Timeline for Remaining Adventures

[DItheringFool]

I was wondering if we could get a timeline for the remaining adventures. When the subscription first came out I was pretty excited to get a super-awesome adventure every month. While I am still very excited about getting the super-awesome adventures, the release schedule has been very disappointing. I believe expectations could be better managed with more information.

 

[Sunaj2k3]

From what I've seen DitheringFool, this is En Publishing's inaugural try at an adventure path and there have been hiccups. I get the impression that unlike Paizo that starts thinking about a path a year out and gets the manuscript for editing and layout 4-6 months before release, Ryan and his crew have been working on the modules sequentially, meaning that when they publish module 5, they then start the layout and finishing of module 6. Combined with the fact that some of the modules may not have even been finished with writing, its bound to introduce delays into the system.

If they do another adventure path (and I hope they do), I suspect they'll do it differently. In the interim, Ryan and his crew are to be congratulated for turning out an adventure path that has a broad scope and has felt epic at times (and doesn't rely on an outsider, undead, or dragon as the bbeg).

 

[DItheringFool]

Yeah. I hate compaining since it gives such a negative vibe. I love the adventures! I just wish they could keep us informed - tell me it'll be another X weeks and then change it to Y as soon as you fear that may be the case.

 

[Sunaj2k3]

I'm not psychic or psionic DitheringFool, but I suspect Ryan and his crew may not know when the next modules are going to be released. They seem to be trying hard to hit the once a month release dates, but last minute delays and other obstacles look like they're getting in the way. Should they do a path for 4th ed., they need to make sure as much work as possible is preloaded and complete, so they don't get bit on the back end as they have this time.

Ryan did mention that the last 3 did not have as much writing as the first nine, so that boded well for making the schedule. However, given how long, wonky, and tricky high level stat blocks can be (even Paizo's 3.5 adv paths usually don't go above level 15 now), that may prove to be optimistic.

I hope he does manage to get them out. Also, I, for one, would be curious to find out what the now cancelled side adventures (read the main page for WOTBS to see what I mean) were going to deal with. I can certainly come up with my own, but it would be nice to have a idea or two from "the Ewok...er....man".

 

[SolitonMan]

I subscribed to the AP prior to its release, and I've noticed as well that it's been less than regular in its releases. Also, I received email notices when a new module was released for the first few modules, but for the last three or four I've more or less stumbled across them by accident, since I'm not always the best at keeping on top of this kind of thing. Has anyone else not been receiving email notices lately? I found them very convenient in the beginning, since I just clicked the link and downloaded my product. Now I have to search for the page, hope I remember my password to log in, and then download the latest module, if I'm even aware one is out there.

The quality of the publications is not in question, and I'll certainly continue to be an avid customer of future releases, but that bit of customer service would be nice...

Thanks!

 

[RangerWickett]

I'll keep specifics vague because it's not my place to discuss the financial end of things, but we went into the campaign saga with a fair expectation of how many sales we'd get, and how much we could spend on the design of each adventure. And we were doing fine until 4th edition was announced and people pretty much stopped buying from us. Our income stream is way down. In hindsight, I think perhaps we should have charged more for the subscriptions.

We don't want to keep releasing adventures if we can't pay the people who helped us make them. We also don't want to abandon the series so close to the end, and we're not going to deny people who subscribed what they paid for. So basically right now I am waiting for Russ to give me the green light to go ahead, which will mean we've gotten enough money to pay for the final 3 adventures.

As for not sending out email alerts, I'm sorry to hear about it. I always assumed the pdf stores did that for subscribers automatically. Russ would have to address that question, since I just help make the adventures, and don't handle the business end of things.

 

[Morrus]

Also, I received email notices when a new module was released for the first few modules, but for the last three or four I've more or less stumbled across them by accident, since I'm not always the best at keeping on top of this kind of thing. Has anyone else not been receiving email notices lately? I found them very convenient in the beginning, since I just clicked the link and downloaded my product. Now I have to search for the page, hope I remember my password to log in, and then download the latest module, if I'm even aware one is out there.

That, unfortunately, is completely dependent upon RPGNow; we've no control over it. As I understand it, as new adventures are added by me to the subscription package, the system automatically emails everyone with the new download link- and it tells me it has done so (and I received my own email just fine).

My guess (and this is only a guess) is that it's being blocked by your spam filter or somesuch, because they seem to be going out just fine.

 

[SolitonMan]

I'm sorry to hear about the financial problems, that totally sucks. The quality of the adventures is awesome, so I'm not sure about the motivation behind stopping purchasing...unless it's a budget issue, and folks are trying to start saving up for 4e supplies.

IIRC the pre-release price was about $36 for the subscription. Which works out to an overly generous $3 an adventure, which is pretty low by any current standards. If (hopefully when!) you decide to do a 4e AP, I'd suggest looking at a print price in the $20-25 range, and maybe $12-15 for the pdf on an adventure by adventure basis. Subscriptions could then go for around $100, or about $8 an adventure, which would still be a great deal. Just my opinion, but if the market would support it, it might be a more reliably sustainable cost structure.

Thanks for the insight into the email thing, I'll check it out at the RPGNow end of things.


Dave

 

[DItheringFool]

For the record, I got all my email notices from RPGNow.com

 

[amethal]

I'll keep specifics vague because it's not my place to discuss the financial end of things, but we went into the campaign saga with a fair expectation of how many sales we'd get, and how much we could spend on the design of each adventure. And we were doing fine until 4th edition was announced and people pretty much stopped buying from us. Our income stream is way down. In hindsight, I think perhaps we should have charged more for the subscriptions.

Thanks for the info.

The original subscription price was very low, especially for those of us paying in sterling. I think it was intended as an introductory offer, but I'd probably have been willing to pay double.

I'm happy to give you another thirty six dollars if I need to in order to get the last three adventures.