Palladium Weekly Update Jan 17 2015

[Jaymz]

Alright.....another week another commentary....don;t like my commentary then guess what, don't read it.

And here we go my little palladiumites

www.palladiumbooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=763:palladium-booksr-weekly-update-january-17-2015&catid=52:weekly-updates&Itemid=183

"Christmas Surprise Package offer is over, but still keeping us busy"

Wow 74 orders.....and you couldn't get them out in 5 days....uh.....ok....

"we made final arrangements with an Exports Broker to ship backer rewards to Australia"

In other words ...STILL NOT SHIPPED

"Yeah, there have been many loooong days and working weekends."

And we are back to "we work so hard"

"Books slated for the next 5-6 months of 2015"

I'll just laugh BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ok all done.

"The Rifter® Super-Subscription Drive – Low Price – Free Gift"

Good deal for those of you in the US. If you like the Rifter it is very much worth getting.

"UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics"

"FAQ to be posted online, much more detailed and elaborate building instructions"

which should get done sooner rather than later....but we know it will likely be later.

"UPDATE: AdeptiCon – March 19-22"
"UPDATE: Gen Con Indy – July 30-August 2"

I only hope these things do not interfere TOO much as they always seem too with your production schedule.....though they are places you SHOULD be going too as well. Perhaps a more conservative projection of releases would be a better route....just sayin..

"UPDATE: 2015 Palladium Open House (POH) – May 15-17"

Still planning my day trip

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

I hate to say it but I'll believe it when it goes to the printers by the end of the second week n February until then.....

"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 and warranted as far as I am concerned.

"That’s all for now"

With another reminder of how hard they work by working on the weekend....

So where is this BIG news we're hearing rumblings of or the "so much stuff I can;t possibly tell it all to you now in this update so I'll do it next update" referenced in the LAST update?

Until next update....

[MacrossMike]

Kevin Siembieda said:

It has been another action packed week at Palladium Books.

By whose standards?

Honestly, I can't even look at the rest of this shit... it's just bad comedy.

[joshuagoliath]

So.... after all these rinse and repeat posts of Kevin's, a thought suddenly dawned on me...

All the crew who's repeatedly and routinely working on weekends...are they paid hourly, or salary?
1) If they're paid hourly, how much overtime are we talking that's eating into PBs budget and costs? Could this poor business practice actually be one of the reasons that we're seeing economic problems?
2) If they are salary, I can understand it for guys like Wayne... but, does the warehouse staff need to be salary?
3) How fucking little are these guys doing during the week that they are having to work weekends? If hourly, perhaps they're NOT doing their work, on purpose, during the week, so that they will get the overtime?

And this is why you should have a dispassionate, non- "I'm your friend, too" person, who makes the kind of tough, objective, decisions and views...

[MacrossMike]

Jan 18, 2015 18:44:40 GMT joshuagoliath said:

All the crew who's repeatedly and routinely working on weekends...are they paid hourly, or salary?
1) If they're paid hourly, how much overtime are we talking that's eating into PBs budget and costs? Could this poor business practice actually be one of the reasons that we're seeing economic problems?

Huh... that's a very good question.

If the Palladium Books staff is hourly rather than salaried, that could very well explain where a lot of money is vanishing to!  Federal labor laws mandate overtime pay at 150% the employee's normal hourly pay, and that adds up VERY quickly if you have employees working ten hour days or weekends.

Jan 18, 2015 18:44:40 GMT joshuagoliath said:

3) How fucking little are these guys doing during the week that they are having to work weekends? If hourly, perhaps they're NOT doing their work, on purpose, during the week, so that they will get the overtime?

Whew... yeah, I hadn't considered that possibility, that would make a lot of sense.

That kind of thing happens a lot here in Michigan, and at two of the "big three" automakers the UAW skilled tradespeople are notorious for doing that.  SOP is for overtime to be pre-approved, so they'll either work as slow as they can and take a lot of breaks, or avoid any work on the project until shortly before it's due so they can insist that their full overtime allowance is necessary for on-time delivery.

Kevin's had problems with disgruntled employees before... particularly in his warehouse, where a lot of the overtime seems to be coming from now.  It would make a lot of sense if Palladium's disgruntled staff were inflating their hours to get back at him.

[Sci-Fi]

Ehh... that's an aweful lot of speculation.

[MacrossMike]

Jan 19, 2015 3:14:34 GMT Sci-Fi said:

Ehh... that's an aweful lot of speculation.

True enough, but speculating is all we can do where Palladium's financial problems are concerned.  

I doubt Kevin would actually give us a candid answer if we asked why an established game publisher with 30+ years in the industry needs to resort to crowdfunding to bankroll new product development, to say nothing of the periodic suggestions that they're often coming up short on cash.  The money has to be going SOMEWHERE.