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As a fan and ex-publisher I want to say thanks to you and all the other people that make ENWorld possible. This website and its community adds a remarkable amount of fun to the game.
Regarding the ENnies: some of the responses would have worn out my patience a long time ago. Christ, people won't even pay for their own bloody shipping and are trying to foist off reading a hundred books in PDF format on unpaid judges...
My suggestion, if you decide to keep doing the awards, just establish your own rules that you think fair and are manageable. If a company doesn't want to participate that's fine. Movie studios can abstain from the Oscars too.
I hereby go on record as saying THANKS A MILLION! for what you do here. I have ENworld as my homepage for cryin' out loud. And I am trying to become a community supporter as well...
While I liked Russ standing up for himself, there is one thing I have to disagree with:
Quote:
So, you know, there's this website. EN World, I think it's called. Nothing major, just a guy who runs a website which reports the latest d20 industry news and stuff.
EN World IS a major thing, and not only to publishers, but to fans as well. The thing is, people EXPECT to be able to get the news here, and as that has been happening for quite sometime, people do take it for granted. Obviously its not the fans bothering you, Russ, but EN World certainly is a major deal to many people.
Maybe some sort of change in philosophy is needed; publishers who wish to submit their own scoops might have to pay a fee. Otherwise, only things that the you deem newsworthy get posted. Or maybe its time to walk away for a little while (please don't!) and let someone else handle it, though I know you do it 'coz you love it. It's easy to tell you are stressed out, and that is not a good way to be.
A very good rant. It is good to see that some people still think RPGs are a hobby, and not just corporate money maker.
The part about WOTC is fine too : while the graphic quality has improved greatly, most of their current products have a cold soulless feeling. Kind of reflects a general attitude of the company.
And then : people complaining about their products not being spoken of on EN should do a minimum : like entering their products on the products review page for instance...
I love EN World, this is THE best place for RPGs and D&D.
If WotC thinks that it should sweep the awards, they're arrogant, naive, and, frankly, stupid. Expensive graphics, writers, and shiny paper no more guarantee awards than $100 million dollar budgets guarantee a movie studio an Oscar sweep. Just look at Good Will Hunting or The Usual Suspects.
I'm brand new around here and I have already made some great new friends, learned a lot about .pdf publishing for d20 and got some great support with writers and artists for my project.
Thank you guys. You can count on me to support the site with some donations (wish they could be more) as soon as pay day rolls around.
I am sincerly sorry if I even distantly had anything to do with that rant. I don't think that I've thought ENWorld owed me anything, but it would seem an easy trap to fall into.
And if it was not myself that caused such bile, I'm still sorry you were treated badly enough to cause that kind of rage.
Remember folks that this is still a civil place. Russ's grandma will no doubt chide him heartily for what he said, so while we can all grin that he said it, let's not start swinging angry comments ourselves. Comment however you like as long as you keep it civil, please.
__________________ Ryan "RangerWickett" Nock
Author of the War of the Burning Sky serialized novel, free at EN World. Part Two, The Irons Have Tolled, now available.
Remember folks that this is still a civil place. Russ's grandma will no doubt chide him heartily for what he said, so while we can all grin that he said it, let's not start swinging angry comments ourselves. Comment however you like as long as you keep it civil, please.
Oh, I wasn't complaining about anything in particular. I just thought it'd be good to make sure things don't get out of hand here, just in case. *grin*
__________________ Ryan "RangerWickett" Nock
Author of the War of the Burning Sky serialized novel, free at EN World. Part Two, The Irons Have Tolled, now available.
First off, good rant Morrus. It has to feel good to get that much weight off of your chest.
I'm not a 'fanboy'. I don't really follow any specific game designers or publishers. I buy what appeals to me, and what I find to be a quality product. No publisher, not even WotC, is above that level of scrutiny. And I rely on the reviews and discussions here at ENworld to help me form a baseline opinion (modified by my own research) about a product.
Without ENworld I would most likely never know about you 3rd party publishers. Nor would I find reason to purchase 50% of the WotC stuff in any sort of a hury. ENworld sells your products with or without your involvement. Get involved!
I enjoy the d20 setting, so I'd likely collect it even if ENworld wasn't here... but its this community that keeps me playing the game. Its this community that keeps the game fresh for me. Otherwise the bulk of my spending dollar would likely have moved on to another game system by now... I suspect, whether they realize it or not, the same is true for others here.
It makes me angry that publishers would take advantage of, or simply snub, this community. I take personal offense at the idea that any publisher feels this community owes them anything more than what they are already getting.
I'm seriously considering limiting the majority of my role playing funds to publishers who maintain active, and positive, presences here at ENworld. Screw the rest of them...
Otherwise, only things that the you deem newsworthy get posted.
I would hope that this has been the case all along.
If it hasn't been, then people have been getting free rides they probably didn't deserve.
The rant struck me in a different way that it might have struck others. Between ca. 1995 and 1999, I developed a rather strong dislike for a wide swath of the gaming community. These gamers seemed to feel that they had a *right* to the labors put forth by game designers and artists, and that they shouldn't be obligated to *pay* anything for those creations.
It would appear that some of those gamers of 5-10 years ago are now running their own publishing companies. Now, they have a *right* to have their products promoted by third parties for free.
As a gamer and a fan of EN World, I share everyone's dismay that Morrus has been treated so shabbily. This site has always played an important role for me, not just as a source of news and information about the game I love, but also as an miraculously friendly, civil, and decent community of people who share the love. It's tragic that there's another side to that, although if I'd thought about it I should have known this would be the case and that it might relate to publishers, as publishers are one of the main interfaces the site must have with commercial activity. Money & commerce is usually one of the biggest problems for any utopian community, a category in which I think EN World rightfully belongs.
As a publisher, I feel like words alone won't do. There are ways everyone at EN World can support this community, like donating and posting messages that encourage and show gratitude for the people who make it possible. Publishers do more to create problems for Morrus; how can we do more in return, taking advantage of our unique role?
One way Morrus's rant mentions is linking to EN World via our websites. It's true that no one publisher's site matches the volume of traffic that EN World refers to us, but every bit counts, so it's something all of us should do.*
Another way would be to mention or thank EN World in our products. This would be especially valuable for print products, since these might reach people who aren't aware of the Web's greatest resources. Behemoth3 already has a "B3 Recommends" in our Horde Books (which is an active hyperlink in the PDF edition); EN World should have been mentioned there all along, and I'll fix the mistake in the next set of books.**
Other ideas about how publishers can make unique contributions?
- Tavis
* Full disclosure: while the B3 links page gives a link to EN World, it's not up on our site yet; will remind Nat the webmaster about it now!
** I very consciously don't want to use this as a self-promotional opportunity. Morrus is right; you don't need any more stuff.
__________________ I play and DM old-school D&D with the New York Red Box, play a shaman in a homebrew 4E campaign & write third-party and first-party stuff for that edition, and blog about all of the above at The Mule Abides.
Disclaimer 1: Above all, I am a very silly man. So if a statement of mine can be construed as joke - especially if it's not funny - it likely is.
Disclaimer 2: I am also opinionated, so when not joking I am still voicing my opinion. Except when I am stating facts.
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