It has been a week of sleep disturbances culminating with Eddy postponing our bi-weekly V20 game because he couldn’t sleep well over the weekend due to a screaming cat. I choose to picture said cat as per the Featured Image with this blog. YMMV. Hearing about Eddy’s woes led to a discussion of the extremely uppity-downity (like timey-whimey, but different) energy cycles of creative folks and how self-discipline and professionalism can only force your body to do so much, and then you’re going to do what it tells you. Sometimes that means crashing and getting some serious sleep, sometimes that means that you’re staying up all night for no reason, monkey boy. It’s the body’s call, and the brain is just along for the ride. One of the things I’m trying to do with Onyx Path is to enable the cycles that our creative teams go through if that means they can summon forth more creative work than yelling and screaming at them because we have a deadline might produce. Sometimes, that bears amazing creative fruit, and sometimes we get a messed up schedule, and right now it means we get both. You can check out our Onyx Path website for a revised schedule that our webmaestro Ian is working on, and just because I said I would, here’s is the 2013 WW Schedule as agreed on with CCP:
March 2013
Mummy the Curse
VtR Strix Chronicle Fiction Anthology
April 2013
Werewolf the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition
nWoD- The God Machine Chronicle
MtAs- Convention Book: Progenitors
May 2013
V20- Hunters Hunted II
MtAw/MtAs- Mage Translation Guide
Exalted Third Edition
June 2013
Mummy the Curse- Guildhalls of the Deathless
W20- Book of Changing Breeds
VtR- The Strix Chronicle
July 2013
MtAs- Convention Book: Syndicate
Demon Translation Guide
Mummy the Curse- Book of the Deceived
EX3- Arms of the Chosen
August 2013
Demon the ??
V20- Anarchs Unbound
MtAs- Convention Book: Void Engineers
September 2013
Mage the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition
EX3- The Realm
October 2013
M20- M20 SAS
Mummy the Curse- Sothis Ascends
W20- RAGE Across the World
November 2013
V20- Rites of Blood
Dt?: The Flowers of Hell
December 2013
W20- Book of the Wyrm
DA- Darkening Sky
HtV- Monstrous Basterds (title very tentative)
EX3- Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought
As we’ve said with all our schedules, this one is subject to chaaaaange and these are the months we’d like to make the PDF/PoD versions available at DriveThruRPG.com. Also, if you were a backer of our last three Kickstarters, you’ll notice that I didn’t include the extra projects we took on as part of those Kickstarters as getting them fit in is something we’re still working on.
Eddy and I also had a decent chat about the differences between the members of a Dev team on the direction of a project they are working on together, and how those expectations need to be focused on what the Developer is looking to achieve. And how then that whole set of expectations needs to be considered along with those of the community. For example, we discussed the Anniversary Editions- not the main books themselves, but the continuing books we’re doing after the main one for the lines. If we are doing a version of a book published long ago, then why are we updating it? Some folks might want it to be a pure update to the X20 rules, some want them updated setting-wise to the year 2013, some want new info but in the style of the previous book, and some want to change all the stuff that bugged them previously. For the Dev team, the best way to pull these disparate impulses together is for the Dev to create a strong outline for the project that gives clear guidance to the team. Sometimes, for very new or different projects, we’d create an entire “bible” for the project to go into the details of the world we were creating. This was common sense to Eddy and myself, but as he has talked to other writers who haven’t worked for us in the past it appears our methods aren’t an industry standard. (And to be fair, WW wasn’t always consistent in implementation either).
Finally, I mentioned to Eddy something last week, but feel it’s worth noting here: I’ve had a lot of trouble staying logged on to the WW Forums, so I’m not posting there as much as I’d like. This is no reflection on how great the Forumites there are, and I hope you all are getting enough info via this blog project updates, and our Onyx Path Facebook and web sites and following us on Twitter. I’m @rich_thomas_ww and @TheOnyxPath.
As if my magic, or summoned by the screaming of a cat, here are the project updates:
– God Machine Chronicle (nWoD) is in Layout and most art has been CCP Approved, but a few redone art pieces are coming in. A 2nd proof is with Matt McFarland: still a gentleman developer.
– Strix Chronicle Fiction Anthology (VtR) Strix is into Editing.
– Mummy the Curse – So I asked for changes to the cover file after looking at the physical PoD copy as the tones were just too washed out and it dulled down the cover, Mike Chaney is putting a new version up for printer approval and we’ll get a new physical copy and if it’s cool, we’ll go live on DTRPG. Expect this to be next week. Still waiting on a cover template from the printer now that the final page count has been settled; we’ll get those files out to start the creation of the traditionally printed KS version. Chaney is working to get the Character Sheet Pack rewards ready for Backers this week.
– Exalted 3rd Edition: Looks like this Kickstarter is happening mid-March now as we had a couple of delivery hiccups from our art folks- nothing that could be helped unfortunately, but things are still rolling and the art is looking sweet. We’re working on a new logo- looking cool, I have a cartographer rendering the new map, and we’ve actually got a very cool soundtrack put together for the KS video. These things are just taking more time to pull together. The DEVs are currently head down and deep into the Charms section, getting together the text we’ll be teasing with Updates throughout the Kickstarter, and getting their vocal cords tuned for the KS video.
– V20 Hunters Hunted 2: New sections are in layout and we’re getting art for them. Rather than tacking them on at the end, we’ll be adding a chapter before the Appendix as that just works better for the flow of the book.
– V20 Anarchs Unbound is almost done in post writing Development. Our editor is standing by for the files this week. You can check out the Storytelling chapter here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12wSuBi0l8SHKDuzTBdunDvOQ9iHJUXPDRwkPqhie3G0/edit?pli=1
– Deluxe Werewolf 20th Anniversary Edition: As I mentioned above, the W20 Backer PDF is out, and folks are loving it. The feedback from Backers is being integrated and then we’ll arrange the PoD files, and then we’ll be prepping the Deluxe printer files. Mike Lee is three quarters-way through his novel. The Storyteller Screen files will go off to press with W20 and I hope to get the Wallpaper out to Backers very soon. Bill is preparing the W20 Anthology outline and looking for prospective writers. The Skinner is in Editing and Art Direction. The White Howlers Tribe Book is with a writer (if you want to know who, bug Stew Wilson).
–Deluxe Mage the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition has been confirmed for September-ish 2013 and Phil Brucato has started assigning writers and has started writing his part. Art notes and contracts out to our full-page artist, once we have some feedback from him I’ll look a posting an art blog along with Phil’s developer notes.
– W20 Changing Breeds is in Editing.
– W20 Rage Across the World: Most of the art is in but a bit continues to trickle in.
– Guildhalls of the Deathless (MtC) is being written.
– Conventionbook: Progenitors (cMtA) putting the cover together, getting the interior laid out.
– Mage Translation Guide is being written, we have an Editor ready.
– W20 Book of the Wyrm is being written and red-lined. Check out the W20 blog notes: http://whitewolfblogs.com/w20/
– Trinity Continuum: we’re talking about the big, big picture stuff that will affect the entire Continuum as opposed to individual games/settings. That “bible” idea mentioned above.
– Scion: some very impassioned creators sharing their ideas at this very early stage. Joe looked through a secret project I threw at him out of the blue. He liked it.
Reason for Drinking: Uh, St. Paddy’s Day. I used to specifically not drink on this day, but Mike Tinney made me do it.
Comments
39 responses to “The Screaming Cat What Screams At Midnight…”
The original completed first full layout submitted for approval for W20 was back in November, with a now updated target release of April would indicate a lot of post-writing/development layout and prep work was needed.
What reason is there to expect that there won’t be a similar amount of post-development work for the Exalted core, given it’s currently still in development and it’s scheduled for release in May? Even with an unprecedented speed up in the layout and final editing processes the scheduled release date doesn’t seem viable given “The DEVs are currently head down and deep into the Charms section”.
I agree. It seems like the major delays are directly related to the amount of “help” received by the backers in a sort of crowd-sourced editing process that inevitably requires redoing large portions scattered throughout the document. Which then requires adjustments to the layout, etc. I didn’t support the Mummy KS (which opened in Dec.) because I figured, “Oh, it won’t be too long, I’ll just buy the PDF when it comes out.” I’m still waiting to buy a product. While I certainly appreciate and can understand how hard it was to realistically look at the schedule, is it perhaps more realistic for us as consumers to consider the month listed for KS-deluxe projects to be when the KS happens instead of the release date?
While I share your concern, as I understand Exalted will not have this *particular* problem. The content in the main book won’t be changing based on Kickstarter levels. That’s not to say they wouldn’t add, say, a standalone fiction product; but the Ex3 devs have said they don’t intend to “gate” game content. I’m not sure how much of this policy is their specific desires and how much is learning curve from W20, but I’m thinking it’s probably six of one.
Dennis- Part of what we are doing with Kickstarter is evolving how we use it and one of those experiments is to try and decouple the KS campaigns from the project release dates. We’re looking at a couple of different directions, but again I caution that there isn’t a standard methodology that applies to any project and matches any other project exactly.
Okay. Thank you guys for the input, though what I was specifically referring to was the “Backers get PDF; backers spot errors; errors get fixed, book gets delayed”. Although I will take your comment as to the decoupling of the KS and the release dates as a response to my concern; I appreciate that you guys take the time to reply to our questions here. 🙂
And for the record, I will in fact be supporting the Ex3 KS. 😀
could “The DEVs are currently head down and deep into the Charms section,” be related to the kickstarter? since the rest of that sentence is “getting together the text we’ll be teasing with Updates throughout the Kickstarter, and getting their vocal cords tuned for the KS video.”
This implies to me that they are “deep into the Charms section” not editing it, but looking for what charms they will “be teasing with.” If this is true then it isn’t unreasonable to hope for a May release, since it means the Charms section is solid enough to be revealing as teasers.
I understand your concern, but please bear in mind that every project is different. W20 was plagued with a wide variety of time dragging issues. Right now, EX3 doesn’t have the same issues- could it roll later, obviously. But again, right now, we’re not as far off as you might think.
[…] Monday Meeting: The Screaming Cat What Screams at Midnight… March 11, 2013By IanW(Reposted from WhiteWolfBlogs) […]
Anarchs Unbound hit with a huge delay. Ugh. I’m almost at the point where I’d rather not even have a monthly schedule. Just yearly. Ex: “Anarchs Unbound Deluxe Edition: 2014.”
I understand your disappointment. It was necessary to push AU back a bit to give us a chance to apply the lessons we learned with the previous V20 projects.
Yeah, I feel your pain bro. Just 6 VtM kickstarted supplements a year. 😛
Have some of the art issues with Exalted been resolved? Hope the KS makes it out in time.
Yeah. I’ll admit I was hoping for a “24 hours until Exalted KS” message on the blog today.
Ah well, there’s always next week.
*sigh* 🙁
Almost all the art for the Kickstarter is done, the logo is about two iterations from being finished- at least the KS version, the text needs placing and then we need to get the voice overs made and combined with the music and visuals for the KS video. Much further along than last week.
I love the process as it is now. Where the KS backers get a “preview” PDF and can send feedback to Onyx Path before the book goes to print (Deluxe or PoD). This allows the developers to get some real field-testing of the book from readers outside the creative team and means a lot less likely errors/omissions/bad rules will forever be locked into the printed version.
Would you rather they rush to print the book then after it ships, find out they missed something on page 255? This way, some eagle-eyed backer looks at the preview PDF finds out a spell/power/merit is broken and lets the developer know. It gets fixed and we’re not stuck with a book that needs pages of errata.
Yes, I’m enjoying the energy our community is devoting to really giving the text a once-over. Ethan is on top of the lists of notes I’ve collected and has input everything from over the weekend and earlier.
It’s great to hear that you’ve taken the legitimate responses about grammatical/punctuation/conflicting, or outdated-rules/etc., and have taken a direction to correct them. I really hope that they’ve “all” been caught now.
If this was just a $25 purchase, having errata, or updated PDFs wouldn’t be so bad… but for those of us who are paying $100, or even $225 for a book, I really want it to be as perfect as possible. 🙂
I am a bit… sad that the W20 product line is pushed back on the schedule, but at least Changing Breeds SHOULD be available by Gen Con *crosses fingers*. Perhaps the 6 months of extra time might also provide some time for content adjustment as responses from W20 Core Book come in too?
If these dates are the dates that the PDFs/PoDs drop, then I suppose that means that the KickStarters will either happen a few months before, or around those dates?
.. and, any update on “The Making of the Artwork of W20”? 😀
The update to Exalted 3e has the exactly same text as last week (mid-March). But now the schedule says May.
Which one is right?
We are trying to get the Kickstarter campaign started in Mid-March, and the PDF/PoD on sale in May.
I am just wondering, got the V20 book about Clans & Combo Disciplines removed, set for next year or maybe even split? (Like one book for Clans and one book for Combos)
The new Schedule looks cool! Wonder what Monstrous Bastards is about. It sounds like a Night Horrors book for Hunter. By the way, besides Exalted, which books will have a Kickstart?
“Monstrous Basterds” is a place holder title until I come up with something else that fits better. The Night Horrors books were definitely part of the inspiration for my pitch for this book. More to be revealed later.
-MMM
So. Much. Win.
I squealed with joy when I read this! Awesome!
Hell. Yes. I LOVE Hunter: the Vigil. Finding out we get more supplements for it is amazing news!
I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the Coming Soon section on the OPP site Schedule. With new Kickstarters scheduled one after another I’m getting a feeling that’s where Promises Go To Die. I’m not expecting any of the MtC “extras” to get done this year, but looking at the list there’s already a veritable mountain of work there just waiting for someone to pick it up. I’m left with a sinking feeling that as that mountain keeps growing with each passing Kickstarter I have no idea how you plan on keeping up with your promises.
To make this perfectly clear: those are promises you made with real-world money attached to them from KS-backers like myself.
Fortunately, we do know how we’re going to take care of it. We don’t offer them on the Kickstarters unless we have plans for how they’re going to get done.
I expected as much, but a little more transparency on the subject wouldn’t hurt.
One of the reasons there were delays between stretch goal announcements during some of the Kickstarters is that we didn’t want to announce anything without having someone lined up to work on the project. So, we made sure that we had a freelancer and developer interested in creating the bonus content _before_ adding it to the KS page.
That way we’re not just tossing up new book/bonus chapters without a plan for how to get them done. Some may take longer than expected (my own Red List book hit a few delays, but is in progress) but there are people on task for each project.
Hahaha, the Flowers of Hell. I have to buy that for its name alone.
Awesome stuff, keep it coming, woot!
A big THANKS to everyone who’s making Ex3 happen!! And for sharing the release date.
I’m gonna register my trust in the May release here which was what I was expecting all along anyways.
And super excited about the KS! Glad to hear there’s progress 🙂
The white wolf forums are incredibly unstable for everyone. When they work, they can sometimes randomly log you out, forgot your log-ins. And that’s when they aren’t showing faulty code.
So, not just a problem on your end, Rich.
I’ve almost stopped going honestly. I come here and on the W20 BLOG regularly, but the forums…
If you may allow me a somewhat less serious comment… Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that Vampire: the Masquerade products have green progress bar on the schedule page? MtC is sandy beige, WtA is brown, VtR is red… And VtM gets green? I mean… green? Really?
VTM covers have been green since 1991.
Hope to see the Vampire Dark Ages book redone in the sexy black cover with the rose. 😀
Hi, will there be a kickstarter for the changing breeds book?
Thanks, Sandra
They have been talking about it (Like having a cook book as a reward for it) and you can see “Kickstarter” listed under it on the Onyx Path website.
However, it probably won’t be listed on Kickstarter until after Exalted or even the God Machine book for now.
Unless the schedule changes yet again, here are the following books set for Kickstarter in 2013/14:
The God Machine Chronicle (NWOD), Exalted Third Edition, Book of Changing Breeds, Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle (NWOD), Demon: The ??? (NWOD), Anarchs Unbound, Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition, W20 Rage Across the World, Rites of Blood, W20 Book of the Wyrm, Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought (Exalted). That’s about eleven books set for Kickstarter.
Blood Diaries of the Clans is listed now as “Coming Soon” for Kickstarter, so it has probably been moved to 2014.
any decision on whether GMC & B&S will be KS-deluxe, KS-traditionally printed, POD only??
I am not sure where you are getting your info, but
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