Recognition Guide Pause und Veröffentlichungsdatum #7

Zuletzt aktualisiert am 26. August 2020 von DarkISI

Da jetzt gleich ein langer, englischer Post folgt, hier eine Zusammenfassung des Inhalts:

• Die Recognition Guide: IlcClan Reihe geht nach Band 6 in die vom Start weg angekündigte Pause.
• Die Pause ist nötig, um die bisherigen Teile zu evaluieren und sämtliche Bände für die nächste Welle fertig zu haben
• Das Team hat teilweise noch am Veröffentlichungstag an den Bänden gearbeitet und geht entsprechend auf dem Zahnfleisch
• Die nächsten Bände (7 – 11) sollen komplett fertig sein, wenn 7 veröffentlicht wird.
• 7 wird, sofern nichts dazwischen kommt, am 6. November erscheinen.

So, und jetzt zu Cubbys Post in voller Länge:

Let me let the air out of your theory. I’ll tell you the real reason. The inside scoop. The truth. Deadass.

Work takes time.

When I wrote the State of the Game announcing the Rec Guides back in June, we announced the pause right from the start because the developer, Jymset, knew we’d need it. Back in the early spring, when we first mapped out a plan for weekly releases through the summer and early Fall, I estimated that our pipeline would need four to six months of run-up production time to be able to comfortably pull off a weekly release schedule of about the same length. We were given four to six weeks to get ready.

With the Rec Guides in particular, that meant they were launched as weekly products before the first cycle was anywhere near complete–the battleship was still getting built as it headed out to sea. And, at great cost to Ray, Jymset and his development team, myself, Dak, and especially the Fact-Check team (holla!), we managed to get the planned first cycle of six volumes out on schedule with no misses. But FC was sometimes getting just 24 hours to review certain volumes, people were going into their day jobs on less than four hours sleep, I was still editing stuff 24-36 hours before it dropped, and Dak was laying things out faster than I thought humanly possible, often making changes on the day of release. So…

Based on Cubby’s comments, I would worry that seven volumes in a row might break the staff.

This. Even if Jymset had not been wise enough to know we’d need to pause, we would have needed it at this point. But let’s set aside the „I’m tired“ argument, because my personal level of fatigue doesn’t and shouldn’t matter to you, the steadfast customer. For you, the benefits of this break will be two-fold.

One, we’ll be able to take a moment and look back at all six published volumes holistically, and determine any changes to presentation or process that we can make to improve the next 16 volumes. There’s no opportunity to take that look back when we’re scrambling to just get the next one out, and no one wants to make all 22 and then find out there’s something dumb and easy we should have done after vol. 3 or 4 that would have made them all better. That’s disrespectful to your hard-earned dollar and our team’s tireless efforts. Basic process management; you don’t do the entire production run and then do a quality check on the first one.

Two, the break will allow us to re-set the production timelines in a way that’s much more healthy for all involved, and ensure that the next cycle of five volumes, Vol. 7 through Vol. 11, all come out bi-weekly without issue. I realize that to the customer, it looks like we’ve been able to hit release dates with the first six, so why is a break even needed? But I assure you, if this pace had continued, we would have started missing release dates. We’ve created a production schedule for the second cycle with milestones and dates set, and the goal is to have all five manuscripts completed, in-hand, and ideally edited and fact-checked before the first one drops.

I’ll be announcing this with Friday’s release, but here’s a little tidbit for those who have suffered through this absurdly long post: right now, we’re planning for the Recognition Guide: ilClan series to return with Vol. 7 on Friday, November 6 and continue bi-weekly for five volumes. (This puts Vol. 11 out on New Year’s Day; I need to consult with Ray and Jymset and figure out whether we might skip that holiday date and make it Jan. 8, but you get the idea.)

I realize that communication from our side isn’t always what it should be, and that can lend itself to „baseless speculation.“ It’s okay. I don’t see the answer being to crush Steve for wondering, it’s to try to make sure that we’re saying what we’re able to say as clearly as we can. I hope I’ve done so here. That said: this is the official answer. There is no deeper truth to uncover. I’m liable to take further speculation personally, because in essence it would be saying that our team isn’t really tired and we’re covering for something else.

For me, this is definitely going to be a summer I’ll remember for a long, long time. I hope this doesn’t come across as sounding like I have it worse than others–I can’t speak to others‘ experiences, is all–but at one point last week I edited the equivalent of three products (TTS Braunschweig, TTS Valencia, most of Rec Guide 6, some of TRO Irregulars) and did a fact-check on a Blaine novella in three days, in addition to having a demanding full-time job and two small children. Memorable, for sure, but not sustainable. That said, I’ve really enjoyed reading all of your responses to the stuff as it’s come out, and it’s been very fulfilling to be able to help deliver so much new product just ahead of the release of the KS products in the coming months.

Hier noch einmal die Links zu sämtlichen Bänden, falls ihr sie bislang verpasst habt:

• Band 1: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317987?affiliate_id=295148
• Band 2: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/319042/BattleTech-Recognition-Guide-ilClan-Vol-2?affiliate_id=295148
• Band 3: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/320803/BattleTech-Recognition-Guide-ilClan-Vol-3?affiliate_id=295148
• Band 4: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/322381/BattleTech-Recognition-Guide-ilClan-Vol-4?affiliate_id=295148
• Band 5: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/324197/BattleTech-Recognition-Guide-ilClan-Vol-5?affiliate_id=295148
• Band 6: Diesen Freitag!