Behind The Scenes PDF is up + wrapping this KS
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 04:30:13 PM

Hey there! If you backed for the Behind The Scenes PDF, you should finally have it in BackerKit now. Sorry about the delay—I ended up adding a bunch of stuff, which also made layout take longer. If you need your BackerKit survey again, I believe this is the link. If you're having trouble, let me know and I'll sort it out.

(For now, this PDF is only available to Kickstarter backers. I'll put it on sale eventually, but KS backers will get it much earlier than everyone else.)

And with that, every Kickstarter reward should be delivered. There are still a few people who never filled out their surveys, and if any of them contact me I'll try to get them sorted, but at this point that is their problem.

Thanks to everyone who backed, played, or just talked about Hard Wired Island—this was my toughest project yet, and seeing how many people enjoy it makes it all worth it. I'm looking forward to even bigger projects in the future! And I'm absolutely going to update this KS to tell you about them, so look out for that.

In the meantime, if you want to know more about what we're up to, you can find me on Twitter here, Freyja here, and Mina here.

See you later!

Print now available + new KS tomorrow!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 07:58:30 PM

Hey! Good news today: Hard Wired Island is now officially available in print from Studio 2 Publishing. If you or someone you know want a copy, check it out here!

(Apparently international shipping is still pretty fucked, so if you're outside the US it might be a little pricey. Unfortunately we don’t have the scale to have two different shipping warehouses in different continents. Hopefully most people who want a copy will be able to get their hands on one.)

Second: while I wait for the behind-the-scenes PDF to be laid out (which should be soon), I'm working on that followup Kickstarter. Stories From L5 is a collection of scenarios and campaign seeds for Hard Wired Island, and now that the print copies are available, I'm going to post it up tomorrow. If you're interested, you can follow it here! (That last update also has my thoughts on current Kickstarter, if you're wondering.)

I'll make one more post about that when the Kickstarter goes up, and then I'll be back with the behind-the-scenes PDF. See you then!

Stories From L5 is live!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 07:57:04 PM

Hey there! Just giving you a heads-up that Stories From L5, the next Hard Wired Island Kickstarter, is now live! Check it out here if you'd like to grab some scenarios (or an expanded OST!).

I'll be back soon with the behind-the-scenes PDF, which should wrap up this KS!

All copies shipping (so here's the next project!)
about 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 19, 2022 at 12:14:21 AM

Hey! You may have an email about this already, but Hard Wired Island print copies have arrived in the US. Studio 2 Publishing is sending out backer copies, then putting the rest up for sale on their site. (Seriously, go check it out! They got Spire on there.)

As you can see, I also have the Australian/Asian backer copies now. I might sign these or something, who knows! I am absolutely not lugging all 50 books to the post office on the same day, but I'll try to get them all posted in the next week. If you are in Sydney and would like to just come get your book over the weekend, let me know.

Once the behind-the-scenes PDF is done (and we're just waiting for Mina to find the time), we'll be done here. In the meantime, I'm working on the next project. Let's talk about that!

But first:

A Note On Changes

Everyone who asked for an address change got one. I can still change them  for Aus/Asia backers, but if you're in the US and you've moved, your book is officially on the way to the wrong place. If you can't get it forwarded, message me and I'll try to sort something out.

If you backed at a print tier (or above!) and never paid for shipping, or didn't complete your survey, or your card was declined, or anything like that, I am done sending reminders. This is now officially Not My Problem. Did you die of COVID? If not, please contact me and I will try to get you sorted out to the best of my ability. If you did and you contact me anyway, Jesus Christ, but I will still try.

Anyway!

Hard Wired Island: Stories From L5

I've mentioned this before, but I've been working on a new Hard Wired Island project!

Hard Wired Island: Stories From L5 is a collection of scenarios for new and existing groups, with enough of a framework for you to turn them into full campaigns. Some of them are by freelancers. We've got:

•  SUPER INK BURST, which is about street artists shaking up a gated corporate community on one of the end caps (with a little Jet Set Radio thrown in);
•  TINDERBOX, which is about working in the offices of Kaneda Orbital Incorporated (good news, everyone who complained to me that you should get to play corporate workers: you are definitely getting what you wished for);
•  CAT SCRATCH,  which is about running a cat café (along with advice on combining Assets to create a base and new location Assets);
• and maybe some SECRET STUFF I DIDN'T MENTION.

These scenarios will be available in PDF format, with a print-on-demand option from DriveThruRPG so I can avoid having to print/ship anything in this climate. (This does not mean the base game is getting a POD option).

If that sounds like fun, click here to get notified when it launches! Now that books are going out, it'll be soon.

NOTE: Since I started preparing this, Kickstarter has announced they're pivoting to blockchain. It's not clear what it will do besides making VCs horny and the overwhelming majority of commenters I have seen  hate it, but the advisory committee that will tell them it's a great idea will be diverse, so that's good.

This presents a couple of problems! First, I am very mad that I didn't think to write something like this. Second, everything about this sucks. Every indie TTRPG developer is in the same awkward position right now: they can stick with Kickstarter and be forced into some blockchain bullshit down the road, or they can switch to another platform and basically watch a large chunk of their income evaporate.

I'm using Kickstarter for this project because I've yet to find a viable alternative that would let me keep paying artists and freelancers at the same rates. (I was considering itchfunding, but so far even the biggest itch.io success stories don't fund at the levels I'd need for it to be sustainable.) I'm going to experiment with other methods of funding and revisit this on the next project, though.

If you don't want to back, I don't blame you. If you'd rather use BackerKit I'll set that up afterward, or you can just wait until it goes up on itch.io and DTRPG. If you're planning not to back, I also encourage you to email Kickstarter about it. You can be a little mean, it's fine.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully everyone gets their copies, but again, let me know if there's an issue. See you soon!

UK/EU backers, check your emails!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 01, 2022 at 10:31:18 PM

Hey there! If you backed for a hard copy and you live in the EU, TERF Island, or Puerto Rico, you may have received an email asking you to confirm shipment of your book. In fact, some of you have got your books already. The game is officially out in the wild!

If you haven't responded yet though, please do. If you don't see an email check your spam folder, or contact me if it's not in there and I'll get you sorted out.

US copies and the behind-the-scenes PDF are still on the way, so that's all for now. See you soon!