No surprise after last week’s AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!! blog, we’re going out the door to Gen Con tomorrow. With that in mind, please be aware that communication will be spotty, and I’ll probably miss posting until mid next week. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as can make it to the con, and we have tried to preset a bunch of announcement posts to launch for folks not in Indy. We’ll be tweeting and FBing for sure all week, so rest assured we have not forgotten you, true believers!
If you are there, the lovely Onyx Path canvas bag pictured above will be available at our booth (#1103), as will the equally lovely paper version that we will be lovingly nestling your book purchases within. For Scarred Lands fans, we’ll have a sneak preview of the first new Scarred Lands adventure in years: The Gauntlet of Spiragos. Stop by and check out a demo copy.
And because it doesn’t hurt to run this info again:
Final Gen Con Panel Schedule!
THURSDAY
12p-1p Art Matters (ICC 210)
1p-2p Portfolio Review (Onyx Path Booth #1103)
2p-3p Book Signings (Onyx Path Booth #1103)
3p-4p Return to the Castle of Gender Representation (ICC 211)
FRIDAY
1p-2p Portfolio Review (Onyx Path Booth #1103)
2p-3p How to Run a Successful Tabletop RPG Kickstarter (ICC 210)
2p-3p Book Signings (Onyx Path Booth #1103)
SATURDAY
10a-11a What’s Up With the New World of Darkness and Q&A (Grand Central D, Crowne Plaza)*
1p-2p Portfolio Review (Onyx Path Booth #1103)
2p-3p Book Signings (Onyx Path Booth #1103)
3p-4p What’s Up With the Trinity Continuum, Exalted, Scion, Scarred Lands & More! (Hay Market A, Crowne Plaza)*
4p-5p What’s Up With the Classic World of Darkness and Q&A (Hay Market A, Crowne Plaza)*
And just to underline what Eddy said last week- and thanks for filling in for me, man!- there are 114 official events, and who knows how many unofficial, featuring our games!
Now, while I was gone, I understand that Eddy lazily cut and pasted our internal update posts, and that some of you expressed a preference for this style of project progress report…well, well, well. If that’s what folks want, I guess I’d be a fool to revert to the previous set up. Let’s see how this works if we do it this way for awhile.
ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE
- White Howlers – Jeff’s finals are in as are Leblanc’s sketches. Bridges is working on the comic…he’s hoping to finish it up soon.
- Book of the Deceived – Sam’s sketches are in. Got the rest of the artnotes in. This is probably going to have to wait until back from Gen Con and Dark Ages is taken care of.
- DtD Seattle – Proofing. Acevedo is making some fixes to the headshots.
- DtD Demonseed collection – Borja is still working on it.
- DtD Interface – Layout is roughed in/done. Still making tweaks to font choices due to mobi concerns. It has tables in it…so that’s something I have to look into for mobi.
- Book of the Wyrm 20 – Cathy is working on the portraits.
- DAV20 – Mark is continuing to work on the last couple from the first batch. Kieran is working on his. Got some notes in Tuesday for the halfs…but David is coming up with a bunch more. Right now I have McDoogal, Trabbold, and Wilkins signed as I’m waiting on the others to respond. Hoping to talk to Prescott at gen con about doing a couple of color halfs.
- Demon PG – Cover files needed tweaking, so hopefully the new versions will be here shortly.
- Rites of the Blood – Got the Standard. The spine is off by about .125 inch. Tweaking.
- Anarchs Unbound – Sketching out ideas for stickers while I’m at Gen Con.
- T-Shirts – OPP shirts should arrive on Tuesday.
- Umbra – All but three halfs AD’d (saving those for RKF).
DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE
Contracting
- DtD Storyteller’s Guide
First Draft
- WtA Book of the Wyrm Stretch Goals
- WtF Idigam Anthology
- MtAw Fallen World Chronicle
- MtAw Fallen World Anthology
- Ex3 core. From Holden: “In Exalted this week: Final typo passes all over the place, more playtest-based small rules tweaks, internal stress-testing of antagonist stat blocks, ongoing editing, inventing a new keyword for hearthstones, and catching up with the progress of the EX3 quickstart.” Also half the art notes are in, but won’t be delegated out until after Gen Con.
- MtAs How do you DO that?
- MtAs Book of Secrets
- MtC Rio
- VtR Secrets of the Covenants
Redlines
- VtM Lore of the Clans
- MtC Sothis Ascends
- Something something revealed at Gen Con
Second Draft
- V20 Ghouls
- WtF Idigam Chronicle
Development
- WoD Dark Eras Vampire
- M20 (post Bill, Phil final pass)
Editing
- MtC Book of the Deceived
- DtD Demon Seed Collection
- WtA Umbra
- WoD Dark Eras
- W20 White Howlers (except for comic)
Development (post-editing)
- Dark Ages
- DtD Anthology/Interface
REASON TO DRINK: Make them laugh in the great beyond, Robin. Nanu nanu.
Thanks for the update! I wish I could attend, but eh, maybe eventually. But I’m looking forward to your tweets and facebook posts 🙂
And indeed, this format is much easier and clearer. 😉
Already tweeting, but will use my time waiting for the rest of the crew in Indy to answer a few posts. More tweets to come, I’m sure.
You know what? For once, that’s reason enough for me. Bottoms up.
We’ll be toasting him here in Indy, so consider your toast as part of it in spirit.
Will your next update title be “Freebooterz”?
That’s so utterly disappointing about Flowers of Hell.
Sometimes technical things outside our control happen. We tweak and hope it is fixed.
Um…Rich? Please tell me there’s a place those that are not at GenCon can purchase one of those bags.
Please?
They’re a con thing only right now. But we’ll see how things go.
Anarchs Unbound stickers? OPP Tshirts arriving on Tuesday?
Does that mean that there will be OPP shirts for sale at Gen Con?
Will you be selling die-cut (style) stickers online via RedBubble.com, or other similar site?
Also… White Howler Tribebook: “Jeff” = Jeff Rebner? Just curious. 🙂
One of these years we need to sneak the Spencer clan to Gen Con so that he and his kids can enjoy it. 🙂 Maybe we can push to make him a Guest of Honor by the con? Do you think he might like that?
Redlines
Something something revealed at Gen Con
…Wait, what?
How did that slip through?
Looking forward to some TRINITY CONTINUUM ART or PREVIEW PORN!!!
LOOKING FORWARD TO SHOWiNg it!
There’s a code in that message, I’m sure of it. “SHOWiNg” has to be spelled like that for a reason. Soooooo…
– Ng stands for Nitroglycerin
– Wi is clearly Wisconsin
– SHO is obviously the name of that funky thorn-like letter ? that was added to the ancient Greek alphabet in order to spell Bactrian language
Now, Bactrian was used in ancient times, when BC turned to AD and so on. So it’s clearly related to the Christian mythology. Also, it’s roughly a “sh” sound, which is kinda like “shush”, so it’s about silencing people. Wisconsin is famous for cheese and nitroglycerin goes boom. So all this must mean that the new WoD game will be about modern day descendants of Jesus who continue working on their sacred project – creating an explosive cheese bomb that magically silences everyone in its blast radius.
That was easy, you should probably make your hints a bit more complicated Rich 😉
Will you be there Sunday?
Yep!
Are you ever going to address the questions and concerns that keep being raised by your increasingly frustrated Exalted Kickstarter backers? The ones who were told ” We’ve found that an open flow of communication between us and the backer community is vital” and now feel ignored with only tiny scraps of information being offered once in a while.
I’ve also been rather disappointed with the level of communication in the Exalted KS, but the other Onyx Path campaigns I’ve been involved in have been much better in terms of delivery and communication. I feel like the Exalted guys are keeping things way to close to the chest. Really just a little more openness about the process and the delays would go a long way.
Initially I think they did a good job at having open communication with the KS Backers, but after the playtest leak they seem more like http://i.imgur.com/1HWQIPa.gif
I have no impression that the Devs have changed their attitude or direction after that, but that’s just my PoV.
We have addressed those concerns throughout the KS and after, but whether our answers are what some people need to hear is another matter. There is a weekly Update here, and an Update right to backers that usually contains more details and/or excerpts as close to twice a month as I can make it. Some folks want more, others point out the other KSs they have backed that are nowhere near as transparent on progress. This is what we said we’d do. We never said that the Devs we’re going to post continuously, in fact I recall several backer Updates where I made it clear that we weren’t going to go in that direction because our emphasis was to keep them concentrating on finishing the text.
That may not be what some people want, but we’ve been upfront about why it is happening the way it is.
Thanks for replying to me quickly. I can appreciate that you may not have time to keep up with all the comments on your Kickstarter projects, blog entries and forums while still managing your company, overseeing I don’t know how many books across a dozen game lines and now preparing for GenCon. I can also understand that it is in everyone’s best interests for John and Holden to be working full time on continuing to develop the game instead of handling PR as well.
However, the problem of your backers growing more disappointed in how the project is being handled persists. The main comments have grown particularly active lately, with a lot of cynicism and disappointment being expressed. I don’t wish to presume to speak for everyone, but I think this is mainly due to two things.
First is the rate and depth of the information you’ve been providing. You haven’t been keeping your twice-monthly update schedule at all well. Discounting minor updates like notifications for other Kickstarter projects going live or T-shirts on sale, the last time you managed it was way back in January. It’s been consistently four weeks between updates since then. Also, there hasn’t been a developer reply to comments in the updates since May. That’s three months since anyone came to talk to us and it consisted of you answering some questions about the T-shirts you were trying to sell and Holden answering one question about public play-testing.
Second, we just don’t have any idea of how complete the project stands, on the whole. Someone else in the Kickstarter comments put it best by saying that it’s not terribly helpful to be told that we’re five miles closer to the finish if we don’t know if the goal is 50 miles away or 5000, or if we’ve actually made five miles of progress this week or just been retracing our steps for five miles. The Monday Meeting notes are nice, but it’s difficult to put so many little steps together into a complete picture. The book was delayed for charm rewrites, but even after they were done we found that there was still more to go. In February, Holden said in a Kickstarter update’s comments:
“After the Solar Charms are done, there remains some work to be done on Sorcery and Evocations, as well as some general clean-up and implementation of playtest-driven changes, which amounts to another couple weeks of writing. But it basically marks the project entering the wind-up phase.”
Yet now, six months later, we’re told that the art notes are only just being arranged. That’s just not cool. Telling us that you’re nearly done, you see the light at the end of the tunnel, then after several months have gone by, dropping the news that there’s a whole new category of stuff to be done.
So here’s what I ask of you. Again, I don’t want to speak on behalf of everyone, but I think it would do a lot to soothe the pessimism and frustration expressed by many of us on Kickstarter. Give us an update that goes over the book, chapter by chapter, letting us know what’s been written, what remains to be done, and what merely needs fine-tuning. Then, maybe, some weekend after GenCon, ask Holden to come hang out with us on Kickstarter for a while. Have a casual chat, answer a few questions, even if they’re questions that have been answered before. I at least would be willing to drop my usual cynicism for it, because I don’t want to by cynical about Exalted. I want to be as starry-eyed and excited as I was when it was being funded. It’s just hard to stay optimistic after so long, you know?
Pretty much what he / she said. I think a lot of people understand delays happen, and for good reasons in this case–but with the way communication on project completion has been handled, the eager anticipation among backers does seem to have largely devolved into frustration and fatigue, and that’s kind of sad.
And that’s not to mention the hidden costs of bad publicity and people being put off backing future Exalted (or all OPP) projects.
Man I was really hoping Rich would see fit to reply to you comment. Saying that some people don’t have a problem with the frequency of updates or lack of information on just what has been done and what needs to be done, doesn’t invalidate the opinion of those of us who most certainly DO have concerns!
I’m not invalidating anyone’s opinion, or feelings either. I am saying that we are doing what we can to get folks updates on the progress. We have in fact provided reasons for the time things are taking, when that reason isn’t simply that the Devs are working on the project as we have said they are in the Updates.
I’ll speak to Holden and John about setting up some further direct communication like the RPG.net thread.
Thank you, Rich. I appreciate that.
And that consistency is appreciated. The variety of updates, both within the Kickstarter itself. The communication on forums as well as through the Meeting notes. I hope everyone has a fun, safe and profitable time at the Con.
Absolutely thrilled to be hearing about the Scarred Lands again. It is easily one of my all time favorite campaign settings and I can’t wait to see what you are planning for it. Hollowfaust will always be my fantasy home! 😀
Glad to hear it! I was thrilled that Onyx and Nocturnal were in the position to partner up and buy the IP, so expect more coolness.
Something new? Something with Wraiths or something with not The Oblivion?
Sorry, not sure what you’re referring to. Wraith 20th Anniversary is rolling along in the extremely capable hands of Rich Dansky, so there’s that.
Just thinking about:
“Redlines
Something something revealed at Gen Con”
New look to Wraith like Requiem were for Masquerade? would be great. I read somewhere something about new line?
There’s a new nWOD line for 2015, but it’s not something that’s got a game of its own before (so it’s not going to be nWOD Wraith).
Hi Rich,
Have fun at GenCon – I am more bummed than ever that I won’t be there! I’ll have to see if my buddies can swing by to look at the Scarred Lands material!
Anyway, I wanted to thank you for these updates, and let you know that the folks up-thread complaining about the pace of Ex3 info do not represent most of your backers – they probably think they do, thanks to the internet echo chamber effect, but they don’t. Keep up the good work, and looking forward to a great product.
Cheers,
Joshua
Whereas, of course, your opinion does represent them, because you are immune to the internet echo chamber of which you speak.
Joshua,
Furf never claimed to represent the majority of the backers, as a matter of fact he says specifically that he does not presume to speak for us. He is just explaining the frustration many of us EX3 backers have with this process. Even after a year we have less information about the game than they are putting out on this site about upcoming projects. He was not confrontational or accusatory, and he made some suggestions that I thought would go a long way towards easing our concerns.
I have no idea how many backers of EX3 share my concerns, but neither do you. There have been no polls taken. And the implication of your statement is that our concerns don’t matter and can be dismissed.
Rich and the gang – all the best at Gen Con. Hope to hear from you later.
Joshua, I wanted let you know that the folks up-thread apologizing for the complaints about the pace of EX3 do not represent most the backers – they probably think they do, thanks to the internet echo chamber effect, but they don’t. Keep up the good work, and looking forward to a great product.
I’m sorry but as far as i’m concerned I put the most weight in the comments of the backers who have actually financially contributed to this project. And at the moment the majority of comments on the EX3 kickstarter are, if not outright negative, certainly seeking some transparency and a clear description of the state of the project. Wrath of Kings which has been delayed for a couple months has specifically called out each of their delays, and given a timeline for resolving the issues and how it effect the release date of the project. If Onyx path want to appear to be a professional company on kickstarter, “it will be done when its done” needs to leave their vocabulary.
The issue with the delay was explained this time last year, and repeated throughout the year, along with progress reports on a weekly basis here and as close to twice a month in further detail as I could get to the backers. Since the issue is that the Charms needed to be redesigned and written, and then the rest of the text to be reworked, there are no other reasons than the length of time it takes for that to happen. When other issues, like John’s illness, came up, I also included info about that.
S damn Jelly, wish i could be there but Australia is so damn fare away.
I would love to hear some of scarred lands news from Gencon. My googlefu find nothing in the www. Please share youre lore!
We’ll be getting the PDF up on Drive-thru of the Gauntlet of Spiragos adventure that we had demo copies of at the booth at Gen Con. Right now we’ve gone with the Pathfinder system, but are seriously thinking that other systems might work in addition to PF. We have a rough idea of aiming for next GenCon for the main book, with some adventures before during and after that. Very rough, because I need to run through these ideas with Stewart Wieck, our partner at Nocturnal Media, and he is a new father and a bit…distracted?
Can it be easily adapted to D&D 5th?
A heck of a lot more easily than adapting it to 4e, that’s for sure.
Funnily enough, there was a 4e version of the Creature Collection, and I wrote Gauntlet of Spiragos as a 4e adventure originally. Writing adventures was something I did on the weekends while I was down in ATL working on the late WoD MMO. Once we bought Scarred Lands, Stewart wanted us to get an adventure out for Gen Con this year and we revised Gauntlet for Pathfinder. We are talking about releasing Scarred Lands material for a variety of systems actually, and 5th Edition is definitely a possibility.
Can you release material for 5th ed without negotiating a license agreement with WOTC? How about OSR and 2nd ed variant Hackmaster?