Palladium Weekly Update Jan 11 2015

[Jaymz]

Ok here we go.....

Don't like my criticisms don't read them

www.palladiumbooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=760:palladium-booksr-weekly-update-january-11-2015&catid=52:weekly-updates&Itemid=183


"Holy crow, there is soooo much to talk about that the big question for me while writing for this update, is exactly what to cover now and what to save for the Update on Thursday. After some discussion, we decided I should focus on books that are coming in the months ahead, and only touch upon other subjects that will be addressed in the next Weekly Update later this week."

So after going on about how nusy you were and that you just didn't have time to give us an update you aren;t even going to tell us everything you went on about wanting to tell us? REALLY?


"UPDATE: Final hours to get your Christmas Surprise Package! Offer ENDS today! You have till midnight Pacific Time to place your order"

We Know.


"Plans for 2015 Releases"

This has got to be some sick joke right?

"Rifter #69 – Winter/January/February – in production right now."
"Bizantium & the Northern Islands™ – February – in final production right now."
"A new style of Rifts® Dice Bag"
"New! Robotech® Dice Bag (tentative)"
"Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines™ Sourcebook"
"Dead Reign® Sourcebook: Hell Followed™ (a large, juicy sourcebook)"
"Chaos Earth® Resurrection (the dead rise, zombies attack)"
"Chaos Earth® First Responders (more than you may imagine)"
"The Rifter® #70 – Spring"

So..aside from the two Rifters....5 books? By June? BAHAHAHAHAHA


"UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics™"

"There is so much to talk about regarding Robotech® RPG Tactics™ that we are giving it its own Update. That should go out in a day or two."

Because having gone a month with no real update on the subject beyond "rst of world shipping is hard" hasn;t been long enough?


"UPDATE: The Rifter® #69 – January, 2015 release"

You knwo ther is only a little of 2 weeks left right? You do know it isn't even at the printer yet right?

"COMING: The Rifter® Super-Subscription Offer"

Good deal for those in the US.

"COMING: A new style of Rifts® Dice Bag"

Yay?

"COMING: Price Increase for the Heroes Unlimited™ 30th Anniversary Gold and Palladium Fantasy® 30th Anniversary Elemental Green Hardcover – increase to $50.00 on February 1, 2015"

Understandable. It is a special edition and is getting rarer everytime someone orders one.

"Palladium Open House"

I am seriously debating whether to even bother now....I may end up kicked out for daring to question this bullshit.


So in the end, he couldn't get the update done in time so did it today because there was SOOOOOOO much to tell us but apparently much of it will be told to us in a later update....

Alrighty then...until next time....

[MacrossMike]

Kevin Siembieda said:

Holy crow, there is soooo much to talk about that the big question for me while writing for this update, is exactly what to cover now and what to save for the Update on Thursday. After some discussion, we decided I should focus on books that are coming in the months ahead, and only touch upon other subjects that will be addressed in the next Weekly Update later this week.

Huh... so, let me get this straight.

After last week's non-update because you wanted more time to write THIS update, you've decided to defer most of the content that would've gone into this update into next update.  I know Palladium's production schedule is pretty much a joke at this point, but it's pretty sad that it's decayed to the point where you've weeks behind in your weekly update.

Kevin Siembieda said:

Likewise, Wayne and I will be penning a lengthy Robotech® RPG Tactics™ (RRT) Update to post and email in a day or two. It is already partially written as it was originally intended for this Update.

Feels like you're starting as you mean to go on, Kevin old chap.  You're going to pull a second person off of actual work un-fucking all the myriad things your company horribly fucked up with the Robotech RPG Tactics release to help you write another needlessly long, rambling series of excuses for why things are still horribly fucked up?  I'm only a humble technical consultant from the auto industry, which means I've got a lot of experience with what we might call Dilbert-level management screw-ups.  As bad moves go, this is worthy of the "Pointy-Haired Boss".

If you're in full crisis mode because you've pissed off your customers badly enough that many of them would cheerfully skin you alive and use the skin for toilet paper on taco night, the best thing to do is devote your energies fully (and visibly) to getting those customers what's owed to them.  More excuses will not improve the situation.

Kevin Siembieda said:

We have hit the ground in the New Year with both feet and running.

Normally, this is the point where someone would tactlessly feign covering the word "bullshit" with a cough... I don't think anybody believes you'll do anything other than futilely spin your wheels and lose ground the way you always do.

Kevin Siembieda said:

We have big plans and high expectations for ourselves.

I'll be blunt...

It's all very well to have high expectations of oneself, but those expectations should also be realistic... and, quite frankly, you ought to be far more concerned with setting achievable goals.   

Kevin Siembieda said:

We will work hard to unleash a plethora of new books, Rifts® titles, Robotech® titles, Chaos Earth® books and long awaited titles like sourcebooks for Splicers® and Beyond the Supernatural™ like Tomes Grotesque™ and Beyond Arcanum™. I’ve even made an outline for Land of the Damned Three, but no promises for a 2015 release. Actually, I want to try to give you a little something for most of our game lines. That said, this is likely to be the year of Rifts® and Robotech®.

This, right here, is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about... if you're going to make "big plans", make sure you the goals you're setting are actually realistic.  Nobody familiar with Palladium's history is going to interpret this as anything other than bad comedy.  You intend to get all those books out in 2015?  Not bloody likely.  If you're LUCKY, you'll get maybe four or five new books out the door in 2015.  You're not using your time effectively.  I've never even visited your office, and I can see it plain as day.  Assuming they don't get canceled, most of those books will be released between 2016 and 2018. I realize you're a man of optimistic mindset, but optimism has to be tempered by reality otherwise it's just self-delusion.

Kevin Siembieda said:

Man oh man, Palladium has been terrible hitting its release dates the last couple of years.

This is a masterpiece of understatement.

Kevin Siembieda said:

I hope we’ll be much better this year, but only time will tell.

You won't be.

No, I'm not psychic... so don't ask me for lottery numbers.  Your schedule-slippage is a pattern so obvious even Helen Keller could see it.  Even if you restrict it to just saying season and year, you'll miss close to 100% of your release targets, guaranteed.

[Jaymz]

"WE ARE SHOOTING FOR THE MOON!!! hmm what? yeah I know we only have a spitball straw...BUT WE ARE GONG TO BLOW REALLY HARD!!!"

[MacrossMike]

Jan 13, 2015 2:56:53 GMT Jaymz said:

"WE ARE SHOOTING FOR THE MOON!!! hmm what? yeah I know we only have a spitball straw...BUT WE ARE GONG TO BLOW REALLY HARD!!!"

A lovely dramatic recitation... but yeah, that's basically the problem.

We love Kevin for his enthusiasm, and in the same breath we damn him for letting his enthusiasm erode any semblance of coordination and directed intent in his work.  He's so excited about all the things he wants to do that he can't focus on the things that need to get done first... and that leads to overambitious scheduling, missed release dates, reduced quality, and all the other ills of Palladium's current lines.

From my view, the most infuriating thing about Kevin's attitude is that almost everything wrong at Palladium is fixable.  Most of what needs fixing is relatively easy to fix for anyone who knows anything about process management, and requires relatively little effort.  The gap that exists between where they are and where they could be is vast... but it could be crossed with a few simple steps that they just won't take.  This isn't like Harmony Gold, where the problem is a combination of insurmountable legal obstacles and lacking talent beyond the power of any mortal to fix... we could correct much of what's wrong at Palladium inside of six months without any overtime.