Bill Coffin on Septimus at RPG.net

[Jamfke]

I just checked over at RPG.net, and found this post by Bill:

http://forum.rpg.net/showpost.php?p=...4&postcount=37

When Eric stopped returning my e-mails, I thought I'd swing by my old haunt here on RPGnet and see if any news was up on him and WEG, and whaddya know? Looks like the whole thing has gone belly up once more. Sigh.

Septimus is basically a huge transhuman space opera in a dying galactic Empire where hyperspace is unraveling. Everybody is trying to get to this Dyson Sphere in the farthest corner of known space before hyperspace stops working completely. Problem is, a bunch of techno-cultists have already entered the sphere and kind of have a little control over it. Much of the sphere's interior is unmapped, and as more and more galactic refugees our into it, a war is brewing between the tech-loving bad guys who are building vast armies of AI and the infighting refugees from the old order who want to set up the same broken system of government and commerce on a new frontier. Even a world as vast as Septimus isn't big enough for the two camps, and so warfare seems inevitable.

At this point, I don't know what the hell is going on with the project. I am really disappointed in how it's been handled, though. In the meantime, I'll see if I can post a PDF of the book online for folks to download, if they want. You guys have all been very patient about this.

There's another post further down-thread with his stating that he might look into his contract.

[jasonga]

Yeah, I saw that too. Really really disappointing - I would have thought that Eric would at least respond to Bill. I hope Bill at least got paid for his work.

[Whill]

Thanks for sharing here James. It seems Bill must have forgotten about us here, because he has posted here before. I say that because if he was looking for info about Eric after not getting e-mail responses, you would think he would look here first.

[harmyn]

Thanks for sharing here James. It seems Bill must have forgotten about us here, because he has posted here before. I say that because if he was looking for info about Eric after not getting e-mail responses, you would think he would look here first.

It could be he came here through the WEG site, and since it is currently offline that may have been why he went where he did.

[retriever]

I would guess that he just ended up there because he used to frequent those boards (I assume, since he referred to it as his "old haunt"). I know I occasionally find myself dropping back in on sites I used to visit regularly, based on some whim that strikes me at the time. Probably just old habit for him.

I hope all the Septimus confusion gets worked out for the better for him.

[hellsreach]

Checking my email account, I received one email from Bill (which I missed, so I indeed did not respond) on February 10th. Prior to that, Bill had not email me since August 26th (if my gmail search-fu is halfway decent), to which I did respond.

As usual, the RPGnet experts love making mis-assumptions without bothering to so much as check with me. The hardcover is NOT canceled. I still need to finish up some reformatting as I mentioned previously. It simply a matter of finding the time to do so.

As most of you are aware, I'm in school right now. I'm up to my eyeballs in work. I'm taking 18 credits -- 6 of which are studio classes and, as any art major can tell you, a studio class is DOUBLE the in class time, so it's not really incorrect to suggest I'm taking the equivalent of 24 credits, plus trying to manage other matters. I'm really not at all exaggerating to say that this is the most work intensive semester I have EVER had. I'm usually at school, either doing academic work, or in the studio, working on art projects all day every day. I leave my house a bit after 6:30am, and I get home at 10pm, almost every day of the week. Unsurprisingly, the weekend is usually occupied with housework, family commitments and, you guessed it, more homework. Believe me when I say that it is almost all I can do to steal 45 minutes for watch through a TiVo'd episode of Lost. I probably, on average, spend about 2 to 3 hours a week with my wife. If I do manage to wiggle a couple extra hours out of my week, who here is going to tell me that I should spend it on book layouts, website damage control, or forum posting?

[cheshire]

Eric, it's not that people aren't sympathetic to a busy schedule. It's more along the lines of the notion that people would have expected more follow through on announced commitments. Going back to school is great. I'm happy for you. Honestly, I really am. But if I make a commitment, I make sure that I finish it in a reasonable time, and I try not to bite off more than I can chew before I get it done. I mean, being busy with school is not entirely outside of your control in contrast to things like a spouse dying of cancer or something. By that, I mean to say I can choose how many classes I'm going to take, and I don't choose life-altering tragedies. And please don't take this as a fan feeling a sense of entitlement to the Septimus book. I'm simply looking at this from Bill's perspective.

I guess I'm also trying to understand part of your frustration, do you feel that Bill being unreasonable in being disappointed that the book isn't in hardcover yet? Or are you just frustrated that when you didn't reply to his one e-mail that he assumed you were going underground (which even you have to admit is sometimes a pattern when you have been feeling stressed, pressured, and generally overwhelmed with issues)? Or is there some other possibility I haven't seen yet?

[hellsreach]

Actually, the only issue I have with Bill is his intimation that I'm been totally unreachable via email, that he has been trying to contact me repeatedly. I've no idea how many emails he did write me, but I can say that when I did a search of my gmail account, I only got one single email from him between August 26th and March 11th (on February 10th -- which I indeed did not respond back to). I have to say that I could be wrong. I say that because even I cannot believe that it had been that long without contact. Still, that is the evidence I have.

Obviously I do have a choice how many classes I take. But from another perspective, do I? I'm about to turn 36th, and I'm in a tremendous hurry to have to ability to provide for my family. My wife has been a real champ, largely supporting the day to day financial matters of my household, while I sat around and basically wasted the last 7 years of my life on this company -- this dream. So, while I certainly have more control over my circumstances than a cancer patienct, my age and the need to lessen the financial burdens on my wife does not allow me the luxury of taking it slowly.

I'm must admit that at times a stress reaction for me is to disconnect, but this is not the case right now. I don't have the TIME to communicate as much as people would like me to. Moreover, it is a simple matter of priorities. As much as people might be angered, hurt or suprised in me saying so, virutally every other activity in my life has priority over WEG at this point in time. It's not a stress reaction. At least not directly. I'm not angery, stressed (with regards to WEG), or any such negative emotional state. I am -- nothing. I'm wholly apathetic to the publishing field in general. It simply a matter or identifying what things in my life can contribute to some kind of positive future for myself and my family, and it is high time I realized that WEG is not able to do that for me.

[cheshire]

Obviously I do have a choice how many classes I take. But from another perspective, do I?

Perhaps I've read too much Jean Paul Sartre, but I think we're all ulitimately free to choose that which we most value.

But speaking of value. If you just feel pretty apathetic, why not sell the company, get a little cash, and then move on? Again, there's no value judgement to what I say or ask. I'm just making simple observations and asking honest questions. Is it a lack of viable options to sell? Do most people just want to chop of the company's properties and not move forward on any given thing? Or are you hopeful that you can find yourself in circumstances that leave you more capable of managing the company in the future?

[shadowmane]

Eric,

Have you considered using this community to help you get this accomplished. I think I recall seeing one or two people here volunteering to help. And I'm sure there are many more who would volunteer their time and effort to get this project out the gate. A volunteer creates no overhead. I realize you have a business to run, as well as your obligations at home and at school. But the thing is, as a business owner, you can delegate things, or sub-contract them out to third parties to get it done. The point is, this can get done while you are slaving away at getting your degree.