Adam, I'd like to second everything that OldSchoolGM said, and thank you for the update (and your candor). Regarding Degenensis, I'm not far into it (bought the PDF yesterday), but I'm loving what I've read so far! Jason

I'm also curious about Rimward as I'm working slowly to get my players over to Playing EP. They started on simpler systems and have been branching them out to more complex ones

Same here. I am worried about the continued delay in this book, despite enigmatic messages regarding its eventual release. If financing is an issue, I would gladly spend some money on kickstarter project as EP is my favourite RPG line now.

Those people who would be able to talk about such things but are not directly affiliated with PHS (Proofreaders, Freelancers) are almost certainly under NDA, and so are unable to comment. I know that they are allowed to talk to friends and family in a non-specific capacity (Say, during Sunward, they could say that they were proofreading a book about the Inner System), not sure how much that covers online discussions. PHS tends to be fairly tight lipped about things like this though, so I don't really think we are likely to get that much information from them. The lack of comment so far seems to agree with that. I would like to note, however, that they haven't just been sitting on their hands this entire time. Although there have obviously been delays, they are still putting out non-EP product. Degenesis was released not that long ago, and if you follow Adam Jury's twitter feed you will know that they have a non-EP related CCG in development. I don't think that Rimward delays are being caused by lack of funds. More likely we are seeing the last after-effects of the split with Sandstorm combined with regular delays in getting material in. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Note: Still not directly affiliated with PHS, take the above with a grain of salt, I only know as much as anyone else who follows the line would.

Given Posthuman Studios willingness to try new things as far as distribution goes (CC licensing, free to download PDF, electronic only / electronic first releases, etc) I wonder if it might be worth releasing the Rimward book piecemeal, chapter by chapter as they become ready - rather than working towards a monolithic release. I definitely want to see another quality release, rather than a rushed one - but I'd also like to see a little something sooner rather than waiting and waiting for a release that never seems to happen. So, yeah, I'd happily pay a few dollars for Chapter 1 of Rimward as soon as its ready - or pay for the whole book up front and get updated PDF releases as more content becomes available. Posthuman has gained my trust for producing quality product that I'd happily pay up front. Come to think of it, this is what Kickstarter effectively does.

I'd love to see the EP art in an art book (coffe table would be great) but definitely not a financially viable idea for the guys.

Dethsor wrote:

I'd love to see the EP art in an art book (coffe table would be great) but definitely not a financially viable idea for the guys.

I can think of two viable ways of doing it. Once would be a print on demand setup and the other a kickstarter. Both would not have to cost to much as the art already exists. Making the book would involve layout, sourcing print and possibly negotiating with the artists on alternative use of the art. Depending on how the original deal with the artists was set up. Would it sell...Well, I would not buy it. But others might.

Hush, Pwime Mower. I'm huntin wabb... sourcebooks.

Amazon now lists Rimward for 31st December 2012.... I am sorry to write this, but I am afraid we will never see it... I lost hope that it will be published with such delays.

Prime Mover wrote:

Well I just spent a ton of cash on some rpg stuff I've put off buying for a very long time so my rpg budget is shot for a month or so. Would be nice to know if pdf or print products were still on the near horizon or if things are frozen for the foreseeable future.

They are books. They will be there when the money to pay for them is as well.

AdamJury wrote:

What type of PDF art book are you interested in? One that just contains artwork? Art + captions? Art + some game text? Art + Commentary from us? (the art director's version of a movie commentary?) We've certainly tossed around the idea of an art book for Eclipse Phase, but I'm all ears if you have some specific suggestions for what you want to see and how you want it be presented.

I'd love to see how different Arts came into being. Basically a "what we told the artist" compared to what he delivered, especially when the artist in question surprised you with his vision of what you described. So yes, Art + Commentary would be absolutely awesome.

AdamJury wrote:

Amazon's release date has no basis in fact. They've just pushed it further back because they haven't had an update from us.

Simply ask Amazon when Guild Wars 2 will be released. They basically will tell you a date. Then ask the GW2 guys on twitter. They will tell you, that its TBA. I for my part prefer to trust the Developer when it comes to release dates. On a second note: I trust PHS that they actually release their books and tell us when problems will arise which may threaten a whole gameline if not the studio as a whole.

I can wait for the release, I don't care. These guys make some of the best RPG books in the business IMO, and I have been playing and buying RPGs for close to 30 years now. I've seen delays like this from bigger companies as well, companies with allot more staff and logistics and writers at their disposal (I'm looking at you White Wolf, kind of blown deadlines). When Rimward comes out it is going to be wicked awesome. Or as the Rapper Wesley Willis would say (RIP Wesley), it's going to whip a cheetah's ass!

"it's going to whip a cheetah's ass!" +5 Awesome Can we make that the unofficial tagline for Rimward?

I bought Sunward and the core book. I'll buy rimward. I might buy gatecrashing at DexCon in a few months. I *really* want that art book though.

I would love the see an art book take the format of a "lightweight", visual history of EP. Essentially a visual rendition of pg. 37 with some light fluff, fiction, whatever. I'm a big fan of EP's art (esp. Martiniere's covers, which are the wallpapers on my computer desktops) and would love to see a lot more.

I'd like a small box with the artists name, the origin of the art, and if applicable, a small blurb on the origin of its creation. The cover to the core book I presume has a fun story for instance. Short stories would be a fun bonus, and from what I gather, a cheaper way to bump up pagecount. Id prefer soft cover to keep costs down. Is pay between 35 and 45 for the book readily. Id use battletechs art book as an example of what to avoid, too pricey, too big, and an ugly cover. As an aside, id also drop cash on posters and those stickers you had at gencon. Hope that helps, Mr. Jury.

Axel the Chimeric wrote:

I'd also like an art book that simply visualizes some of the things discussed in the setting. What do spimes look like? Show me an assortment of servitor designs. Line up the biomorph types in the core and show me a few examples of each, like a species display at a museum.

This, so much. Also, what morph does the dude in the corebook on page42 have? On a similar note, how about a Morph-book (or as a chapter in the artbook), featuring collected art of different morphs and also 3-5 different pictures of the available morphs, especially with the more exotic morphs. Maybe in the style of a medical textbook or promotional material of some body bank. That would be very cool, since a player who has a hard time coming up with a good description at first has some choice for placeholders.

AdamJury wrote:

If you really want the art book, I'd love to hear what you really want it to have in it! An Eclipse Phase art book is not officially announced at all, it's just something that people keep saying they would like to have. So, feedback on what sort of stuff it should contain and the approach it should take would help us figure out if it's feasible and how to get it done. :)

I'd like to see a lot of things. If anything, a great Eclipse Phase artbook would give us a broad tour of the setting, showcasing a multitude of its elements. From habitats to various morphs. I want to see what the city streets look like on Mars. I want to see a simulspace reality. I want to see gatecrashers passing through an active Pandora gate. I want to see an orgy at the Carnival of the Goat (okay, that one is unnecessary). I just want to see wide swaths of the setting, so I can really visualize what the world is like. A setting like Shadowrun is similar enough to our own that we can use our own world largely as a template by which to lay our imaginations on. Eclipse Phase's setting is so exotic that it's hard to do the same. I can't really picture the internals of a massive micrograv habitat as easily as I can a cyberpunk Los Angeles. I can barely picture a custom simulspace at all. An art book would be a great way to introduce people to the setting in an awesome way. You can even use it as a sort of gateway for people who might not be fond of RPGs... an "Eclipse Phase for non-gamers". Also, you need stories. The stories you've had so far have been very captivating for the people who have perused the books. They are exotic and really showcase a world that is alien to our own, yet human (or transhuman). Oh, I just thought of something awesome for this book.... Okay, picture this. The current books have been written as though they were for Firewall operatives. Do the opposite for this one; the entire book will be written from the perspective of the rest of the people in the setting. Show off the flair, pizazz and style of the greater parts of the setting as a whole, as if the reader is a tourist or something. Maybe even go with a different background style; the usual books have blue background on the pages, so go with a green, violet or red. You want this book to feel different from the others... this isn't a book for Firewall (yet), this is a book for the layman. The stories will detail normal characters from the setting, not people tied to Firewall. A story about some anarchists in the outer system, a story about Barsoomian rebels, a story about the political machinations of the hyperelite... you want to detail the world. So the first chapter could be a timeline. A quick run-through of the events that lead to 10 AF. Art pieces showing the first transhumans being created in vats, the first uplift experiments, the construction of the space elevators... stuff that tells us about the world that was. Climax that chapter with the Fall... show us the wars, the famines, and the rise of the TITANs. Then finish it off with the events that lead to the modern day... show us public pictures from Project Futura, the construction of Hamilton cylinders, and all those things that take us to the present day. The next few chapters will be the visual tour of the setting. Chapter 2 will do the inner system, and will contain vignettes of various habitats, regions and sectors within Consortium space. Show us Suryas dancing on the Sun. Show us the defense grid blowing up an Earth scavenger ship. Show us Barsoomians in a riot. Show us indentured servants trodding through their work days. Show us the clanking masses huddled in their shanty towns. Show us a consortium soldier in uniform at a court martial. The next chapter will deal with the outer system. Show us Extropia in all its glory. Show us the cities of Titan. Show us a Jovian marketplace. Show us Ultimates on Xiphos poised for a mission. Show us an anarchist hab running through the daily routine. Show us miners in the Oort cloud. Give us a taste of that world. Then we move to the exoplanets. Give us pictures from various alien worlds. Maybe glimpses of the Factors (whatever common people might get a chance to see). Let us see alien architecture, organisms, and the whole lot. Give us a real taste of the exotic worlds that exist out there. After the tour, we have a chapter dedicated to the technology. Let us see what a simulspace looks like. Show us what the usual visual display might be like. Let us see the inner workings of a ship. Give us a torn-apart view of a cyberarm, or a dissected transhuman with all their exotic organs on full display. Let us see what a cortical stack looks like after it's been popped. Showcase a cornucopia machine building something. Give us a view of the tech in its form. And that'll be the end of the book. Maybe intersperse stories focusing on those specific elements within each chapter (so a story about inner system life in the inner system chapter, a story focusing on technology in the technology chapter... whatever). But it isn't the end. One last chapter remains. Blocked off by a black page referencing that it is classified. When you turn the page, the background is different from the rest of the book. Blue. This is a Firewall chapter. This chapter will detail the secrets of the setting, in beautiful artistic style. Give us pictures of the exsurgent virus in full effect. Show us TITAN artifacts and war machines. Give us pictures of asyncs in action. Show us what it looks like for a person to realize he's been infected. Shift completely from the attitude of the previous chapters; the rest of the book was about the reasons you'd want to be in Eclipse Phase, this part tells you why you don't. Oh wait! I got another idea! E-tag the pictures. Make the pictures look like they have AR data overlaid on them, and use that AR data to detail elements in the pictures. Point to specific morphs and talk about them. Point out interesting things in the individual pictures. When there's a soldier in a vignette, point out the medals he has on his uniform and mention what they are for. Really make it look like the reader is viewing it all in first-person, and they are a part of the world. It could go a long way towards making the style awesome. Furthermore, you can perhaps make it an option thing; sell one version of the artbook with the e-tags and one with unmodified vignettes. Or you can make the e-tags exclusive to the PDF version... use layering to make them removable! Okay I'm done. No more ideas. ONE MORE!!! Make it a coffee table book. Don't know what that entails per se, but it would be cool if I could lay my Eclipse Phase artbook on the table and convert people who simply get interested by it catching their eye.

Tyrnis wrote:

All of this, including the parts I didn't quote. I'd buy this in a heartbeat, and would enthusiastically recommend it to my gaming friends. I wouldn't particularly care if it was a coffee table book or not, though, as I only buy PDFs for game-related books, and am trying to go almost entirely to e-books even when it comes to fiction.

I would normally agree with you, and I'd probably have the PDF version of this book also, but artbooks are meant for showing off. I'd like to be able to have this in a form that I can lay it on a table and entice people to take a look at it. A good artbook is like a tattoo. If you don't want people to see it, then you probably shouldn't get one.

Tell you what, all this talk of short stories from outside the Firewall paradigm is starting to sound a wee bit like a potential crowd-sourced bit of fiction work! Getting a little off the topic of Rimward, it does sound like people have got a bunch of ideas about the EP universe and how it looks, works, smells and functions. Given that the boys at Posthuman are somewhat under the pump with Rimward and other EP material, we could start looking to our own imaginations for fiction and stuff. Which, given that this is an RPG that relies on someone's imagination to work, I think we could probably get away with. That said, a lot of fan fiction (which is basically what this is) is, not to put to fine a point on it, complete crap. It takes a fair bit of talent and skill to write a decent short story, which most of us simply don't have, or at least we don't have all of the necessary skills. What most of do have, however, is SOME of the necessary skills. Take Phillip K Dick, for instance, a man with a trove of some of the most fantastic sic-fi ideas ever produced, but suffering a chronic inability to bring any story to a decent conclusion. If someone with rather better plotting and writing skills took over once the idea had been produced... hmmm... Okay, I'm getting carried away here and in the wrong thread, too. I'll have a rummage about and see if there's already one functioning, or start a new one if needs be.

Actually, that's what The Eye is.

On behalf of forumites everywhere... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ok, It´s Wednesday 25th in Europe right now. ...Please tell me it is for sale on 00:00 GMT, cos I don't want to stay up all night with all this money burning thru my virtual pockets.