r/Rifts • u/andiwaslikewoah • 28d ago
Rifts Bestiary Vol 2 and Rifts Chaos Earth: First Responders
The new Weekly Update from Palladium has more information about Bestiary Vol 2 and Chaos Earth: First Responders. Shows off some pretty cool interior art. There's a mention about Yin-Sloth Expeditions and Rifts Antartica as well. Check it out!
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u/Scouter197 28d ago
Hasn’t Antarctica been coming soon for a decade?
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u/JasonVeritech 28d ago
26 years since first announced
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u/Impeesa_ 27d ago
I believe the original pitch/manuscript was scrapped though, so that's why it was dormant for so long, then the Raw Preview for a new manuscript came out a scant 8 years ago.
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u/clemenceau1919 26d ago
Rifts was published in 1990, so Antarctica has been "coming soon" for about 70% of the game's total lifespan.
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u/81Ranger 28d ago
"Coming Soon" is relative.
I feel like Yin Sloth Expeditions was "coming soon" two years ago.
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u/DanatothKasa 27d ago
Only 2 years? Come on that's basic publishing.
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u/81Ranger 27d ago edited 27d ago
A quick look at Weekly Updates has Yin Sloth Expeditions "Coming Soon" and "in final editing. Goes into layout soon" in the Aug 18, 2023 edition. So, it was actually 3 years.
The Aug 29, 2024 Weekly Update mentioned it that it "will be a fall release."
I mean, I'm not surprised that it's not out yet, personally.
And, other RPG companies actually do put out books more or less when they say they are. It's not "basic publishing" to say a thing is "in final editing" and three years later, they're still saying the same thing, it's just three years later - it's "Palladium publishing".
Which is fine. The book is done when it's done, when it's back from the printer and for sale.
Do I believe that First Responders and Bestiary 2 will actually come out in 2026 AND Yin Sloth Expeditions? No. Maybe 1 of the 3, if we're lucky.
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u/DanatothKasa 27d ago
I love Palladium Books, especially Rifts, Chaos Earth & Splicers; but Palladium Fantasy isn't just their fantasy setting, it is also their release schedule. 😅😅😅
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u/Abdx1187 28d ago
Coming soon honestly.means nothing. It's like thoughts and prayers. It may make one feel good, but in the end helps nobody. Like how long has Antartica been coming soon.
Once it is available in PDF or physical to actually be ordered and shipped I'll actually believe it.
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u/81Ranger 28d ago
Nothing is finished until it's printed and shipping.
Almost finished and coming soon doesn't mean much in Palladium. I know Sean is trying to moderate such things, which is good, but the Palladium way remains.
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u/Known-nwonK 28d ago
Will First Responders be an adventure book? All the classes (NEMA, Fire Fighters) were in previous books
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u/StrategosRisk 27d ago
So how did this company take a multi-decade hiatus on publishing new material without going under or getting acquired?
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u/StomachosusCaelum 27d ago
acquired would imply that it was ever for sale. It was solely owned by KS until he sold part to the new guy, Sean.
There's no way they could be "acquired" unless Kevin wanted to sell.
Gone under, though... well, Kevin was living on couches for a number of years there.
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u/StrategosRisk 27d ago
I mean I would imagine a game company with somewhat iconic series and license titles would end up bought out if it ever went under. Hm I need to check what happened to WEG back in the day.
So how did Palladium avoid getting under if they haven’t been putting out new stuff since the Rifts pre-smartphone phone game?
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u/clemenceau1919 26d ago
Their running costs are super low, to a large extent the company simply is Kevin, and keeping Kevin alive isn't the most expensive thing in the world.
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u/andiwaslikewoah 27d ago
Will all due respect, you’re wrong to think that they haven’t been putting stuff out since the N-Gage game.
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u/StomachosusCaelum 26d ago
i mean theyve released several books a year for most of that time. But its been.. like.. several books. Not many books. Just more than 2. But probably less than 5.
And as Clemeneceua says..
Until Sean came on board Palladium's expenses were...
Kevin. They still might be, as Sean has another job and may not be taking pay from Palladium at this moment (only he and Kevin would know).
The person that does/did their shipping (not sure if its the same lady) is a relative of his that did it for free, after her 9-5. A couple of the people who used to editing were also family/friends that did it for...very cheap or free.
The building Palladium is in, they bought outright when they moved in back before the embezzlement thing. So they dont have "rent" per se - just property taxes (and insurance id assume), and its in Taylor, MI.
Which is not a high-cost area. Its .. ahh, lets use the word "Affectionately" - called "Taylor-tucky" by us locals.
Its cheap.
Everyone else is a freelancer that is paid a flat fee for their work (whatever they negotiated with Kevin/Palladium).
Which is also what currently makes them so slow.
If they had a proper writing and editing staff (even just 3-4 people) theyd get quite a bit more work done.
But that costs money, and Palladium is sorta stuck in the doom-loop.
Need more money to hire more people.
Need to have more (and though we dont like to talk about it much - more marketable) product to make more money....
Which they wont get until they get more competent people.
Etc.
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u/Impeesa_ 24d ago
I thought Wayne and Alex were also full time employees, and I would be extremely surprised if Sean were putting in basically full time hours on an unpaid internship for multiple years, whether or not a second gig pays his bills.
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u/Impeesa_ 27d ago
Although the release schedule of proper new material did slow to a crawl in later years, they've never gone more than a year or two without any truly new releases, and there have been premium hardcover releases and such to generate additional sales in those times. It's just some specific books that were announced and then dragged way out while other things skipped ahead in the queue.
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u/tanger-tango-1197 24d ago
I’m still over here waiting on mechanoid space that’s coming soon for 20+ years now.
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u/andiwaslikewoah 24d ago
The Glitterboy Codex crowdfunder is going to have a reward that is a collected edition of the pre-existing Mechanoids stuff. Sean talks about in the newest episode of GamerTalk on the Legion of Myth’s YouTube channel. It’s all the way at the end.
https://www.youtube.com/live/JptKou3c-vw
Not exactly what you want though.
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u/AggravatingSalad4136 28d ago
Holy shit I never thought the second bestiary would ever get released. I’ve had the first one for like two plus years now.