The 2011 e23 Releases and Speculation Thread

[jalapeno_dude]

Sorry, I've been criminally negligent about updating this....

In the last two weeks, Transhuman Mysteries has progressed to its pre-release review, and David Pulver and Roger Burton West are reviewing the rough PDFs of Psi-Tech and RoS: Will to Live, respectively. Matt Riggsby submitted a first draft of a new Hot Spots item. And, of course, there's the Long Item That Shall Not Be Named, which Kromm's 35% of the way done with his review of. Any speculation?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by jalapeno_dude

And, of course, there's the Long Item That Shall Not Be Named, which Kromm's 35% of the way done with his review of. Any speculation?

Either the VDS or Girl Genius seem like the likely suspects.

[PK]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Either the VDS or Girl Genius seem like the likely suspects.

They do, don't they? Shame that doesn't make it so . . . though y'all might want to know that we just had a small discussion about one of those two projects and are in the middle of a much larger discussion about the other. Neither is the thing occupying all of Kromm's time, however.

And "Bob" knows I'm not giving sir_pudding any more hints than that . . . not with his guessing record.

[droid17]

Originally Posted by jalapeno_dude

Sorry, I've been criminally negligent about updating this....

In the last two weeks, Transhuman Mysteries has progressed to its pre-release review, and David Pulver and Roger Burton West are reviewing the rough PDFs of Psi-Tech and RoS: Will to Live, respectively. Matt Riggsby submitted a first draft of a new Hot Spots item. And, of course, there's the Long Item That Shall Not Be Named, which Kromm's 35% of the way done with his review of. Any speculation?

when you said "reviewing" those 2 pdf books, what does that means?
sorry i have some difficulties to understand some English terms, I'm from panama.

when you say "review" you mean they are writing an article about their up-coming books in the Magazine Pyramid? like when they did in the past?

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by droid17

when you say "review" you mean they are writing an article about their up-coming books in the Magazine Pyramid? like when they did in the past?

That is one meaning of "review," but not the relevant one here. It means that the PDF has been sent to the author, who is going through it page by page, noting problems and suggesting solutions. In the print publishing industry this would more often be called "proofreading."

Bill Stoddard

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by whswhs

That is one meaning of "review," but not the relevant one here. It means that the PDF has been sent to the author, who is going through it page by page, noting problems and suggesting solutions. In the print publishing industry this would more often be called "proofreading."

Yes. We avoid the term "proofreading" because that's another step, different from what we call "review," that concerns itself with the text being readable and grammatically correct. By contrast, our review process concerns itself with deep content – in our case, rules, stats, etc. It's the final stats check and playtest assessment, so to speak. Proofreading comes after that, generally.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

Neither is the thing occupying all of Kromm's time, however.

Then it's probably something we've never even heard rumors of yet.

[PK]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Then it's probably something we've never even heard rumors of yet.

. . . <silent acknowledgment of your post, nothing more>

[Grouchy Chris]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Then it's probably something we've never even heard rumors of yet.

And I wonder why that is. I'm trying to come up with reasons a project would get all the way to this stage without at least a little hype to go along with it, and the best I can do is think it might have something to do with licensing.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Grouchy Chris

And I wonder why that is. I'm trying to come up with reasons a project would get all the way to this stage without at least a little hype to go along with it, and the best I can do is think it might have something to do with licensing.

The SJG project proposal process doesn't involve much disclosure up until a draft is submitted and reviewed, though . . . and the contract is very explicit in being a "thou shalt not disclose nuthin'" agreement as well.

If we can accept as a given that a draft of hundreds of thousands of words will only be considered if submitted by an established GURPS author, then here it goes:

Author has idea. Perhaps it's on the wish-list, perhaps not.

Author noodles on the concept, maybe writes some text, certainly comes up with an outline. For a project this big, that outline is large.

Author submits to Steven, who likely discusses the inevitable resource drain with SJG staff, including Kromm, RPK, Phil, and SJ.

They like the idea, but at the moment it's vaporware. A contract is issued, which includes a standard NDA.

At this point, the author writes. A lot. He's not allowed to say anything. It's also not in his interest to do so. Let's say he's writing the kewlest project ever . . . but something terrible happens. A jet falls on his house, destroying the file and all backups. A close relative's pet ferret is horribly disfigured in a tragic dishwasher accident, and he has to join that friend for three months of grief therapy. Or, much like the huge project that is Vehicle Design, he mightn't want to be besieged by numerous repetitions of "are we there yet?!" In any case, at this stage, it's not in anyone's interest to talk about it.

So, the deadline comes, the draft is submitted on time, and NOW one of the two resources who do such things gets a crack at it. The resource drain involved makes it polite and effective to mention that Kromm is now reviewing a Major Projekt.

Even now, though, he could look at it and say "blech. . . New author, new draft, rework X, Y, and Z, and did you even READ [three other relevant books] before you submitted this?"

So, at that point, Everyone's Favorite Potential Book is still a long way off. So the question is . . . what's the best plan here? Secrecy or leaks. I'd think secrecy. The adoring fans aren't really part of the production chain until playtesting starts.

This isn't meant to be a slam or poke at anyone . . . just a wry observation that there's no way to win. If SJG makes projects at very early stages known, then any delays ripple through the fan base and annoy, well, lots of people. Real delays are magnified in perceived severity, and required internal juggling of resources is harder given vocal observers. But if they keep projects secret, they get "what could it be? Why didn't SOMEONE leak anything?"