Son_of_Thunder
Explorer
Musings on Dragon #300 and the Industry
Ok, with all the brouhaha over Dragon Magazine #300 and the Book of Vile Darkness I’ve had some thoughts about the Gaming industry in general. I also read Johnny Wilson’s comments about mature content in the aforementioned issue of Dragon. When the threads started over on ENWorld about the Book of Vile Darkness it quickly turned into a flame war with poster accusing poster of shoving ones brand of morality down another’s throat. Let me leave this for a moment and go to my thoughts and opinions on the gaming industry.
Does the gaming industry know what customer service is? Can a company afford to lose a longtime loyal fan of D&D, even if it’s just one fan? Here’s my opinion on this. It seems to me that the entire industry is going to a “Screw you” attitude. And by that I mean the prevailing attitude seems to be, “I’m doing this book, or article or what have you, and I don’t give a rats rosy red behind what you think”, or “White Wolf’s done stuff like this for years, why not Wizards?” Even the publishers of Dungeon and Dragon Magazines have the same attitude. Just read Johnny Wilson’s comments and his condescending tone to Tracy Hickman, a man who will have published more game materials and novels than a lot of us put together. Mr. Wilson seems to make it clear that the squeaky cleanliness of AD&D is what drove gamers to “grittier stuff”; and to make TSR go down the hole. From my observations it was management of the game lines and greediness on the part of executives that caused the downfall of TSR in the 90’s.
I have a friend who was posting legitimate concerns about the Scarred Lands setting over on Sword and Sorcery’s message boards. He riled up one of the authors on the game line, who also happened to be a moderator, and was subsequently banned for awhile. Are game companies today unable to take criticism? I know my friend wasn’t trolling or flaming, he had legitimate complaints. This same friend had complaints about another product by Necromancer Games, and he got into an argument with Orcus himself. Because of that instance I will choose not to spend money on anything published by Necromancer Games. Why? Because I don’t think the president of a company should get into shouting matches with a regular Joe gamer. That brings up a question I have; should game designers and authors post to message forums? I say yes, but not to get into a heated discussion with a poster. Should game designers be moderators? I say no, because they have emotions just like the rest of us but they have the power to close and delete threads, maybe just because of an opinion opposite of theirs. And finally, moderators should moderate, be neutral and stop things before they go too far. There was a prime example for this when the thread on ENWorld started after Tracy Hickman’s newsletter was released. Several of the “moderator’s”, and I use that term loosely, added to the flames.
It also seems to me that the newest generation of game designers takes a ‘mightier than thou’ attitude. I recently re-read Tracy Hickman’s and Monte Cook’s dueling letters in a back issue of Dragon. Did Monte think he was trying to champion every player in the world by decrying Tracy’s article? I don’t believe you would have seen the likes of Jeff Grubb or Ed Greenwood or Skip Williams writing to Dragon in an “It’s unfortunate that this must be my first letter to the magazine” type of way.
Johnny Wilson’s defending of the content in issue #300 is expected. They pay his salary and he genuinely believes in what he does. Issue 300 was the 5th issue I trimmed pages out of my copy of Dragon. I had never had to do so until 3rd edition was released. It started with the full page ads of the bloody clowns; I blacked out a certain word on the cover of the fighter’s issue; then it went to the halfling issue; then to the Fear issue with the prestige class by guess who; finally it’s to the point of my greatest culling of the issues with 300. I must have culled out 20 pages. The only articles I liked in the issue were fiendish dragons and risen dead article. I now know that I will have to trim out the adventures that’s supposed to be sealed in the next issue of Dungeon. Why do I tell you this? Because I think the material is unnecessary in my game, and no, I’m not trying to tell you it’s unnecessary in your game. I have a son that’s already interested in the game and he’s only 14 months old. He’ll sit on my lap and roll dice as I’m DMing. I don’t want him to see such crap in my gaming magazines when he’s old enough to look at them. And no, I’m not some right wing moral extremist nut. I understand some gamers desire to have ‘vile’ elements in their game. I would also like the same courtesy shown towards me that I don’t want to have ‘vile’ content in my game. So, just don’t buy it you say. I won’t, thank you very much, but I didn’t have much choice when my subscription of Dragon came.
This post isn’t to “force my morality” on someone else. It’s to let my opinion be heard on what I think is happening in the gaming industry. Imagination has always been a hallmark of the game. I don’t need ‘vile’ and evil acts spelled out for me. And when my son is old enough to play I will have evil and bad things happen in my game, just as I do now. But some gaming material isn’t worth defending or championing; some game material will even affect your real life. Now, don’t start that freedom of speech argument on me; I’ve heard it before. I’m not telling you to publish or not to publish; I’m just sharing my opinion. Let’s look at the facts. They’ve (Dragon #300 and the Book of Vile Darkness) generated a lot of controversy. Monte himself said, and I quote, “Well, working on that book did occasionally get me down, because it was so dark” (taken from his message boards). Finally, I have the right to share my opinion against the book and Wizards and anyone else who would print such stuff, as you have the right in supporting them. I just guess that everyone except Tracy Hickman and a small minority, such as myself, have a right to share their opinion.
One more thing before I end. I remember when the big excitement was about “Monte’s Secret Project”. The few clues we got, that were kind of accurate, were: 1) It was a magic item out of the DM’s Guide and 2) It was something gamers have been wanting for a long time. My question pertains to number 2. I have been involved with D&D for well nigh on twenty years now, and I never recall there being a big demand for this type of a book, even within the three to five years leading up to 3rd edition. Did I miss something?
Son of Thunder
Edit: updated the thread title...Dinkeldog
Ok, with all the brouhaha over Dragon Magazine #300 and the Book of Vile Darkness I’ve had some thoughts about the Gaming industry in general. I also read Johnny Wilson’s comments about mature content in the aforementioned issue of Dragon. When the threads started over on ENWorld about the Book of Vile Darkness it quickly turned into a flame war with poster accusing poster of shoving ones brand of morality down another’s throat. Let me leave this for a moment and go to my thoughts and opinions on the gaming industry.
Does the gaming industry know what customer service is? Can a company afford to lose a longtime loyal fan of D&D, even if it’s just one fan? Here’s my opinion on this. It seems to me that the entire industry is going to a “Screw you” attitude. And by that I mean the prevailing attitude seems to be, “I’m doing this book, or article or what have you, and I don’t give a rats rosy red behind what you think”, or “White Wolf’s done stuff like this for years, why not Wizards?” Even the publishers of Dungeon and Dragon Magazines have the same attitude. Just read Johnny Wilson’s comments and his condescending tone to Tracy Hickman, a man who will have published more game materials and novels than a lot of us put together. Mr. Wilson seems to make it clear that the squeaky cleanliness of AD&D is what drove gamers to “grittier stuff”; and to make TSR go down the hole. From my observations it was management of the game lines and greediness on the part of executives that caused the downfall of TSR in the 90’s.
I have a friend who was posting legitimate concerns about the Scarred Lands setting over on Sword and Sorcery’s message boards. He riled up one of the authors on the game line, who also happened to be a moderator, and was subsequently banned for awhile. Are game companies today unable to take criticism? I know my friend wasn’t trolling or flaming, he had legitimate complaints. This same friend had complaints about another product by Necromancer Games, and he got into an argument with Orcus himself. Because of that instance I will choose not to spend money on anything published by Necromancer Games. Why? Because I don’t think the president of a company should get into shouting matches with a regular Joe gamer. That brings up a question I have; should game designers and authors post to message forums? I say yes, but not to get into a heated discussion with a poster. Should game designers be moderators? I say no, because they have emotions just like the rest of us but they have the power to close and delete threads, maybe just because of an opinion opposite of theirs. And finally, moderators should moderate, be neutral and stop things before they go too far. There was a prime example for this when the thread on ENWorld started after Tracy Hickman’s newsletter was released. Several of the “moderator’s”, and I use that term loosely, added to the flames.
It also seems to me that the newest generation of game designers takes a ‘mightier than thou’ attitude. I recently re-read Tracy Hickman’s and Monte Cook’s dueling letters in a back issue of Dragon. Did Monte think he was trying to champion every player in the world by decrying Tracy’s article? I don’t believe you would have seen the likes of Jeff Grubb or Ed Greenwood or Skip Williams writing to Dragon in an “It’s unfortunate that this must be my first letter to the magazine” type of way.
Johnny Wilson’s defending of the content in issue #300 is expected. They pay his salary and he genuinely believes in what he does. Issue 300 was the 5th issue I trimmed pages out of my copy of Dragon. I had never had to do so until 3rd edition was released. It started with the full page ads of the bloody clowns; I blacked out a certain word on the cover of the fighter’s issue; then it went to the halfling issue; then to the Fear issue with the prestige class by guess who; finally it’s to the point of my greatest culling of the issues with 300. I must have culled out 20 pages. The only articles I liked in the issue were fiendish dragons and risen dead article. I now know that I will have to trim out the adventures that’s supposed to be sealed in the next issue of Dungeon. Why do I tell you this? Because I think the material is unnecessary in my game, and no, I’m not trying to tell you it’s unnecessary in your game. I have a son that’s already interested in the game and he’s only 14 months old. He’ll sit on my lap and roll dice as I’m DMing. I don’t want him to see such crap in my gaming magazines when he’s old enough to look at them. And no, I’m not some right wing moral extremist nut. I understand some gamers desire to have ‘vile’ elements in their game. I would also like the same courtesy shown towards me that I don’t want to have ‘vile’ content in my game. So, just don’t buy it you say. I won’t, thank you very much, but I didn’t have much choice when my subscription of Dragon came.
This post isn’t to “force my morality” on someone else. It’s to let my opinion be heard on what I think is happening in the gaming industry. Imagination has always been a hallmark of the game. I don’t need ‘vile’ and evil acts spelled out for me. And when my son is old enough to play I will have evil and bad things happen in my game, just as I do now. But some gaming material isn’t worth defending or championing; some game material will even affect your real life. Now, don’t start that freedom of speech argument on me; I’ve heard it before. I’m not telling you to publish or not to publish; I’m just sharing my opinion. Let’s look at the facts. They’ve (Dragon #300 and the Book of Vile Darkness) generated a lot of controversy. Monte himself said, and I quote, “Well, working on that book did occasionally get me down, because it was so dark” (taken from his message boards). Finally, I have the right to share my opinion against the book and Wizards and anyone else who would print such stuff, as you have the right in supporting them. I just guess that everyone except Tracy Hickman and a small minority, such as myself, have a right to share their opinion.
One more thing before I end. I remember when the big excitement was about “Monte’s Secret Project”. The few clues we got, that were kind of accurate, were: 1) It was a magic item out of the DM’s Guide and 2) It was something gamers have been wanting for a long time. My question pertains to number 2. I have been involved with D&D for well nigh on twenty years now, and I never recall there being a big demand for this type of a book, even within the three to five years leading up to 3rd edition. Did I miss something?
Son of Thunder
Edit: updated the thread title...Dinkeldog
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