Olympia, WA-based Warlocks of the Shore, publisher of the industry-leading Barrows & Bearowls tabletop RPG, announced today that it's scheduling an announcement later this week to share whether it has an actual announcement to share at a later date or not.
"To be more precise," B&B Lead Designer Rocko "Rocko" Johnson shared, "the forthcoming scheduled event doesn't actually revolve around a particular announcement, only that we may or may not have an announcement in the future. We'll mainly discuss that we occasionally schedule announcements when we feel they're needed."
Rocko continues. "In the past, we and other publishers would wait until we had actual details about an event or product before we scheduled an announcement, but honestly that's practically prehistoric in today's RPG marketing environment."
"Things really have changed," adds James Lollard, one of B&B's chief architects. "Having something to actually announce is passé. We're a brand these days, a lifestyle even, much more than a game. So we just keep giving them constant little hits of dopamine so they won't forget about us in all the noise out there."
"When we're on a roll," Lollard says, "We can squeeze four or five of those reminders, er, important announcements out of absolutely nothing over a few weeks or months before our fans and customers start realizing they haven't heard anything of substance yet. Then we just grin and sort of aw-shucks and throw something with actual details in the mix. And all the time they feel like they're on the inside, getting the good stuff."
"A win-win-win," enthuses Rocko.
"I'm not sure what that means," says Lollard, "but sure why not!"
The two pillars of modern B&B soon fall into a spirited discussion over whether two announcements in two weeks concerning whether there will be a forthcoming announcement is pushing it too much and soon forget this reporter.
Off the record, one WotS employee in the know shared that they just wait for online leaks now, and build all new products around them.
"People come up with some really amazing ideas when speculating on what we're going to announce, so we just keep doing announcements about announcements and wait for something good to come along in a supposed leak. Then we develop that product for B&B. We've shifted most of our R&D team over to writing, development and playtesting as a result. It's a great process that even allows fan input."
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The Fumble is a satire/parody tabletop RPG news column. It's not real. Also, dice pools aren't for swimming.
Dragon image is from "Dragon - 2", used by permission under CC BY-SA 3.0.
"To be more precise," B&B Lead Designer Rocko "Rocko" Johnson shared, "the forthcoming scheduled event doesn't actually revolve around a particular announcement, only that we may or may not have an announcement in the future. We'll mainly discuss that we occasionally schedule announcements when we feel they're needed."
Rocko continues. "In the past, we and other publishers would wait until we had actual details about an event or product before we scheduled an announcement, but honestly that's practically prehistoric in today's RPG marketing environment."
"Things really have changed," adds James Lollard, one of B&B's chief architects. "Having something to actually announce is passé. We're a brand these days, a lifestyle even, much more than a game. So we just keep giving them constant little hits of dopamine so they won't forget about us in all the noise out there."
"When we're on a roll," Lollard says, "We can squeeze four or five of those reminders, er, important announcements out of absolutely nothing over a few weeks or months before our fans and customers start realizing they haven't heard anything of substance yet. Then we just grin and sort of aw-shucks and throw something with actual details in the mix. And all the time they feel like they're on the inside, getting the good stuff."
"A win-win-win," enthuses Rocko.
"I'm not sure what that means," says Lollard, "but sure why not!"
The two pillars of modern B&B soon fall into a spirited discussion over whether two announcements in two weeks concerning whether there will be a forthcoming announcement is pushing it too much and soon forget this reporter.
Off the record, one WotS employee in the know shared that they just wait for online leaks now, and build all new products around them.
"People come up with some really amazing ideas when speculating on what we're going to announce, so we just keep doing announcements about announcements and wait for something good to come along in a supposed leak. Then we develop that product for B&B. We've shifted most of our R&D team over to writing, development and playtesting as a result. It's a great process that even allows fan input."
--
The Fumble is a satire/parody tabletop RPG news column. It's not real. Also, dice pools aren't for swimming.
Dragon image is from "Dragon - 2", used by permission under CC BY-SA 3.0.
