A True and Honest Update for Our Backers
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, May 07, 2021 at 01:40:15 AM
Natalie and I have had a long, deep look at Richter and come to some really important conclusions.
First, thank you all for backing. I know it has been a long wait with very little communication. Blame me, Madeleine, for not looking to help more and respond to customer comments. We really messed up, and want to make it right (or as right as we can).
We see now how woefully we mismanaged this project, how we should have invested our effort in different ways. The project got stuck in a cycle of guilt for not completing it, and fear around having/not having enough money to complete it fully, including the additional books. I had health scares and some severe mental health crisis. We both barely hung on, and did our best through difficult times. None of this is to excuse our failure to communicate or deliver on our promises - that's on me, and I can only try hard to make it right now.
She and I had a long sit down, and have a new plan in place, which we want to share with you.
1. We're writing and editing Bone&Ash and Porphyry Archive over the course of this next week.
2. We'll then be able to make the pdf for all three books aviable for backers of appropriate tiers.
3. We will work to get physical copies printed over the next couple months to the very best of our ability - we'll need to run several other kickstarters over that time to keep us able to pay our own bills. But we WILL be getting those publications in paper for all appropriate backers as soon as we are able.
4. I'll be delivering status updates every week until the physical copies are all out of this house.
I hope this message finds you well. I'm sure you feel some frustration to have waited to so long. We have not given up on Richter, and are rededicating ourselves to seeing this kickstarter through and delivering to our backers.
As creators, a lot goes into the process and little in the Richter process has been easy. Your support means the world to us and you can message me anytime @madeleineember . Thank you again.
- Madeleine & Natalie
Goodbye 2020, Hello Richter
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Jan 01, 2021 at 02:19:08 AM
The TLDR version, the completed pdf of Richter: The Rotting City is headed your way through itch.io, DriveThruRPG, and Backerkit, as long as you have provided those emails/etc. In January, we'll be finalizing the print files, ordering, and shipping those to you... probably in late February.
Going into 2021, we are working on Richter: Bone & Ash and Richter: The Porphyry Archive.
The Longer Version...
I owe you all an apology. For about two months, R:TRC has been 95% done, but it has been a 2 steps forward, 2 steps back kind of thing. I didn't post an update because my consistent thought was "I only need one good work day to finish it and then I can just share the finished book" but that one good work day never came, and then it got harder to write an update because of anxiety and shame and... well, mea culpa and all that.
But the book is done and should be headed to you on all the platforms. If you don't have an email from Itch or DTRPG or Backerkit within the next day or two, and it isn't in your spam folders, let me know and we'll make sure you get your download keys.
Our last thought for the year is that we hope 2021 is a marked improvement.
Thanks for your support and sorry for the delays and we hope you enjoy Richter,
Natalie
BackerKit / Surveys Incoming
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Sep 01, 2020 at 06:37:34 AM
Hello friends!
BackerKit is being set up - currently it is being sent for their review. Once that is done, we will send the "smoke test" to a portion of you to work out any issues, then send it to all of you. If you are interested in getting a print version of any of the Richter books, please pre-order them, especially if you want the Hardcover versions! We aren't going to be ordering very many extra copies of the hardcover, so they may not be available in the future.
Separate from that - so you don't have to wait any longer - we are sending a Kickstarter survey to everyone so we can get you the PDF of Richter: The Rotting City via Itch and DriveThruRPG. The only question in this survey is going to be those email addresses and specifically for delivering the PDF of Richter: The Rotting City. While the other books will be delivered through both of those platforms, everything else will be handled through BackerKit. Please fill those surveys out by next Monday!
Other news - Cold Hearth Collective
We have partnered with some of the other ZineQuest2 creators - Gabriel Robinson of Candlelight and Amalie McKee of Climbing The Witch's Tower - as well as the award-winning Michael Van Vleet to launch a store&publisher called Cold Hearth Collective. The website is open for orders (https://www.coldhearthcollective.com) and you can follow us on twitter (@ColdHearthClctv). Most excitingly, Cold Hearth Collective will be launching a Kickstarter for Alchemy, a collection of all-new incursion for Trophy Dark on September 22nd! The KS pre-launch page for that should be up soon, but follow us on twitter to see all the details upcoming for that. We have even more planned this year as part of that group that will be incredible.
Friends of ours
We would also like to point you in the direction of some indie RPG projects we're supporting, 'cause we think they're pretty great. You don't want to miss them, that's for sure.
Wanderhome - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jdragsky/wanderhome
Mnemonic: A Weaver's Almanac - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mnemonicrpg/mnemonic-a-weavers-almanac
Gun & Slinger - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nholmes/gunandslinger-0
<3
Natalie & Madeleine
July Process Update
almost 4 years ago
– Mon, Jul 20, 2020 at 04:27:04 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Goodbye June
almost 4 years ago
– Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 07:04:16 PM
Hello friends!
First things first, we feel it's important to take note of the ever-changing state of the world. A lot of us are still in the shadow of COVID-19 and witnessing an inept government's response just... making it worse. We are also witnessing large numbers of people stand up and assert their rights to life, liberty, and justice. Both of us were proud to take part in the Dissident Whispers project, contributing adventures and our skills to raise funds for the Black Lives Matter movement and related efforts. We encourage all of you to learn about the project and buy the book - there are over 50 adventures by incredible designers, and some of the boldest layout and art seen in any gaming resource. Check it out at https://whispercollective.org
Now, regarding Richter, we're delighted to say that the last few illustrations are being drafted up, detail-conscious editing is under way, and we're finishing the layout. After some reflection we have decided to make a change to the structure and remove Dungeons & Dragons content from the book itself. There are two reasons for this:
1. Mike Mearls. It had been stated he was no longer working on Dungeons & Dragons, which we have more recently learned was not true. His actions have directly harmed members of the indie games community and we don't want to support the projects he continues to be involved in.
2. Dungeons & Dragons has problems with racism and colonialism. There have been a lot of discussions about why this is so and, frankly, the D&D team have responded incredibly badly to those in the community who are trying to help improve both the game and the broader community. Additionally, their treatment of freelance designers - who are principally in marginalized groups - has shown that the creative leads and corporate structure don't really want to do better.
We do feel it is important to make sure you get what we promised (even though it is running behind), so we will be creating a pdf with all of the Dungeons & Dragons content and this will only be available to all of you. We will not be selling it later.
Hopefully we will have better (and maybe some exciting) news coming up soon.
Natalie & Madeleine
