Any news about the narrator screen...?

[RaconteurX]

Alas, in the hobby industry in general, the phrase "at the printers" has been used to mean a number of different things:

1) "The printers have it but we've not received the galleys/bluelines/color separations yet";

2) "The printers have it and we've received the galleys/bluelines/color separations, but have yet to review them";

3) "The printers have it, we've received and reviewed the galleys/bluelines/color separations, but have yet to approve them";

4) "The printers have it, we have received, reviewed, and approved the galleys/bluelines/color separations, and the damn thing has actually gone to press";

5) "The printers have the finished product, but won't ship until we pay them."


Just a public service announcement for those who have not worked in the industry for years. Decipher has actually hit its target ship dates better than most companies.

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Yeah, we've been over all that before, but we know from previous experience that when the Decipher boys say it's "at the printers" that it's actually being printed and will soon be on its way. Just a counter PSA.

-- Daniel

[Tilarium]

And as July rolls to an end still nothing, nuff said.

Kyle

[Capt Daniel Hunter]

Originally posted by Tilarium
And as July rolls to an end still nothing, nuff said.

Chill out. It's less than a fortnight since Doug announced it was at the printers.

[Capt. Chris]

I will be glad to see it when it comes out. If it is only a few weeks late that is pretty good for the industry but then as some put it:
Late is late.

Since I do understand what goes into getting these books out (my brother works in the rpg and ccg industry), I still think the gaming companies on a whole should work better to make their target dates without compromising quality. They could always increase the release time a little more than they think so that they can make the dates.
What is the worst that could happen then, the book come out early (which I doubt anyone would complain with) than dealing with those who preorder then have to wait past the date they expect to get it.

Since some companies are known for the lateness for publishing their books, it doesn't help those like Decipher which have a better record. All the gamers see is an industry or company that need to get itself into shape and may go elsewhere for entertainment. Especially those who may new to gaming and have do not have a strong commitment to gaming or a particular rpg game.

[C5]

What really bugs me in these delays it that the Starships book will probably postponed for a few months as well... wich means Don'll be able to tease us for some time in the Utopia Planitia forum with his "it's in the Starship book"

[Erik Filean]

Originally posted by Tilarium
And as July rolls to an end still nothing, nuff said.

Good. I'll have more liquid cash in August anyway.

[RaconteurX]

Originally posted by Capt Daniel Hunter Chill out. It's less than a fortnight since Doug announced it was at the printers.

I'm with Daniel here. The average time it takes for a product to ship after "going to the printers" is three to four weeks, with an another week or two tacked on to account for shipping itself. If the Narrator's Screen went to the printer just before Origins (i.e., end of the last week of June/beginning of the first week of July), on average it would reach distributors at the end of this week or next and retail stores by the week following.

As I said in my post from 07-16-2002, expect it "just before or after Gencon".

[Don Mappin]

One thing to remember is that the NS is more complex. Not only are we talking about a non-standard, double-sided, full-color print job on what is essentially cardstock, it also has to be folded, assembled (with the loose pages) and finally wrapped.

If you think that's as quick as simply printing a book's pages and binding it you're sadly mistake.

So, yes, it will take a little longer with the NS. The good news is when Decipher says "it's at the printer" it really is at the printer--they're not blowing wind up your skirt.

[Erik Filean]

Originally posted by Don Mappin
The good news is when Decipher says "it's at the printer" it really is at the printer--they're not blowing wind up your skirt.

That will come as a tremendous relief to all, I'm sure.

[CorpBoy]

Originally posted by Capt. Chris
Since I do understand what goes into getting these books out (my brother works in the rpg and ccg industry), I still think the gaming companies on a whole should work better to make their target dates without compromising quality. They could always increase the release time a little more than they think so that they can make the dates.

If gaming companies extended their release dates to account for possible unforseen circumstances, then the general public would complain about the length between releases, instead of complaining about the product being late.

It sometimes looks like gaming companies in general suffer from a case of "darned if you do, darned if you don't" syndrome. There is always some portion of the general public that simply won't be happy.

[Capt. Chris]

Originally posted by CorpBoy


If gaming companies extended their release dates to account for possible unforseen circumstances, then the general public would complain about the length between releases, instead of complaining about the product being late.

It sometimes looks like gaming companies in general suffer from a case of "darned if you do, darned if you don't" syndrome. There is always some portion of the general public that simply won't be happy.

I am not advocating huge times but there seems to be in the rpg industry that books are almost always late. I have seen very few in the last year or so come out on time. If they added 2 weeks to all projected times, I would doubt you would see any complaints, especially if they do not announce it as a buffer. Right now Decipher has a one book per month schedule. Which looks nice, though if they gave a month and a half per book schedule to begin with I doubt anyone would have complained.

Look at it this way most companies and businesses need to make schedule or they will be quickly out of business. Though it is not completely true of rpg companies, getting out late produscts will hurt their sales, either by having a gamer switch to a game that is similiar and available and by losing potential customers and new gamers since they cannot get the product they were promised.

My main point is the gaming industry is now known for late products. How do they solve the problem, well they need to make a more reasonable product schedule that they can meet, not a we wish to get this done list.

I have nothing against Decipher, actually they are one of the better companies and put out a good product, but the whole needs revision. Though if they end up getting things out late they may end up with a poorer reputation than they deserve due to other companies that are much worse. I want to see Star Trek succeed and do well for I love the game setting.

[Balok]

Originally posted by Capt. Chris
My main point is the gaming industry is now known for late products. How do they solve the problem, well they need to make a more reasonable product schedule that they can meet, not a we wish to get this done list.

I don't think this is limited to the gaming industry. I think the software industry also seems to use an unrealistic scheduling model. Some industries, like the automobile industry, were *forced* by competitive factors to develop very accurate scheduling and estimating techniques -- otherwise, the other guy has his new model year car out there for customers to buy while you're still retooling.

Other industries, by contrast, have trained their customers to expect lateness. Since they produce products not readily obtainable elsewhere, I wouldn't expect it to change anytime soon.