johnkzin

Shipped!

Looks like orders are open! And I put mine in ...

So close! almost there!

So, aren't we in that time frame right now? The books have been printed and shipped ... but are not yet in your warehouse?

At this point, it doesn't matter. Either they printed enough copies for everyone who wants it, or they didn't. (Which is why they should have done the pre-orders early instead of "too late to matter"). At this point, "pre-orders" is a misnomer. They'll be actual orders against a print run whose quantity that is unknown compared to the demand. The only thing "pre" about it is how much delay there will be between the order and the shipment.

I don't agree. Take pre-orders when you start the print run. Don't charge for pre-orders until you've got them in-stock. (and, yes, this is very technically possible, if you've picked/designed the right transaction software)

getting antsy...

So, they start shipping from the printer in 2.5-3 weeks... how does that map to "when pre-orders start"?

Any update about when we can order?

I have to retract my 80% number, because I forgot about Paizo until you mentioned them. I forgot that for the last couple years (until recently) I had a subscription to their adventure paths, which throws off my accounting of purchases by quite a lot. (and I forgot because they were largely going straight to my shelves and not being run ... which is why I eventually cancelled my subscription) The reason my 80% was pretty much correct without that, wasn't about smaller publishers, it was about almost exclusively buying PDFs anymore. It was that "except for special things" part -- first print run of D&D 5e, because at time I didn't think I could get 5e PDFs from WOTC (I don't recall if they changed that policy, I hadn't been looking at them for a while before 5e came out, nor since 5e first came out). I know they're doing a lot of older editions in PDF lately, been buying those up a lot ... but for 5e, I don't recall if they're still print-only or not. I didn't catch the 5e bug, so I haven't paid attention. With Modiphius: I bought physical prints of the new edition of Mutant Chronicles, not to use them, but to collect them (my favorite setting ever, so I backed the kickstarter at almost the highest pledge level -- which got me _everything_ except miniatures). When it comes to _using_ Modiphius products, it's all about PDFs ... I only buy their physical prints as "special things" -- nostalgia on my bookshelf, not use. And, to continue on your list: I haven't ever bought anything physical from Pelgrane or Cubicle 7, and it's been since the 1990's that I bought physical products from Chaosium (I do still buy PDFs from you guys, I promise ... but I took a hiatus from gaming somewhere in there, and when I started buying Chaosium stuff again, it has been all PDF, and pretty much through DTRPG... kinda miffed that the Guide to Glorantha PDF isn't on DTRPG, even though the Atlas is). (and if you brought Ringworld back, especially as a general Known Space product instead of focused just on the ring, I would absolutely buy that as a physical product... might even put in a large bid on a kickstarter for it; but I wouldn't be surprised I'm almost the ONLY customer you could count on for that). For the last half-dozen to dozen or so years, I've been a PDF gamer, not a printed book gamer. Doesn't matter if they're a big publisher or a small one. Paizo's adventure path subscription was the only significant exception to that. (and I don't recall why I bought the physical copies for that; it wasn't a meaningful exception as far as I can recall) The other exceptions have pretty much been POD. The only other physical print books I can recall buying in the last 5 years, that weren't POD or used/vintage-from-days-past, were ... actually, coincidentally, at Pacificon (or was it Dundracon?) a few years ago, Chaosium and Crafty Games were across the aisle from each other in the dealers room, and they had a great deal on print+PDF for their new (at the time) Fantasy Craft game. And I didn't see anything at Chaosium that I either didn't already own, or really wanted/needed. So I bought their deal for Fantasy Craft :-} I generally look at printed books, these days, as "collectable for my bookshelf", "if I can't get it any other format", or "a side benefit to getting something else from a higher pledge level in a kickstarter". And those last two seem to be leaning a lot more toward POD, in my experience, lately. Either old things being reprinted via POD, or (as you suggested) small publisher KS's that deliver printed content via a coupon for a POD.

I stand corrected about this book being able to do POD ... I can see how the size, and amount of color, etc. would be prohibitive. On the other point (dinosaurs), seems to me that 80+% of the RPG books I buy lately (if I even bother to buy the physical copies, which is rather rare as well) are POD. And are just fine as POD, both in cost and quality. It's really only special things that I've gotten that weren't POD, other than the D&D5 books. I can see something like this book being in that "special things" category, due to its nature and content... but, in general? Are you really saying that after all costs (not just the per-print unit cost, but the shipping to your warehouse or fulfillment center, costs of warehousing inventory, etc.), you really still have a significantly better profit margin on the old-school print runs vs POD? That would surprise me a bit. (I trust your answer whatever it is -- I don't want to leave the impression that my question is a challenge on that level) Anyway ... count me as one of the people who wants a copy of the new run. I wanted in on the original KS, but couldn't justify it right then. I'm not really a RQ gamer, the only BRP games I've played very much are the old Stormbringer! edition (not Elric... though the one time I played Elric it appeared to be the exact same game), and CoC ... and own a copy of Ringworld somewhere. My interest is in finding a new _setting_, and considering Glorantha for it. Plus, collecting old-school-gamer stuff :-) (setting for what mechanics? probably a FATE variant) (speaking of things I'd love to see in "print" again... I'd love to see a PDF of Ringworld + Companion :-) but I bet that would be a big licensing headache; but I'd buy it, and I'd back a KS to fund it).

Instead of re-printing (in the future), you could put it up on DriveThruRPG with a print-on-demand option. It would probably cost a little more for the individual, but customers would then have an in-print option without you having to do new massive print-runs. Plus, I think they offer a few print options (softcover B&W, softcover color, and I think even a hardcover option). (I'm old school, but conventional big-print-run type publishing is ... dinosaur type "old school" ...except for special editions)