Executive relaxation

Hi folks,

Merry Monday from Rusty Towers! It’s been a busy old week at Rusty Towers, what with the return of The Magnus Archives for Act II plus the release of the Operations Update, which you can find on our website. Production still rumbles along, and indeed we’re gearing up to start work on Season 3 of Stellar Firma, which begins its final season in December! This is also our financial end-of-year, so we’re busy making sure accounts are in order and sorting out departmental budgets for the next year.

But we did take a little time this past weekend to relax and remind ourselves that the crew do have actual faces and physical forms, and aren’t just a collection of digital holograms and synthesised voices – as many of the UK crew gathered in London for a socially distanced picnic and meet-up. And see, Alex can relax! (Sometimes.)

Before I go on, though, I just want to remind folks that information and bonus materials that we share on Patreon are for the private enjoyment of Patrons, until such time as they are made public. This applies to the shownotes of the early-access episodes as well. Please do not share these things publicly though social media until their due time, as it makes it harder for us to ensure that information is delivered in an appropriate manner, may be spoilers for your fellow fans, runs the risk of things being taken out of context, and – particularly with the art that we share – may be breaches of copyright and show licencing.

For this last point, we are aware that our designs are turning up on Redbubble (among other places) – sometimes altered, sometimes just used as is – which is a significant problem and one that we are looking into, as to what further steps we can take to ensure that official designs are not copied. We would rather not take the option of reducing the quality – or even suspending – art or other Patron bonuses, but it may be a route we end up taking due to the actions of a few.

We know that Redbubble is not the most ideal option, particularly when it comes to shipping, and we will be investigating, and possibly experimenting with, other sites in due course. But for now, it is the only place you can get official Rusty Quill merchandise and only from our storefront.

Talking of Stellar Firma – the new suggestion form is now open! The Executive Team of Stellar Firm Ltd is reviewing company operations, praise the Board, and we’re inviting all Patrons to make a submission for the new series of a department they’d like to see examined. The form is now open HERE and will remain open until next Monday. Don’t worry if you don’t have an idea for this one, though, there will be other opportunities to suggest prompts as production continues.

And in other feedback news, we will be closing the Ensemble TRPG beta this weekend. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to read the ruleset and maybe do some playtesting – if so, please ensure that your feedback has been submitted on this form  by 5pm BST this coming Friday (11th September). Any other queries can be submitted to rqensemblefeedback@gmail.com. We really look forward to seeing what you had to say, and working out the next steps for this system!

Quick update on some of the outstanding Patreon milestones that have been achieved to date:
- The Patron-exclusive mini-series that has been a long time coming has a production team in place, and I will be talking more about it in a week or two’s time, so stay tuned for that.
- The investigations into being able to provide transcripts for Rusty Quill Gaming and Stellar Firma in a reasonable and sustainable manner have begun. Tied in with this is ensuring the overdue gaps for The Magnus Archives are also filled. In our discussions so far, we’ve realised this is a significant accessibility project with a scope that reaches further than just providing a written version of the shows we put out.
- Tied in to this is also the need to be able to provide captioning for our videos, beyond the limited automatic systems that YouTube provides, not just for the podcasts but RQ Streams as well.
- We are looking at a number of possible plans, including potentially professional outsourcing, and timescales that it is feasible to get this done on. Given how important this project is, and how important it is that it’s done right especially bearing in mind future projects, we don’t want to rush the planning.
- However, I also recognise that interim solutions may be necessary while we work on more ideal plans. Expect more on this in the coming weeks.
- The special fanart competition to design for official RQ merch will definitely be going ahead, though due to existing schedules we won’t be starting that until closer to the end of the year. Expect more news around the time of the Act II season break for The Magnus Archives (end of November).

And, here's what you can expect from us this week (all shows release at 4pm UK time, unless otherwise stated):

Tue 8th September
RQG169 – “Freaky Friday”* (Patreon)
RQ Streams – Tessa plays… Pikuniku (4pm)

Wed 9th September
MAG178 – The Processing Line (Patreon)
RQG169 – “Freaky Friday”* (Public)
RQ Streams – Anil plays… Backbone (5pm)

Thu 10th September
STL – Trexel Geistman Solves Your Problems (Patreon)
MAG178 – The Processing Line (Public)

Fri 11th September
Knight / Noble Bonus – TMA Fluff Winner : Ostriches
STL – Trexel Geistman Solves Your Problems (Public)

Sat 12th September
RQ Streams – Mike plays… A Variety of Indie Games (4pm)

Sun 13th September
RQ Streams – Nico plays… Lumino City (12pm)

* Provisional title

Have a good week all!

Anil
Community Manager