Reporting and Data Collection

Data and local feedback help plan for the future. It’s required to report all games on the Paizo website in a timely fashion. In this case, “timely” ideally means within one week, and no more than two. This data helps the Organized Play Program better plan for the future. It also helps your players: they need reporting done in a timely fashion to collect the rewards they have earned, such as AcP and GM credit. If a VO has the ability and time to do so, they can even report events on their laptop or tablet at the venue during the event.

All VOs — especially VLs and VCs — are expected to provide training to their VAs so they can complete reporting as quickly as possible. VAs should work with their VO corps to determine the cadence of other reporting, such as sharing how many tables were mustered that quarter.

5.1. What Data Should be Collected

Collecting and retaining data helps the event. Rerunning the same scenarios, or running too many events that don’t muster burns out volunteers just as fast as too few events will cause players to lose interest.

At a minimum for tables, VOs should collect the sign-in information for every table at their event. This includes the player’s Organized Play ID, Character number, faction, and other game notes. This is the data that needs to be reported to Paizo by the reporting tool on the Paizo website.

Saving and archiving this data in some way, such as saving sign-in sheets or putting the information on a spreadsheet, can help resolve reporting errors down the road.

5.2. Reporting is Required

As stated above, every table at every event must be reported. This is one of the VO’s core duties. Event reporting not only helps players keep good records - it also helps Paizo Organized Play. All new players should be given Paizo Organized Play Player IDs and sign-in for reporting, even if they may never come back for a second game (though, should a player just want to play and not get table credit, that is permissible).

Some areas share reporting duties, adding VOs as designated reporters to VC/VL-owned events or vice-versa. VLs need to report and support their VAs if reporting is blocked — everyone should help one another out wherever possible, whether that is unblocking issues by providing training or remediating reports for a VA who is unable to do so quickly. Tools such as RPGChronicles may facilitate reporting and chronicle generation. Other options such as spreadsheets and sign-in templates exist (there are many on PFS Prep) to facilitate reporting.

5.2.1. Dealing with Reporting Errors

Reporting is a requirement for VOs. If it is not done promptly, it negatively impacts a player's ability to get their in-game rewards. It may also impact their attitude toward Organized Play and willingness to continue participating. When reporting is not done (or not done correctly), players have the right to ask to have it corrected (typically by reaching out to the session GM or via the pfsreportingerrors@paizo.com email address, but they could reach out to any VO as well). If a player reaches out to a VO, they should ask the player if they have reached out to the GM before following any of the following steps.

5.2.1.1. Required Information for Incorrect or Missing Reporting

To get reporting issues fixed, there is a subset of specific information that will need to be provided to assist with either the VO, the VC, or OP addressing the issue: Not all of the below will apply to every situation, for instance, if a player signed the sign-in sheet with the wrong character number, but, any escalation to OP will need most, if not all, of the below information, and it will be helpful to the VO who is attempting to assist the player.

• Player ID

• Character Number

• Character ID

• Event Code

• Scenario Number, Scenario Name

• Session Number (if available to the player or via search within the event code on the reporting page)

• Date of Session

• Venue

• If incorrectly assigned, the player should also provide the correct character name and number for reassignment.

• A copy of the chronicle sheet earned by and given to the player for the character they are indicating has the reporting error

5.2.1.2. Confirm Game Info and AoR (Area of Responsibility)

Review the report from the player. If you are not on the session as a reporter, or if the session has been closed as fully reported, you will need to escalate to your VC for review.

The VC should check the following:

• Has the session been reported at all?

• Is the event or session in question a convention?

• Is this an ongoing issue with a VO not completing their required reporting within a reasonable time (defined in the VO Handbook as within 2 weeks of session completion)?

• Is the event or session in your Area of Responsibility (AoR)?

5.2.1.3. VC Escalation

As a VC, you can fix most issues that occur within your AoR. You also can search for and report on events (even closed ones), though the sessions may not show up in a search. If a reporting error falls outside your AoR or you run into an issue trying to address the issue, you can submit the required information to pfsreportingerrors@paizo.com.

If a VO within your reporting structure is not completing reporting promptly, you should take appropriate action based on whether this is an isolated incident or an ongoing issue, and include a reminder for the VO to complete reporting within the 2-week window given from the completion of the session, and the importance of not sitting on reporting until the last minute. If reporting is being done by a non-VO and it is not being completed within the same 2-week timeframe and it is on a VO's event code, it is the responsibility of the VO for the event code to follow up with the non-VO to get the reporting issue addressed. If it becomes a continued issue, the non-VO should be advised to submit the reporting information to the VO for completion. If the event code is a private code used by a specific non-VO GM, the best that a VO can do is to reach out to the GM and ask them to complete the reporting at their earliest convenience.

5.2.1.4. Closing the Loop

Report or edit the session with the correct information. Confirm it is saved.

Once you have addressed the player's concerns, you should reach out to the player to let them know their issue should be fixed. In the event you have to forward the player's issue to pfsreportingerrors@paizo.com, you may wish to copy the player on the email so they will be able to check the reporting site once the reporting issue has been corrected.

5.2.2. Character Audits and non-Society-Legal Characters

GMs and VOs can audit characters at any time. When a character is audited, the current version of the character is reviewed and the chronicle sheets attached to the character are presented (either physically or electronically) for review.

5.2.2.1. Purpose

What purposes do audits serve? Audits are not punitive actions taken against a player. Rather, they are an expository action taken which verifies the following:

• All items, spells, powers, feats, etc. are sanctioned for use.

• Equipment has been purchased appropriately via the purchasing rules for the game system.

• Copies of additional resource material that are required by the Character Options pages for each game system are made available to the auditor by the player, either physically or digitally. This can include logging into their Paizo account to show the .pdf list (provided the auditor is also shown the username to verify it belongs to the player) or the receipt from the FLGS where it was purchased.

NOTE - The onus to describe how something should work is on the player, so they should at least attempt to have access to the rule that allows the options to be used.

• Options in use by characters that are only granted by boons are earned and documented appropriately (such as with Achievement Points).

• Characters in play have played the requisite sessions to be in the level range for the adventure being run.

To request a chronicle sheet replacement, the player will need to provide some specific information, such as the date, the name of the GM (if they have it), their PFS ID, the character number, and the name of the venue where the event took place.

To replace a chronicle, a VO should first audit the event to make sure the session was reported for the player with the PC in question. This guide assumes the session was reported; if it was not, the VO needs to follow up on getting the game reported in the first place. If the reporting does not match, the VO should follow up with the GM and player to clarify the discrepancy. Throughout the process, the VO should consider the context, such as whether the player:

• Often loses paperwork

• Has failed audits in the past

• Is considered trustworthy

• Remembers what boons they earned on the chronicle, success conditions, bonus reputation, and what rewards (credits/gp) they received

• Has all other chronicles for the PC, demonstrating what XP their PC had when applying the missing chronicle

This process is intended to maintain the integrity of the chronicle system; it is not a punitive measure against the player. As such, the VO is encouraged to work with the player, either recreating the chronicle using the honor system or helping them reach a compromise such as reducing the treasure bundles, or removing any plot-based boons.

5.2.3.2. Multiple Lost Chroniclees

In most cases, losing multiple or all of a PC's chronicles means the character is no longer valid for Organized Play. Players may choose to simply start up a new PC. However, under special circumstances (e.g. player's house burning down, robbery, etc) a VO might be motivated to help a player reconstruct a beloved PC from scratch.

Replacing multiple (or all) lost chronicles will take significant effort on the VO's behalf. They should only undertake such a project willingly --- this is not a task they are required to do. In addition, the VO may need to get authorization from their RVC (or VC if there is no RVC available), depending on the policies within their region. It is relevant and appropriate for the VO to ask the player for a screenshot or some other listing of chronicles from the Paizo reporting system (players can always view their completely reported sessions on Paizo.com by going to Organized Play My Organized Play Summary). Under each character's listing of name, faction, and reputation, there is a link that reads "Show Sessions" that the player can select to show all sessions where a chronicle had been issued to them. This will help with the rebuilding of the missing chronicle sheets.

As above, the context of the situation is key. In this case, the VO can also lean on their VC and/or RVC for help.

Tailor the rebuild process with the player, working together every step of the way. The VO can leverage existing benchmarks and tools where appropriate. Some examples include the fact most PFS2 scenarios are designed to offer 8 treasure bundles, and the rebuild boons such as Evolving Destiny or Career Change (depending on system availability) can set benchmarks or even be purchased by the player. Similar benchmarks may be available for all existing live Organized Play Campaigns and should be leveraged in much the same way if they do exist. Yet another option might be referencing old character sheets provided by the player.

5.2.3.3. Auditing Reported Games

The VO will likely need to check other area sessions, and possibly sessions outside their home area. To do so, they will have to reach out to other VOs with the player's information. Before doing so, they should acquire permission in writing from the player to use their data (name, Paizo Organized Play ID, Character ID, Play Dates) in other regions to respect player privacy and to keep on the right side of privacy policies and laws.

5.2.3.3.1. Bonus Factions

There is no good way to discover bonus faction reputation when recreating the chronicles without reviewing the chronicle sheet at the end of each scenario as it is only shown on the page when editing a session (something that the VA doing the reissuing may not be able to do). Again, the VO must consider the player and the context.

5.2.3.4. Signing Off

All regenerated chronicles should contain the original GM's information, the original play date, the reissue date, the reissuing VO's name, and a statement that this is a reissue for a lost original chronicle. This way, the VO can be contacted if there are questions later on.

5.2.3.5. Closing the Loop

Once the sign-off has been completed, the chronicles should be given to the player (either physically or digitally). This should also, if requested by the VC or RVC, be included in the VO's quarterly report (the request and fulfillment). Player specifics, if requested by the VC or RVC, would be a consideration when gaining a player's consent to provide their information as part of the recreation process and should be expressly requested of the player should the VC or RVC want it on record.

5.3. Record-Keeping & Confidentiality

Documentation is important, but it must adhere to applicable privacy laws. This means that a VO should not keep documentation past a certain shelf life, and should be careful about what information they save and what they transmit.

The authors of this guide currently lack guidance on this from a legal standpoint; a policy that can be applied globally is being investigated will be published when it is available. As such, this section is currently a recommended best practice based on what the authors know at the time of writing.

RVCs and VCs should try to understand their region’s privacy laws as best they can to help tailor their region’s record-keeping policies.

5.3.1. In the USA

Paizo is based in the state of Washington, and VOs should err on the side of the state of Washington’s data retention policies with a minimum for meeting WA’s standard of 3 years for non-criminal items and data retention.

5.3.2. EU and the GDPR

Global VCs should be careful to follow EU law, even though Paizo Organized Play is a US-based entity. From what the authors of this document understand, VOs may keep records at the local level, but records that include player names, email, and other personal information cannot be stored on US servers. In addition, any escalation to US-based parts of Paizo which includes a player's personal information without their specific consent to share it may run afoul of GDPR and would need the person’s express permission to use their data in such a way.

The recommendation is to only refer to any individuals involved with any case overseas (such as an Organized Play ban) by Player ID, avoiding the use of the name or any other identifier such as email. If a player appeals their ban or investigation, they may need to permit the use of their data for the investigation.

5.3.3. Confidentiality

Privacy is important. VOs should abstain from discussing any ongoing investigation or any incidents with others unless they need to know (such as for an investigation). Generally, no one outside the VO corps needs to know.

5.3.4. Quarterly Reporting Format

Quarterly reporting calls for VOs to collect and submit data up their reporting chain to Paizo OP (VA>VL>VC>RVC>OP). There is currently no required or recommended format from OP. Each RVC can choose what information they deem appropriate to collect for their region and in what format they want to receive it. Work with your RVC to determine what they require from you for quarterly reporting.