Delta Green D20 is an unedited mess

[Wraith Form]

Pagan Publishing. I love their work too, which is why it aggravates me so much that D20 got treated so poorly.

Yeah, one normally doesn't need to worry overmuch about Pagan editing--typically it's spot-on. This is a sad surprise to read about one of my favorite books.

 

[Odhanan]

It's not just the d20 stats, it's the text itself too that hasn't been edited properly. Some typos, misspelling errors, repetitions of entire paragraphs, misspelling of known names ... this is nothing short of abysmal.

The book itself is good, but the editing makes me cringe my teeth.

 

[molonel]

And, with this review, d20 Delta Green just slipped from my "Must have this!" list to the "If I can get a cheap copy on Ebay!" list.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Staying on my "It Will Be Mine!' list. I have the original, but the hardcover is hard to resist. I wonder how many of the editing mistakes took place not when doing the D20 stats, but while doing a rush job of converting from Pagemaker to another layout program. When redoing my old job's newsletters a few years ago - converting from Quark to InDesign - I had to reenter all boxed text by hand, there was no fast and easy conversion between the two programs.

The Auld Grump

I may make some paste overs for the typos, gods know that I have done that before....

 

[Prest0]

I've had a very interesting experience reading this thread, then listening to the Yog-Sothoth Podcast interview with Adam Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing. Within the context of this thread, it's interesting hearing him talk about the evolution of the d20 stats. To sum it up, he said they statted it out 5 years ago when d20 Cthulhu came out and it looked like the financial success of the book would depend on bringing those players into the fold. As time went by and the project was repeatedly delayed it became apparent that the d20 side wasn't as critical as it had been initially. However, when the project finally bubbled back to the surface they decided to leave the d20 stats in for those players who did still want them.

The interview is worth a listen, but I'm glad I got some additional context from this thread before hearing it.

 

[EditorBFG]

To sum it up, he said they statted it out 5 years ago when d20 Cthulhu came out and it looked like the financial success of the book would depend on bringing those players into the fold. As time went by and the project was repeatedly delayed it became apparent that the d20 side wasn't as critical as it had been initially. However, when the project finally bubbled back to the surface they decided to leave the d20 stats in for those players who did still want them.

I can't listen to this podcast right now, but while it is true that Delta Green in hardcover was gonna sell out no matter what, I do wonder if the "d20 does not help sales" bit is influenced by Chaosium's "market data" on d20/CoC products. This would be bad, as Chaosium intentionally dropped the ball on Cthulhu dual-stat products, then claimed having d20 stats hurt sales. Their motivations appear to be:
A) They get to say that d20 is bad (which they had said all along, since Dragonlords of Melnibone) and that their system rules.
b) They hate money.

I love BRP, but the folks who publish CoC seem a bit of touch. Hopefully, the Pagan guys aren't looking to the Chaosium leadership's financial acumen as an example.

By the way, for anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area-- I saw a slightly damaged Delta Green hardcover at Games of Berkeley discounted down to 30 bucks. Looked fine other than a beat-up cover.

 

[Prest0]

In their defense, d20 CoC had a single print run. That means a finite number of potential players. Dual stats may have made sense before it became clear that d20 CoC wasn't going to be renewed, but when you've only got a limited group of potential players I can see why they'd keep their focus on a system that's still in print.

That being said, his preference for the original CoC system comes through loud and clear in the interview. d20 support came across as something that started out as a necessary evil and was left in because it would have been more trouble and further delay to take it out. At least, that was *my* perception from the interview. I'd be interested to learn if other people hear it the same way.