[DF] Basic Set, Low Tech or Bruno's Armor?

[Kalzazz]

I pretty much use Low Tech myself, though I am torn on it

Weapons don't seem that major a thing to me . . . . I mean, due to the 'Weapons are Kewl' bit, everyone knows (more or less) what weapons go with what culture

[Figleaf23]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

I don't mean this in a flame way, but do you have any idea how the SJG book writing policy works?

None at all (other than what I've just been told).

It would seem that you don't, or are willfully disregarding ...

Not exactly. I'm specifically suggesting that the people in control should consider 'willfully disregarding' it to get an even better product.

... that in a way just to cast aspersions.

I'm not trying to cast aspersions, but I am trying to write with eclat.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

I'd prefer to see a page dedicated to this in the appropriate setting book. GURPS Egypt would have a page or two with loadouts for Egyptian charioteers, infantry, scouts, etc.

I strongly suspect we are likely to see more Loadouts than we are Historicals in the futures.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

After thinking about it, all that would be needed for a near-complete loadout is a single text box with all of the other things that were carried on campaign - cloaks, rations, war saddles, blankets, etc are given the same stats in Low-Tech regardless of which culture you are talking about.

Bam.

See, my view on it is this. I can assemble all this myself. Your version would almost certainly be more historically accurate, but if it's still "some assembly required"... meh. If, on the other hand, it's "here are some templates. Pick one armor template, one weapon template, and the 'campaign package' for the appropriate TL" I am totally sold.

I understand its more work for you, and if you don't want to do it, sure. Okay. But it would make the final product a lot more desirable to me, and I imagine others. I'm buying this to save me work, after all. If I still have to flip through the weapons section of LT or MA, it is less attractive than just being able to say "one cohort, coming right up!"

Anyway. My 0.02 USD.

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

The way it works is that an author thinks of an idea. Perhaps he writes it up a bit, does some research.

In other words, a lot of this is submission-driven, not top-down line decision driven. For big books, they get handed down (I didn't propose doing GURPS Martial Arts, it was offered to me. For smaller books - which is most of them - they get proposed to SJG. "I can write a loadout book of armor based on Low-Tech" is a great proposal, even if people would also have liked "I can write a loadout book for low-tech warriors based on Low-Tech" too.

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

But if I submit a proposal for GURPS: Modern Fighter Aircraft, and turn in a draft that's really GURPS: Combined Warfare Including Airplanes, I'm going to get thumped, and likely a mark against me saying "unable to deliver to commitment."

If Dan submitted a proposal on historically accurate armor sets, that's what he's going to write. Period.

Yes. If there are two commandments for freelance writing, they are:

- write what you say you are going to write.

- turn it in on time.

That's more important than any other talent or skill you've got. Or good idea you had later on . . .

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

Yes. If there are two commandments for freelance writing, they are:

- write what you say you are going to write.

- turn it in on time.

And ATM I can't promise the second one... *sigh* I would like to write for SJG, but as long as I can't promise keeping a deadline...

[Kromm]

Folks, Dan has already submitted work for which he was contracted on the basis of an outline – an outline approved not merely by Steven Marsh and myself, but also by those who sign checks. Company policy is not to encourage redos on outlines, rethinks on contracts, and revisions that are actually rewrites once a project has passed those milestones. That's because 19 times in 20, even the noblest reasons for revisiting the outline, contract, and first draft of a project that has passed those marks do not yield a product so much better than the planned one that the increased sales begin to cover the expense of repeating a step. It isn't as if the people involved work for free.

Thanks for understanding!

[Figleaf23]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Folks, Dan has already submitted work for which he was contracted on the basis of an outline – an outline approved not merely by Steven Marsh and myself, but also by those who sign checks. Company policy is not to encourage redos on outlines, rethinks on contracts, and revisions that are actually rewrites once a project has passed those milestones. That's because 19 times in 20, even the noblest reasons for revisiting the outline, contract, and first draft of a project that has passed those marks do not yield a product so much better than the planned one that the increased sales begin to cover the expense of repeating a step. It isn't as if the people involved work for free.

Thanks for understanding!

Apart from the regret for the product we won't get, it's a little worrisome that even as small as SJG is, flexibility is so elusive.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

Apart from the regret for the product we won't get, it's a little worrisome that even as small as SJG is, flexibility is so elusive.

I call foul. I'd been working with Steven Marsh on a daily basis on a Pyramid article. He's allowed major transgressions in wordcount, topic, and deadline and worked with me constantly to bring it home "as it should be" rather than as it was originally scoped.

I've worked with the SJG people on other issues, and flexibility is present and actively used.

But "flexible" and "won't force an author to write a supplement he can't or won't write" are NOT synonyms. If Dan felt qualified or interested in writing a loadout book that included weapons and armor, he'd have pitched it that way. He's said outright he has no interest in that. So between a work that gives the most complicated bits (getting all the various armor bits right using the more complex LT system) and not having a product at all, they showed the flexibility to publish what they could get.

Clearly they'll lose one or two sales as a result based on comments on this thread. I suspect minimal sleep loss.

Doug

[borithan]

I have to say I think the non-inclusion of weapons (and other gear) is fairly understandable. Weapons in LT are fairly straightforward and quite broad. Also the particular loadout for a particular warrior is probably going to be much more due to personal preference, training and aptitude, rather than as simple as saying "Here is what your typical wearer of x might have". It's not like a modern military where people have stipulated gear, and where the individual weapons and accessories are much more complicated.

Now, the same is probably true of armour, but the armour in LT is quite complicated to work through, and much more specific to time period and culture than the weapons tend to be (kind of the reverse of HT where the weapons are far more complicated than the armour) so the guidance of a researched supplement is going to be very useful.