Roll20 uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. Cookies enable you to enjoy certain features, social sharing functionality, and tailor message and display ads to your interests on our site and others. They also help us understand how our site is being used. By continuing to use our site, you consent to our use of cookies. Update your cookie preferences .
×
Create a free account

Is there a posted schedule, or even list of Projects in Development by Roll20?

To be frank, I am mostly interested in what we will be seeing in terms of Pathfinder 2nd Edition Adventures. I purchased Plaguestone, and have been running it for a few weeks now. It was the first time I had ever purchased an Adventure on Roll20. My game group has been playing together for 8 years, but prior to me starting up Plaguestone, we had nearly withered out - as nobody had time anymore to put together adventure paths from scratch anymore. Purchasing the Plaguestone adventure from the Marketplace was a game changer - and has me excited for all the other Adventures that I hope I will be able to purchase in the upcoming months/years. I saw a thread where people mentioned the Age of Ashes AP may not come out, or at least not come out for some time... what is going on? Trivia posted that there would be an announcement at the end of January about upcoming Pathfinder projects - but I can't seem to find anything on the Blog, or in the Forums...  I would love to spend money on more Pathfinder 2nd Edition Adventures... will that soon be possible?
Hey Noah Just a fellow gamer here on Roll20 for almost 8 years and it can be quite puzzling at times as to what and when things get released. My educated speculation Bottom line for Age of Ashes not being released is lack of staff (mentioned in a twitch cast) to convert it, as a business they have to allocate the resources they have for "the most bang for the buck" as one would expect. Now there could be many reasons for this 1. Pathfinder 2nd edition did not draw as many players as expected, so less demand and less of a revenue stream.  But one has to remember that this is a new system just 6 months old.  And many players and GM's want to finish their ongoing Pathfinder I games or wait and see before switching to a main system. Back in the younger days of Roll20 self contained bought AP's for most any system was a dream for most and so most GM's who ran them knew there was a lot of work to put them onto roll20 and expected that, IE they were used to it. Over the years first 5th Ed then PF I AP's was up for purchase and now we have gotten used to it, less so now the work one has to put in if AP's are not for sale here.  So style and expectations for a changing player and GM base is key nowadays as to what the norm is compared to the past.  Many GM's and players expect and at times demand AP and rule books be out in Roll20 ASAP while not looking back to the way it used to be not so many years ago.... Also it might be seen as getting PF II's foundations all set as early as possible, then AP's so it will have a long and healthy life, compared to say PF I where we had free rules compendium and few AP's years later. BUT to grow a new system community here on Roll20 one has to have buyable AP's for new and eager players and especially GM's to buy and run, or one might never get a bigger player/GM base til much later, if at all. To Date we have The Fall of Plaguestone, a fun little module but won't last long for most groups.  Age of Ashes is complete and all 6 modules are out. Not on Roll20 And now 2 of the 6 modules of Extinction Curse *The Circus one" is out, Not on Roll20 We do have The Core Rulebook, In Roll20 Bestiary I, In Roll20 Game Mastery Guide, In Roll20 The Fall of Plaguestone Module, In Roll20 Now Nolan did post that they are looking to hire more staff but nothing confirmed yet, so thats a start at least Roll20 will lose some players and GM's to other VTT sysems who have more content but at least for me that system or systems don't cut it for me, and especially my players in my 5 groups. On the last report from last quarter PF II was down slightly but had a LOT of traffic per that sub report blurb, so overall another good thing. And finally anyone interested in Pathfinder 2nd Edition content needs to post up their interest, so far just a few outspoken voices, but just a drop in the bucket compared to D&D 5th Ed or other system players. Another good dauge to check is hitting the Marketplace and tabbing over the best selling products, Plaguestone is now on the first page of 8 for adventures, Core Rulebook also on page 1 out of 5 pages, Bestiary I way behind and the GMG is super new. So hopefully the Roll20 team will take all of this into account, get some new staff hires and note the March Twitch stream where more PF II stuff will be talked about. Late nite so rambled a bit but hope this fits in a few more pieces for ya. at  least from my point of view. :) Cheers Tom PS For me and my players we mostly want the next new AP Agents of Edgewater out (in July) and the converted Kingmaker AP (out around December) I already spent the time to put in Age of Ashes and started the next one as well, so we can live without Age and Circus, BUT if Agents, and Kingmaker to a lesser extent on or shortly after street date release that WILL be a big problem. Roll20 has time, lets hope they "spend it" well :)
I know how much effort it takes.  I did all of Jade Regent not too long ago... and  book 3 of tgat AP failed tho provide maps for the majority of its encounters.  If Roll20 and Paizo could come up with format standards to be adhered to, and were willing to share a small % of $ from product sales, they probably wouldn't need to hire anyone - just let community members (like you and me) do the work and get a little commission/royalty from future sales in the Roll20 Marketplace.  Then you just need some one to QA/QC on the final works, to make sure they are up to standards - before posting them.  I feel like people would rush to sign up to make the content - and that equals more profit for Roll20 & Paizo..   if nobody signs up to make the content, then no loss to them either (at least compared to the current lack of adventure content)
Here's the thing. Is the CRB through Roll20 worth $60 when I already have the physical book in my hands? I have not purchased the PF2 CRB because until recently it didn't have any drag and drop materials. Now the spells are working which is very helpful, but the rest is not there. So why do I want to pay $60 for a product that only has one feature working? Let's compare that to the PF2 Bestiary which I as a GM use extensively. Is it worth $50? I think so, but then again I run a lot of Pathfinder Second Edition on Roll20 via PFS2. I am pulling monsters out of it all the time as I build the scenarios out. There is a lot of PF2 play on Roll20. The metrics used to determine play do not seem to be very well thought out. If a GM has 15 PFS2 scenarios built on one table and has ran about 25 sessions using them on Roll20 it doesn't seem to count as 25 sessions. It counts as one table. That is not a true measurement of PF2 game play. Nor is measuring it by the number of CRBs bought via Roll20. Right now, there is no way to pick up the CRB through Roll20 for a lower price if you purchased it physically. There's been talk about this over in the Online Region Discord channels. We have the materials and most of us don't feel there's a need to buy the books again when we already have them. We use Roll20 a great deal. Most do not use another VTT because it ends up costing the GM more money. I already have a Pro sub on Roll20. I like the tools I get with that subscription. I might like it a lot more if I got access to the PF2 CRB. I am really hoping they begin to sell PFS2 scenarios ready for play like they did with Fall of Plaguestone. I would buy them because it would save me the time to build the scenarios.
I agree with everything you said.  I don't find the purchase of rulebooks on Roll20 to be very useful at all, yet that is what the Roll20 team seens to be focusing on with their development.  They have stated that the lack of PF2E games being played on the platform is the reason they AREN'T  investing more into making more PF2E content... but that just seems like circular logic.  Sure - if neither Roll20 nor Fantasy Ground had ever started selling playable versions of adventures/modules, then it might be a useful metric. But both VTTs have rung that bell, and players aren't going to magically unhear it. Once a GM has had the pleasure of saving themselves 50+ hours of game prep time by making a $25-$50 purchase on the Marketplace, they don't want to go back.... so they will either bite the bullet and go to the other VTT platform that they really dont care for - because that platform IS selling the content thr are looking for,  or they will wait for the content to become available on Roll20.  But, given the new paradigm of being able to purchase Ready to Play adventures - claiming a lack of interest in the game due to lack of active games on the servers, while also failing to provide purchase options for PF2E Games.... just seems disingenuous.   But regardless of all the thought processes that ho into these decisions - I was proposing a way the games could be developed WITHOUT investment on their part. 
1583161113
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Noah H. said: They have stated that the lack of PF2E games being played on the platform is the reason they AREN'T  investing more into making more PF2E content...  Do you have a citation on that? It sounds more like an interpreted conclusion than a quote. I don't remember hearing anyone at Roll20 saying that. As an aside, your avatar looks like me, but maybe 20 years ago...
Maybe you are right. It felt like that is what Juniper was saying on the Age of Ashes thread. In the December Community roundtable, in response to a question about the Age of Ashes release schedule, Ashton had said that after reviewing Roll20's resources, Age of Ashes had been scrapped from the 2020 calendar... When asked for further info, Juniper L from Roll20 said (bold/underline by me for emphasis): Juniper L.  Roll20 Team Permalink   Quote   Report Hey folks, We hear you, and it wasn't a decision that was fun or easy to make. We're honestly glad to see y'all expressing that you want this content - we aim to please - but  one of the big factors in making the decision was that we need to meet our players where they're playing, and we've had to refocus resources to reflect that. We're still going to provide support for all our existing Pathfinder releases, and we're keeping track of instances like this where folks are expressing interest in these titles. So, truly, thank you for making your voice known. For the moment though, we have to dedicate ourselves towards upcoming Paizo projects. Thanks all. So maybe that is an assumption/interpretation on my part - but I understand Roll20 has finite resources. The reference to the decision to " meet our players where they're playing"  to me is obviously a reference to the fact that based on the Orr Group Industry Report for the 4th quarter of 2019 , there were 42x more 5e campaigns on Roll20 than there were Pathfinder 2e campaigns... But from my perspective - that isn't going to change much if there aren't games one can buy to run.  There are currently 109 D&D 5e adventures available for purchase on the Roll20 Marketplace, and only 1 Pathfinder 2e adventure.  If the only reason there isn't more content for Pathfinder is that it is being limited to that which the Roll20 team members can produce themselves - that just seems oddly restrictive to me. If Paizo is being to restrictive with licensing content - ok, i'll complain over there... but if there is a way to get more content on the Roll20 Marketplace in a way that allows both Roll20 and  Paizo to profit more, without investing their own resources - it just seems like a Win/Win/Win scenario GMs ARE already putting in the work to make Pathfinder Society Games, and Adventure Path games - and whatever other modules/adventures/whatever gets released. But right now, you may have had 20 different GMs build the Age of Ashes Book 1 game for their group from scratch...  and those same 20 GMs did the same for Book 2 and Book 3. With just a little bit of organization/management by Rol20, these books/adventures could be signed up for/claimed one by one by those hard-working GMs. Now, those same 20 GMs could help make 20 different  books/games/adventures - because time is money, and they know they will save a ton of their own time, simply buying the other books/games when they are released.  Such an undertaking may take a little more work by the GMs (to ensure the games meet Paizo/Roll20 standards), which is why it would make sense for Roll20 & Paizo to share a small commission on future sales of the products with whichever community contributor did the work.  It just seems simple to me - but maybe I am wrong. Maybe organizing such a community undertaking would be a nightmare and Roll20 would rather not come near it with a 10-ft pole. But I would love to hear their thoughts on it - and if they have ever considered such a model.   
I bought the CRB and Bestiary through roll20. The CRB in my opinion is worth the price "IF" you use the compendium, so in the Bestiary and Gamemastery Guide for the NPCs alone.
1583202106
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
Take a listen to the latest Roll20 Rundown . Carlos talks about the Orr Report and upcoming PF2 materials with a little more up-to-date info.
I appreciate your efforts - but that video only mentioned the Game Mastery Guide (a rules book) and adding drag/drop functionality between rulebook(s) content and the character sheets. Looking back at the title of my post - fair enough, that video was very much on subject... but as my comment text has indicated, my primary interest is in regard to what Adventure content is slated for development (and even more specific, what Pathfinder 2e Adventure content is slated for development). Roll20 seems to be super tightlipped on this matter. I get not talking about things you are still in negotiations over - but if you have already worked out the details with the publishers, sharing a snapshot of things in the queue can be super helpful to the community. Some users have mentioned this in other threads - but when Roll20 waits to tell the community about a book they are going to sell on the marketplace until  after  the book is available on the marketplace (or coinciding with) then there are going to be people who have already bought the content elsewhere (though would have preferred  to buy it from Roll20). And that can make people feel bitter. 
1583262759
B Simon Smith
Marketplace Creator
So, I see it as the same issue as I have as a creator here, and publisher elsewhere. I've heard the argument before, many times, and thus here's the breakdown on my though process: There are a massive number of fans for 5e, and for fantasy games in particular. As I have limited time to invest in a project, I am looking to maximize the amount of revenue I'm making. Thus, I am going to create content for the largest audience/potential customer base. As an example, I've made more than a few 5e products on DriveThruRPG, with several titles hitting Platinum and Gold level sales numbers. I also released a product for StarFinder, yet it has not quite reached the Copper level, despite having better art and more valuable content than any of the 5e titles I've released. Thus, it has shown me that I should stick to releasing 5e content if I'm looking to see a return on my investment.
1583363008
DarkDeer
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
Compendium Curator
Hi folks, At the moment, we don't have a publicly available development schedule. We understand that comes off as secretive and the frustration that causes, and this is something that we've begun solving via pre-orders in the interim, but we need to handle things a little differently with Paizo considering their API, and we're working on solutions there. The team's been hard at work doing both character sheet and foundational development for Pathfinder Second Edition that includes working on a vibrant Charactermancer that will be able to handle all Roll20 released content. For Pathfinder First Edition, we did a relatively feature-light 1st level only Charactermancer. We want the Second Edition experience on Roll20 to be able to update as our systems do. In 2019, we had a ton of development to have content available at launch for Pathfinder Second Edition with the full Core Rulebook, and Fall of Plaguestone, followed quickly by the first Bestiary. Adventure content is coming - and we'll have a concrete announcement for you later this month. As we've said before, we're really glad to see that you're excited to play your games on Roll20, and hearing from you the past couple of months has been a big help in our 2020 plans and we're with you in our excitement for having access to products that make your play easier. Trivia - Director of Licensing at Roll20
Trivia said: ...Pathfinder Second Edition...Adventure content is coming - and we'll have a concrete announcement for you later this month... Trivia - Director of Licensing at Roll20 Trivia  said: ...we need to handle things a little differently with Paizo considering their API, and we're working on solutions there... Trivia - Director of Licensing at Roll20 I look forward to the announcement. Thank you for chiming in, Trivia. Any chance you can elaborate a little on the API thing? Does Roll20 not just host a copy of Paizo content on it's own servers? Is the content we see on Roll20 being accessed live directly from Paizo?  I have very little knowledge of the world of web development or licensing, so maybe i am misunderstanding - but I found this comment intriguing. 
1583513917
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
I  was wondering if that was a typo for IP.
I believe that would be the API on Paizo's end that Roll20 connects to to verify what you have purchased from Paizo. I am guessing that the Paizo API does not work with pre-orders yet.
Rabulias said: I believe that would be the API on Paizo's end that Roll20 connects to to verify what you have purchased from Paizo. I am guessing that the Paizo API does not work with pre-orders yet. Ohhhhhhh. That makes a lot of sense actually. I had been pretty sure they didn't have a content API, because the poeple behind Pathbuilder and Archives of Nethys have both mentioned such. AoN loads the content first hand, and then Pathbuilder references the AoN site....  Had there been an API - it certainly would be more straightforward. 
1583617157
keithcurtis
Forum Champion
Marketplace Creator
API Scripter
That makes sense Rabulias. Good thinking.
That sounds right. Paizo doesn't offer pre-orders for the PDFs on their website. I agree that it would be nice to at least get earlier announcements of which products are being released on Roll20, even though they can't be pre-ordered. Perhaps they aren't allowed to do this, though?