Dream Pod 9: The Heavy Gear Blitz War for Terra Nova Kickstarter has surpassed 500 Backers yesterday, breaking $67,000 in Pledges and garnering 6 Stretch Goals in the process. Dave McLeod, the new Line Developer of the company, wrote up a comprehensive outline for all those concerned about the current Beta rules and the older Blitz rules, addressing the change.
"We have made efforts to smooth the transition with the rules change-over first with downgrading the last field manuals to PDFs to ensure that players were not buying full field manuals just before a rules direction change of the scale that the Heavy Gear Blitz Beta is. Dream Pod 9, like every company out there now, is learning to deal with the new reality of instant information, instant feedback and the increased pace of development. Even the switch to the Kickstarter model, while still respecting the brick and mortar stores that are the front line of miniature gaming, is a delicate balance to make.
"We know that the Beta rules will be updated several times before they can be locked down as the definitive core rules of the game. We are planning to maintain a Black-and-White PDF of the rules as a free download going into the future, since this is becoming the industry standard. We are a company that sells miniatures and we want players to be able to access the most current rules through all the different formats without having a number of books/FAQ/Errata/updates to lug around and sort through.
"Once the Beta rules have undergone some more revisions, it will depend on the reception and demand for a locked down version to be printed. Even then, there are reasons to offer a print on demand service for those who appreciate a paper copy and retain the format of a living online rule book for accessibility . The simple fact is that doing all the work to lay out a book costs money and time which we would rather spend on artists, sculptors, and development. A living rule book allows us to make changes and save on those layout costs for multiple books.
"We fully expect the Beta rules to remain in beta until the completion stage of this kickstarter, and then be available in a locked format PDF with all the factions represented. When it comes to published material there are several formats such as the Art of Heavy Gear books on special right now on DrivethroughRPG.com, and story line books. In other words, we are looking at a number of solutions and will be surveying our customers to see what will work the best.
"We would rather produce a regular e-book, or e-magazine, of support material once or twice a year, instead of a paper field manual that won't be able to be renewed again until after another rules cycle in 4-7 years. Never mind the risks the company takes printing large numbers of paper books in order to get the price down.
"I think players themselves are more interested in spending the money on the models than the rules over and over again, regardless of what system you play. If we move to a business model with a premium 'pay to download' e-book that includes all the background, and the free rules-only living rule book with a minimum of fluff, then the players will have a choice. Players who want the current story included would only pay for the book once for a premium version and then future updates to the story line could be included with an update to the PDF. This will depend on the demand.
"Arkrite Press LLC will be producing a lot of material for background through their focus on the RPG side of things. DP9 (Dream Pod 9) rules will focus on the tactical combat level of detail and the supporting material will reflect that in what we publish."
In regards to the open Beta play testing and designing Mr. McLeod continues, "I understand that open communication with our customers is very important and that the era of the ivory tower of game designers is over. The quality of games is increasing and the gaming culture of the future will involve a very interactive collaborative approach, involving a lot of participation directly with the players. This kind of collaboration will become the norm for games that require a lot of high value components, and you can see with the board game companies that are including players in designing updates, the face of things to come.
"It doesn't mean that the executive decisions will by made by the customers, but the player experiences can now be directly transmitted to the designers who can grapple with the questions and lead a discussion in real time. I can clearly point to several examples in the HGB Beta rules where player involvement has directly changed a rule for the better, and some cases where player responses have resulted in better presented rules or terminology."
Another response from observers involved the composition of what the new plastic Heavy Gear Blitz miniatures out of the Kickstarter will be. To this Mr. McLeod responded that the plastic would be styrene, and explained further:
"We won't finalize the exact composition of styrene until we can get some samples from the company we are planning to use for our casting. We have to see our molds in action to see how the detail stands up. We know the tolerances very well for the 3D printing and the plastic molds so it's just getting the best material for the task.
"If there is any question about which is the best styrene material to use then we will be going to our backers with an update and a reason for the decision. For example many wargamers expect grey styrene from their familiarity with Games Workshop products but Styrene is not naturally Grey, it is a colorless plastic that has additives. Our manufacturer has experience with casting plastic styrene model airplane kits with high tolerance details and we will be using their recommendation about material choice to maximize quality."
The staff of Dream Pod 9 has now updated their Kickstarter with the seventh Stretch Goal, the F6-16 Earth Frame, the counterpart to the Terra Novan Heavy Gear and will soon be unlocking another the BF2-21.
"After their first failed invasion of Terra Nova, what the 'Novans referred to as 'the War of the Alliance', the Earth's Eighth Fleet returned crippled and battered to their bases on the gate world of Caprice. Generals and dignitaries alike all agreed that the ferocity of the 'Novan defenses was coupled with the ingenious use of the cheap but reliable Heavy Gears. Scientists, technicians and engineers immediately began reverse re-engineering parts of Gears that had been taken during the war, and they were finally able to employ a humanoid armored combat vehicle that was dubbed 'the Frame'.
The original F6-16 Frame was the prototype on which all other Frames would follow, and it is almost always assigned to a human pilot, although recent indoctrination of sub-specialized GREL (Genetically Recombined Experimental Legionaries) pilots have been grown to fill the ranks with this frighteningly fast war machine. The CF6-16 Frame itself is also employed by front-line commanders for command-and-control, and as an electronic warfare platform."
