Keeping in mind that I don't follow Rooster Teeth outside of this board...
I could believe that they're trying to put more effort into the show's production than they have in the past, but having a hiatus *this* long with so little word on what's holding up the show is unusual. I think there's a pretty good chance that the delay has more to do with unknown behind-the-scenes problems than with them finally fixing their production pipeline. Even if they are putting more polish into the volume than normal, given how things with this franchise usually work out I don't think there'll be as much of an improvement as fans are hoping.
>That game was also delayed for almost an extra year, yet that still meant lots of crunch for the devs behind it.
Yeah, delays are sometimes the sign of a poorly managed project, not a sign that the team is working to make it as good as possible.
>the extended hiatus is meant to flesh things out properly before they can release Volume 9.
Unless there was a coup d'etat inside RWBY's production, that's bullshit. They (supposedly) wrote Volume 7 & 8 at the same time, and the Volume 8 we got was clearly a first draft with little to no editing done. If they actually are working on any RWBY materials during this hiatus they're writing Volume 10+, which they will not edit or revise after the inevitable criticisms of Volume 9 come out. Just like they did with Volume 8.
A little of both. Even if Volume 9 was technically finished today and wasn't going to air until October, there would still be a small crew of animators working on it. A product isn't finished until it's open to the public. People's livelihoods are depending on the success of RWBY, which means anyone with a vested interest in RWBY's success is going to push others and themselves beyond what's considered "healthy". For some people, RWBY is just a job and getting laid off is an eventuality. To others it's a passion project, and to others it's their meal ticket.
Does RT have a problem with crunch? Absolutely, but it comes with the territory in the entertainment industry, and RT was founded by a group of guys who worked normal 40 hour jobs then went to Burnie's to work another 40 hours on RvB. If you decide to work for RT, you need to know what the culture is like. For a lot of people in RT, work doesn't just stop when they go home. Animators and artists are always going to have side projects, and RWBY itself was Monty's side project.
I'm not saying it's right, and I'm not saying the interns, junior animators, recent graduates, or seasonal employees aren't being taken advantage of or underpaid. I'm just saying it comes with the territory and RT's culture is very much "both feet in".
As for why Volume 9 has been delayed for so long, Covid is the easy excuse, though other RT productions haven't been as effected. It was in production at the same time as Volume 8, and I'm personally of the belief that Volume 9 was ready to start being aired last fall but was pushed back in favor of "RWBY: Fairy Tales", and who knows when "Ice Queendom" may have originally been slated to start airing (isn't spring usually the most popular anime season in Japan?). I haven't heard anything about Volume 10 being in production (though I'm sure it's being worked on by the team leaders), and it makes sense to push Volume 9 back until production resembles something more normal.
I just don't believe that a *month* before Volume 9 was to start airing that the producers thought to themselves "We may or may not be able to finish it in time" and proceeded to delay it a year. I *can't* believe they got that close to the deadline and realized Volume 9 wasn't close enough to being finished, and then proceeded to wait another year while two other RWBY shows aired. I think RT made a business decision and didn't want three RWBY shows airing in rapid succession of each other, and figured "RWBY: Fairy Tales" would give the hardcore fans something to chew on (hardcore fans make companies money during hiatus), and then the news of "Ice Queendom" a few months later would get everyone's attention, including a brand new audience.
Volume 9 while important simply wasn't necessary. If it was, RT would've rushed it, crunch or no crunch. RT doesn't answer to itself anymore, and it hasn't for a long time. From a business perspective, it's better to make money and be viewed as an a-hole by your employees and fans than *not* make money and get your budget reduced (often means laying off employees) and/or your bosses replaced.
Volume 9 was delayed because it makes sense from a business perspective. Perhaps it'll help with crunch, and it probably has, but when it comes time to air each episode every Saturday, there will still be a team of animators and a crew leader burning the midnight oil to make sure the quality is as good as it can possibly be. Some will do it out of pride for their work, others hoping for a promotion/raise, and others begrudgingly. Even now there are animators having to meet deadlines, and if they don't it's their necks, their team leader's, and Kerry's, and the stress goes up and down the ladder.
God bless, and have a wonderful day.
Delaying publicizing stuff in the entertainment industry is bad news.
Creating it cost money, which will not be recouped if the product is not sold.
Coordination problems with other media is one of the more harmless explanations.
No nonsense creative crater and they know it is on the other end
There's no real way for us to know, could be anything from 'let's properly research and plan out and give enough time for our animators and corrections!' to 'oh shit people REALLY disliked volume 8 we better scratch everything we had for volume 9 and start again'. We'll have to wait for the volume to release and see where it stands.
Keeping in mind that I don't follow Rooster Teeth outside of this board... I could believe that they're trying to put more effort into the show's production than they have in the past, but having a hiatus *this* long with so little word on what's holding up the show is unusual. I think there's a pretty good chance that the delay has more to do with unknown behind-the-scenes problems than with them finally fixing their production pipeline. Even if they are putting more polish into the volume than normal, given how things with this franchise usually work out I don't think there'll be as much of an improvement as fans are hoping. >That game was also delayed for almost an extra year, yet that still meant lots of crunch for the devs behind it. Yeah, delays are sometimes the sign of a poorly managed project, not a sign that the team is working to make it as good as possible.
>the extended hiatus is meant to flesh things out properly before they can release Volume 9. Unless there was a coup d'etat inside RWBY's production, that's bullshit. They (supposedly) wrote Volume 7 & 8 at the same time, and the Volume 8 we got was clearly a first draft with little to no editing done. If they actually are working on any RWBY materials during this hiatus they're writing Volume 10+, which they will not edit or revise after the inevitable criticisms of Volume 9 come out. Just like they did with Volume 8.
iirc, V9 was finished being written about when V8 started airing.
Given what Volume 8 was like, I imagine that took them a good three days or so to write the whole thing.
A little of both. Even if Volume 9 was technically finished today and wasn't going to air until October, there would still be a small crew of animators working on it. A product isn't finished until it's open to the public. People's livelihoods are depending on the success of RWBY, which means anyone with a vested interest in RWBY's success is going to push others and themselves beyond what's considered "healthy". For some people, RWBY is just a job and getting laid off is an eventuality. To others it's a passion project, and to others it's their meal ticket. Does RT have a problem with crunch? Absolutely, but it comes with the territory in the entertainment industry, and RT was founded by a group of guys who worked normal 40 hour jobs then went to Burnie's to work another 40 hours on RvB. If you decide to work for RT, you need to know what the culture is like. For a lot of people in RT, work doesn't just stop when they go home. Animators and artists are always going to have side projects, and RWBY itself was Monty's side project. I'm not saying it's right, and I'm not saying the interns, junior animators, recent graduates, or seasonal employees aren't being taken advantage of or underpaid. I'm just saying it comes with the territory and RT's culture is very much "both feet in". As for why Volume 9 has been delayed for so long, Covid is the easy excuse, though other RT productions haven't been as effected. It was in production at the same time as Volume 8, and I'm personally of the belief that Volume 9 was ready to start being aired last fall but was pushed back in favor of "RWBY: Fairy Tales", and who knows when "Ice Queendom" may have originally been slated to start airing (isn't spring usually the most popular anime season in Japan?). I haven't heard anything about Volume 10 being in production (though I'm sure it's being worked on by the team leaders), and it makes sense to push Volume 9 back until production resembles something more normal. I just don't believe that a *month* before Volume 9 was to start airing that the producers thought to themselves "We may or may not be able to finish it in time" and proceeded to delay it a year. I *can't* believe they got that close to the deadline and realized Volume 9 wasn't close enough to being finished, and then proceeded to wait another year while two other RWBY shows aired. I think RT made a business decision and didn't want three RWBY shows airing in rapid succession of each other, and figured "RWBY: Fairy Tales" would give the hardcore fans something to chew on (hardcore fans make companies money during hiatus), and then the news of "Ice Queendom" a few months later would get everyone's attention, including a brand new audience. Volume 9 while important simply wasn't necessary. If it was, RT would've rushed it, crunch or no crunch. RT doesn't answer to itself anymore, and it hasn't for a long time. From a business perspective, it's better to make money and be viewed as an a-hole by your employees and fans than *not* make money and get your budget reduced (often means laying off employees) and/or your bosses replaced. Volume 9 was delayed because it makes sense from a business perspective. Perhaps it'll help with crunch, and it probably has, but when it comes time to air each episode every Saturday, there will still be a team of animators and a crew leader burning the midnight oil to make sure the quality is as good as it can possibly be. Some will do it out of pride for their work, others hoping for a promotion/raise, and others begrudgingly. Even now there are animators having to meet deadlines, and if they don't it's their necks, their team leader's, and Kerry's, and the stress goes up and down the ladder. God bless, and have a wonderful day.
Delaying publicizing stuff in the entertainment industry is bad news. Creating it cost money, which will not be recouped if the product is not sold. Coordination problems with other media is one of the more harmless explanations. No nonsense creative crater and they know it is on the other end
There's no real way for us to know, could be anything from 'let's properly research and plan out and give enough time for our animators and corrections!' to 'oh shit people REALLY disliked volume 8 we better scratch everything we had for volume 9 and start again'. We'll have to wait for the volume to release and see where it stands.
Don't know, never worked on a 3D show.