OK, that'll give me a ballpark when things go through.

Drooling in anticipation!

Frank the Wanderer speculates as to whether that question, and the usual answer, has become common enough now that Adam wishes he had a agent/sprite handy to automatically answer it.

Just wish we were a little more "let in" on the dev process. Most of us have limited budgets, and it takes planning. I can understand not dating a paper copy, with logistics being what they are, but I would think a PDF could have a slightly more solid date attached. Besides, I don't think any of us will crucify you.

*Stops hammering and tries to hide crucifix behind back* Ummmmmmmmmmm... Yeah... Wouldn't do that at all...

People would in fact crucify Adam for promising a release date and then flubbing it. I've seen it before.

-Frank

Well, it's not like I'd douse him in kerosine and light him on fire afterwards. *Kicks jerrycan under table, out of sight*

I think we're pretty open about how the dev process works, and getting more open about it ... but no amount of openness can account for the sort of things that can add a delay to any book at just about any time; illness, crazy multiple day power outage, family issues, emergency issues in other parts of the company ... etc. While some people are understanding about those sort of things, some people aren't. And, of course, the more time we spend _talking_ about the dev process, the less time we actually get to spend _on_ the dev process -- it's a delicate balance of information vs. production.


Wow, you really haven't seen some of the personal attacks that people will throw at game company employees...

Get orthoskin?

Still not gonna roll around in barbed wire for fun.

Awwwwwwww, come on! It'd dull...

...

And a little rusty.

Well, it's good to hear your perspective, one way or another, Adam. I didn't expect that I'd be able to change your mind going in. I was just trying to illustrate some of the frustrations that come with being a rabid RPG fan with a seriously limited budget. Sure - the hair triggers are going to go off if you miss an announced date, but honestly.. wouldn't they find something to go off on anyway? I can appreciate what you're trying to avoid, for sure.. but is the backlash by a couple of impatient trolls really so crippling that it's not even worth it to say "Hey, the book is about a month away, although the final date may change"?

Not digging on you, Adam. It's just frustrating. I see this answer across the entire gaming industry and it's only half made sense to me. Is it worth keeping twenty-five people in the dark to shut five idiots up? You clearly seem to have a schedule in place and seem pretty close to finished, so would an estimate of a two-week window really be that unreasonable?

Earlydawn, I'll try to write up an answer to satisfy your curiosity, but this is one of those cases where I'm better off spending my time getting work done on actual projects and all the other things that we have to do beyond just "making the books" -- so if you can hang tight for a day or so, that would be great.

Ooooooooooooo, I have nooses for that!

...

OK, I'll stop now.

Take your time, Adam. I assumed you were posting on off-time anyway. Again, I don't hope to change your mind, but simply to better understand the reasonings behind date blackouts.

I expect a lot, actually, seeing as how this is going to be the last RPG book I buy, ever. Hurry up! I can't get out until I finish the set! Sometime before complete economic collapse, please!

and thats why everyone from microsoft, apple to some fly by night webpage provides x amount of storage for y amount pr month.

and if you want to be really secure you drop your data on 2-3 of these places, and maintain a private backup somewhere.

and for non-corp backups it seems that external hardrives have become the only workable solution. see recent apple and microsoft products that one can put in a closet or something, plug into the network and dump backups to automatically.

how about this, a data search will produce hits of paydata points. each point starts out with a value of 3d6 1000 nuyen and drops by 1d6 100
each 2d6 hours.

to offload them to a fixer or similar, the usual rules for fencing gear comes into play...

most of these are rolled by the gm when the playdata is first downloaded. and said search can only performed ones pr node pr day...

...mmmmmmmm, naked code.

...that's a nice set of 0s and 1s ya got there...

a SR4 program carrier anyone?

I admire your intention with the paydata idea, Hobgoblin, but if you used your rules, you'd have to answer the question of why hackers ever did anything except Data Search for dollars.

i know, and i more or less based it on the memory of how things works in VR2.0 or the matrix sourcebook...

but then again, a classical problem of sr is why go on runs when one can steal some random car and offload it to a fixer...

Because people start noticing things like that, and, if you over-glut the market, the other people using said market are going to get upset.

Who are those people? Oh, people like your own characters!

How do your characters usually handle things that annoy them and drive down the cost of things that keep them in Stuffers?

They're going to do the same thing to you!

I dunno. I kinda like the "more human than human" aspect of the rules as they are now. I'm pretty sure relying on your humanity (i.e. attributes) is incompatible with that theme.

You can always tell the gap between releases has been too long when dumpshockers start arguing about bullet speed and start statting there house pets. (IE recent posts STR for house cats hehe)

Wait wait... there's a time when arguments about firearms don't dissolve into sprawling arguments about ballistics, usually capped off by a couple people stating the developers are complete idiots who have "obviously never shot a gun in their lives"?

Please... tell me more of these times...

on that note, who shot raygun?

I can see what you're getting at. I don't agree 100%, but it is an excellent point.

Innate superiority is the gift of angels. The fetish, the artifact, and the tool are human's birthright.

"There's no Angels in the Shadows, possibly none left in the world at all. We all do things only for selfish reasons." - Jon "Money" Johnson, Shadowrun: On The Hunt, Chapter 6.

I think the people most directly responsible are the ones who decided on moving SR to a 4th edition. Last I spoke to him, he didn't have the time nor the inclination to bother with SR4, nor did he have a current gaming group that could have possibly motivated him to do the conversion work.

That, and I'm sure Real Life™ interceded as well.

*blink*

That was a mature and rational response. You must be new around here. =i)

Oh come on. We're not that bad.

Oops, sorry. My bad. Let me just break out the good ol' flame warrior regalia... one sec... and....

[flame]What the hell are you even talking about. [Insert different point of view here]?? That is just full of shit! I bet you are too! What the hell is wrong with you??!!?? Have you ever played the game right? [/flame]


I can't believe I slipped like that! Thanks for the heads up! Man, it's tough being new to a board...

=i)

You mean there are actually crazy nerds who take Shadowrun way too seriously and forget their social graces? Say it ain't so!

Wait, they had social grace to begin with?

didnt you get the memo? only three piece suits and tea from the finest china allowed

Snap! I better change my CON plans quick....

This especially.

And how backwards non-connected areas must feel to the average wage slave, and difficulties runners face in both types of areas. Basically, what do they have to do differently in each or take into account in each type of area.