious reasons.
Obviously the H1 adventures are not part of the same quest as the P series. They are about the same event and can obviously be played as seperate adventure. Although, you could play them with the same character if you are patient ;) Doing so would not give you anything extra in regards to xp and treasure.
I like your idea about Weekend in the Realms and have forwarded it to Chris Tulach. Who knows...
Not to pick on Aglarond, but I'm in that geographical region and would have liked to actually follow those storylines, so I'll use them as an example:
* Tome of Twilight Boughs: AGLA1-1 (L1-4) -> AGLA1-4 (L4-7) -> AGLA1-7 (L7-10, December 2009)
* Shadows of Thay: AGLA1-2 (L4-7) -> ????? [earliest possible next part January 2010; probably L7-10]
* Something Smells: AGLA1-3 (L7-10) -> AGLA1-6 (L11-14, October 2009) -> ????
* Invisible Road and Circle of Stones: AGLA1-5 (L1-4) -> ???? [assuming these two quests started in one module will continue in separate ones (otherwise, what's the point of having two?), the earliest at least one of these quests could be continued would be in AGLA2-2 (which means earliest in April 2010); odds are it will be continued in a L4-7]
FYI, there will be no continuation of the Shadows of Thay story arc and all year one story arcs will be concluded in year two. AGLA2-1 will continue the Circle of Stones story arc.
Awesome List! That is a ton of LFR, I cant wait to run a few of these!
I happened to notice that there is no BALD1-7. Is that intentional, as this would be the first time one of the regions got left behind in the numbering? It was just curious since all the other regions were getting a 1-6 & a 1-7, and I wated to make sure this was not an oversight.
Keep up the great work!
I happened to notice that there is no BALD1-7. Is that intentional, as this would be the first time one of the regions got left behind in the numbering? It was just curious since all the other regions were getting a 1-6 & a 1-7, and I wated to make sure this was not an oversight.
As I recall, getting a 7th module was not automatic, but rather a reward for regions who met certain deadlines during the past year.
I happened to notice that there is no BALD1-7. Is that intentional, as this would be the first time one of the regions got left behind in the numbering? It was just curious since all the other regions were getting a 1-6 & a 1-7, and I wated to make sure this was not an oversight.
As I recall, getting a 7th module was not automatic, but rather a reward for regions who met certain deadlines during the past year.
The BALD team always hits their deadlines, whatareyoutalkingabout?
Ahhh, I did not realize the 7's were a bonus. I am guessing that the 1-7s will end out the first game year and we will move onto 2-1's in Q1 2010?
It has not been stated, but will 2010 end with 2-5's (being the bonus adventures) and then move onto 3-1's in Q1 2011? Or is that being too logical?
I happened to notice that there is no BALD1-7. Is that intentional, as this would be the first time one of the regions got left behind in the numbering? It was just curious since all the other regions were getting a 1-6 & a 1-7, and I wated to make sure this was not an oversight.
As I recall, getting a 7th module was not automatic, but rather a reward for regions who met certain deadlines during the past year.
The BALD team always hits their deadlines, whatareyoutalkingabout?
Bald1-5?
Carl
The first year blended the last half of 2008 with 2009, so XXXX1-1 through 1-6 (six quarters) were the standard allotment for the regions, and the 1-7 was a bonus adventure, contingent on making all your deadlines.
For 2010, there will be XXXX2-1 through XXXX2-4, and 2-5 will be the bonus adventure, with the same caveats (at least currently), for regions.
Keith
I happened to notice that there is no BALD1-7.
There will be no BALD1-7; that isn't an omission. Just to be clear, however, Baldur's Gate did meet the criteria for a bonus adventure in 2009. A proposal was submitted to and approved by HQ for what would have been BALD1-7. Upon further review, the Writing Director and I agreed that the adventure was not likely going to be ready in time to make its slot in the release schedule. Rather than ignore the evidence, put it in the schedule anyway, and then have it end up missing the deadline or be forced to put it out under duress and compromise the quality, we decided instead to move the adventure to one of the 2010 release slots. We wanted to be sure that it would definitely have the time it needed to really be done right rather than being either rushed or late.
As for those who are making snide remarks about Baldur's Gate and the release schedule, I would remind you that unless you are directly involved, and if you are making those comments then you are not directly involved, you have no idea what causes adventures to come out when they do. (Note: This is not directed at any person in particular and in particular not the person I quoted; but there have been several comments along these lines, which were probably in jest, but I really do not want to see this degenerate into a "bash Baldur's Gate" thread, because it isn't deserved.)
In my opinion the Baldur's Gate Writing Director has done a fantastic job and I would appreciate it if people would do him the basic courtesy not to demean his efforts when you do not know all the facts. If you feel the need to make fun of someone then you are more than welcome to talk about me; ultimately I'm responsible for the output of the regions under my supervision. Besides, those who have met me know that it is really easy to find things about me to make fun of. ;)
I happened to notice that there is no BALD1-7.
There will be no BALD1-7; that isn't an omission. Just to be clear, however, Baldur's Gate did meet the criteria for a bonus adventure in 2009. A proposal was submitted to and approved by HQ for what would have been BALD1-7. Upon further review, the Writing Director and I agreed that the adventure was not likely going to be ready in time to make its slot in the release schedule. Rather than ignore the evidence, put it in the schedule anyway, and then have it end up missing the deadline or be forced to put it out under duress and compromise the quality, we decided instead to move the adventure to one of the 2010 release slots. We wanted to be sure that it would definitely have the time it needed to really be done right rather than being either rushed or late.
As for those who are making snide remarks about Baldur's Gate and the release schedule, I would remind you that unless you are directly involved, and if you are making those comments then you are not directly involved, you have no idea what causes adventures to come out when they do. (Note: This is not directed at any person in particular and in particular not the person I quoted; but there have been several comments along these lines, which were probably in jest, but I really do not want to see this degenerate into a "bash Baldur's Gate" thread, because it isn't deserved.)
In my opinion the Baldur's Gate Writing Director has done a fantastic job and I would appreciate it if people would do him the basic courtesy not to demean his efforts when you do not know all the facts. If you feel the need to make fun of someone then you are more than welcome to talk about me; ultimately I'm responsible for the output of the regions under my supervision. Besides, those who have met me know that it is really easy to find things about me to make fun of. ;)
I'll bite, since I clearly made a "snide remark" about the timeliness of BALD adventures. I meant no offense by my post. While I have *some* understanding of *some* of the causes for late adventures, I don't mean to suggest that I know what happened in any individual circumstance. However, it is no secret that BALD adventures have a track record for being late (for whatever reasons there may be).
While I don't know the writing director, I have expressed no ill will towards the guy - BALD is one of my favorite regions (and has produced two of my favorite mods, BALD1-1 and BALD1-3). I think the quality of the team's output is stellar. Making a comment about the timeliness of BALD adventure releases, facetious or not, is in no way an attack on the BALD writing director or you, Sean.
This is a community discussion forum. We should be able to make jokes based on legitimate observations without anyone getting too prickly.
p.s. BALD1-5 was supposed to have been released in mid-August. I can't seem to find it in the ordering system. Does anyone know what happened to it? *ducks for cover*
I think the writing director or one of the admins made a comment in another thread. Since BALD 1-5 was late, and "catching up" is hard, they are concentrating on making sure the rest of the schedule comes out on time(ish). BALD 1-5 will therefore be very late.
Or maybe I imagined it. Who knows. 
p.s. BALD1-5 was supposed to have been released in mid-August. I can't seem to find it in the ordering system. Does anyone know what happened to it? *ducks for cover*
Sean commented on the situation in this thread:
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
Fundamentally...the late modules aren't being allowed to cause a cascade of more late modules, which means that there isn't an ETA for them.
p.s. BALD1-5 was supposed to have been released in mid-August. I can't seem to find it in the ordering system. Does anyone know what happened to it? *ducks for cover*Sean commented on the situation in this thread:
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
Fundamentally...the late modules aren't being allowed to cause a cascade of more late modules, which means that there isn't an ETA for them.
So, for the record, I'm fully aware of what's going on with BALD1-5. I was trying to be a wise-ass. I have failed to do so. I'll go crawl back into my hole now.
So, for the record, I'm fully aware of what's going on with BALD1-5. I was trying to be a wise-ass. I have failed to do so. I'll go crawl back into my hole now.
Alas; message boards are poor conduits for that. Sorry I missed it, too. 