[X] My Assistant

[Adam]

Yup ... and as I mentioned, that process is already going on, for the first novels we'll be releasing.

[the_dunner]

On a related note, I've always wondered why the "official" SR Missions haven't been collected and bound into something that can be bought...

This has been addressed repeatedly by others, but since it's sort of my issue...

To clarify, the, the average Mission runs over 20 pages, plus more than 5 pages of necessary handouts. There are 25 Missions in the Denver campaign. That works out to well over 600 pages. Even cutting redundant stuff, shrinking the type font, and editing with a machete would still leave us well in excess of 400 pages.

Assuming CGL decided to minimize up front costs, and just go through a PoD publisher (e.g. Lulu), those books would cost over $70 each. That's before CGL and WizKids get a cut.

There isn't a market for that. (Yes, I realize WLD sold for more than that. There are more D&D players than there are Shadowrunners, and WLD has a lot more content than 25 issues of SRM.)

If somebody desperately wants a hardcopy for themselves, they're welcome to combine all 50 PDFs into one big file, and then to check with CGL to get permission to have a have a single copy of it printed for personal use. My guess is that TPTB at CGL wouldn't object. (Though, they might be slow to respond.) However, there's just no way that CGL could hope to recoup their expenses on the time it'd take to do it properly.

[Matsu Kurisu]

Just to add my two cents on an important topic, who will buy??

I certainly will (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I love good SR fiction!!

[kanislatrans]

I would just like to say that i feel the crew at Catalyst is doing a great job.

I know yins are all working like crazy to make "this thing of ours" work( and more importantly,make money). As someone who fought for a couple of weeks to hammer out a short story, I am impressed with the time table you have set for yourselves. Someone who didn't care about the product wouldn't work that hard to keep us consumers happy.

When you get a chance to breathe and relax abit, please know that the talent is here waiting patiently to assist you should you need it.

Too often, the only thing that gets said bout the products is the negative ("look, they misspelled Albuquerque!!!!! WTF?? Didn't any one proof reed this sourcebook????? Oh and on page 245, they listed the kumquat K-13 as an assault riffle and it is clearly stated in the core book as a SMG!!!!!!) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

Please note that our enthusiasm is a sign that you are at least doing it right most of the time . (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)

[JM Hardy]

I'm out of the loop on that and have been for over a year, so I'm not able to comment on it directly. But all of the good fiction authors for Shadowrun are out of the game or dead. So you need to expand your author's pool.

-Frank

I just can't say how happy I am that you keep repeating this assertion. All I can do is console myself with the hope that maybe you think I'm dead.

Jason H.

[RunnerPaul]

I just can't say how happy I am that you keep repeating this assertion.

If you became a fiction writer with the expectation that everyone, everywhere would love your work, you may have just gotten into the wrong industry. While I pesonally have never read your particular contributions to the library of Shadowrun novels, others have. I'd like to think those other readers be able to freely express a like or dislike of a particular work without the author taking it personally.

[JM Hardy]

If you became a fiction writer with the expectation that everyone, everywhere would love your work, you may have just gotten into the wrong industry. While I pesonally have never read your particular contributions to the library of Shadowrun novels, others have. I'd like to think those other readers be able to freely express a like or dislike of a particular work without the author taking it personally.

I think you read more into my post than is there--I've been around too long to think that everyone will like everything I wrote, and I don't quite see where my post says anything like "Never criticize my work!" I made my little joke about Frank's comment because it amused me. People are, of course, quite free to think whatever they want about my stuff, and I am equally free to respond. I could go on the patronizing path of explaining how the exchange of varying opinions is how an internet forum works, but I'm sure neither of us wants to come across as patronizing, do we?

Jason H.

P.S. While I didn't actually take it personally, since I'm fairly thick-skinned, I hope you see how saying a particular work by someone is bad is a little different than calling them a bad author.

[GrepZen]

We have had the license to produce printed Shadowrun fiction for less than two weeks. I'm not sure what you expect us to produce in that time frame ...

[Edit: and I should point out that in all previous cases where a third party publisher [ROC] published Shadowrun fiction for WizKids and FASA, WizKids and FASA did all the work of actually producing the content: writing, editing, copy-editing, etc. ROC didn't provide them with a "stable of writers" or anything like that.]

**Sorry to resurect a thread, DS3 was down and work was busy**
Come to think of it the last SR "book" I read was "Worlds Without End"...it wasn't bad but, it certainly wasn't up to par with the Findley/Dowd contributions and I would rate "Into The Shadows" much higher. I'm not saying ya'll (CGL) are doing a bad job, you have certainly done a great job with DS since I first got here in 94 and the sourcebooks to date have been pretty good. However, "THE" fiction authors since Tom have varied in quality so much that I just stopped reading them, I'll see what you're team has to offer when the CGL branded fiction books come out.

What I'm really getting at is that I'd like to see Shadowrun in mainstream publication or at least with autors who can write a story true to the world of SR without having to resort to 10,000BP characters. Hence my original suggeston of Baen (you can't tell me Ringo's Paladin Of Shadows series wouldn't fit in SR) as they have quite a bit of experience in anthologies & short stories not to mention a slightly larger reader base. I'm willing to give the bennifit of the doubt to ya'll but that lessens with the use of previous authors.
Just my $.02USD

[CanRay]

"Worlds Without End" had Immortal Elves in it. And was part of a series that started with an Earthdawn novel, IIRC.

Most of the Shadowrun characters are fairly well balanced, from my memory. Especially Dirk!

*Sniff* I miss Dirk.

[Fortune]

Far as I know Dirk is still around in SR4. I believe he posts in the books as 'Monty' or 'Monte' or something like that.

[tisoz]

I am curious, who has the license for graphic novels and/or comic books?

[Jackstand]

"Worlds Without End" had Immortal Elves in it. And was part of a series that started with an Earthdawn novel, IIRC.

Most of the Shadowrun characters are fairly well balanced, from my memory. Especially Dirk!

*Sniff* I miss Dirk.

Dirk made cyberarms sexy.

[CanRay]

Far as I know Dirk is still around in SR4. I believe he posts in the books as 'Monty' or 'Monte' or something like that.

Which books, SVP?

[Fortune]

It appears that I may have been mistaken. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

[Adam]

Come to think of it the last SR "book" I read was "Worlds Without End"...it wasn't bad but, it certainly wasn't up to par with the Findley/Dowd contributions and I would rate "Into The Shadows" much higher. I'm not saying ya'll (CGL) are doing a bad job, you have certainly done a great job with DS since I first got here in 94 and the sourcebooks to date have been pretty good. However, "THE" fiction authors since Tom have varied in quality so much that I just stopped reading them, I'll see what you're team has to offer when the CGL branded fiction books come out.

I'm really not sure what you're getting at here; all of the previous Shadowrun novels were published by FASA/ROC, except for the most recent six which were done by WizKids themselves ... we didn't have anything to do with them. Nor did Catalyst create Dumpshock -- I'm the only CGL staffer who has anything official at all to do with Dumpshock, and I have almost no involvement with it now.

So, yeah: please judge us by the books that we're actually releasing, and not on FASA novels released 15 years ago, or a website that isn't even ours... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[CanRay]

Exactly. You wouldn't base CGLs novels on my fan Novellettes, would you? *Points to Sig*

[Jackstand]

**Sorry to resurect a thread, DS3 was down and work was busy**
Come to think of it the last SR "book" I read was "Worlds Without End"...it wasn't bad but, it certainly wasn't up to par with the Findley/Dowd contributions and I would rate "Into The Shadows" much higher. I'm not saying ya'll (CGL) are doing a bad job, you have certainly done a great job with DS since I first got here in 94 and the sourcebooks to date have been pretty good. However, "THE" fiction authors since Tom have varied in quality so much that I just stopped reading them, I'll see what you're team has to offer when the CGL branded fiction books come out.

Besides, "Worlds Without End" Came out right around the same time as Findley's "House of the Sun," so it's not like there's a generational gap in the writing there.