I know it’s easy to forget that companies and the people behind them are . . . well . . . people. People with strengths and weaknesses. People with needs and desires. People, not machines. I know, because I forget these things too. Not so much about other people and other companies, ironically, but about myself and the Palladium Books staff.
Some days, I wish we were efficient, tireless machines. Better yet, superhumans. As a comic book guy from the age of five, I wish we all had super abilities. I wish we could do things nobody else can do. And here’s the wonderfully strange part, we do. There have been moments where one or more of us have been superhuman and accomplished the seemingly impossible or created something amazing. We, or perhaps more accurately, our work, have touched the lives, hearts and minds of people in lasting and sometimes profound ways. We have made people laugh and cry. We’ve inspired some to overcome their own challenges or to become artists, writers, actors, and countless other creative pursuits. In other cases, our works have helped people to struggle through their own life’s challenges, a day at a time, until things got better, and we've brought joy to millions. And if that's not super, I don’t know what is.
But in the end, super or not (and we’re not, I’m sorry to say), we are people with our own frailties, failings, hopes and aspirations.
Sometimes people, even good, well-intended people, let you down. I feel like we are letting some of you down. I’m sorry if we have disappointed you. We are doing our best. We are working hard. Too hard, really. Trying to be super and trying not to disappoint.
Yes, the Robotech® RPG Tactics kickstarter is an amazing success. Yes, we’re excited about what that success means for the future of the company and for the product itself. Yes, it is wonderful, but it’s not like winning the lotto and people just give you a big pile o’ money to spend as you please. There are demands and responsibilities attached. There are obligations to meet and work to finish. Most of the funds raised will be going into making the product itself and living up to those obligations. That’s cool. We understood that going into it and and welcome the opportunities it has brought us. It’s awesome.
But we are only human. We are new to a lot of this and learning as we go. There is a ton of work – literally thousands of surveys to send out and process, thousands of emails and comments/feedback to read and answer, product to create, manufacture, package, advertise and ship. We want Robotech® RPG Tactics to be super. We want it to rock your world. We’re doing our best. Surveys should go out next week and the Pledge Manager up and running very soon.
Our plans certainly don’t end there. We want to give you one amazing role-playing game and sourcebook after another. In fact, there are plans – books in development – to provide new material for Rifts®, Chaos Earth™, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Heroes Unlimited, Splicers®, Beyond the Supernatural™, Nightbane®, Dead Reign™, The Mechanoids® and more. We even have secret plans for new games and formats that have been percolating in the recesses of our imaginations for years. Things we dare not yet reveal.
Despite all these ideas and creative energy, we are still woefully behind deadline. Way behind. Months and years behind. We’re working on it. We’re getting Rifts® Northern Gun™ One, Northern Gun™ Two, and Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames finished for release. They’ll be followed by several sourcebooks for Robotech®, Chaos Earth™, Beyond the Supernatural™, Splicers® and Palladium Fantasy®. At least, that’s the plan.
I guess the point of this Murmur is I want you to know that neither you nor these titles are forgotten. We’re as hungry for their release as you are. And we have never stopped working toward their release. I wish we had a superpower or magic ability or alien technology that could make them all appear tomorrow, because you’re going to love them all. But I don’t, and the creative process is not an easy one. It’s not as simple as operating a machine or waving a magic wand. I wish it were.
Just yesterday I had a conversation with a writer who was lamenting that it takes so long to write. How he had spent four hours writing the equivalent of one page of material. I sympathized and shared my thoughts. I was also quick to point out that his one page of material was excellent. Full of ideas and well written. That it made me want him to finish the damn book he’d been working on for the last two years. Working on in between his full-time job, demands of his family and his own unexpected challenges.
I was pleased to be able to tell another writer – whose ideas are wonderful, but whose actual writing quality has been a struggle for him – that his latest submission was a fun read and a vast improvement. So improved, that everyone who has read it has been impressed with how much better his writing has become. There’s still room for improvement (there always is), but it's darn good. The fruit of earnestness and hard work because he has never given up on his dream over the years. Cool.
I’m sorry to say we are all too human at Palladium Books. Though we always try our best, we sometimes fail and disappoint. But never doubt you are always on our minds.
I hope you know that you and the release of new product are first and foremost on our minds. I fear that lately, we have been so caught up in the demands of trying to get product finished, we have been ignoring YOU, our extended family. I know I have. There have been too few Murmurs and postings on Facebook. We have let ourselves get lost in a mountain of work and ceased communicating on a frequent basis. To say hello and let you know what’s going on at Palladium Books and in our heads.
Thousands of you have told me how much you enjoy the Murmurs from the Megaverse and Weekly Updates. That you enjoy reading what’s going on in our hearts and minds, as well as the business aspects. I apologize for moving way from that these past several months. You can count this Murmur as my return to the openness and personal insight you have come to appreciate. We just lost our way for a little while trying to meet expectations and trying to be more super than possible.
Our goal is as it has always been: To create dynamic, fun games and sourcebooks that will make your imaginations soar. To bring you worlds of adventure you can’t find anywhere else. We love what we do and it shows in every product we release. We’re fan boy geeks with grand plans for Palladium’s present and future. You’ll be seeing the fruits of our labors very soon.
Be excited. Not because I say so, but because exciting things are afoot in the Palladium Megaverse. I’ll talk more about them in future Murmurs and Weekly Updates.
I've been at the office since 6:30 AM. Yep, up and working at the crack of dawn, not because I have to, but because I woke up burning with ideas and words for books that I need to commit to paper before they are gone. So I better get back to it.
Enjoy that summer sun and have a safe and fun-filled holiday weekend.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer and Game Designer
© Copyright July 6, 2013 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited™, RPG Tactics™, Beyond the Supernatural, Northern Gun, Dead Reign, Warpath, Shemarrian Nation, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.