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🕑 Added 2019-10-28 16:01:00 +0000 UTCMerry Magnus folks!
And we're here... After 159 episodes, we've reached another season finale. What horrific happenings on Hallowe'en does Jonny have in store for us? What has transpired at the Institute whilst The Archivist ventured deeper and further into the spaces below and beyond? Questions a-plenty, and hopefully some answers...
And speaking of questions, a reminder that the Season 4 mailbox is now open for all your questions to Alex & Jonny about this season of The Magnus Archives. Though you may want to hold off from direct story-related questions until after this week's episode. The form will remain open until 8pm Sunday 10th November.
Now, I'd like to take a bit of time to address some comments that arose following the recent episode delays. To contextualise, MAG158 was significantly delayed for the early access release, to the point where it didn't actually come out until nearly 11am BST on Thursday, some 19hrs after its intended drop. On the Wednesday I stated that we were hopeful of releasing by midnight, then later I publicised that the episode would be available between 8-9am BST.
With regards to the episode, I can only apologise unreservedly for the delays that beset it (and the small delay to MAG159 as well) and acknowledge that this wasn't our best showing in terms of managing expectations. Unfortunately, with regards to the production of this episode, we encountered a storm of problems, not least of which was that Alex had only the previous day returned from 3 weeks away - and at present he is the only person who can do the assembly & mastering of a TMA episode as complex as MAG158 was.
I spoke to Alex at several points on Wednesday, and put out announcements based on his best estimates. When we spoke that night, I was categorically assured that the episode would be ready and waiting for upload by 8am on Thursday. However, following our conversation and my announcement, it turned out that the only way to get that done would have been for Alex to work through the night, having already spent more than 10 hours on the edit.
We're not going to apologise for prioritising self-care above an edit, but this shows our management process around long delays does require revision, which we will look at during the season break. The times I put out were made in good faith, in an effort to keep you all as informed as possible based on the best information at the time. But I realise that also sets up false hope if/when we have to miss those times.
However, some folks who expressed perfectly reasonable dissatisfaction at the delay and other concerns, took some flak in doing so. Let me be perfectly clear - everyone has the right to criticise us & our actions, and we do not appreciate anyone being targeted (however well-meaningly or obliquely) for airing their grievances.
Have we messed up on occasion? Yes.
Have we put out information that has subsequently been wrong/inaccurate? Unfortunately, yes.
Have we over-promised & under-delivered with regards to bonus material & such? Probably. We recognise we've been over-eager in some areas.
I can categorically state that we never intentionally set out to mislead anyone. Information has always been provided to the best of our knowledge or expectation at the time. However, things change. And we can't always say why at the time, but we will do our best to be as transparent as we can.
We are constantly working to make good on the things we've said, but with only one person in the company being a full-time RQ worker (Alex), many matters will take longer than is ideal. In the interests of not making this overlong, I won't address specific concerns here, but if anyone has things they would like to raise/ask - you are always free to message me here or drop me a line on mail@rustyquill.com. And I encourage you to do so - we want to get better. I will also see about doing a specific "State of the Towers" kind of post at the end of the year - so if you have questions you'd like me to try and answer publicly, let me know.
TL;DR - we've made mistakes, we're sorry and will endeavour to learn from them. Please don't jump on folks raising legitimate & constructive criticism.
And, here's what you can expect from us this week (all shows release at 4pm UK time, though please note, DST has now ended in the UK, so times may vary from your usual):
Tue 29th October
RQG - Apocalypse World Special, Part 1 (Patreon)
Wed 30th October
MAG160 - [REDACTED] * (Patreon)
RQG - Apocalypse World Special, Part 1 (Public)
Thu 31st October - HALLOWE'EN!
MAG160 - [REDACTED] * (Public)
Hallowe'en Hangout with Anil (8pm; The Cosmic Lounge on Discord)
* Title being kept a surprise at the request of Jonny ;-)
Have a great week folks!
Anil
Community Manager
Comments
Paula Salkeld
No need to apologise for anything ! No point running Alex to despair editing!
Rusty Quill
At this point, we will see what we can do to address the failings. Unfortunately bonus content across the board has been lacking (aside from what we've been able to offer via Rusty Bits), TMA in particular because Jonny has had to prioritise writing the main series. With the appointment of our new CMO, Callum, one of his priorities is to put our Patreon on a stable & realistic production footing. Once that planning is complete, we will let folks know what our intentions are. If it turns out that it is unrealistic at this time to go beyond our current offering, then we will also let you know that, so folks can make a decision on how they wish to spend their money.
Mira Loves Fandom
Thank you for the explanation but, like the others, I don't need an apology. The work you do is top notch, and Alex deserves his rest. Thanks for a terrific listening experience!
Gilligan Mungus
Anil you truly are a treasure. I love the content you guys release so much - my immediate reaction to anyone criticizing you guys is to defend you. And while extras don’t matter to me, that doesn’t mean their importance to others isn’t valid. Thank you for all that you do to keep us informed of the goings on in The Rusty Tower.
Enzy
I appreciate you acknowledging that your bonus content and long delay process have been lackluster, but will you be doing anything to actually address these issues? Looking into it is fine but what happens if you look and decided this is the best you can do? Forgive me if I missed something, but the last bonus content update I see for MAG was from April. Most bonus content (at least for MAG) has been dropped entirely or trickles out so slowly that it may as well have been dropped.
Alex
Y'all are great -- thank you for the explanation. Also, I look forward to whatever suffering we're about to experience this Wednesday. :)
Kat Munn
You’re the best Anil
marisa
Huge +1000 for prioritizing mental health! Creative work can be so mentally and physically draining and I absolutely would prefer to wait for an episode if it means that people get some very, very well-deserved rest. Thanks for always putting out incredible content - it's always one of the highlights of my week!
Jasper G
Thanks for all the hard work y'all put into every episode!! I'll happily choose a break over Alex losing sleep don't worry. Keep up the good work and take care of yourselves first always!!
Cher Carlisle
Anil, You guys are doing a great job. Sometimes high quality means delays. Growth comes with success! Please thank the team for their efforts!
Meredith Clayton
I am never bothered by delays and you should most definitely prioritize self care! Estimates are just that - estimates. I so appreciate the head’s up that you -always- provide and I’m very sorry others did not find that sufficient. (Very good job defending their right to critique, too. )
Rosa
I love the fact that we don't get the title of the episode in advance! And don't worry about delays, the quality of the episodes is always amazing, thank you for your effort!
Marcus Bolton
Honestly, a few delays is nothing compared to the hours upon hours of work you guys put in to provide such fantastic content. Cut yourselves some slack, we thoroughly appreciate everything you do, and hiccups are bound to happen <3
