Putting fears to rest, and an update
10/13/2010 11:37
Over at the Shadow, Sword & Spell Forums on the Rogue Council, a post caught my attention.
Just to put everyone's fears at ease, the game is doing well. James and I are following the same plan that we had set up for Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns. That plan is a simple one: slow build.
We strongly believe that the main reason most games "fail" is that they are not given time to grow. The market gets flooded with product, and soon, fans become overwhelmed by the amount of "things" they need to play a game. Also, as you pump out more and more product, the product suffers in that, it might not be all good. Or worse, it might be half-assed and not fully thought out. We take a different approach, and that is, take our time, get it right, and release product when it is ready. This is a good and bad thing. It is good, because you do not over promise, and you do not miss deadlines. It is bad, because you need to feed the beast of demand -- if you will -- which is always there.
We've made a lot of mistakes since starting Rogue Games, but we have learned from them all. In addition, for the most part, it is just James and I doing all the writing. There are only so many things we can write, and only so many hours in the day before we get burned out. This is not a complaint, just the truth.
"Get freelancers!" I hear you say. We are and do, but sadly, freelancers flake out, miss deadlines, or worse, fail to even deliver a final product. This is the downside of freelancers, but there is an upside. When you find ones who can hit deadlines, who deliver the work they promise, when they promise, you are happy. You also might be tempted to give them more work then they can handle, so you have to weigh their time as well.
Could we work faster? Sure, but, by working faster, you make more mistakes and really do not give the product a chance to grow.
That being said, we are working, and working hard. How hard, here is the run down for things in the work for Shadow, Sword & Spell:
So that is the immediate future.
Now I need your help. If you are a writer, or have even thought about trying your hand at this, I am looking for submissions. Said submissions could be for The Scroll, or they could be for adventures. We have two types of submissions: fan submissions and submissions.
Fan submissions are for The Scroll. Details for this are here.
Submissions are submissions for PDF or print releases, and are paid. Details are here.
So what do we pay?
Typically $.02/word payable 60-days upon acceptance for the first contract, 30-days for any other contracts with us.
Ok, so there you go.
Questions? Ask away.
Just to put everyone's fears at ease, the game is doing well. James and I are following the same plan that we had set up for Colonial Gothic and Thousand Suns. That plan is a simple one: slow build.
We strongly believe that the main reason most games "fail" is that they are not given time to grow. The market gets flooded with product, and soon, fans become overwhelmed by the amount of "things" they need to play a game. Also, as you pump out more and more product, the product suffers in that, it might not be all good. Or worse, it might be half-assed and not fully thought out. We take a different approach, and that is, take our time, get it right, and release product when it is ready. This is a good and bad thing. It is good, because you do not over promise, and you do not miss deadlines. It is bad, because you need to feed the beast of demand -- if you will -- which is always there.
We've made a lot of mistakes since starting Rogue Games, but we have learned from them all. In addition, for the most part, it is just James and I doing all the writing. There are only so many things we can write, and only so many hours in the day before we get burned out. This is not a complaint, just the truth.
"Get freelancers!" I hear you say. We are and do, but sadly, freelancers flake out, miss deadlines, or worse, fail to even deliver a final product. This is the downside of freelancers, but there is an upside. When you find ones who can hit deadlines, who deliver the work they promise, when they promise, you are happy. You also might be tempted to give them more work then they can handle, so you have to weigh their time as well.
Could we work faster? Sure, but, by working faster, you make more mistakes and really do not give the product a chance to grow.
That being said, we are working, and working hard. How hard, here is the run down for things in the work for Shadow, Sword & Spell:
- Next PDF. It is a supplement, and the writer is doing revisions. Once it is done, it goes to editing. It will hopefully be out in a few weeks.
- New adventure. I just got a proposal, and rough draft by a writer for a new adventure. It is good. Once I go through it and give him notes, he will get to work finishing it.
- SS&S Expert. John is editing it as I write this, and is nearly done with the first pass. I am waiting for a writer to finish a chapter he is writing, but they are on track. Once I finish the Colonial Gothic book I am writing (this week) I will turn my attention to finishing the draft. The book will be out in March.
- SS&S Basic Reedit. See above about freelancers. John is on this. This has gone much slower than I would like, but it is what it is.
- SS&S Threats. Will be out August 2011. Manuscript needs to be typed, but this will be done by the end of next month.
- New adventure/Quickstart. I finished the adventure and it is being play tested now.
- SS&S Templates. PDF release, writing it within the next two weeks.
- New adventure. I am writing this, adventure is roughed out.
- SS&S City. Outline done. Writing, 50%. Due out end of 2011, and manuscript will be done early next year.
So that is the immediate future.
Now I need your help. If you are a writer, or have even thought about trying your hand at this, I am looking for submissions. Said submissions could be for The Scroll, or they could be for adventures. We have two types of submissions: fan submissions and submissions.
Fan submissions are for The Scroll. Details for this are here.
Submissions are submissions for PDF or print releases, and are paid. Details are here.
So what do we pay?
Typically $.02/word payable 60-days upon acceptance for the first contract, 30-days for any other contracts with us.
Ok, so there you go.
Questions? Ask away.
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