"Would it have caused me distress? Before postulating that question to me, perhaps the same could have been asked of your own post."
Fair enough.
"Would it have caused you distress to email the company in question? Perhaps. Maybe the list was too long to have done so, but I do feel that it was a bit of "stirring the pot". I assume that you'll be at Gen Con in a few days; why not ask in person then? Regardless, I've seen this tone of post recently (like the Polyhedron one that Eric Mona had to contend with) and just wanted to try and nip it in the bud right here."
Gen Con is an undecided issue still. As far as asking them then, the internet allows quick, fairly efficient communication.
"Now, to the person who felt I was rude: Sorry you took it that way. I felt that my company, one which I spend MANY hours and money to see flourish being targeted...again, (Not by Joe in particular, but it is a fairly common occurance) and I rose to defend her.
Now, someone else mentioned that there is a certain expectation to update our website in a timely fashion. In a perfect world, you're right. Unfortunately, our webmaster is no longer with the company and our new website (which allows for quick and easy updates) is not yet ready.
Joe also makes mention that our website hasn't been updated as one of the reasons he thought we were a dead company. Why? That's what makes me shake my head. Didn't we just publish a book less than two months ago? Haven't we produced two or more Living Arcanis adventures (each over 25K words apiece) every month? "
Publishing a book two months ago is good but with so many publishers, one loses track of companies quickly. Companies in the d20 business may have shorter lifespans than is typical or may (like Skeletonkey) change focus. This last part is good to note but as I mentioned, I'm not a member of the LA and these updates aren't mentioned on the home page under news, other news, or community.
Speaking of community, as you've noted, I do spend a lot of time here and many other publishers take the time to come in, chat about their product, share updates, etc... Paradigm doesn't do that often as evidenced by your low post count.
As a consumer, I'm afraid that while I enjoy your products, your issues are your issues. The inability to finish your new websight or someone to handle it is one is going to cause people to ask questions. Very simple I'm afraid. AEG gets bombed all the time on certain forums for their inability to update their webpage. On the web, people expect it to be used.
"Bottom line, in my opinion, is this: If you make some sort of negative generalization, don't be surprised if someone takes you to the mat for it. The Internet is a wonderful tool, but too often I feel that people use the excuse, "The medium of electronic communication is a poor tool. It didn't convey my emotions properly" instead of taking the time to mean what you say/type.
So sorry Joe, I guess it would cause me distress to say, "Joe, I'm amused by your placement of us as a 'dead' company but we're very alive and very busy..." because it would be a lie.
I was not amused."
Fair enough. However, as you've noted, more than one person has felt that perhaps your 'defense' was a little too strongly worded in that my quesiton was that of a simple status update question.
In my business, the IT field, I'm often told to grow a thick skin. It's good advice for anyone who does anything that interacts with other people.
