State of the InfiniBadger June 2017


InfiniBadger has been running quietly for a while, and people have been wondering what’s happening with various projects. Thanks to everyone who has reached out to find out what’s going on.

The truth is that the fibromyalgia I’ve been diagnosed with since late last year (and most likely had since 2012 and made worse in 2014 due to another medical condition) has basically taken a lot out of me, and does so on a daily basis. This, combined with other family health issues, and a change in employment/career (leaving academia and returning to printing/publishing) basically put InfiniBadger and any creative work on pause as I reconciled several massive life changes. I’m still finding balance in things, and I’ve been working away on various projects, but the harsh truth of fibromyalgia is that it doesn’t give a damn about deadlines or goals or what you want; when you suffer from it, you suffer from it and you have to learn how to push yourself as much as you can without it pushing back harder and knocking you down for days or weeks at a time. There are days when I struggle physically and mentally to write more than 100 words, never mind 100 good words.

The bottom line is that I need to pace myself while working projects to completion. In the past, I was pursuing a very aggressive development and release schedule, but I can’t do that anymore. I’ve come up with a new plan that allows me to continue to release projects around my health issues, as well as not cause me to suffer burnout. 

2017 Releases
The remainder of 2017 will be spent on releasing the outstanding Polyhedral Dungeon products (The Advanced Rules, The Book of Monsters, The Book of Magic, and the Book of Loot). It will also see the release of The Necroid Host for the White Star RPG, and Made In Another’s Image. The final product for release in 2017 (and probably coming earlier than others) is a stealth project that I’ve been biting away at for a while – more on that when it’s ready to be released (and it might be the first product out the door). These projects are all at various stages of completion and each requires a few weeks or months of work on to get release-ready. The Polyhedral products are all being worked on in parallel – it’s taken a bit longer to write up 200+ spell Talents, 200+ monsters, and all of the new advanced rules content.

Support for Polyhedral Dungeon will continue on the Polyhedral hub website, with articles and content being released there. These are being planned right now, but may be infrequent and are at the mercy of my health. I’m hoping to be able to release additional PD products such as the planned Monster Card Decks when I can.

The Vignette Series for old school game systems will be converted to a 6×9 format in digital and print formats, which is the standard publishing format for InfiniBadger now; those who have already purchased these will get access to the new versions in digital format for free. I’m still working out details on the new format. This may end up pushed into 2018 because of artwork needs, and a few other things. There are still several other planned Vignette Scenario products that will be released as well.

2018 Releases
The first half of 2018 should see the release of These Stars Are Yours, although it may undergo a rename as well as a slight change in format; originally it was planned to be a White Star RPG release, but I’m reconsidering making it the same type of project as Made In Another’s Image, which provides details for use with multiple science-fiction RPGs. The advanced White Star RPG section that was to be included in the book would be turned into its own release, and include content generated from These Stars Are Yours.  

Additional Polyhedral products will arrive in 2018, including Polyhedral Galaxy, Polyhedral Shadows, and possibly Polyhedral Apocalypse (previously unannounced).Supporting books for these (which can be used with Polyhedral Dungeon) will be released as well.  Additional Polyhedral Dungeon products may be released in 2018, but the focus will be on other Polyhedral system products.

2019 And Beyond
Anything not mentioned above will be pushed off until at least 2019. This includes What Comes After (although I’m expecting to beta and playtest that in early 2018) and its two supporting books. It also includes a couple of other projects that I’ve got in basic design that I want to release. They’re on the backburner for a bit until other things are released.

I’m planning on moving towards a publishing approach where some settings are released without specific systems in the main book, and are supported by multiple system books so you can pick and choose which you want to use with the setting. The Freelancers RPG has been designed around this approach, but I’m considering using it for a couple of other projects.

Digital+
Part of the Digital+ program is that products get ebook and raw text versions of the publications. This is something that has suffered, and I plan to rectify that. There’s no definite timeline on these, but I do plan to get caught up with these as soon as I can. Products like Polyhedral Dungeon that use a lot of tables can be challenging because these end up as images in ebook formats.

InFANibadger
There have been plans to set up a mailing list/newsletter to offer access to sales, exclusive updates, and special bonuses. This is placed on hold until 2018.

OSRToday
The website for OSRToday will remain online until at least the end of 2017 and perhaps early 2018, at which point it will be shuttered completely and taken offline. It’s still being used today by various visitors, so I’m loathed to shut it down abruptly. There’s still some additional content owed to those who backed the Patreon for OSRToday, and those pieces will be released in late 2017/early 2018 as they are worked on.

Whither Old School Quarterly?
With this adjusted schedule, people will be wondering what’s happening with OSQ. I believe strongly in OSQ and still want to bring it to life. To do that is going to take a lot of time and enegy,, so what I’ve decided to do right now is to push it onto the backburner until I get through at least 2017 and some of 2018. This will allow me to measure how my health is and whether or not I can work to the kind of punishing publication schedule a quarterly publication of its type requires, especially working it around other projects.

Freelance Work Halted
Over the past few years, I’ve been doing freelance layout and graphic design work for others. Because of everything else on my plate and my focus on keeping InfiniBadger a going concern and getting caught up, I’m going to drop back from doing that, apart from anything that is outstanding.

Outstanding Projects
There are some outstanding work/projects that are owed to some third parties. These will be completed as quickly as possible given the constraints of everything else going on. Thanks for bearing with me.

Social Media Presence
As you’ve noticed, InfiniBadger has been pretty quiet online on social media. Right now the focus is on getting my head down and finishing products so social media interaction is still going to be somewhat limited.

So, that’s where InfiniBadger stands right now. I’m expecting to do quarterly updates

Thanks for sticking with us so far, and I hope that you’ll continue to support InfiniBadger (and myself) going forward.

 

 

 

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