The 2020 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by philreed

The project is now live:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...pdf-challenge/

And I've just backed my first Kickstarter ever.

[philreed]

We're now at the point that everyone at the $3 reward level and higher will receive nine PDFs. Learn more here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...-pdf-challenge

[ULFGARD]

Originally Posted by philreed

There's a Q&A session tomorrow about the upcoming GURPS Kickstarter campaign. Info here:

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/J...e_QA_Tomorrow_

I missed that, alas. Perhaps my question was addressed there. I'm curious about when to expect the rewards. The Kickstarter page says that anticipated delivery is in November, but, if I'm reading the rumors correctly, several of these have already gone into production. When might we expect them? If not all of them are ready, are we going to have to wait for all of them, or will we get them as they come out?

It's really fantastic to see that all 12 were unlocked!

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by ULFGARD

I missed that, alas. Perhaps my question was addressed there. I'm curious about when to expect the rewards. The Kickstarter page says that anticipated delivery is in November, but, if I'm reading the rumors correctly, several of these have already gone into production. When might we expect them? If not all of them are ready, are we going to have to wait for all of them, or will we get them as they come out?

This was discussed briefly without giving a specific timeline. The long time horizon is less about production (which is done for most if not all of them at this point) and more about getting the actual distribution to work. I get the impression that data does not flow smoothly from Backerkit, which is going to act as a "shopping cart" because it plays well with Kickstarter, and Warehouse 23. That's going to take some work, and in the event of a successful campaign, which this has apparently been, more work rather than less. I imagine we'll get more after the campaign ends, but they gave themselves a lot of padding in the estimate, just in case things went really well.

[philreed]

Originally Posted by ULFGARD

I missed that, alas. Perhaps my question was addressed there. I'm curious about when to expect the rewards. The Kickstarter page says that anticipated delivery is in November, but, if I'm reading the rumors correctly, several of these have already gone into production. When might we expect them? If not all of them are ready, are we going to have to wait for all of them, or will we get them as they come out?

It's really fantastic to see that all 12 were unlocked!

As has been noted, the twelve PDFs are basically complete. (If I understand correctly, the last round of checks will be finished ASAP and all twelve PDFs 100% done in the next week or so.)

Additionally, as stated, the November estimate is more about the delivery needs of the project than the creative requirements. A lot of delivering the PDFs is a manual process which, with over 2,000 backers, is a lot of work for our team.

Add to that the "choose PDFs in BackerKit!" reward levels, and the delivery gets even more complicated.

The very nice thing? Once we open the surveys, backers will be able to start downloading the files from BackerKit. It's the "add to Warehouse 23 accounts" stage that will take the most time.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by philreed

(If I understand correctly, the last round of checks will be finished ASAP and all twelve PDFs 100% done in the next week or so.)

For gamers who like to see sausage being made:

I can confirm that all 12 PDFs have been written, reviewed, revised, edited, laid out, and illustrated. I've already taken care of the art approval and production review . . . and Nikki has already applied my corrections. And Steven and I have already written all the web blurbs.

To the best of my knowledge, what's outstanding amounts to checking "boring administrative stuff": Do we have the right stock number and date on the front? The latest ad in the back? That, and dropping covers that already exist and web blurbs that already exist into web pages.

[philreed]

Originally Posted by Kromm

To the best of my knowledge, what's outstanding amounts to checking "boring administrative stuff": Do we have the right stock number and date on the front? The latest ad in the back? That, and dropping covers that already exist and web blurbs that already exist into web pages.

That aligns with my understanding. I also know that Darryll and Steven are starting the process of uploading PDFs to BackerKit and will have as many available on Day One as they can manage.

Our goal is to open the surveys late in July, at which point backers will be able to complete their surveys and download files. The slowest parts of the process will be:

* Requesting a release that is not already in BackerKit.
* The act of adding the appropriate PDFs to Warehouse 23 accounts.

[ULFGARD]

Thanks for the great information! I really appreciate the insights you provide into the behind the scenes processes. I'm very eager to get my hands on a couple of the items, as they will likely be immediately useful to me based on the campaigns I'm running - spaceship crew in particular.

[Refplace]

Another week no new GURPS :( We did get some PoD additions though.
Fingers crossed for next week so we only lost June.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Another week no new GURPS :( We did get some PoD additions though.
Fingers crossed for next week so we only lost June.

"The staff is hard at work bringing 12 new books into our hands, which are aimed at Backerkit as soon as practicable. Here's hoping it goes smoothly and we get a dozen GURPSy bits of goodness at once!"

I like the sound of that rather more. ;-)