Did anyone see this book at origins. If so were there anything about otaku in it or other matrix rules?
Thanks,
Marc Robitschek

I don't think it was released at Origins.

There was a manuscript at Origins.

A post-printing pre-binding copy of the book, actually, not just the manuscript.

So it WILL be out in stores by the end of July? Confirmed?

I think that's in the hands of distributors. <shrug> Don;t know if it shipped or not, but based on comments at Origins, it should have by now.

Okay, good. Thanks. Will annoy the FLGS now on a few-daily basis again.

Saw it.
Bypassed it.

Scored a free copy of Hackmaster!!!!!

Hater!

I know. Hence my prefacing the second sentence with, "At this point".

Me being snowed under has nothing to do with the print/shipping schedule for Shadows of Asia, which I suspect will be in stores next week or the week after, but I don't have a firm word on that.

I'm just holding my breath for that one. Though I think DLN has threatened to steal mine the first chance she gets.

I just finished Loose Alliances and loved it, and now with these two coming out (SoA and SR4), I'm glad that I get paid at the end of the first week of August (and so is the guy that owns the game store by me)

Shadowrunrpg.com's post of July 14th claiming that the SoA PDF will be available late this week or early next is starting to look a little archaeological.

Yeah. Sucks, but this is the time of year where everything is an emergency, and my current emergency is worth a lot more money -- both for myself and for the company involved [not FanPro] -- than the SOA PDF is.

So do we get an adjusted release date?

well hey Adam, at least you're honest!
I just hope the hardcopy isn't delayed any more

They won't delay 4th ed but I did say, months ago, that I thought the large number of projected releases in such a small time was too much. They also need to get out the suppliment explianing how the 3rd ed world falls apart before htey start the 4th ed.

Bah. We already know, it's a tree that does it. Everything else in minutia .

Good luck explaining that career/industry change to your wife.

So is there any information about when we might see the PDF? In spite of the last rather vague release date being a complete myth, I promise to believe a new one if you'll give it to me.

I to would like to see something, but can wait. The book is done and it is in the hands of shipping.

So any movement on this in regards to the .pdf version? Or has the more urgent GenCon mad crush work forced it to the back of the queue?

Since Sunday, I have worked *eyes time sheet* 77 hours for FanPro. None of those 77 have been the 2 that I need to spend on Shadows of Asia.

My apologies. Occasionally, we make promises that, for reasons unforseen at the time, do not come true. These are, contrary to what some believe, not "lies", merely "mistakes."

Again, my apologies.

Or you could not make the promise in the first place.

Don't apologize, and carry on the work. I find it quiet good to know that at least some people are working so in the end we can enjoy the products...
From one hardworker to another one, hold on, Adam

Fan Pro makes "mistakes" regarding release dates 3 times out of four.

Here's a suggestion - if Fan Pro estimates that it will take six months before a book is completed, give a release date nine months in the future. No one will complain if the book comes out early.

Well, yes, Flakjacket, but those people would obviously be crazy, where I have righteousness and the One True God on my side

Of course.

Just because it'll be available at Gencon (or one hopes, anyway) doesn't necessarily mean it will be available to everyone else.

I can wait as long as it's quality. But I think we should start a pool for when it actually comes out. Everyone put in a dollar, and for the winner (and the two closest) the funds go to purchasing them a SR4 BBB and SoA, or if they don't like 4th, get them some old SR3's to help them stand the test of time!

I don't mind the wait; I mind that the official release dates are about as real as the White Rabbit.

Just think of them the same way, as a happy little flight of fancy.

"Good things come to those who wait " should be Fanpro's modo

Not only FanPro, but most of the gaming companies.

Not only the gaming companies, but most of the computer software companies out there too.

I mean, sheesh, if Microsoft, with thousands of people working thousands of person-hours on a project, can't hit their dates (and in some cases miss them by years), why is it so hard to swallow that one full-time employee, one equally hardworking part-time employee, and a bunch of freelancers miss dates by a month or two?

Every single software company I've ever worked for (everything from startups to Giant Faceless Corporations ™) makes projections with a high degree of optimism and then almost always misses them. Sometimes by a few days, sometimes by months. It's just the nature of the game when you're dealing with variables like human beings. If they make the predictions pessimistic and come in early, everybody (especially the folks with the pursestrings) will just expect them to make the earlier schedule the next time. That too is the nature of the game. Everybody wants the most bang for the least buck in the least time.

I for one would rather have SR4 make it for Gen Con and wait a couple extra weeks for SoA, but that's just me.

Fair enough. I agree with that.

I could care less about who else is incompetent, and so should Fan Pro. Fan Pro should hit their dates.

A deadline is a deadline. If you can't hit them, get into another line of work. It reminds me of potheads I know who think it's totally unreasonable that they have to be at work at 9:00 AM every day, and what's the difference if they show up at quarter to ten?

It's especially ridiculous when Fan Pro itself created the deadline. After all this time, they should know how long a book takes, and set a release date that bears some resemblance to reality.

Fan Pro company men often say, "Well, we're working with writers, so that's why we're late." If the writers you hired can't hit a deadline, fire them. They're incompetent.

I'm especially thrilled with Adam's recent post in this thread that says, "What's in it for me?" The situation, it seems, is that while long-time hardcores like me stand here with our money in our hands, Adam just cannot find the two hours he needs to put up the PDF that I am eager to pay for.

This pre-4th ed. fiasco is a perfect example of how the release process is utterly FUBAR. Fan Pro announces 4th ed., then announces that LA, SoA, SoLA, and SF will all come out in the five or six months previous. This is in utter disregard for the fact that in the past Fan Pro was lucky to put out two or three books a year, and can't hit a release date with a flamethrower. It's also in total disregard for the fact that, quite naturally, the final work on 4th ed. is sucking up resources like a black hole; Apparently, nobody at Fan Pro included that in their calculations.

And what's the result? LA is only now going on shelves, if it has at all. SoA is in shipping limbo and the PDF is like the Loch Ness Monster. SoLA has gone completely off the tracks in some mysterious way for some reason Fox Mulder might be able to make some sense out of, and it's a matter of faith that SF will appear in time.

My point is, why does Fan Pro announce release dates that they know, or should know, are total nonsense?

Just curious Zenshooter, but have you ever worked in RPG industry? I for one, have not, so I don't know what is going on behind the scenes that are making these books be released late. Writers could quit, the editing took longer than expected, they didn't like how the draft was and asked for a rewrite. The printers messed up the book and it has to done again. RL rears it ugly head and causes unforeseen complications. There is so many variables for one full-time employee( who is managing more than one game line) and some part timers who have other things going. You can fire them, but who are you going to replace them with? Writers, editors, and artists who are willing to work long hours for chump change don't grow on trees. At least they didn't last time I checked.

FYI, I'm kinda angry about SOA and SOLA, but I can wait for them. I would of gotten the pdf if it was released 2 weeks ago, but that is how the breaks go.

Hey Dun... You're right... It's how it work.

For the record, and since I bear some of the responsability here, SOLA delays have nothing to do with SR4 or any of the other upcoming books.

Things are not as black and white as some people would have it, FanPro made a development choice with the Shadows of of using local writers when possible to better ground and convey the local atmosphere (a decision I applaud and worked very well IMHO on SoE).

With SoLA, like SoE, this meant working with a lot of first time writers who aren't professional writers and don't possess English as a first language. Many were unaware of how demanding working under deadlines was and slipped on delivery dates. Furthermore, writers with a little more experience, like myself, slipped too. This was compounded by unexpected (and expected) difficulties in development and editing, which pushed it sufficiently back that layout and editing would have impinged on other projects that were on schedule. A decision was reached to postpone the book but plans are in motion to get SoLA out to the fans some time in the not too distant future - but necessarily after SR4.

Wuffles Adam

People just get grumpy without their SR fix is all.