hongkongwargamer
Forum Guru
I suspect this crowd is too well versed with what CH is to really benefit from your reviews (re CH). I don't know how much you get on Facebook, perhaps there are more newbies on there who will benefit a lot more from Desperation Morale?So I thought I would give a progress report on the massive (content) update of Desperation Morale that I have been working on. Because of burnout and other factors, I had not updated the World of ASL Compendium on my site with write-ups of new ASL products from spring 2017 through september 2019, so basically 2.5 years' worth of stuff. Reenergized by ASLOK 2019 somewhat, I decided to update the site, and I have been spending 8 to 16 hours each weekend since mid-October 2019 on updating the site, as well as working on it during about 15 vacation days and holidays since ASLOK. Today, for example, I worked on it for six hours before coming here to type this update (I suspect that's all I will work on it today, though).
Early on, I focused on official and third party releases, other than Critical Hit, and got most of those done. I had two left to do when I switched to something else, but more products have come down the pipeline in the nearly four months since I started, including the new Croix de Guerre and Bonus Pack (if I ever actually get them), Deluxe Redux, Koenigsburg, the Texas pack, and so forth. So when I come back to these, I will have my work cut out for me.
For a while now, I have been trying to tackle the Critical Hit issue. They released so many new products, old products renamed, variant accessories, and the like that the only way I could keep track of it was through a spreadsheet that ended up having 244 rows and 9 columns, each row containing from 1 to 3 products. I have been steadily working through this spreadsheet. Most of these new products I did not buy--which saves me money but does take up time in trying to dig out a minimum amount of facts such as contents data from a company notoriously opaque on what its products actually contain and are like. I did, in the end, buy some Critical Hit products (about $1,000 worth, from Noble Knight rather than Critical Hit) that people were most likely to have questions about, be confused about or (gasp) want to purchase, so that I could make sure I could do full write ups of those, or at least one full write up for products in a series.
I have somewhere around 50 Critical Hit products left to add, most of which are new rather than mere updates or new additions, plus some additional accessories (though those don't take much effort). Moreover, I am conscious that CH has published some more items since I created my spreadsheet, so the old bane of my existence continues to be the new bane of my existence even though I no longer purchase and do full write-ups of all Critical Hit products.
It's difficult to say how fast or long I can get through these. When doing full write-ups, I usually begin to zone out after around four or so. But today, I was able to take care of the two Leningrad modules (without full write-ups), the two southern Kursk modules (without full write-ups), the two Hell on Earth items (which only required updates to existing entries), and the entire 12-part Make the Rubble Bounce series (which included basically one full write-up, plus other stuff to account for the rest of the series). That took me 6 hours today. I probably won't get a chance to work on the site again until next Friday, when I will have (God willing) a comp day off from work.
At this rate, then, mostly working weekends, holidays and the occasional day off, it could easily be the end of April before I am finished. Which kind of makes me groan, as I have set aside my other hobbies and many other things besides to get this done.
I will say that I have been extremely grateful, no, let me make that EXTREMELY GRATEFUL to the people who have given me permission to use photos or scans that they have taken, or have gone to the effort specifically to take photos of ASL products to share with the site--and thus to all of you and the whole ASL world. Some people have really gone beyond the call of duty.
I don't want to name names here on this quick update for fear of leaving someone's name off, but in the future I will make a special public acknowledgment and thanks, naming all the people who have helped me (except those who have wished to remain anonymous). Also, I should note that, though I have many such photos left to upload, the names of many contributors are credited on the photos I have already uploaded for the entries published so far.
Along those lines, let me note that there is still MUCH ROOM for more people to take and share photos of ASL products that have come out since spring 2017 and any submissions would be WELCOMED ENTHUSIASTICALLY. You can contact me via DM with questions, offers, to get my e-mail address, etc.
That's pretty much it. Just wanted to let you know I was still steadily chugging along at it, but it will be a long time before the website is totally up to date (and at that point I will ask people to stop making ASL products ever again, so that I don't have to worry about keeping my site current after that).
Perhaps you will get a more well rounded response there.
