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Old 02-15-2019, 07:22 AM   #71
Kromm
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Thayne View Post

This is kind of disappointing. When it was announced that Pyramid was being cancelled in part to free up editorial resources, I had hoped we'd get a somewhat more frequent schedule of non-Pyramid releases. But that isn't looking like it's the case.
Please give us time.

The people who made the decision about Pyramid (which was made at the level of company-wide profitability, and not by editors) aren't the people who make the decisions about what goes into the GURPS pipeline (who are editors). We GURPS decision-makers learned of the fate of Pyramid in the third quarter of 2018, which meant we had no time to queue up a bunch of GURPS products for release in the first quarter of 2019. The process of outlining, approving, contracting, writing, reviewing, playtesting, revising, editing, laying out, illustrating, reviewing again, and finally uploading takes three or four quarters, meaning the response to a decision in the third quarter of 2018 isn't something you'll see before the second or third quarter of 2019.

As soon as we got the news about Pyramid, we ramped up the intake of new projects. We have seven first drafts arriving between March and June 2019, five more in house and awaiting playtesting, and yet another somewhere between those two steps . . . plus the short item I just wrote . . . plus two manuscripts that are further along but need special treatment . . . plus Steampunk 3, which didn't get uploaded this week for reasons related to urgent matters pre-empting it, not because we sat on it to release it next week. I wrote Action 5 and got it released in less than one quarter to make sure we had something sooner, and the manuscript I just wrote will serve a similar purpose; staff-written product has the massive advantage of taking just one or two quarters, but I'm the only staff writer for GURPS, so I can only do so much, especially when I'm also responsible for managing 15 or 16 other projects.

It's important to remember that while SJ Games isn't a huge company, it does have different departments and product lines, and X happening in one of those (operations, Pyramid) doesn't necessarily imply a response Y in another (editorial, GURPS). But because it isn't a huge company, it has limited person-hours to spread between everything (as I said, I'm the only staff writer for GURPS and also the developer for the entire line). Of the 33 people listed here, just three have anything to with GURPS – and two of those three have other, non-GURPS obligations as well.
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Old 02-15-2019, 08:49 AM   #72
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

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Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
Please give us time.
Sean is being modest. In addition to everything else that he does, he also wrote a new Dungeon Fantasy book over the last few months.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects.../posts/2416152
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Old 02-15-2019, 11:39 AM   #73
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
Please give us time.

The people who made the decision about Pyramid (which was made at the level of company-wide profitability, and not by editors) aren't the people who make the decisions about what goes into the GURPS pipeline (who are editors). We GURPS decision-makers learned of the fate of Pyramid in the third quarter of 2018, which meant we had no time to queue up a bunch of GURPS products for release in the first quarter of 2019. The process of outlining, approving, contracting, writing, reviewing, playtesting, revising, editing, laying out, illustrating, reviewing again, and finally uploading takes three or four quarters, meaning the response to a decision in the third quarter of 2018 isn't something you'll see before the second or third quarter of 2019.

As soon as we got the news about Pyramid, we ramped up the intake of new projects. We have seven first drafts arriving between March and June 2019, five more in house and awaiting playtesting, and yet another somewhere between those two steps . . . plus the short item I just wrote . . . plus two manuscripts that are further along but need special treatment . . . plus Steampunk 3, which didn't get uploaded this week for reasons related to urgent matters pre-empting it, not because we sat on it to release it next week. I wrote Action 5 and got it released in less than one quarter to make sure we had something sooner, and the manuscript I just wrote will serve a similar purpose; staff-written product has the massive advantage of taking just one or two quarters, but I'm the only staff writer for GURPS, so I can only do so much, especially when I'm also responsible for managing 15 or 16 other projects.

It's important to remember that while SJ Games isn't a huge company, it does have different departments and product lines, and X happening in one of those (operations, Pyramid) doesn't necessarily imply a response Y in another (editorial, GURPS). But because it isn't a huge company, it has limited person-hours to spread between everything (as I said, I'm the only staff writer for GURPS and also the developer for the entire line). Of the 33 people listed here, just three have anything to with GURPS – and two of those three have other, non-GURPS obligations as well.
Thanks for the explanation. This makes a lot of sense. And I want to be clear, you do amazing work, Kromm. My comment was more coming from a place of fear about industry realities slowly strangling GURPS.
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Old 02-15-2019, 12:10 PM   #74
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

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Originally Posted by Michael Thayne View Post
Thanks for the explanation. This makes a lot of sense. And I want to be clear, you do amazing work, Kromm. My comment was more coming from a place of fear about industry realities slowly strangling GURPS.
I think we all share that fear! But my hope (which is reinforced by Kromm's post) is that GURPS is perhaps doing better than many games. SJ Games has clearly found out how to use Kickstarter to get projects done in a financially sound way and with Pyramid in stasis for now, I think we will eventually get the promised slew of new books.

As many Jedi Masters have said, it's about patience! (But so so hard!)
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Old 02-15-2019, 12:18 PM   #75
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

Thanks for the updates and info!
On one hand we see more contracts than in a long time, on the other its feeling like TFT may be squeezing GURPS out.
Note, two new title updates.
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Old 02-15-2019, 12:34 PM   #76
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

I think it looks like a lot of GURPS goodies are on their way. I would also llike to add that the level of transparency afforded by SJG is unprecedented.
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Old 02-15-2019, 01:10 PM   #77
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

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Originally Posted by bert View Post
I think it looks like a lot of GURPS goodies are on their way. I would also llike to add that the level of transparency afforded by SJG is unprecedented.
Yes!

Oh, how I wish other game companies felt comfortable being that open.

Of course, that openness is part of what leads me to opening my wallet for SJ Games more than I do for other companies. If I've already budgeted for SJ Games releases, then there's less for those others when they do get around to telling me about their shiny new stuff.
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Old 02-15-2019, 01:48 PM   #78
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by bert View Post
I think it looks like a lot of GURPS goodies are on their way. I would also llike to add that the level of transparency afforded by SJG is unprecedented.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GM Joe View Post
Yes!

Oh, how I wish other game companies felt comfortable being that open.

Of course, that openness is part of what leads me to opening my wallet for SJ Games more than I do for other companies. If I've already budgeted for SJ Games releases, then there's less for those others when they do get around to telling me about their shiny new stuff.
Same here. Think about how many companies would allow a thread like this on their official forums? Let alone besides the fan spec and rumor consolidation (often from other official sources) we get not just press release type comments but heartfelt and without doublespeak from key staff.

On the other hand we would not be so concerned if we did not love the system and the company. So hopefully we see a good uptick in product later this year AND SJG sees increased sales from that new content (and older releases) to justify that upturn and encourage more.
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Old 02-20-2019, 05:08 PM   #79
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

Playtest queue shows signs of life!
The first of several items in the queue has opened up and its a short one, two weeks instead of 30 days. So hopefully we can clear that item and get the nxt one into line before end of March!
And FYI thank you Steven Marsh for a slightly late birthday present, I turned 56 on 2/19/2019
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Old 02-20-2019, 06:19 PM   #80
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Default Re: The 2019 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

I just updated our internal deadlines and it has FIVE GURPS things in the playtest queue (plus more expansions still being written that aren't even ready to add to our board yet).
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