Looking at all this, I got to ask the same thing I asked when the disaster surrounding Frank Mentzer was happening: Why doesn't the man simply get an agent?

Agents are cheap. If you carry the name "Gygax", I'm pretty sure there are more than enough that would rep you pro bono, at least until you start making "the real money". And even if they're not - you live somewhere in Sisterfuck, Wisconsin, not in Greenwich Village. The prices people will make you will be reasonable. - Now, if the core of the matter is simply that you are not professional enough to reserve about 1 to 3% of your six-figure project budget for someone to, at the very least, be your media coach, then you should probably not be in the business, at all.

Since "Castle Zagyg", back in...'05? ...There's one red line to all projects that involved "oldschool icons": They preside over processes of production and promotion they clearly do neither understand nor control. Where's the community that shields them from the vultures that seem to surround them? If this was a one-time-thing, it would maybe be excusable. But it's the same routine every single time one of the pioneers has come out and endorsed or launched a project. How come people continue to let that happen?

Quote from: JeffB on June 27, 2021, 07:21:31 PM
Based on posts I'm seeing on MEWE, GenCon has banned the new TSR.

Cracks me up every time GenCon does this.

By the Mobs own standards the owner of GenCon is a predator:

Wherein Peter Adkinson admits to sleeping with his employees when he was head of WOTC:
(Towards the end of the article)
https://www.salon.com/2001/03/23/wizards/

And yet because he is one of them he gets a pass...

Quote from: Melan on June 28, 2021, 03:29:29 AM
...
Yes they did. And this, urm, person is, apparently, GenCon's "Community Manager".

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/781454158132674580/858961561393561620/unknown.jpeg

This is just messed up.

A person who identifies with "evil". And whose sense of self and identity has been so profoundly damaged that they describe the horrific mutilation of their body as something to celebrate.

So unbelievably sad.

Quote from: Torque2100 on June 28, 2021, 02:00:47 PM
It's really a shame Ernie is such a five-alarm dumpster fire of a human being.  The people attacking him are so odious and vile, but he's not much better.

It's a double-shame since I love the Elevator Pitch for Giant Lands.   I have had a soft spot for Post Apocalyptic Weird Fantasy ever since I first watched Wizards (and to a lesser degree Rock and Rule).

I will be holding onto my cash until the game actually releases. I'm not breaking my "no pre-orders" rule for him.

I definitely think that is wise.

I love what I've seen of Marmoreal Tomb. I genuinely have reason to hope it will be an amazing product.

But if I had to do this all over again, I would wait for the thing to be in print before buying it. I'd happily pay probably $25-$30 more for the finished product when it's eventually releases than to have my money tied up for half a decade waiting for it to come out. In fact based on my back-of-the-envelope estimate of the interest I've lost on the money I spent on the Kickstarter and the time since it was supposed to come out, I think I've already paid around that much more in lost interest on my money which would have compounded yearly.

So yes, definitely do not break your no-pre-order policy for this set of people with this reputation they've built.

Say what you want about guys like Monte Cook, but when you buy into one of their kickstarters, the damn thing will arrive either early or right on time, guaranteed. That is a valuable thing these days.

Quote from: Rafael on June 28, 2021, 02:54:41 PM
Looking at all this, I got to ask the same thing I asked when the disaster surrounding Frank Mentzer was happening: Why doesn't the man simply get an agent?

Agents are cheap. If you carry the name "Gygax", I'm pretty sure there are more than enough that would rep you pro bono, at least until you start making "the real money". And even if they're not - you live somewhere in Sisterfuck, Wisconsin, not in Greenwich Village. The prices people will make you will be reasonable. - Now, if the core of the matter is simply that you are not professional enough to reserve about 1 to 3% of your six-figure project budget for someone to, at the very least, be your media coach, then you should probably not be in the business, at all.

Since "Castle Zagyg", back in...'05? ...There's one red line to all projects that involved "oldschool icons": They preside over processes of production and promotion they clearly do neither understand nor control. Where's the community that shields them from the vultures that seem to surround them? If this was a one-time-thing, it would maybe be excusable. But it's the same routine every single time one of the pioneers has come out and endorsed or launched a project. How come people continue to let that happen?

Because it's not an agent they need (agents find and negotiate new deals for you). It's a Public Relations Representative they need. One of my closest friends is one of those. And they are definitely not cheap. And they will not represent you pro-bono, no matter what your last name.

Quote from: Mistwell on June 28, 2021, 04:56:16 PM

Quote from: Rafael on June 28, 2021, 02:54:41 PM
Looking at all this, I got to ask the same thing I asked when the disaster surrounding Frank Mentzer was happening: Why doesn't the man simply get an agent?

Agents are cheap. If you carry the name "Gygax", I'm pretty sure there are more than enough that would rep you pro bono, at least until you start making "the real money". And even if they're not - you live somewhere in Sisterfuck, Wisconsin, not in Greenwich Village. The prices people will make you will be reasonable. - Now, if the core of the matter is simply that you are not professional enough to reserve about 1 to 3% of your six-figure project budget for someone to, at the very least, be your media coach, then you should probably not be in the business, at all.

Since "Castle Zagyg", back in...'05? ...There's one red line to all projects that involved "oldschool icons": They preside over processes of production and promotion they clearly do neither understand nor control. Where's the community that shields them from the vultures that seem to surround them? If this was a one-time-thing, it would maybe be excusable. But it's the same routine every single time one of the pioneers has come out and endorsed or launched a project. How come people continue to let that happen?

Because it's not an agent they need (agents find and negotiate new deals for you). It's a Public Relations Representative they need. One of my closest friends is one of those. And they are definitely not cheap. And they will not represent you pro-bono, no matter what your last name.

Of course, you could get one that's utterly unqualified for cheap and just burn them when they (you) fuck up. Then get another, repeat, and blame all setbacks on "bad help" (even if you originally claimed they were the "best people" when you brought them on).

Quote from: HappyDaze on June 28, 2021, 04:59:45 PM

Quote from: Mistwell on June 28, 2021, 04:56:16 PM

Quote from: Rafael on June 28, 2021, 02:54:41 PM
Looking at all this, I got to ask the same thing I asked when the disaster surrounding Frank Mentzer was happening: Why doesn't the man simply get an agent?

Agents are cheap. If you carry the name "Gygax", I'm pretty sure there are more than enough that would rep you pro bono, at least until you start making "the real money". And even if they're not - you live somewhere in Sisterfuck, Wisconsin, not in Greenwich Village. The prices people will make you will be reasonable. - Now, if the core of the matter is simply that you are not professional enough to reserve about 1 to 3% of your six-figure project budget for someone to, at the very least, be your media coach, then you should probably not be in the business, at all.

Since "Castle Zagyg", back in...'05? ...There's one red line to all projects that involved "oldschool icons": They preside over processes of production and promotion they clearly do neither understand nor control. Where's the community that shields them from the vultures that seem to surround them? If this was a one-time-thing, it would maybe be excusable. But it's the same routine every single time one of the pioneers has come out and endorsed or launched a project. How come people continue to let that happen?

Because it's not an agent they need (agents find and negotiate new deals for you). It's a Public Relations Representative they need. One of my closest friends is one of those. And they are definitely not cheap. And they will not represent you pro-bono, no matter what your last name.

Of course, you could get one that's utterly unqualified for cheap and just burn them when they (you) fuck up. Then get another, repeat, and blame all setbacks on "bad help" (even if you originally claimed they were the "best people" when you brought them on).

I witnessed this happen once to a person who is now a well known celebrity but who back then was simply a beginning actor with a decent rep for indie movies. It burned him bad. The pro-bono guy who handled PR for him and who was ditched as soon as the actor became famous ended up writing a tell-all book (full of a bunch of falsehoods mixed in with truth) and doing as many interviews as humanly possible all to trash the actor for burning him.

Quote from: oggsmash on June 28, 2021, 09:23:55 AMCan not make this shit up.

That's why I'm constantly taking notes. If you need examples of true evil you just have to look around you. It makes a DMs job so much easier.

I watched a long video interview with this son of Gary's, a long time ago; and I thought he seemed like a nice old guy, who wishes people would come play in his dungeon.  It wasn't a bad interview that I watched.  Gary's sons, aren't Gary; and that's OK.

When will companies learn to just stay off of social media entirely?  It really serves no purpose other than give people a way to attack you for whatever reason they want. 

Quote from: Mistwell on June 28, 2021, 04:54:08 PM
So yes, definitely do not break your no-pre-order policy for this set of people with this reputation they've built.

Say what you want about guys like Monte Cook, but when you buy into one of their kickstarters, the damn thing will arrive either early or right on time, guaranteed. That is a valuable thing these days.

This.

It's okay to say fuck I'm not buying anything from this scumbag, but if they consistently deliver, that's a real skill set. They deserve props for that.

And it's okay to buy something from someone who has a pattern of failure, but by Gyges' ring don't give them any money in advance. Some (most) people lack the skill set of seeing a project to completion. My preferred policy is slightly stronger: Don't throw good money after bad -- i.e. until they fulfill their promises, no more money. Period, full stop, end of story, I don't care if it sounds great, not a dime. And if they're acting entitled and whining about the haters and attacking backers and otherwise trying to blame everyone else for their own failures, then I move to fuck that and fuck them no more ever that bridge is burned and I hope they financially die on it.

Quote from: Hakdov on June 28, 2021, 07:31:19 PM
When will companies learn to just stay off of social media entirely?  It really serves no purpose other than give people a way to attack you for whatever reason they want.

Definitely a smart move to stay off Twitter, not only for protecting your reputation reasons but for simple time-management reasons.

Quote from: TheShadowSpawn on June 28, 2021, 10:01:34 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit on June 28, 2021, 04:07:37 AM
I think it's probably accurate to say that Ernie alienated 75% of the RPG "INDUSTRY".

But the "industry" is not the hobby.

Right. Recently Ethan Van Sciver was attacked by Scott Kurtz about endorsing his own product. Kurtz intimated that EVS couldn't get a fellow industry creator to endorse his product (that's not what happened at all). They totally miss the point that he doesn't want to be a part of "their" industry. They've hijacked it, they can have it and watch it slowly burn to the ground as these locusts move on to their next target.

I had fuck all to do with the Ernie interview, and yet on twitter at least a couple of guys invoked my name, and while doing it claimed that my "products are unimportant" or that I've "never produced anything of value".  This while gaming is my full-time job and has bought me a house, while the assholes claiming this sell little booklets on itch.io that probably don't earn them enough to cover their aromatherapy-candle budget.

These cunts pretend to be "industry pros" of an industry where no one but WoTC makes any money of note. And they think that because they blocked me on twitter, that's somehow 'stopped' me. Meanwhile I have a bigger fanbase and more successful products than all of them put together.

Quote from: RPGPundit on June 29, 2021, 12:44:13 AM

Quote from: TheShadowSpawn on June 28, 2021, 10:01:34 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit on June 28, 2021, 04:07:37 AM
I think it's probably accurate to say that Ernie alienated 75% of the RPG "INDUSTRY".

But the "industry" is not the hobby.

Right. Recently Ethan Van Sciver was attacked by Scott Kurtz about endorsing his own product. Kurtz intimated that EVS couldn't get a fellow industry creator to endorse his product (that's not what happened at all). They totally miss the point that he doesn't want to be a part of "their" industry. They've hijacked it, they can have it and watch it slowly burn to the ground as these locusts move on to their next target.

I had fuck all to do with the Ernie interview, and yet on twitter at least a couple of guys invoked my name, and while doing it claimed that my "products are unimportant" or that I've "never produced anything of value".  This while gaming is my full-time job and has bought me a house, while the assholes claiming this sell little booklets on itch.io that probably don't earn them enough to cover their aromatherapy-candle budget.

These cunts pretend to be "industry pros" of an industry where no one but WoTC makes any money of note. And they think that because they blocked me on twitter, that's somehow 'stopped' me. Meanwhile I have a bigger fanbase and more successful products than all of them put together.

Dang.  Pundit just invoked their aromatherapy candle budget, and then dropped the mic!!!

Quote from: Mistwell on June 28, 2021, 04:56:16 PMBecause it's not an agent they need (agents find and negotiate new deals for you). It's a Public Relations Representative they need. One of my closest friends is one of those. And they are definitely not cheap. And they will not represent you pro-bono, no matter what your last name.

Not sure whether I'm fumbling the linguistics, then, or not, but of course I'm not talking about a "spokesperson", I'm talking about a coach and counselor: You know, someone who gives you a basic idea of what you're doing, and who helps you to pick your gigs. Like, Ernie Gygax ain't River Phoenix; this should be affordable - and it should also be deemed necessary, after the series of brutal fuckups that Ernie had already been involved in.

I'm all with most of you that a good portion of the people blowing stuff like this up are outrage vampires. But if you are an average guy who no stakes in this fight, just how fucking stupid do you have to be to get involved in the mudslinging?! Again, Frank Mentzer situation here: You write a guy a threatening email/PM, and go on stalking Luke Gygax. How do you think you are winning this, or come off as the good guy? - The same level of pure idiocy, we just witnessed here. Ernie just went out there, and, without anyone asking for it, let everyone know he thinks that gay people "kinda" suck. And after that, he told a long and detailed story about how his failed and possibly embezzled crowdfunding campaign somehow still was a success. How could he possibly consider this a successful promotional effort, or even a good interview?

Quote from: Rafael on June 29, 2021, 05:46:20 AM

Quote from: Mistwell on June 28, 2021, 04:56:16 PMBecause it's not an agent they need (agents find and negotiate new deals for you). It's a Public Relations Representative they need. One of my closest friends is one of those. And they are definitely not cheap. And they will not represent you pro-bono, no matter what your last name.

Not sure whether I'm fumbling the linguistics, then, or not, but of course I'm not talking about a "spokesperson", I'm talking about a coach and counselor: You know, someone who gives you a basic idea of what you're doing, and who helps you to pick your gigs. Like, Ernie Gygax ain't River Phoenix; this should be affordable - and it should also be deemed necessary, after the series of brutal fuckups that Ernie had already been involved in.

I'm all with most of you that a good portion of the people blowing stuff like this up are outrage vampires. But if you are an average guy who no stakes in this fight, just how fucking stupid do you have to be to get involved in the mudslinging?! Again, Frank Mentzer situation here: You write a guy a threatening email/PM, and go on stalking Luke Gygax. How do you think you are winning this, or come off as the good guy? - The same level of pure idiocy, we just witnessed here. Ernie just went out there, and, without anyone asking for it, let everyone know he thinks that gay people "kinda" suck.

When did he say that?