February 18, 2009

Open Game Table - Weekly update

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Wow, it seems that these updates have left their usual Monday morning slot... and the rate at which I've been blogging has definitely slowed. I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to the day when I can return to "just blogging about RPGs" instead of putting together an anthology of RPG blogs. Its really amazing how much time I spend daily on this project -- between contact artists, authors, editors, and other contributors to fiddling with the final layout and design, editing, etc. I would say I'm averaging about 10 - 15 hours per week for the last two months -- there are just so many issues to deal with, its no wonder my blogging has dropped so much. Nonetheless, its been a real pleasure to work with everyone who has touched the project thus far - and we are currently set for having 100% done galley proofs by the end of the first week of March. The manuscript is looking awesome (at least to my eyes) - and I am really looking forward to seeing it in print. So, this is supposed to be a weekly update... what's happened in the last week?

Foreword
Well, if you remember, last week we had announced that Wolfgang Baur, from Kobold Quarterly and Open Design, was on board and is going to write the foreword for the anthology. I'm still stoked about this -- so I need to announce it again! Wohoo!

Artwork
The artists had been given a deadline of Sunday to send in their final inks. While I'm still waiting on a few last outstanding pieces, what I have received in the last seven days has been amazing. To quote my wife, "Wow, the anthology is really turning out to be a beautifully done project!" Thank you Very Much! But don't thank me... thank the artists! Here's a sampling of the work that we've received thus far.

An illustration by Crystal Frasier for Scott Schimmel's "4E Monk Project"


An illustration by James Keegan for James Maliszewski's "Gygaxian Naturalism"


An illustration by Lee Barber for Stephen Dewey's "Extreme Makeover: Tavern Edition"


Matt Lichtenwalner for Erika Hoagland's "0 and 1, or The Problem With RPG Combat"


Jennifer Weigel for Phil Ménard's "Mini Crunch: Fun with D&D 4e Action Points"

That's about it for this week. Stay tuned though... some very big news about the project is in the works, hopefully next week I'll be able to provide you with some concrete details.

6 comments:

  1. At least your effort hasn't been wasted. This product is going to look great. I think a lesser man would have stopped long ago.
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  3. This is pretty amazing; I'm sorry I haven't been able to be of more help with it.

    And I like the dragon.
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  4. @Bonemaster - well... thank you! I can get a bit obsessive about things; this project was dead on the sort of thing that makes my wheels turn.

    @xbox - thank you!

    @ravyn - well... the best part about that dragon is that I asked Matt to make TWO illustrations, both with the same dimensions. In one the dragon is picking his teeth with the knight's sword. In the other, the knight is standing victorious over the dragon's head. Both illos are sitting on facing pages along the bottom with your post above them. The result is pretty nice.
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  5. I think the amount of work you've been putting into this is really admirable. I also love how the artwork is turning out. We've got a wide showcase of talents – not the least of which is Jon's organizational talents!

    I wanted to say something about "I look forward to when you can blog again!" but it sounded more selfish than cheerful. So I'll just say that if such a great effort keeps you from posting regularly, well it's a sacrifice that'll pay off for everyone involved.
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  6. @Wyatt - thanks for your support Wyatt. It's been a ton of fun, and a definitely a lot (more) of work to put this together. I have no idea how much of a "success" it will be - but my only hope is that a few retail game shops will pick up a few copies to stock on their own shelves. After all, the whole point of the Anthology is to broaden our (the rpg blogging community's) audience.

    As for when I'll return to regular blogging... well, its kinda a double whammy. I have a new (high pressure) job and I'm spending most of my freetime working on the anthology and my own campaign. Once the anthology is done, I hope to return to blogging new/original content -- although i doubt I'll go back to daily posting like I was doing up until mid-January.
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