And now, your top 10 reasons "The Book" won't get finished.

Well, I'm taking Pablo's lead here, and going to list, in no particular order, the top 10 reasons why the MOAG book will NOT get finished. Or least be delayed for some time. Now don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the book finished. I have a lot of time invested in the MOAG universe. I want it to get finished, almost as much as Wes does. But both Wes and I know that there are some unfortunate truths that stand in the way of the book coming to a completion. But yes, you are right, we shouldn't say the book won't be finished. But maybe these things will delay the book's completion.

So here's your new title: Top 10 reasons the MOAG book will be delayed.

And here they are in no particular order. Or least likely to "we saw that coming", if your going to get picky.

10. Midgets. You can laugh all you want, but you can't tell me you're not afraid of a death squad of midget ninjas. If you say you're not, then you're lying. Now how will this affect the finishing of the MOAG book? Good question. I don't know really, but you always have to prepare for the worst, so here it is.

9. The Writers strike. If we can't make a MOAG movie, then I don't even see why we're putting a book together in the first place.

8. Tom Cruise. He's crazy, and probably has a patent on all things "science-esque". I mean have you seen him lately? He. Scares. The. @#$%!@!!. Out. Of. Me.

7. Donuts. Hmmmmm, Donuts.

6. Did I mention Midgets? Because we really should be prepared for that sort of thing.

Okay, these last ones are serious reasons. But not that the previous reasons were not serious. I mean, these last five are MORE serious than the previous entries, but just as dangerous. And smarmy.

5. Content. We really aren't ready to put the book together. Wes has a lot of charts and tables in his folder, but we don't have a laid out body of text that will explain everything, and a lot of the game is still floating around in his head, fighting for air with all of the needless counterstrike strategies that clogs the cerebrial vortex. And that's just on his side. We still need plenty more artwork. And frankly, Wes and I are pretty picky about what we're going to put in there, so we wont just take anything.

4. Copyright infringement. If we wanted to go public with this, the first thing we'd need to do is clearly seperate the Conar from the Predator movies, which we've tried to do a bit, but still haven't quite got it right yet. There are other bits and pieces that need tweaking. Will power is an awfully lot like the Force, but I'll admit much better, so we'd have to make sure we weren't just ripping that off. And frankly, you can say that we aren't, but then how come all of us are will power using, sword toting, "gaurdians of the galaxy"? That sounds an awfully lot like a Jedi to me. Now it might not be too big of a deal, I don't really know. Either way, we need to make some changes and make sure the game is ours.

3. A Captive Audience. Right now, we don't have a need for a book. There aren't enough people playing MOAG to require a standardized book of rules be published. I know, I can already hear you say "But Salvaggio, if we had a book, we could then get more people to play". Which might be true, but I don't realy think so. I mean, did we all start playing MOAG because of a picture or a set of rules that Wes had come up with? No, we started playing because the game is fun. So we need to start getting more people playing. If Kang had a group of individuals who wanted to play in St. George, then I can see how it might be in Wes's best interest to put together a book of rules for him to use there, instead of going down to GM once every month or so. So guys, let's get more people playing, and then the need for the book will come.

2. Time. I'm pretty sure I speak for Wes as well as my self, but I don't have the time to dedicate myself to finishing the book. There is a lot of artwork that needs to be done, and I want to do it, but I can't take time off work to finish it. And that leads us to the number one issue...

1. MONEY! CA-CHING! It will cost a fair amount to publish a book, but that's not the money that I'm talking about. The real money issue is this: I get paid good money to perform the Job that I currently hold, therefore I cannot justify the time needed to spend on MOAG where I will recieve no payment. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy working on MOAG artwork whenever I can, but I have to do it in my spare time. And it will stay that way for any of us working on the book, because MOAG won't pay the bills. And trust me, as one who does freelance artwork, the promise of Payment down the road does not make up for empty stomachs and unpaid bills now.

So there you have it. Does that mean the book is doomed? NO. And here is the answer to all of the above issues and how it will solve everything:

Midgets.

Just Kidding, it's really patience. Be patient with Wes and myself as we try to put this all together in our spare time. Help out where ever you can. It's great to see Kang, Bot, and Pablo writing MOAG inspired tales, and we've all talked about helping write species descriptions and whatnot. Well, let's do it. But it will take time, and don't be afraid to pester any of us MOAGers for info or anything we think the book will need.

I want the book to happen, but let's not give up if it's not finished next week.

Anyway, there it is. It might not be pretty, but it had to be said. And now that everybody is aware of the pink elephant in the corner, let's dress up this pig and get it done.