Daily Blogging: Thinking about Ghost Cartels
Friday was unusually stressful for no apparent reason. I spent most of the day working on Eclipse Phase, our upcoming Transhuman Conspiracy & Horror RPG, and then David and I spent the evening talking about some scheduling stuff while we put Ghost Cartels online for sale.
I’ve sent well over 50 books to the printer, and probably over 100 for-sale PDFs to the various PDF vendors … so to be honest, unless it’s a major title, I don’t get a lot of jitters—good or bad—when doing it now. It’s just part of the job; I’ve long since accepted that no matter what any publisher does, there will always be mistakes, there will always be people that dislike it, and there will always be people that love it.
With Ghost Cartels, my reaction to sending it to the printer was mostly relief: the book had been delayed over the summer as we crunched to release Runner’s Companion and Unwired, and the design of Ghost Cartels was more intricate than a typical sourcebook, so it had taken extra time in production/layout to get “just right.”
After last week’s Shadowrun chat, though, and once people started reacting to the previews, my mood towards the book took a major upswing. Ghost Cartels is a fusion book; it has elements of a “canned” adventure [character stats and location maps—the best location maps ever published for Shadowrun, courtesy of Sean MacDonald], along with elements of both the “track” and “metaplot” adventures that have been published over the years. Early response to the previews and our explanation of the book was positive, and I think we’ve really hit on a nice meld between the various adventure types—as well as a great plotline that has major implications but plenty of room for runners [and characters even less powerful than runners, like gangers, smugglers, etc] to get down-and-dirty.
Obviously, Ghost Cartels has been available for just under 24 hours, so it’s impossible to know if it’s going to be seen as a major success—but the early feedback is good, and for myself, Peter, and the other contributors, it’s gratifying to see.
I didn’t expect to be so excited about Ghost Cartels, and that—combined with a heavy day of production on Eclipse Phase—left me kinda beat-up mentally, so I ended up sleeping a lot of extra hours today, and this blog post is the only “real work” I plan on doing tonight. A rare “almost day off.” Hockey on the TV, I’m tracking the results of tonight’s UFC event online, and I’m going to spend some time working on a new personal project, too.
A quick note about the daily blogging experiment—several people have suggested topics that I could talk about, and I encourage you to post a comment and suggest a topic if there’s something you’ve been dying to hear about. Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend!
October 25th, 2008 at 20:30:35
How does Catalyst handle daily communications and work flow as a “vitual” company with no main office?
Does the virtual company format make you feel closer to Shadowrun world with it’s Matrix based companies? :)
Thomas
October 25th, 2008 at 22:27:22
Thomas — that’s a really good question, with a big answer, so I’ll certainly try to work up a blog entry that addresses it. :-)
October 26th, 2008 at 02:06:25
Ghost Cartels is a great campaign book. I put my comments in Drive Thru RPG giving it 5 stars. In fact I especially liked the Hong Kong Section with the climactic battle scene where the Yama Kings come out.
Also some foreshadowing on Feral Cities especially that of Lagos. I am really waiting out for that sourcebook.
A few questions:
1. Is Feral Cities near publication?
2. What is the situation in Lagos?
From what little is said in Feral cities, Lagos resembles that of Modern day Mogadishu, Somalia. Lawless, controlled by warlords.
3. Will there be more info on the Black Chrysanthemums and who controls them(a big mystery) in the vice sourcebook?
My earlier impression was that the Black Chrysanthemums may be in league with the Yama Kings but their arrival in the battle fighting all sides cancelled this assumption. Though I think the Black Chrysanthemums seem to be using blood magic and maybe even some Maho magic.
4. Seeing that the Yama Kings are a big threat to the inhabitants of the Walled city and Triad control of the area, would you probably see a concerted effort by all sides(Triads, Wu Xing, Hong Kong police, mages etc.) to wipe out the Yama Kings in future in the light of the events of Ghost Cartels?
October 26th, 2008 at 02:08:52
As for other topics, what do you think of ideas for upcoming books:
Haunted Cities, warzones, cities of Intigue, Latin American sourebook, Africa sourcebook?
October 26th, 2008 at 03:13:05
OK..wow..not gotten this yet, but, as soon as my finances are back in order, I will.
However, I have to say: I do find it interesting that Catalyst, in a way, is alot like some of the Corps in Shadowrun(only…much less evil..I still say they are a LITTLE Evil, though…after all…they want our money! ;) ) No, seriously, think about it: nothing really centralized in the conventional sense, people talking online or electronically while they work on projects, and everyone who is an actual, bonafide employee, not jsut a free-lancer, is loyal to the Company…
I am surprised they don’t wear gloves, and have pins of a test-tube on their uniform black clothes, and chant “CGL is mother, CGL is father, and we are not sure, but we think Randall is Bester” ;)
October 26th, 2008 at 04:33:49
I do believe some of us wore that getup at GenCon… don’t remember if that was the chant though.
October 26th, 2008 at 04:46:39
I love you guys. Making game materials available in PDF helps me so much, being both in Britain and having a visual impairment. And by PDF I mean the real type not just the scanned type. It allows me to use my special software, which converts text to synthetic speech, to read the books. Sure it isn’t perfect, but heck it’s way more than people have been able to get at in the past regarding RPGs.
And FYI, by “visual impairment” I mean completely blind. Can’t see a thing. So yes, thankyou. I know other games are available in PDF too, but I just love SR’s setting too much. The Battlecorps PDFs also don’t plaster your name, order reference and IP all over the PDF, which gets a pain to have read at the start of every single page.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:56:06
Terence – Thanks for the praise. I’m pleased to hear you liked Ghost Cartels, I think its a brilliant campaign but then again I might be biased. :P´
To answer your questions.
1. Feral Cities doesn’t have a release date yet but shouldn’t be too far off so keep your eyes on the SR4 website for news (and don’t forget our monthly chats with the fans).
2. Lagos is a crowded lawless urban jungle full of empty promises, hidden dangers and unique challenges for even the most hardened runner.
3. The Black Chrysanthemums will not be specifically spotlighted in Vice, though they do get a mention or two. However, I have further plans for them down the line.
4. Wiping out the Yama Kings would likely require more resources and taking more risks than most of the parties are willing to commit to even in light of the Kowloon Massacre, and after all, one could say the Triads brought it upon themselves…
October 26th, 2008 at 13:04:30
Peter,
Thanks for answering my questions.
Will there be an Africa sourcebook in the future?
I think that this is probably the only continent not having its own book. I think the continent is probably the most feral of all. Probably due to the awakening its back to being the Dark Continent.
There is also some mention of it in Ghost Cartels, besides Lagos. Egypt is somewhat mentioned. From what I gather, the Islamic Egyptian gov. is struggling to remain in power vs. a resurgent comeback by the old religion.
October 26th, 2008 at 13:11:41
I’d love to hear more about the status of Shadowrun Missions. It’d be nice to finally get the new ones in-hand. And I’m also curious about how Catalyst works. The company I’m involved with uses Highrise, Basecamp, and Campfire to handle projects and communications.
October 26th, 2008 at 13:17:28
Probally this an unusual place to say this, but I don’t know other place to do, so…
I’m a Brazilian fan of Shadowrun and CthulhuTech, in special the last, and I whant to know: have any Brazilian publisher’s in contatc whit Catalhyst to translate your books?
Thanks for any information (and sorry for my poor english). :)
October 26th, 2008 at 15:07:51
How about an update the SR4 Main rules re-print ? Seems like that one’s be coming for a long long time…..
October 26th, 2008 at 16:26:01
Alvorn: Updating the SR4 PDF has been coming for a long time, yes, and it will happen in November.
João: I think that you’re better off asking that question over at the CthulhuTech forums.
StCptMara: Would you expect employees not to be loyal to a company, especially in public, in front of their fans? Personally, I’m loyal to a company that lets me work on cool stuff, treats me in the way I want to be treated, and pays me. I still do freelance work when I’m offered cool projects, and I turn down the boring ones.
October 27th, 2008 at 02:39:43
Thanks for the feedback Adam.
October 27th, 2008 at 22:09:11
@adam
There is, to me, a difference between “being loyal” and what you guys are. I mean, I have read posts by employees from other companies on their websites, and I always feel there is something missing compared to what I see from Catalyst: Genuine excitement about your products! Sure, the other companies put up a good front, but they come across as just putting up a good front. You guys, though, are completely honest in your excitement. Seriously…sometimes, I get the image of you guys bouncing in your seats excitedly when something is posted on twitter or when you are talking about an upcoming release.
Yes, you guys make me feel happy that there is a gaming company composed, not just of gamers making games, but of Gamer Geeks making games they love! There is a huge difference!
October 28th, 2008 at 08:55:52
It helps that the people involved with Shadowrun and Catalyst’s other lines as well are hardcore fans of the games we make. Adam and I’ve been involved with Shadowrun as fans for almost as long as the game has been around and it is a kick to wake up every day to know that your job is to work on your favorite game. It’s only natural that we get excited about the projects we’re working on.
October 28th, 2008 at 10:24:25
StCptMara: Ah, the way you phrased it the second time makes a lot more sense. I think we’re all really excited about what we make, and hopefully that shows through not only in the games themselves but in how we promote them.