Our hobby would be perfectly healthy if no one ever felt they were willing to pay a dime for another product for the rest of the history of the universe. Table top rpg's were always designed to involve a flexible, change-it-as-you-will rules set and a few examples to get you started, and then you take it from there to create your own content and rules variants. And this do-it-yourself ethos attracts people who are creative and prefer doing things their own way. Plus now anyone with access to the most basic PC resources can create acceptable versions of their games and settings and distribute them for almost nothing. Where is the need for a caste of professionals? I'm personally perfectly happy to pay someone for a cool product I'll enjoy. I'll even pay a lot for the right thing. But the default condition of the hobby is free, home-cooked goodness.

Even thought the writer is either acting like or effectively a mo-ron, he has succeeded rather magnificently of lining the pockets of ENWorld with click and sideways shaming people into supporting the ENWorld Patreon.  Either he is trolling for green (smart) or an irredeemably........ (fill in the blank).  Either way his boss is probably pretty happy.

Last I checked the comments, I found it saddening no one seems to be referencing or even replying to Kevin Crawford's post... But then, he basically just BTFO them all, so of course they have to ignore it completely.

Quote from: JesterRaiin;897139...I feel they should address you and explain which part of your statement they have problem with, then. Shouting "you suck!" from the back row has zero impact - it won't change a thing and in fact might strengthen your beliefs, since "if they fight me, I may be on the right track"

That is a drawback to Reputation/voting systems on forums. It cuts down +1 style posting but it can reduce discussion.

Quote from: Nexus;897145That is a drawback to Reputation/voting systems on forums. It cuts down +1 style posting but it can reduce discussion.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, there's no perfect solution, no system everyone would agree to and use "as intended" when more than a single person is involved.
Funny thing is that once taken away, it turns out to be a feature highly missed by a lot of people. I've seen forums go down because users revolted because their owners decided to change some tiny feature (like a color of inline images border's). :rolleyes:

Quote from: Tod13;897075The sci-fi writers who have experimented with tracking their work and sales on pirate sites point out there is one thing worse than being pirated. Being ignored.

Often the writer complaining about lack of sales isn't on the pirate sites, because nobody cares about their books.

It seemed to work pretty well for Eclipse Phase.  Drop the book on the torrent sites, people look at it, and then turn around and support the product with their dollars because they not only like it, but want to see more of the same.

I'd swear another game company did the same, but I can't be sure.  Truth be told, since it's really difficult to flip through a game book online like you can in a store (assuming it isn't sealed in plastic which is annoying), it seems like a fairly useful tool for promotion.  People are going to pirate your shit anyway, but by putting it out there yourself, you're saying "We think this is so awesome that you'll pay for it anyway".  Might not work all the time, but I've certainly nabbed a new book for something and though it was so good that I went out and bought it.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;897117Apropos of nothing, and totally off topic:  I wish it were taught in schools as part of a mandatory course load.  There's so much most people don't know.

It is a government school. Government has a vested interest in the peons not understanding economics (or most things). And, economics is, in fact, required in most/all US schools. Check out "The Underground History of American Education" for details. https://archive.org/details/TheUndergroundHistoryOfAmericanEducation_758

I know Chris Helton, we've corresponded frequently and met up to play a game when I was in Vegas. He's a cool guy, super smart and passionate about this industry. I appreciate the ferver; I also do not believe game designers are entitled to anything. As someone bitten by the Entrepreneur bug, and someone who believes in capitalism, I think the burden of "higher wages" for a business owner falls squarely in the "improve profits, cut costs" paradigm. However, don't mix up an article with the character of the person. A columnist is supposed to look at their "wheelhouse" and inspire discussion. Chris is good people. Don't toss the baby out with the bathwater. I too disagree with the ideas as presented, however I still believe Chris is a good guy. :-D

Quote from: trechriron;897197I know Chris Helton, we've corresponded frequently and met up to play a game when I was in Vegas. He's a cool guy, super smart and passionate about this industry. I appreciate the ferver; I also do not believe game designers are entitled to anything. As someone bitten by the Entrepreneur bug, and someone who believes in capitalism, I think the burden of "higher wages" for a business owner falls squarely in the "improve profits, cut costs" paradigm. However, don't mix up an article with the character of the person. A columnist is supposed to look at their "wheelhouse" and inspire discussion. Chris is good people. Don't toss the baby out with the bathwater. I too disagree with the ideas as presented, however I still believe Chris is a good guy. :-D

He just showed an overly self-entitlement attitude with that post, we don't know him personally.  How else are we supposed to take him?

Quote from: trechriron;897197I know Chris Helton ...

The article is the only time I have heard of them, can't say it makes me want to read more of their stuff.

Quote from: Warboss Squee;897126It was taught when I was in high school. When did it get pulled and for what?

I am not sure why or exactly when - and your mileage may vary since school curriculum goals are decided at the state level in a scope & sequence. It was still around in the later 80's when I was a teacher, but long gone by the time my kid when to high school.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;897201He just showed an overly self-entitlement attitude with that post, we don't know him personally.  How else are we supposed to take him?

Yes, I have to agree with this.

He's championed a specific viewpoint in this article - that is in fact, what the article is entirely about. He isn't reporting it, he believes it. That wouldn't stop me from chatting with him or buying his game stuff if I thought it provided enough value to me for the price. I don't think anyone is saying he's an "XXX" (ie the same tactics that SJWs use to discredit people that do not agree with them). Just that he's clueless about how business really works.

Quote from: Warboss Squee;897152It seemed to work pretty well for Eclipse Phase.  Drop the book on the torrent sites, people look at it, and then turn around and support the product with their dollars because they not only like it, but want to see more of the same.

The problem with this is that we don't know the extent by which they tested this, to what extent it has been verified by follow up study, and if it applies more to what kind of works and price points of the actual commercial product.

Quote from: RPGPundit;896929Why is it that semi-competent assholes in the gaming industry always end up hiding in one of two demands: either that everyone start paying more for their products, or that we somehow reduce the number of people writing competing products?

Its been hard for the RPG hobby to adapt to a near post scarcity environment. Ignoring piracy for a second , I could very easily give nearly everyone on planet Earth an copy of any number of free and legal RPG's many of them high quality for not a lot more effort than  saying "Tea Earl Grey, hot" . This is a big deal and it  raises the bar considerably for new entrants.

When many of the designers came into gaming , you know back in the day  even bush league games like say Talislanta that built a following could make a modest living in the game business.

Note here

QuoteFrankly, I don't know how anyone can afford to put out pen & paper RPGs these days. From what I hear, sales for small games average about 20% of what they were back in the mid-late 1980's. For example, I was able to get advance orders of about 1800-2000 copies for each of the main Talislanta books. Many small game companies are lucky if they can sell 200 advance copies. That's pretty tough. But if you're someone who loves creating games, and you can afford the time and expense involved, it's still a pretty cool thing to do.

 After the PDF  revolution, the changes of the economy (its smaller than in the 80's)  , the "entertainment ecology" (more stuff to do instead of D&D)  cultural  demography (US Literacy levels are much  lower in several states) gaming got hammered.

These guys are just going to have to adapt and understand to  make it work you need a long tail fan base and very regular releases and even than you may only get a few years from it.

I get the impression that too many game designers think of the RPG business of the 80's as the default baseline, rather than the overinflated bubble that it actually was.  Where we're at now - a cottage industry with one or two corporate players large enough to afford full-time staff - is probably the sustainable state.