Book 30: Dead in the Deep?

[BlackCat]

Ok, I'll try to make a short story of what this is all about.

Since February 4, the Wikipedia page of Joe Dever shows that Book 30 of the LW series is named "Dead in the Deep". ->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Dever#Lone_Wolf

The user who posted that info is only known by his/her IP address. -> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php...=historysubmit&diff=474899922&oldid=454979703

This IP address comes from Ilford, UK. -> Use http://www.ip-address.org and look for it yourself if you don't believe me!

There's a Joe Dever living in Ilford, working in computer software (anyone played Killzone yet?) -> http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/joe-dever/0/a3b/450

So, is it Joe Dever himself that just revealed the title of book 30 on his Wikipedia page? Or is it just a big, giant coincidence? :shock:

 

[SnowShadow]

Ooh, thanks for sharing!

 

[Zorkaan]

Wow! For a news, that's a news!!!

 

[elizzar]

could it possibly be that someone (agent X!) has seen the book 29 manuscript and the last paragraph has, james bond style, lone wolf will return in book 30 "dead in the deep"? ... so more a case book 29 is nearing completion? i am speculating madly here!

 

[SnowShadow]

"Dead in the Deep

So.... do I take Alema or Ulnarias?

 

[RatedRWolf]

What a pathetic way to make us think he's really writing anything...

 

[August1]

With all due respect, RatedRWolf, you're probably going to want to post elsewhere. If this was Joe's handiwork, it was him trying to give us a hint in the only legal way he could given NDAs and contracts.

Implying that he's not writing, especially in such a rude way, won't make you very popular on a board with people who are working WITH Joe Dever and not only know he is but could even tell you what page he was on yesterday.

-August

 

[Oiseau]

What page was he on yesterday ?

That's important info, guys. Don't keep it from us.

 

[August1]

Heh. Not tellin'.

 

[RatedRWolf]

I didn't want to be unpolite, but there's something unclear in all these things: four years and a half waiting for LW 29 and, guess what, something about LW 30 comes out on wikipedia. What about book 29? Until we have clear news from both Mongoose and Dever, any hint should be ignored, and all the fans should push to know exactly what's going on.

Anyway, it's quite pleasant to see there's someone aware about Dever's nowadays' work.

 

[Random Code]

The sense of entitlement with some people really does beggar belief sometimes.

 

[Oiseau]

Is this really how you perceive things ? That increasingly impatient fans are merely possessed of a « sense of entitlement beggaring belief » ? I don't know, but when something is promised, and then, four years and many months later, everyone is still waiting in a fog of uncertainty… well, what do you expect, really ? Fans will grumble. I don't see this as entitlement. Merely a growing cynicism and sense of resignation.

 

[Greg Smith]

Just to point out that many fans have paid for these books as part of a Mega-deal. A certain amount of entitlement to recieve things you have paid for is expected.

OTOH it can be unreasonable to expect authors to churn out exceptional books on demand.

To paraphrase Neil Gaiman, "Joe Dever is not your bitch."

 

[Random Code]

Is this really how you perceive things ?

When what is written is this:

What a pathetic way to make us think he's really writing anything...

... And then goes on further, then yes I do. YMMV and all that.

I'm also a mega-deal customer and understand the frustration - I just have the maturity (for want of a better word) to temper any disappointment and to also not blatantly accuse Joe Dever (or someone alse acting as some kind of 'agent') of conning us into thinking he's really writing anything. I mean, Really? Seriously?

This was never going to be a short term project of Mongoose considering their experience in this specific area (ie, small size hardback gamebooks/novels) and considering the enormous initial hiccups (eg, changing printer/binding production, etc) I honestly don't think they are too far behind where they should be (I'd say they should be starting on getting out book 21).

But, whether you agree with the delays on progress or not; f****** 'ell, fellas - think about what you're accusing people of. These guys that you're wanting to produce stuff for you. Does it register at all that accusing them of this kind of shit could, you know, have maybe a bit of a negative affect on their output? Yeah... ? Perhaps think about it before you post such utter contemptuous drivel, maybe?

And like previously said, "Joe Dever is not your bitch".

 

[GreyLord]

I am not pressing, but I can understand the reasons why some may be a little anxious or upset. I only bought the Mega Magnamund deal for books 29-32. I already have books 1-28, though 28 isn't the full 350 sections. Except for the additional adventure in Book 1 which was by Joe, I don't really care for the other mini-adventures in the other books. Nice, but not a reason to plop down the amount of money I did. I wanted to guarantee that we'd get 29-32.

Now if others did this who had less disposable funds than I did, I can imagine they may be getting a little unhappy. That's quite a bit of money for four books. Yes, the others were advertised as coming out, but if the only real attraction and reason at the time were those 4 books, then it's hard to be patient after a certain amount of time.

I thus far have tons of time, but to tell the truth I could care less about book #17, or #18, or any of the other books that I already have. My real interest was in the last few books.

I'm not complaining at all, I also know Mr. Dever has had health problems and I think it's more important for him to deal with his wellness, to be healthy and able to actually enjoy and live life than anything so minor as what a few people may desire elsewhere. He has had FAR MORE important and pressing issues that deal with life and death, and I'd rather have him deal with those items than minor things (such as these books 29-32) that are nowhere close to being that important.

I've gone literally for years without them, a few more isn't anything traumatic. In fact I probably could go on without them ever...though I would be disappointed at that, it's definately not the end of the world. As I said, I still have all the other books and can enjoy them anytime I desire.

So I'm okay overall with the wait, but I can understand others who may not have such sympathies or who are less patient being a little over zealous at this point.

 

[August1]

I think the matter has been aired to satisfaction. Let's let it go now?

-A

 

[WritingWolf]

At any rate, back to the original topic ...

If that is going to be the title then it's a good one. And nice not to have it beginning with "The" again

 

[jolt]

If Mongoose had kept to the initially promised schedule (6-8 weeks/book; the same one reiterated in the 2010 State of the Mongoose) we'd already be done; at least with 1-28. Even if you back that up to 10 weeks/book and drop two weeks from the year, we'd be at Book 22 or 23.

My frustration comes in large part that LW seems to get treated like third tier property by Mongoose. We get little to no information until people start b****ing and even then the info is usually wrong. I found it astounding that they repeated the 6-8 week timeframe at the end of '10; something they clearly cannot maintain. If other gaming companies experienced as many "printing issues" as LW seems to suffer from they'd go out of business. Repeatedly misstating timeframes and information that is not factual is called lying where I come from. Whatever the reason or justification behind it, it's a good way to make paying customers unhappy.

As for being aired to satisfaction, probably true except for everyone that's still dissatisfied; or the next book is due and we go through this again. It's not like this is the first thread questioning releases.

 

[RatedRWolf]

Maybe my first reaction was exaggerated, but I don't accept to close my mind and pretend to forget the announcements made during last years. It's been stated at least three or four times that Mongoose was "waiting for the manuscript" from Dever, he confirmed this many times at the numerous meetings with his fans, both in England and in other countries like Italy, and still we cannot understand what is really going on.

Only one thing is clear: someone clearly lied. Whether it was Dever, Mongoose or both of them, someone clearly lied. A book cannot remain three years on a writing table, and a writer cannot complete the last steps of his work so slowly. Speaking like that is not a way to convey "negative affect to their output", and I don't claim Joe Dever is "my bitch" as someone funnily repeats. As far as I can understand, there are no little boys out here, I won't let my brain sleep. Obviously, everyone is free to think what he wants, noone knows the entire truth, so I respect people who have different feelings about this thing.

 

[SnowShadow]

I don't know about someone clearly lying, I suspect that Mongoose (like most companies) are wary of informing their clients of anything until they are as certain as they can be. Then something happens, circumstances beyond their control, delays at the printer, etc, etc. and it does appear to the client that somebody somewhere has gone back on their word.

I understand your frustration, I really do. Perhaps it would be better if you had specific concerns to contact Mongoose directly rather than over the Forum? After all they are busy dealing with many projects, not just a Lone Wolf backlog, and a representative may not have time to read a post in a thread about a new book that is faraway on the distant horizon.