[Abstruse]

He wasn't assassinated he "Sacrificed" himself to power an incredibly powerful focus. He then somehow became a free spirit named Lethe and ended up possessing a cyberzombie named Billy aka Burnout. He is as of last mention guarding a metaplaner gap that divides our world from that of the Horrors.

That crap is still supported as canon?  Ugh

Aside from Rob Boyle (I think, might've been Adam Jury) dropping a plane on his head and killing him during Crash 2.0.  Seriously.

[Angelone]

Huh? Burnout? Did he leave the bridge? Elaborate please.

[Abstruse]

Huh? Burnout? Did he leave the bridge? Elaborate please.

Someone asked on Dumpshock when we'd see Billy/Lethe again after 4th Ed came out.  The line manager at the time said a plane crashed on him and he died during the crash. 

Basically, the entire Dragonheart trilogy was meant to do a couple of things.  Explain how and why Dunkelzahn died and close off the entire Horrors subplot for good.  Not sure if it was by design or by chance, but after that, the design philosophy of the metaplot changed.  It went from previously where they would hint at events in one book, introduce them in another, expand on them for a book or two, and finally give them full game stats and treatments and the plot "closed out".  A few examples of the previous philosophy would be Bugs (hinted in Secrets of Power, introduced in Universal Brotherhood, expanded in 2XS and Queen Euphoria, and closed out in Bug City), Horrors (hinted in every Aztlan/Aztechnology write-up, introduced in Aztlan, expanded in Harlequin's Back and Worlds Without End, and closed out in the Dragonheart trilogy), and IEs (hinted in Tir Tairngire write-ups, introduced in Tir Tairngire, expanded in Tir nA nOg, Harlequin, and pretty much everything involving either of those two countries, closed out in Threats).

The design philosophy afterward seemed to take a much more organic approach.  Basically, they threw a bunch of crap against the wall and waited to see what stuck.  They'd set up little hints about anything and everything, then expand on the ones people seemed interested in with a single book covering about a year of gametime for the event.  The Corporate War, Year of the Comet, Renraku Archology Shutdown, etc.  Then when they ran out of ideas, they'd make another set-up book, typically something like the Target and Shadows of where they updated locations and set up more possible events.

This pretty much stopped after 4th Edition as they were concerned with just getting all the "Core books" out (cyber, guns, magic, matrix, and options) for so long that they didn't develop the plots for a while.  By the time they were done with those, the editorial staff had multiple changeovers and the license changed hands and honestly, I haven't been able to figure out what their design philosophy is now at all.  I think it's having the same problem that other systems (D&D mainly) and comics have been having.  They try something new, but thanks to the internet, they get INSTANT feedback of people whining about how it's different so it sucks so they never have a chance to follow through as they try to change to fit what people want.  D&D kept getting complaints in 4e about how it's different so it sucks, so they tried to move back to something closer to the previous editions in Essentials and got massive negative feedback so they scrapped that and completely ditched their entire line and they've only got something like four or five books on the schedule for the entire year (which is big for a system that used to put out 1-2 a month).

[CanRay]

We're talking about Rabid Fanboys/girls.  If there isn't something to complain about, they'll mis-remember something to complain about and refuse to believe otherwise when someone points it out to them.   

[Abstruse]

We're talking about Rabid Fanboys/girls.  If there isn't something to complain about, they'll mis-remember something to complain about and refuse to believe otherwise when someone points it out to them.   

Thus the problem the entertainment industry's having aside from novels (which are released long enough apart that fanboy wanking can't affect them too much).  TV shows don't have it as bad either since episodes are aired months after they're filmed.  Fanboyism about a plot development in Episode 203 won't affect anything when they're currently filming Episode 209 and Episodes 210-215 are written.  Movies don't get it during the production since that takes place between 6-18 months depending on special effects, but the entire industry's torn between pandering to the fanboys and ignoring them ("This is a popular comic/video game/novel, let's adapt it but make it MOAR AWESOME by changing everything the fans like about it since our focus groups say it's too confusing or they felt sad.").  Video games are immune because the lead time on game development is years (a game that's only in development for a year is considered a rush job).

Comics are scripted and drawn about 2-3 months in advance of release, which means that when they do something like change a character's costume or kill off a character, they get feedback they can use to alter the release.  Same with RPGs except they can be changed much more easily since they're mostly text rather than art.  And with things like PDF releases, those can be changed up to the day they go live (and depending on who's making the changes, even the minute).  Things like blogs, webcomics, podcasts, etc. can all be influenced, but honestly their audiences are so small comparatively speaking and usually have such low production costs (mostly server costs and the initial outlay for equipment (mics and mixer boards for podcasts, Photoshop and drawing pads for webcomics)) that they can interact directly with their audience, either explaining what the basic plan is (or even just assuring the audience that there is a plan) or flat-out telling them to piss off if they don't like it (which is just as frequent since ego usually plays into these media).

[CanRay]

Ah yes, Ego.  How glad I am to not really have one.

So, how about those Mountain Dragons?

[Crimsondude]

honestly, I haven't been able to figure out what their design philosophy is now at all.

Well, I was under the impression it was something akin to "provide players with material to incorporate into their campaigns so that they can have fun in this shared, ongoing universe."

As far as "bad" ideas go, there are only three options I see with the hindsight of playing and bitching and now writing for this game for most of my life:
1. Bitch.
2. Ignore it.
3. Make it better.

One of these options is fucking retarded.

As for that second post, uh ... What? All I can think is "It didn't  take The King's Speech 12 years to get made because of SFX."

[CanRay]

You forgot make stupid comments and crack jokes. 

In seriousness, "Make it better" is the only way I can allow myself to look in the mirror.

[Crimsondude]

Eh. That kind of falls into the "Ignore it" option. At least for the purposes of my point.

[Abstruse]

As for that second post, uh ... What? All I can think is "It didn't  take The King's Speech 12 years to get made because of SFX."

I'm talking about from the start of production to the release of the film, not from the moment the script gets optioned or commissioned.  I'm not even going to get into that politicking and studio bookkeeping nightmare of pre-production (for the record, Superman Returns was the most expensive film ever made solely because Warner Bros kept it on the books as the same film that Kevin Smith/Tim Burton/etc. had been working on since the mid-late 90s, even though not a single person stayed on that entire time except a couple of the producers).  From the moment sets are built and the camera is rolling, a film typically takes 6-18 months until release.  A rare few take more (not counting films that get held for years like Trick R Treat), but even fewer take less outside Corman and Sci-Fi Original Movies sort of speed demon productions.  And even then, the film rarely changes due to fan input (those changes usually come from test audiences which is pretty much the bane of any director on the planet).  The few times that does happen, it's not major changes.  Typically just a few reshoots and a reedit like what happened to Snakes on a Plane after it became an internet meme (they reshot a handful of scenes and did some ADR for an R rating rather than PG-13 which was the original aim).

[Charybdis]

As for that second post, uh ... What? All I can think is "It didn't  take The King's Speech 12 years to get made because of SFX."

I'm talking about from the start of production to the release of the film, not from the moment the script gets optioned or commissioned. 

There are more than a 'rare few' that take longer than the 12-18 months you mentioned.

With the advent of more and more CGI, the post-production efforts are becoming exceedingly astronomical. Examples:
- Avatar - Premiere 10th December 2009, Production design initiated 2005 (while pre-development work had begun in 1994)
- Toy StoryReleased 1995, production initiated 1991

[Abstruse]

As for that second post, uh ... What? All I can think is "It didn't  take The King's Speech 12 years to get made because of SFX."

I'm talking about from the start of production to the release of the film, not from the moment the script gets optioned or commissioned. 

There are more than a 'rare few' that take longer than the 12-18 months you mentioned.

With the advent of more and more CGI, the post-production efforts are becoming exceedingly astronomical. Examples:
- Avatar - Premiere 10th December 2009, Production design initiated 2005 (while pre-development work had begun in 1994)
- Toy StoryReleased 1995, production initiated 1991

Pixar movies and James Cameron count as "a rare few" compared to the body of work put out by the major studios alone, not counting independents and foreign films.

[Charybdis]

As for that second post, uh ... What? All I can think is "It didn't  take The King's Speech 12 years to get made because of SFX."

I'm talking about from the start of production to the release of the film, not from the moment the script gets optioned or commissioned. 

There are more than a 'rare few' that take longer than the 12-18 months you mentioned.

With the advent of more and more CGI, the post-production efforts are becoming exceedingly astronomical. Examples:
- Avatar - Premiere 10th December 2009, Production design initiated 2005 (while pre-development work had begun in 1994)
- Toy StoryReleased 1995, production initiated 1991

Pixar movies and James Cameron count as "a rare few" compared to the body of work put out by the major studios alone, not counting independents and foreign films.

Depending on the accepted definition of 'Production' these Pixar/James Cameron etc are not your only criminals here.

Does production start with Storyboards? First Film sequence? First CGI demo?

Depending where you draw the line, you can be talking 5+ for lots of movies *cough* Harry Potter, Star Wars, LotR *cough*

More and more movies are spending 2+ years in post production due to the level of Computer effects. More and more people are following in the footsteps of Cameron, Spielberg, Lucas and Pixar, so there's no reason to expect movie production times to start shortening....

[CanRay]

I just want to see more Pratchett movies.

[Charybdis]

I just want to see more Pratchett movies.

Concur. Other half is a massive fan, and we're trekking off to hear him speak this weekend...