Book Availabiliy?

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    • Book Availabiliy?

      Are the books available for purchase? I was in my FLGS this past weekend, and was looking through the current Studio 2 catalog. The catalog lists the three books as available now. I was surprised by this, as I thought the books weren't supposed to be out until the end of the year / beginning of next year. Just in case, I promptly ordered all three (as well as a couple of Savage Wolds books, making my FLGS owner happy :D ). So I'm just wondering, should I really be expecting gorgeous anthropomorphic fantasy goodness in the next couple of weeks? Or did Studio 2 jump the gun?

      Doc

      The post was edited 1 time, last by doc_chronos ().

    • RE: Book Availabiliy?

      Hey Doc!

      And welcome to the forum!!

      Sad to say, due to the "nature of the beast" that Studio 2 catalogue was created (and the info to make it was requested) right before the choice was made between Aaron and myself to do the major editing pass we decided to make, which caused us to have to delay the original publish date back in April.

      Back then we were hoping to publish all three books at once, since we had timed them to all be finished and ready to send to the printers simultaneously. At that time, Studio 2 was ready to do one of its big catalogue publications for GAMA (for which they needed the info several months in advance so that the printers could do their job). This seemed like perfect timing, so we gave them the info they needed, assuming all would go smoothly.

      It was about then that my business partner (Shard's co-creator in addition to being a creative and technical writer), was able to escape from the computer gaming industry long enough to become directly involved in the project (which is also when we formed our company officially). I had gotten out of the computer-gaming industry several years back myself, as an art director and artist, but simply hadn't had the access to a really good writer, and this was the opportunity we needed to polish the product really well before sending it off.

      At first we had wanted to just tighten up a few areas quickly, and try to get it back to the printers in time to make that original deadline, but we soon realized that the kind of editing the game really needed to shine like Aaron and I both wished required us to take several months to really get it right. After all, this is the company's first real product, and it needs to be its best to hopefully live up to everyone's expectations...

      However, it was too late to "stop the presses" on the Studio 2 catalogue of products... And thus, all three books got advertised as coming out at the wrong time (and altogether). Not Studio 2's fault at all, honestly,…it's just the nature of printing deadlines that you have to prepare material far in advance, and that sometimes the plans change before the due-date, but when it's already too late to pull advertising... This is why we created the new flyers we handed out that mention our product coming out in spring of 2009.

      What to expect now?

      Well, as we mentioned at GAMA and Gen Con this year, our goal is to have this first book (the Basic Compendium) finished in time to be ordered before Christmas. Toward that end Aaron and I both are busting our butts to get the files ready to send to the printer in November. We may or may not make our specific deadline, but we promise that it will be at our printers getting fabricated before the end of the year... We are close enough now that we can guess that missing the specific date will only miss it by a week or two... The light can finally be seen at the end of the tunnel!

      Here's what you will most likely see for this shipping cycle:
      • The Basic Compendium (our first book containing all the core rules and general fiction)
      • The Convenience Pack, (containing all the cool character sheets, NPC lists, a map, and other such misc. stuff that you don't want to have to tear out of the back of the book).
      • And a GM's Screen (containing a great panoramic image on the front, as well as all the important charts and data on the inside for the GM to reference during game-play).


      We will be editing the other two books (the World Guide as well as Magic and Martial Arts) to achieve the same level of quality as these first offerings once we get this first set of product out the door, and hopefully, if all goes well, those next two books (and a few other fun surprises) will be hitting the shelves around the middle of next year...if not sooner...

      These are our hopes, and these are our driving goals...so keep your fingers crossed for us!

      And above all, thanks for your patience with this hectic, and often delay-laden, process...

      Scottie ^^
    • Book Availabiliy?

      Thanks Scott, glad to be here. :))

      I thought that this was probably the case, as the Studio 2 website didn't confirm the information in the catalog (and I would generally expect the website have the most current information).

      There is absolutely no need for apologies. I for one, would much rather see you take the time you need to make the books the best they can be, than to see something rushed out unfinished. I'm confident that the books will be well worth waiting for. :]

      Doc
    • RE: Book Availabiliy?

      Originally posted by Scott Jones
      Well, as we mentioned at GAMA and Gen Con this year, our goal is to have this first book (the Basic Compendium) finished in time to be ordered before Christmas. Toward that end Aaron and I both are busting our butts to get the files ready to send to the printer in November.


      So, is this still looking likely? ::hopeful::

      Colin
      RPG Freelancer: All Flesh Must Be Eaten, A|State, Atlantis: The Second Age, Castles & Crusades, Godlike, Hellas, Hollow Earth Expedition, Iron Kingdoms d20, Omni System, Talislanta, Waste World, Wild Talents, etc.
    • RE: Book Availabiliy?

      Hey there!

      Well,...we are truly in the final stretches now... One of my last production tasks I'm completing tomorrow, and then I begin the process of getting my mind wrapped around what it will take for me to go through the indexing of this first book! Since that process can only fall in the wake of completion of the final edits, that may give you an idea of where those edits are at, and how very close we are now! Though we had hoped to get the files to the printer by the beginning of November, realistically we're probably looking at them being ready closer toward the end of November (which isn't too bad, being a few weeks late on a decade-long process :P)...

      Once those files are at the printer, and the printing process is under way, then we'll have our publisher set up their site to start taking orders before Christmas as we had hoped (though the printing process itself and shipping takes about six to eight weeks total, which means that the books won’t be ready till the beginning of January or so)...

      The hard part about trying to finish when we are, is that the deadline falls smack dab in the middle of the biggest holiday time of the year, which can unfortunately delay the process in ways we can't predict...

      So continue to wish us luck... And we promise the moment the Basic Compendium, the Convenience Pack, and the GM Screen become available for order (while they are being printed up) we'll make sure that you guys on the Forum will be the first to know!

      Oh,..and Happy Halloween!!!!

      Scottie ^^
    • Excellent news folks!!!

      We have just received word that what remains of our full shipment of the first print-run of all our products has at last gotten into the hands of the company that's delivering it to our publisher, and is due to arrive at their warehouse in merely three day's time!

      At that wonderful moment Studio 2 can begin fulfilling any individual orders from folks that want to order from them directly (which means the maps and dice can be ordered as well), and they will also begin fulfilling distributor and retailer orders so that soon thereafter SHARD products will begin appearing on game-store shelves near you!

      We'll let everyone here know the moment they arrive!

      Scottie ^^
    • Excellent Quixol!

      You happen to be one of the lucky few that got their hands on one of the seven books left over from the small batch we had delivered to us at Gen Con to sell...

      One of the lucky seven!

      Please let us know what you think...

      As for everyone else with orders, worry not! I'll let all you guys know the moment the shipment actually arrives!

      Scottie ^^