Lone Wolf 15 - It Is In!

[MongooseMatt]

Just to let you all know, Lone Wolf 15 arrived yesterday, and we are starting to send the Megadeals out today. Everyone else will be following over the next few days.

You will be noticing that Lone 15 is a BIG book - about the same size as Flight From the Dark, so expect lots of lovely Lone Wolf goodness!

 

[T.Y.A.]

Excellent! Looking forward to it arriving.

Does extra thick mean bumper bonus adventure?

 

[Random Code]

You will be noticing that Lone 15 is a BIG book - about the same size as Flight From the Dark, so expect lots of lovely Lone Wolf goodness!

I'm intrigued as to what makes this book particularly big.

... Can't wait.

 

[WritingWolf]

Sounds good - I'll be watching the postmat!

 

[jolt]

I'm intrigued as to what makes this book particularly big.

... Can't wait.

Large bonus adventure, maybe? Or maybe it's just a really expanded main story. My original American printing of the book doesn't seem unusually large but that version isn't the best to judge by.

Five months is still a much longer wait than I was hoping for (about two books a year) but it's much better than ten. Even three books a year would be a big improvement. Two books a year will take another 7.5 years to get to book 28. Three books a year will take just under 5 years and four books a year (we can only dream) would take appx. 3.67 years.

jolt

 

[beowuuf]

The bonus adventure is 150 sections long, which added to the 350 sections of the main adventure does combine to a 500 sections just as FFTD.

Havne't looked to see if new text or a long bonus adventure sections gives the heft, but it is thicker than others

 

[elizzar]

woot! my copy finally arrived in a frankly huge box, which my local postie didn't even try jamming through the letterbox, so after a 4 mile cycle to the depot i finally have my luscious, thick book 15 ...

anyway, for those that may wish to know, the bonus adventure (highlight to read)

concerns captain prarg, an officer in the lencian army and is set in ms5075. skill system looks interesting - you have a set of four, each has a lvl (0-3), and you have 6 lvls to split across the 4 as you wish ... haven't played it yet!



haven't checked through or found any mistakes yet ;-) ... now for books 16 / 29 ... !

 

[jolt]

Haven't gotten mine yet but I'd stretch out the enjoyment. Based on their currently stated release schedules it's going to be another 5-7 months minimum before we see the next book and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't have another 10 month wait; if not longer. It's fairly clears that minis are the big priority right now and that Lone Wolf is half a notch above a backburner project.

Current release schedules (which go through July '11) don't even mention book 16 (original release date: August '10; 8 months ago) and even when they do announce it's another two months to a year after that before it actually comes out.

Despite repeated promises of improved service (none of which has ever materialised), it's become clear that the book/mega-deal customers don't mean much to Mongoose. Even at the current limp pace of 3 books every two years it will be 2020 before we have the whole series; assuming Mongoose is still around and Joe is still willing to write.

But I'm guessing we won't even get that. As the years have gone by, the quality of service to the book/mega-deal customers has grown worse and worse. Nothing has occured to indicate that this trend won't continue.

jolt

 

[WritingWolf]

Hi Jolt

I think Matt said they wouldn't be posting details of the new books until they were pretty much ready to avoid the slippage we have seen.

It's a bit of a pain waiting for them, but them again, it's much easier on the wallet and it keeps LW going for several years to come.

I haven't yet had my book 15 arrive, but things move a tad more slowly in Norfolk! Looking forward to it.

I'm hoping the book is near-error free and a good read - it sounds like the bonus adventure could well be a winner!

 

[jolt]

Not putting info up until you're more sure of release is understandable but here's my concern.

In the US, the last book we got (all of which were heavily edited compared to the UK versions) was Book 20. I found out that Book 20 was going to be our last about halfway through playing Book 18. Needless to say I was more than a bit upset as I had been buying the books since the beginning. I never finished 18; it just seemed pointless. I later found out the reason this had happened and while I understood it, the end result didn't change and I felt no better about it. When I saw at GenCon years ago that Mongoose was realeasing updated and unedited versions of the book is the US I was pretty happy and ended up purchasing the megadeal.

Book 1 came out in '07 and Book 13 in '09. That's 13 books over three years; a pretty decent pace overall. Counting Book 15 (which I haven't received yet either), that's 2 books over a year and a half. I don't believe that a project of this length can be sustained over such a long period of time with such a slow pace. If their original pace had been maintained we'd be at Book 20 (or close to it). If the current pace had been the original pace then Book 6 would just be coming out now.

I don't want to be caught at Book 20 with the series being canceled again (for whatever reason). I'm sure Mongoose doesn't want that but I'm also sure that Joe didn't want the original series to come to a grinding halt either. A project of this time and length is already fairly ambitious. To slow it down to the current absurdly slow rate is really pushing fate in an industry where the unexpected (and unfortunate) can often happen.

jolt

 

[coreystinson]

I don't want to be caught at Book 20 with the series being canceled again (for whatever reason). I'm sure Mongoose doesn't want that but I'm also sure that Joe didn't want the original series to come to a grinding halt either. A project of this time and length is already fairly ambitious. To slow it down to the current absurdly slow rate is really pushing fate in an industry where the unexpected (and unfortunate) can often happen.

jolt

I agree and this should be even more of a concern for those who bought the Mega-Deal up front. Had I done that, only to see a lot of focus go over to the role-playing side of things, I would not be a happy camper.

 

[AguilaSaber]

This is actual delivery dates based on first sightings of books in the mail box.

LW 1. Aug 07.
LW 2. Oct 07.
LW 3. Dec 07, Feb 08
LW 4. Feb 08.
LW 5. Jul 08.
LW 6. Aug 08.
LW 7. Sep 08.
Telchos Chronicle 1. Oct 08.
Lencia Chronicle 1. Oct 08.
LW 8. Mar 09.
LW 9. Mar 09.
LW 10. Apr 09.
LW 11. Sep 09.
LW 12. Nov 09.
LW 13. Dec 09.
LW 14. Nov 10.
LW 15. Apr 11.

From the last State of the Mongoose last year it seemed like the Multiplayer material took priority over the Magnamund deal last year and they happened to share the same people doing the job and the new material was done first.

There was a promise to dedicate staff to the Magnamund deal to ensure a more steady flow of books being sent out.

I still expect Mongoose to keep me a happy customer by delivering on their promise of one book being released every 6-8 weeks. OK. Realistically, they will not make that target overall, but I do expect them to fulfill their initial promise for the remainder of the series, counting from now. At any rate they should strive to be equal or better than Red Fox's initial publication rate which was 1 book per quarter.

Because of problems with forecasting publishing dates, Mongoose no longer adds these in advance for the Magnamund deal books. So the next book could be within a week for all we know. There is thus nothing really gained by complaining loudly that Mongoose won't fulfill their promises.

If you look at the publishing dates up to LW #13 when their planning caused a diversion of people to new material, they were almost catching their promised delivery dates.

Also, we might see more books than LW #16 next. LW #29 has been almost ready for a good while now. With August returned to Mongoose, the second book in the Telchos Chronicles might not be far away. Books are not announced in advance so this is speculation.

Try to look for the bright things instead of all the negatives.

 

[Drake_NZ]

For those lucky chaps with their books, have you seen any changes in the main text?

In particular things like new starting equipment, silver bracers in the item list of things you can carry over, changes or clarification as to the dreaded para 156 (in terms of the EP loss or the types of items you must consume).

Changes to any of the 'falling mast' instant death rolls (see paras 63 and particularly 66)

Changes to the Warlord's stats (75) - was CS 50 / 36

Always on the look out for tweaks to the otherwise very nasty GM series!

 

[jolt]

This is actual delivery dates based on first sightings of books in the mail box.

Maybe that's when you got them but I sure didn't. Most of the dates you posted are at least 2 months earlier than I received them. I sure didn't get Books 8-10 (or any set of three books) over a two month period. I still don't have Book 15 and don't expect too until the end of May at the earliest. One person posting that they got the book in their mailbox is not an "actual delivery date".

From the last State of the Mongoose last year it seemed like the Multiplayer material took priority over the Magnamund deal last year and they happened to share the same people doing the job and the new material was done first.

And prior to that they stated that they had increased the amount of staff working on Lone Wolf so that this specifically wouldn't happen. We can see how well that worked out.

There was a promise to dedicate staff to the Magnamund deal to ensure a more steady flow of books being sent out.

Which did not happen. Things got worse, significantly so, after this announcement.

I still expect Mongoose to keep me a happy customer by delivering on their promise of one book being released every 6-8 weeks. OK. Realistically, they will not make that target overall, but I do expect them to fulfill their initial promise for the remainder of the series, counting from now.

This is purely conjecture. I'm curious as to what, in Mongooses entire publication history as a company, would lead you to believe this wildly optimistic viewpoint.

At any rate they should strive to be equal or better than Red Fox's initial publication rate which was 1 book per quarter.

I, on the other hand, expect that 1 book per quarter is the best we can hope for. I would surprised and thrilled to "improve" to 1 book every three months.

Because of problems with forecasting publishing dates, Mongoose no longer adds these in advance for the Magnamund deal books. So the next book could be within a week for all we know.

On the contrary, I know the next book will not be in a week.

There is thus nothing really gained by complaining loudly that Mongoose won't fulfill their promises.

I disagree completely. The worst customer is one who nevers says anything about crappy service; instead, they validate that bad service through their silence. What's the impetus for a company to improve when some of it's worst customer service is greeted with a a pat on the back?

If you look at the publishing dates up to LW #13 when their planning caused a diversion of people to new material, they were almost catching their promised delivery dates.

Except that their own stated purpose of their "planning" was to improve the delivery date releases; not make it worse.

Also, we might see more books than LW #16 next. LW #29 has been almost ready for a good while now. With August returned to Mongoose, the second book in the Telchos Chronicles might not be far away.

And that's great. But Books 29 to the end are of no use until we get up to book 28; which we may never see. Of course, in the states, anything after Book 20 will be new terrirtory.

Again, this industry has a very bad record with long-term and slow releasing projects/product; even under better economic conditions than we're in now.

Books are not announced in advance so this is speculation.

They're not announced in advance anymore. I wish they had done this from the beginning. It's one thing to have books delayed because of printing problems but it is quite another to post release dates that you know aren't going to be even remotely met. Where I grew up, we call that lieing

Try to look for the bright things...

I don't see any. Point one out for me.

...instead of all the negatives.

Based on the history of Mongoose, the history of the industry and the current economic situation, I see little else to focus on. If you know of anything (unbacked up heresay doesn't count) that would lead me to view things otherwise I would love to hear it; I could use some good news.

jolt

 

[Random Code]

Out of interest Jolt, have you emailed Mongoose about your concerns?

Appreciate that you're posting here but it may be more productive to actually send a private communication to the company before airing your concerns in public, so to speak.

 

[jolt]

Out of interest Jolt, have you emailed Mongoose about your concerns?

Absolutely. Since Day 1 in fact when it took 6 months after purchasing the mega-deal to get my first book. To their credit, I always got a response (for a long while anyways, not so much anymore). But every single response I've received has been one of two things:

1) Problem with the printers
2) Polite brush off

Though #1 has effectively become #2. No printing service in the world could survive with half as many printing problems as Mongoose has claimed in their responses to me.

Appreciate that you're posting here but it may be more productive to actually send a private communication to the company before airing your concerns in public, so to speak.

Oh, I agree completely. In fact, I would say it's a customer's responsibility to point out consistently poor *whatever*. Poor behavior, in anything, becomes validated when no one says anything about it; or even worse, when it's defended. Once that happens, good luck getting anything to change for the better.

Sometimes crap happens and there isn't anything a company can do about it. But when the same crap happens year after year after year hearing, "It's still the printers" sounds really stupid. The reason companies stop putting up fixed release dates, as many have done, is because they can't be relied upon to be accurate and they're tired of hearing the complaints, not because service is improving. It's an easy rationalization to make to justify not giveing your customers any info.

It's one thing for errors to crop up but another to post up info, about anything, that is deliberately and knowlingly false; and it's wrong.

jolt

 

[Random Code]

Completely agree with you. I don't think people should remain silent. If they aren't happy they should:

1) Enquire privately with the company in question

2) If that doesn't result in a fair and reasonable response and improvement in service then the enquiry/complaint should go public.

3) If there's still no improvement and people aren't happy with the service then I firmly believe they should vote with their wallets.

Hope it improves for you. Personally though I'm pretty sure Mongoose will pull through with this (eventually) as they've always been pretty good at rectifiying mistakes and the like. If they go bust, advance order people may be out of pocket but I honestly don't see that happening as there's no evidence to say it will. Times are tough but they look to be handling things adquately and are big enough to be somewhat resilient to economic pressures.

 

[jolt]

A whole bunch of stuff.

Well said. I'm sure Mongoose doesn't want the project to fail; that's no benefit to them either. My concern is that the industry as a whole has not been very kind to long-term ambitious projects; and I think it's become less kind as the years have gone by. Even under optimal conditions we're looking at a 6-8 year completion time on Lone Wolf from beginning to end; very possibly longer. That's longer than many rpg editions last. Slowing things down, even briefly, is really pushing fate in an industry where unexpected bad stuff seems to happen fairly often. Mongoose's view seems to be overly optimistic; alarmingly so IMO.

Well, here's hoping.

jolt

 

[Random Code]

Hmmm, you see I'd draw a different conclusion.

I agree with you about it being a fragile industry but I think if Mongoose were rushing these and throwing money at them I'd be more concerned as they'd be making big losses year on year. As it is, they aren't investing all their resources into the gamebooks and have differing revenue streams.

Also, I'm guessing Joe Dever and Lone Wolf aren't an expensive license and I'm pretty sure Mr Dever's just happy to see his books in print again and produced to the standard that they are being produced to. In other words, he isn't going to cancel or not renew the contract as this is the best deal he'll get. No-one else is interested.

Mongoose have been around for years so I think the concerns about them going bust are over dramatic. It *could* happen but evidence suggests it won't.

Alternatively they could cancel the LW gamebook project but I don't think they will as I suspect the production of these are tied into their release of the RPG. Additionally, I think they'd have been more likely to cancel the project if they were sinking lots of resource into it. As it currently stands its a slow-burning product line over the next 5 years where its costs are absorbed by other areas.

 

[hawkytom]

hello, I'm one of the original mega-deal customers and still haven't received my book 15 (live in California). I was wondering after how much time has passed should I get worried? Is there anyway I can contact mongoose and get a tracking number for my book, or get confirmation that the book has indeed shipped? (I'll update if/when I receive the book) Thanks!