Esper Genesis is a versatile science fiction RPG and setting that uses the 5th edition rules of the world's greatest roleplaying game.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hi Espers,
All of us at Alligator Alley Entertainment have been under Shelter In Place orders for a few weeks now. Of the four of us on the team, one of us has a day job that has been deemed essential, and one is able to work their day job from home. the rest of us have had to do whatever we can to keep food on the table, pay the bills, etc...
Work has not stopped the Master Technician's Guide. Rich has been moving that book forward as best possible under the circumstances. We've organized our art assets and identified outstanding needs, and are trying to budget how we will make all of that happen.
We've had two convention opportunities cancel so far, and expect more to come. Of our two biggest sales generating shows, Origins has been postponed until October, and Gen Con hasn't told us they are postponing/canceling yet, but we expect to hear about that soon. We still plan to attend Gamehole Con and PAX Unplugged, providing they happen and people are congregating by then. In the meantime, Rich is contemplating a social media appearance of some kind. We'll announce that once it's determined what it will be. There are some wonderful EG streams going on. Please check out:
We appreciate your patience and continued support while we make our way through this difficult time. We'll leave you with a bit of art from the MTG, a Kesh starship by the great Tan Ho Sim.
Thanks again,
The Alligator Alley Entertainment Team
Rich, Brian, Eric and Chris
Thank you, everyone, for your patience and understanding as we plod ahead! Esper Genesis was our first project, our first Kickstarter, and we got ambitious with what we wanted to offer, no doubt about that. We've also tried to deliver the highest quality product we could, and will continue to do so.
There have been delays in excess of what we foresaw (like Rich has mentioned in the Facebook group), and cash crunches (anyone familiar with RPG publishing would tell you the money we raised in this KS and BackerKit falls way short of the production costs of even the first 2 books). We've been fortunate to be successful enough that revenues from book sales have enabled us to maintain a high standard as we work to finish the 3rd book, but we do have to wait for those revenues to catch up as we move ahead. This doesn't mean work stops, but sometimes it slows things down.
Every aspect of the MTG is being worked on. Most of the art is already done, but we want to commission a bit more. Our favorite artists have told us when they'll next be available to work on our stuff (it's soon, but not right away), and the same goes for our writers. Plus, we need to be able to pay these talented folks, and book sales are how that happens (continuing to spread the word about EG, and encouraging a friend to pick up a CM or TD can go a long way!). We don't have a marketing department, or much of an advertising budget. Running games at conventions is the closest we get to that, plus word of mouth.
We were just going over where we are on the MTG yesterday, and trying to figure out what we could talk about in our next announcement, which channels that announcement should go through, etc... This is going to be a really neat book, and it will hopefully expand everyone's ideas about what EG can be, encourage GMs and players to take the game to new creative directions, as well as filling in all those cool tech and ship options you've been waiting for.
We so appreciate your patience. There's only 4 of us, and we all have at least one other regular, full time job (Rich and I have more than one besides AAE), plus all the normal other RL issues that come up. Rich has had the most of that going on, and he's also carrying the heaviest load on EG. But we are all devoting many hours to EG every week.
Expect to see that announcement on the MTG posted in Facebook, here through KS, and hopefully in some other news outlets in the coming weeks.
Thank you again.
Rich, Brian, Eric & Chris
We are thrilled to let everyone know that the Threats Database is shipping to backers. Per tracking, most US backers should have the books in hand. Several US Backers have reported receiving the books already.
International shipping will take a little longer, but much quicker than the Core Manuals from last year.
We hope you are as happy with the Threats Database as we are!
We are going over the printer proofs for the Threats Database! A few technical fixes and we are printing books!
Thank you so much for your support! We expect physical books in a few weeks, and Studio 2 and our European partners will be getting them out to you as soon as they arrive.
We are so excited for this book, and we hope it meets your expectations.
The Digital Threat Tokens were sent out through Backer Kit, and are up on Drive Thru RPG now.
Work is proceeding on the Master Technician's Guide.
Thanks again,
Rich, Eric, Chris & Brian
Alligator Alley Entertainment
