[Bull]

Honestly?  Not really.  War! has been in the pipeline for at least three years, going back to Peter Taylor's stint as Line Dev.  When I threw my hat back into freelancing almost 2 years ago, while John Dunn was co-Developing the line, the book was being planned out.  For example, the Bogota focus of the book was planned out as far back as Origins 2009, because I remember talking with a couple of authors who were working on sections or interested in working on sections. (Which was a couple months before Jason was hired as Line Dev). 

It got tweaked some, and lot of the final writing was done under Jason, but, yeah...  We're still working behind, unfortunately. 

Attitude was conceived by John Dunn, I believe (I remember hearing about it at a dinner with him back in April of 2009), but it was little more than an idea on the table for a future project at the time.  The project spec and everything for that was done under Jason.  I'd say Attitude is really the first book that Jasons really getting the chance to develop from the ground up that doesn't have a lot of baggage from previous developers and writers.

Bull

[Otakusensei]

Honestly?  Not really.  War! has been in the pipeline for at least three years, going back to Peter Taylor's stint as Line Dev.  When I threw my hat back into freelancing almost 2 years ago, while John Dunn was co-Developing the line, the book was being planned out.  For example, the Bogota focus of the book was planned out as far back as Origins 2009, because I remember talking with a couple of authors who were working on sections or interested in working on sections. (Which was a couple months before Jason was hired as Line Dev). 

It got tweaked some, and lot of the final writing was done under Jason, but, yeah...  We're still working behind, unfortunately. 

Attitude was conceived by John Dunn, I believe (I remember hearing about it at a dinner with him back in April of 2009), but it was little more than an idea on the table for a future project at the time.  The project spec and everything for that was done under Jason.  I'd say Attitude is really the first book that Jasons really getting the chance to develop from the ground up that doesn't have a lot of baggage from previous developers and writers.

Bull

Jason was announced as line dev back in September of 2009.  I know the product cycle is pretty slow at CGL, but how much time does he really need to put his mark on the game?

[Bull]

Considering that there was a three month period where everything came to a screeching halt back in March as CGL, and then massive rewrites needing to be done, then we hit convention season, which means almost no one gets anything done as that eats up everyone's focus for a couple months?  Then stuff needed rewritten because a couple authors left and didn't want Catalyst to use their work...

I'm not saying he hasn't put his mark on things.  Just saying that there's a lot of stuff that he inherited that he's been trying to work through.  There's been a serous backlog of product for 3 years now that started while Peter was still developer, and was compounded several times by changeover in developer (Which slows things for a couple months each time as the new developer gets up to speed and learns the ropes.  Before Jason we had John Dunn, Jennifer Harding, and Adam Jury all acting as temporary co-developers).  As a fan and a freelancer it's been incredibly frustrating for a very, very long time.  Most of the books released year should have been out at least a year earlier, if not before then.

Basically, shit rolls downhill.  And is intercepting a lot of shit that's been sliding downhill for a couple years.  I'd love to see things handled better and smoother, but not knowing all the crap he has to deal with I don't know if it can be handled any better. (Other than the stuff I'm constantly pestering him about for Missions, of course, like getting adventure seeds approved and contracts generated and the like.)

Bull

[Crimsondude]

SR has had five line developers in six years. I think that might have some effect on the current one's job.

[Otakusensei]

Granted.  But how long can things really go on like this?  Fans have been asked to wait and see for a long time.  Now we've had a bit of product to see and we're still being asked to wait and have faith, still hearing about how there hasn't been enough time.  You know I don't have any faith in CGL as a company, but it's starting to get to the point where I'm sure people who want to support CGL are asking themselves questions.  Especially with errors like you see in War! and a general decline in proofing quality.  At this point the issues seem more like a fixture of the company and less like something that's getting worked through to a resolution.

[Dread Moores]

Especially with errors like you see in War! and a general decline in proofing quality.  At this point the issues seem more like a fixture of the company and less like something that's getting worked through to a resolution.

I'd need a bit more of a pattern for it to start looking like a fixture at the company. Though to be fair and transparent in the conversation, I've largely been away from SR for the better part of a year and a half. I purchased Corp Guide and SWA back when they came out, but haven't looked over them yet. (Due largely to the fact that I was just taking a break from SR, and gaming in general; that's not a comment on the quality of the books, as I haven't looked at them yet.) WAR! has been my first book that I've read since coming back around. If there's some similar issues with Attitude, I might be a bit more pattern recognition oriented.*

*I'm specifically referencing the editing issues here, as the gear from WAR! will see little use in my campaigns, or the setting of Bogota. Honestly, merc-related material doesn't see much use amongst my players. This was more a personal purchase to see the most recent edition's version of Fields of Fire.

[Mäx]

I'd need a bit more of a pattern for it to start looking like a fixture at the company. Though to be fair and transparent in the conversation, I've largely been away from SR for the better part of a year and a half. I purchased Corp Guide and SWA back when they came out, but haven't looked over them yet.

The fact that you haven't yet read SWA might explain why your not seeing the pattern of declining quality in editing.

[Dread Moores]

Very possibly. I sort of expected that though, considering what had happened around the time. And I've already bought them now, not much more to be done for it. I'll still have an eye for it, but my eye for such a pattern is more interested in the future products.

[Bull]

Do me a favor, check out Missions.  The new Missions FAQ (Available for Free) shows some of what we're hoping to do with things in the future.  The first Missions should roll out in the next few weeks, and that will be a free release as well.  While there's no new art in the FAQ, I think we pulled a couple really nice classic pieces to use, and Matt Heerdt, our Layout Guy, really pulled them together beautifully.  There will be new art in the SRM 04-00 Back in Business.  We're really trying to polish these up, make them look top notch and professional, plus make them solid, well rounded, and most of all fun adventures.  And a lot of the same people working on the design and layout and editing of these are working on the main product line as well. 

Trust me, concerns are heard, concerns are trying to be addressed moving forward.  Will everything be perfect?  No.  You can look over something a half dozen times, have a half dozen proofreaders eyeball it, and still have something minor slip through the cracks.  But the goal is to make those slips few, far between, and most importantly, very minor.  (In my case, because I rewrote some Missions documents from the earlier season of Missions that were written before SR4A, I find stamping out SR4 Page references to be like hunting cockroaches.  They just keep coming back!  I've become convinced that one document is actually reverting my text changes when I save, because I think I've changed the same page reference like 4 times .

Bull

[Dread Moores]

I've become convinced that one document is actually reverting my text changes when I save, because I think I've changed the same page reference like 4 times .

Bull

No, that was just me...I've said too much.

[Bull]

*shakes fist*  Damn you!!!!