Colin McComb issues apology for the Complete Book of Elves

[dd.stevenson]

I'm not pretending it wasn't a joke. I'm just well...

Let's just say I wish I'd never watched it. My ardor for the project fell like 30 degrees F by the end of it. I was like, "Is it cold in here?"

You know what? I sort of hear you. I think they were aiming for something like: "well, you did it internet: now watch me abase myself and resentfully hate every minute of it" but they didn't quite nail the right vibe. Probably they could have stood to do a couple more takes. Or maybe a pie in the face would have helped. But oh well.

I still found it pretty funny.

 

[Umbran]

It's a joke. As it should be. If you don't get the joke - sorry, but that's just unfortunate.

Yeah, well Morrus, here's the thing - snark only seems funny to people who already agree with you. To others, it sounds like mockery.

You're trying to do marketing and PR for a product. Is mocking some of your potential customers a good idea? Does it make you seem respectful? No, to both. Self-effacing humor would have been a far smarter play on their part.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, well Morrus, here's the thing - snark only seems funny to people who already agree with you. To others, it sounds like mockery.

You're trying to do marketing and PR for a product. Is mocking some of your potential customers a good idea? Does it make you seem respectful? No, to both. Self-effacing humor would have been a far smarter play on their part.

See, that's where we differ.

I don't believe it's even *possible* to mock people for not liking a book you wrote 20 years ago. Even if you need to, and tried creally hard, there's no framework in which such mockery could exist in my mind.

Now I do agree that these days it's certainly possible for a segment of people to decide they feel mocked. Heck, there's a vocal segment of people offended because the Veronica Mars Kickstarter is successful. I'll certainly not deny that some folks feel mocked; that does not mean, however, that McComb has mocked them. And I think it's reasonable to point that out.

Is it the best PR move ever? Time will tell. It worked on me; not on some others. I bought the book in question as a teenager and agree with the reviews of it. I sure as hell do not expect an apology for it.

I do expect an apology for the Doctor Who episode "Love & Monsters", though. Well, no I don't. But I think it was a poor episode. No apology required.

 

[Campbell]

'I find it really hard to be upset by this video, even as someone who really believes in striving for balance in RPG design. McComb is not trying to sell you on a tabletop game. He's pitching a story focused single player CRPG. Balancing mechanical ability with narrative constraints isn't really an issue there. It might even be useful.

I'd also say while it might serve as the poster child for mechanics balanced with role play constraints its not like the Complete Book of Elves was some outlier in 2e design philosophy. It was just really extreme. Honestly, the mechanics bothered me less than the "elves are better at everything" flavor. Still meh.

 

[the Jester]

<Sigh> it's not an apology. It's a joke about a 20-yr old book.<sigh>

But if an apology for the CBoE was one of the Kickstarter targets, shouldn't it actually be an apology instead of a snarkfest?

 

[Grue]

You get to not like stuff. You don't get to demand sincere apologies from the people who wrote it. That makes you a dick.

This video is a joke about a book 20-years old. If you feel you were owed a real apology for a book an author wrote 20-years ago because you didn't like it -- you're out of luck. You are not owed it. I actually feel 20 IQ points more stupid having to explain this.

Uh....2.5 million dollar stretch goal. Nobody was banging down his door for an an apology. But if you promise an apology, deliver an apology. Or if 2.5 million isn't enough to deliver any sort of mea culpa at least do some funny act of contrition... The bar wasn't set high.

 

[Plaguescarred]

I found it was funny.

 

[Starbuck_II]

You know what? I sort of hear you. I think they were aiming for something like: "well, you did it internet: now watch me abase myself and resentfully hate every minute of it" but they didn't quite nail the right vibe. Probably they could have stood to do a couple more takes. Or maybe a pie in the face would have helped. But oh well.

Yes, this is what I expected for millions of dollars at a kickstarter.

Now I do agree that these days it's certainly possible for a segment of people to decide they feel mocked. Heck, there's a vocal segment of people offended because the Veronica Mars Kickstarter is successful. I'll certainly not deny that some folks feel mocked; that does not mean, however, that McComb has mocked them. And I think it's reasonable to point that out.

You are joking because Veronica Mars is awesome. That we succeded in making it funded is even better.
Do you have link/evidence that people were offended that they succeeded?

I think it was genius. Fans show they want something enough and they get what they want.

 

[Morrus]

You are joking because Veronica Mars is awesome. That we succeded in making it funded is even better.
Do you have link/evidence that people were offended that they succeeded?

There are quite a few articles written by people who feel that studios shouldn't be using Kickstarter. Personally (though I've never seen this particular show) I'd love to see Firefly resurrected that way - though, as I mentioned in the thread on the subject, I think I'd rather see a new TV series than a movie. Whedon's said that definitely not happening in the next few years, though, given his comittments to Marvel movies and other things.

 

[Remathilis]

I dug it.

Just think. Someday, after a lot more water passes under the bridge, we'll be able to pay our hard-earned cash for similar apologies for third and fourth edition mistakes.

I'd pay good money to see Andy Collins Tarred and Feathered.