Well it arrived about 3 days from the day it was shipped to here in Texas. Unfortunately, I was not there to get it and so I will have to get it tomorrow. As I said it was the lack of communication that got me rather than the wait, cost, etc. I would still like to know what makes the LE special.

Time for my semi-daily venting update.

Still no confirmations from either Battlecorps or UPS, and no response from Troy the shipping guy since he replied to me on Monday, telling me that my order should ship that day. I'm guessing, since I would think that I'd at least have heard from UPS, that my order did not, in fact, go out on Monday, and is still waiting for that elusive UPS label.

To clarify, I'm not faulting Troy the Shipping Guy, since I'm sure he's doing the best he can with a difficult situation. I'm just wondering why I haven't gotten a response, and why a shipment that was supposed to have been packaged and waiting to ship almost a week ago has, apparently, not shipped.

Sorry to keep up with the venting here. I'll stop soon. I promise. I can quit any time I want!

...

...

I think I'm starting to sound hysterical...

And not in the good way.

We're used to that, no worries.

I finally got the book today. I have to give kudos for putting it in bubble wrap so it wouldn't get damaged. It is very pretty and as far as quality goes it appears to be excellent. Colors are vibrant and the book feels solid. I do like the little cloth streamer that keeps your place. It took about 3 days to arrive from the time I got the notice till it was delivered to Texas (and another day to get it from the office which is on me rather than Catalyst).

I've still got nothing. Troy the Shipping Guy hasn't responded to the email that I sent him on Tuesday, I've got no Shipping confirmation. I've got no book.

I think I'll go play Exalted.

This is one pissed-off guy.

K.

I... I think it's possible to play both...
(hides his massive quantity of Exalted books)

Yeah. Mine seem to contentedly share a shelf with all of my SR3/4 books (ok, ok, more than one shelf, but still). And there, next to them, all vacant and sad looking, is a ready place for my SR4A book. The other books have been making ready for its arrival for months. They tidied up the place, Fair Folk grew some flowers, Corporate Download hung a banner, and now they're just looking all dejected, waiting for their new friend. Plus, I think Lunars and Arsenal are starting to get pissed. They have that look in their eyes. If SR4A doesn't arrive soon, it may not want to come at all. Who knows what they're capable of?!

...

Ok. Now I know I sound hysterical.

I got my copy yesterday, it only took 2 days from the time I got my confirmation. It is a wonderful book, and exceeds every expectation. I am still a bit miffed about the entire shipping fiasco, but I will now be the envy of every player at my table on Sunday, and they can all breathe a sigh of relief as I am longer inclined to appease the Gaming Gods with a TPK.

hmmm... but on the other hand, the sixth world almanac is going to be coming out eventually, and you can never start too soon...

As I have not received confirmation, I will use Kerrang's post as approval for a TPK in tomorrows game.
"Doc Wagon will arrive when my SR4A Arrives!"

BlueMax
/half kidding.
//half crazy.

This statement would give me hope if I had ever actually gotten a confirmation. Grr.

Well, I think Arsenal will probably work some cybermancy on any SR1/SR2 books you have, and build them into an unstoppable killing machine that taints the bookshelf around it.

I'm betting Lunars will pop Relentless Lunar Fury and Paper Cuts of the Silver Moon and just start trashing any lesser sheets around them. Except for your other Manuals of Exalted Power, which will use perfect defenses.

I'm not sure any of them can stand up to Hero 5E if he decides to get involved. That guy can stop bullets.

Yes yes, I know. Almost had the same reaction myself. He actually apologized to me the first time I went in there to pick up street magic. Seems he had just sold his last copy right before I showed up, told me he had three on the way, and got my copy a couple days later. I'm going to miss this store when I get reassigned.

Karliquin's in Boulder Colorado is like that. Karl is an avid Shadowrunner and really likes 4th. So there are always at least 2 of each of the books on the shelves. He also likes D&D so there's a whole rack for that. A wall of Warhammer miniatures, lots of board games, and a bunch of miscellaneous gear (Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, Earthdawn, etc). It's a small shop but half is devoted to gaming tables.

Carl

Kudos to everyone involved in SR4A. It looks gorgeous.

Just got my 4A today in the mail. I hope my GM doesn't kill me this weekend because he hasn't gotten his yet.



Good guys do finish last.

Just picked up another copy for my buddy for his birthday. Total time expenditure: 10 minutes. Total cost: $49. And not at a FLGS (they didn't have any in stock), this was just Barnes and Noble.

Looking at doing that today as well. Friends birthday party tonight and I know she has the older core book. I have her boyfriend checking to make sure she doesn't have the new one yet (she was at GenCon so she may have picked it up).

Carl

Heh, I hear you. I was on the phone with his wife during the drive to B&N. "He hasn't mentioned having grabbed the book has he?"

Thanks to the folks at BattleCorps for having wrapped the SR4A book in bubble wrap prior to sending it. The Post Office didn't hold my mail like we requested and they left the book sitting on my porch through a couple of bad rain storms we had while we were several states away.

My book is okay and NOT water/moisture damaged.

Now, all I need is my LE SR4A book.

Mine came in. (my anniversary, not my LE)

You know, it really sounds like Barnes & Noble is really on top of things as far as this line is concerned. 90% of the time, when I walk in to my own local B&N, they have at least one of ALL the SR4 hardbacks. When all the local FLGS's seem to think SR is a waste of investment and shelf space, it's interesting that they accord this line so much shelf space, especially vis-à-vis DnD 4th Ed on the same shelves. Hats off to whoever's their primary RPG buyer.

10 years of infiltrating the megacorps finally pays off!

That is typically the result of the particular store having an employee or two that likes RPGs. When I worked at a local Waldenbooks, I made sure the new releases for RPG stuff was always stocked and ordered if required. I treated the gaming section like I would want it to be if I were a customer.

It paid off too. We constantly had to order more gaming stuff. It was one of the best selling sections in the store.

Yup. I know the local B&N back home almost never had any SR books, or just had the core rulebook.

Dunno about the local ones here yet.

Having worked at a Waldenbooks back while I was in college, I know what you're talking about Bull. On the other hand, I popped onto B&N's website and asked it to show me stock status in a wide radius, and almost every store in that area had all the books (or almost all) on the shelves for immediate pick-up and sale. That - and having SR4A so immediately - tells me it's coming from higher up, in terms of minimum mandated stocking levels. That's why I made the original observation.

However, this is actually the result of ourselves and one of our distribution partners working their asses off to convince B&N to carry the line heavily in many stores.

The game business ain't just about making games.

Apparently it took here, then. I had them leave it at the front desk for me the other day, but next time I drop by I'll actually go see if they have the line fairly well stocked.

Nice, I'll have to shift my patronage to B&N then. I usually go to borders because my local B&N has fucking nothing for RPG's... although I do remember seeing some L5R stuff there to my surprise.


My FLGS, unfortunately, is more into card and board games than RPG's, but his RPG selection is starting to grow a bit. I do try to order through him if I can, and that's where Dusk should be coming in eventually -- you know, when he doesn't order the 20th anniversary book instead!

Turns out she picked up the 20th Anniversary from Catalyst at Gencon. I had him check what books she did have and she has Augmentation and Unwired along with the 20th and an older copy of the core book "in all the places she stashes books" So I picked up the second printing of Arsenal since she doesn't run mages much.

It was a good party and my wife surprised me with a stop at the Apple Store to get iPhones (really surprised me actually) prior to the party

Carl

That's a great move on your guys' parts. One thing I've seen in the retail book store industry is that it's hard to have a sci-fi / RPG fan in each store. There's just not enough of us to go around. Getting traction at a higher up level to make policy certainly helps.

At the Waldens I worked at, we had three guys (including me) who loved RPGs and Sci-fi. I got to learn how to keep the game section stocked properly prior to them leaving a few months after I started. They were kind enough to pass their regular customers to me so I could keep up on games I wasn't in to.

This also explains why the B&N I go to periodically has a small selection of SR4 stuff. My most recent visit showed them having the SR4A hardcover along with Arsenal (1 copy of each on the shelf). They didn't have any other SR4 toys though. =(