Are we gamers an ungrateful lot?

[Aus_Snow]

Hm. My previous job was helpdesk... really- a *lot* of people are like this.

I did that for a while too. And yes. Yes, they are. :\

 

[Nepenthe]

The last time I complained was over a bus that tried to run me over on a parking lot

Never felt the need to complain about gaming products, though. Well, maybe Faiths and Pantheons...

 

[jdrakeh]

Might be harsh but looking at the specific complaints, I more wonder if game producers are a thin skinned lot.

Honestly, they put up with more crap from thankless, looney, fans than I would for what most of them get paid. If anything, we should thank out lucky stars that most of them haven't found traded off game design for something that actually pays the bills and gives them peace of mind.

 

[Arkhandus]

Personally I feel a little disturbed that a publisher feels like they should charge a lot for a pdf. As far as I can tell a pdf. holds no market value because they can be replicated and distributed with very little or no effeort or resources. In my opinion this infinite supply is a problem and basically makes them worthless.

.......They're selling copies of their work, that they make for a living. Just because it isn't printed on dead trees doesn't make the actual literary work less valuable. It should be somewhat cheaper, for sure, as it avoids some of the production costs (printing and distribution), but it still incurs a tiny bit of server cost, and still has the full value of the original intellectual property itself.

Sure, people with no morals and an excessive sense of entitlement could go to some lengths to copy PDFs and distribute those not-paid-for copies, but just because some jerks do that doesn't make it right, nor does it make the actual paid-for copies any less valuable (taking pirated work is as morally reprehensible as pirating it in the first place, anyway).

Legitimate customers are at least supporting the writers by paying for the original work, which allows those writers to afford producing game products in the first place. Paying the normal price for a PDF product supports the writers as much as paying normal price for the printed version, and thereby supports the hobby; those who don't pay are denying the authors fair compensation for their work, and as such are not supporting the hobby.

The PDF version is just less convenient for those of us who can't/don't have laptops to lug around to every game session and work on at random times and places, when inspiration strikes or we have the spare time to do some work on our campaigns, or to read up on new rules material we might use. But it's still convenient for some other people, and still has the full amount of rules material, descriptive text, and background info to use it.


(quick edit: in other words, the last point is why I don't bother with PDFs except for errata, and why I don't expect to be supporting the Digital Initiative; I'd rather have physical copies at hand to read when I feel like it, not when I have a moment of computer time. And my printer is not a reliable piece of junk, so I'd rather not even try printing anything except necessary documents and schoolwork. I only use what I pay for and I'd rather not pay for something I couldn't print without lots of junk-printer problems and a wasted ink cartridge; and my current printer is actually new, but like all printers of mine, is somehow cursed to be inexplicably bothersome and, half the time, inexplicably nonfunctional)

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Oh, it's everywhere.

This one time, a homeless guy came up to my car and asked for some money to buy food or something. I was feeling pretty generous so I pulled out $5 (which was all the cash I had in my wallet at the time).

He actually said "Is that all?"

So...I put my $5 back in my wallet, told him a few..ah..choice words and drove off.

 

[Numion]

So...I put my $5 back in my wallet, told him a few..ah..choice words and drove off.

Heh heh, a good response. I would've probably been too stunned to react.

 

[Terraism]

He actually said "Is that all?"

You've got to be kidding. Please, tell me you are.

 

[RFisher]

I don't think it's just a Gamer thing.

About a month ago (or maybe a couple of weeks ago?) in the entertainment section of our local paper, there was an article on a woman who basically spends her entire life complaining to various companies in order to get free stuff. And about how she's teaching her two young children to be the same way. The triumphant greed of it was allegedly inspiring, or so it would seem they wanted us to think.

Having worked in retail stores, I'm constantly amazed that I don't do this considering how effective I've observed it to be.

Because we have every right to be, dammit.

Ha!

...but you know, I think there's some truth to that. Part of the price of having a free (in the liberty sense) society is that there's going to be a few people who act this way.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I don't think it's just a Gamer thing.

About a month ago (or maybe a couple of weeks ago?) in the entertainment section of our local paper, there was an article on a woman who basically spends her entire life complaining to various companies in order to get free stuff. And about how she's teaching her two young children to be the same way. The triumphant greed of it was allegedly inspiring, or so it would seem they wanted us to think.

I met someone who did this as part of his graduate studies in Business and Marketing. He created a couple of personas that sent letters of complaint or just asking advice to various companies to see how they would respond depending upon the attitude of the persona in the letter. Whether the persona was billigerent in the letter or not, he started receiving free items from the companies in question, even going so far as to get free airline tickets. He decided to see how far he could go with this idea and started writing more and more outrageous stories.

The one that stands out for me was when he wrote a letter to Gillette claiming he was a 30 year old man who had never shaved in his life and wanted advice on how to do so. Gillette sent him a brochure on shaving techniques and a free razor. He then wrote a follow-up letter claiming that their brochure was poorly written and their razor was no good because he cut himself so many times and so badly that he had to be hospitalized. Gillette sent him a four-pack of blade refills and a letter of apology.

By the way, when he finished his study, he contacted all of the companies, informed them of what he had done and offered to return the free goods. Most of the companies told him he could keep the items, but asked for a copy of his paper when it was written. [\hijack]

Back to Free RPG Day, I appreciated every thing I received (didn't manage to get the Paizo adventure ), and look forward to trying them out on victims...er, players soon.

 

[RFisher]

Gillette sent him a four-pack of blade refills

That's the part that always makes me smile when I do complain about a product.

Me: "Your product has proven itself useless to me. Here's my constructive criticism on how you could earn my money in the future."
Them: "Here, have some more [of our junk that you don't like] for free!"
Me: "()!"