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A myriad of reasons.
- The bare minimum is exactly that: the bare minimum. If you launch a draft with seven examples (slightly above the bare minimum), you'll probably get maybe fifteen wicks once you crosswick. That does not bode well for your future trope's health, so some people like to take the time to accumulate a lot of examples (I like to go for 20ish unless the trope is really rare) before launching.
- Even if the draft looks good, that does not mean it's ready for launch. Perhaps the OP is trying to expand the description or refine the scope.
- Launching takes time and effort; the sponsors might just be having a rough month.
- The draft may also be abandoned and nobody is maintaining it. See Up for Grabs.
Taking time to gather examples, refine the description/image/laconic, crosswicking is a fair bit of work and you're not up to it just now... There are many reasons.
Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.Sometimes, however, it has also to do with the hat/bomb ratio. Even if the description and name are good, many examples are added and there is even a quote and an image, there may be some lingering matters that have to be resolved before the launch (like, for example, the potential scope of the trope like Synchronicity said); and launching won't be a legal option if the number of hats is less that five higher than the number of bombs (even if the favorable difference is bigger than five, it's best to make sure there aren't too many bombs overall).
135 -> 180 -> 273 -> 191 -> 188 -> 230 -> 300 -> 311Sometimes things look good on the surface, but still need work. My current personal baby:
- Has ~250 examples, but they're mostly mined from another page - I'm still working through and cleaning them up.
- I'm still working on tightening and cleaning the language of the description
- Name is still in flux, though it feels like it might be about ready to stabilize.
^^ Well, the bomb difference isn't that indicative. If it's 35 hats and 30 bombs the draft could be launched but likely this would indicate a lack of consensus or open issues so that the draft still can't get launched. However, few bombs actually get withdrawn even after a draft improves. Or maybe there's only one bomb and 15 hats but that bomb is there for a good reason, indicating a lingering issue. Some bombs and most hats are placed stealthily. It's just such a weird metric.
Edited by SirenaA lot of time I set my launch date when I feel like all the necessary discussion has been had, but I still set it at least a few days away just in case (and always for days I'm not working so I have time to spend crosswicking).
In general, more time in the oven can never hurt drafts.
Edited by WarJay77 Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallI have several drafts that are either ready to launch or very close, I just haven't had the time to dedicate to doing the legwork after the launch. War Jay's right, it's never a bad idea to let drafts percolate; someone might spot one and have an idea for any example or a way to improve the description or some other helpful tweak.
For myself, I haven't found a convenient date to launch yet, especially since it includes moving examples and redirects.
Space Battles Dot Com fanworks (now oficial) index in my Sandbox.

This question is nothing more but curiosity.
I noticed that some drafts on the launch pad are very above the minimum requirements, but don't even have word of a launch date; Many examples enough to qualify, a pretty good draft, more than enough hats, proposed months or even years ago, etc. The requirements in theory seems pretty minimal, so in these cases what exactly is the problem?
I have zero intention to launch any of these myself, of course. Nor do I want to push any one in particular. Is there just some unwritten rule I'm not aware of?
Edited by PikaRobo