Do Personal Opinions Of Authors, Etc Dissuade You From Purchases?

[jgbrowning]

Yes, personal opinions have meant a lost sale. Probably from both ends in my case.

It doesn't bother me as people buy things for many different reasons and I view "not liking the author's opinons about X subject" just as valid as any other reason for purchasing or not purchasing.

joe b.

 

[diaglo]

Probably best if we don't...unless we have something nice to say.

(My mom taught me that... )

Wise woman.

okay then i'll follow that guide.

Ari M..Mouseferatu is a great guy online. i've bought his products. i don't necessarily think i'll ever use them. but i did buy. i even reviewed one of them since he asked for my opinion.


philreed is a straight shooter. i don't buy pdfs. but i would get some of his stuff if i did.

joe and suzi are great people. i've got some of their stuff.

Mark from CMG keeps me thinking and coming back for more.

Erik, James, and the rest of the staff at Paizo are wonderful online. Very helpful.

Sue and Monte Cook have made me buy their stuff b/c they are so quick to interact online and in person.

 

[frankthedm]

As an occasional D20 freelancer, I have to say this kind of attitude really gives you pause when considering posting in public forums. Somebody is bound to disagree with you on something, so the message is if you have any controversial ideas, you better keep it to yourself or get a well disguised pseudonym.

A wise idea.

I once started a thread here on ENworld with my old account. The thread was critical about certain very minor aspects of 3.0 D&D at the time, and so naturally got a lot of people hopping mad. I ended up having several people say flat out that they wanted to boycott my products and those of any publisher who hired me because I was adressing what I though was a problem with D&D (a problem which Monte Cook wrote about in exactly the same way mind you).

There will be people who get angry over such things. There will always be those who would fight tooth and nail to have kept 3.0 Hasteor similar spells.

I think the net result is that writers often keep to themselves unless they are so well established that they have their own significant support base already. I think thats kind of depressing.

That’s the real world, same reason why politics is one of the subjects that does not make for a good dinner conversation.

Personally, for what it's worth, I'll buy any product if I think it's good, no matter what the writers private opinions. I even bought a book written by a guy who trashed one of my own books in an ambush review. I believe in free speech and free thinking.

Believing a person has government given rights is one thing, choosing to give business or support to a person whose world view is different or opposed to one’s own is a separate issue.

 

[KaosDevice]

My opinion of a publisher as a human being would influence my purchase, but I could care less of their religio-politico-artistic-whatever beliefs. if I see a publisher behaving badly (getting into flame wars on boards for example) I tend to avoid them. I just feel that I am not going to reward someone not capable of basic human decency. For example, I have completely stopped reading authors that I have met at cons solely based on their behavior towards fans. I don't expect sunshine and puppy dogs, but simple common courtesy and professionalisim goes a long way with me.

 

[IcyCool]

I beleive in free speech and free thinking.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Freedom of speech is the liberty to freely say what one pleases, as well as the related liberty to hear what others have stated. Now, if you as a publisher spout off on a forum, and someone doesn't buy your product because of it, how exactly have they kept you from freely saying what you please? You'll note, I hope, that the first amendment just guarantees you the right to say something, it doesn't make what you say consequence-free. And it also doesn't guarantee you an audience.

Now, some folks here wouldn't buy from a publisher for a number of reasons I think are a bit extreme, but that's their choice. They aren't restricting anyone's freedom of speech. I won't buy from someone who has personally (or net-wise) treated me like a jerk. Note that I don't consider disagreement to be jerk activity, unless the disagreement is riddled with insults. Again, I'm not stepping all over that person's freedom of speech. What's happening in both those situations is that the artist/publisher is "reaping what they sow". If that means they restrict their own freedom of speech for fear of a negative reaction, well, that's their choice. And you'll note who's doing the restricting there.

And this is probably not the best place to ask, but what D20 stuff have you written? You seem knowledgeable about historic weaponry, so I'm curious (I'm a fan of weaponry products).

And not to worry, I don't think of you as a jerk.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Other -
I have never blacklisted someone for their opinions, but their previous work - let's just say thanks to the Darksword triology that I will NEVER buy another Weiss & Hickman book again. And for those that are going to say, but Dragonlance is the greatest..blah, blah, blah. Their writing style ticks me off everytime I read something by them. They can weave a story, but I've yet to see them end one with any satisifaction.

 

[Rothe]

I hope you arent talking about me

BD

Not you BD. Anyway, you have employees?
This is not directed at you personally, but I'm not really concerned with criticisms of the game, not matter how pointed or how much I personally may disagree with it. It's a game not a person to me and I don't believe that games have anything sacred about them. What gets me upset is attacking the person who makes the criticism, or outright being dismissive of a reasonable difference of opinion. To be more unclear, there are some posters who seem to often get into it with each other. This doesn't upset me as both posters seem to enjoy going at it. However, an author that consitently responds with dismissiveness, obtuseness, or straw man arguments to any and all detractors is not one I want to support.

 

[big dummy]

Freedom of speech is the liberty to freely say what one pleases, (snip)

I understand the distinction between the government not intervening in speech and the consequenses of speech in the free marketplace. And of course it makes sense that if someone is rude to you personally or is a nazi or has bad business practices or rips people off you are perfectly right to avoid their work. I just personally feel that you can get in trouble in places like this for even bringing up matters which are anything but extreme. Matters dealing with the future of this game for instance, especially if they relate in any way to precieved problems with the current version. I know from experience that this alone can engender boycott threats.

I also think the glut on the market has made a lot of the players / consumers cynical and more willing to be arbitrary about what they buy and the reasons for it. Of course it's their choice, but it all also amounts to a situation as I described, where people, especially industry writers, are basically not going to even bring up certain issues. Issues which probably should be brought up.

And this is probably not the best place to ask, but what D20 stuff have you written? You seem knowledgeable about historic weaponry, so I'm curious (I'm a fan of weaponry products).

And not to worry, I don't think of you as a jerk.

No, you are right lol It's not the best place to ask. Given the contraversial ideas I have broached in ENworld, and the very hostile responses I've recieved in some other recent threads, I would be crazy associating this pseudonym with any of my work, not to mention irresponsible toward any publishers I may or may not have worked with. I'd love to tell you about stuff I've done and stuff I'm working on, but I can't risk it.

Kind of a drag eh?

BD

 

[mcrow]

Factors I consider when buying RPG stuff:

#1-Do I have a use for the book?
#2-Overall quality
#3-Price
#4-Author's rep (based on their works)
#5- Publishers rep (if author is not self-published)
#6- business practices of publishers/authors
#7- personal opinion of authors


#6 & #7 can jump up to the top two spots in some cases.

I like Clash (Better Mouse Trap Games) & Bill (Hinterwelt Enterprises). I will buy nearly anything they publish ,unseen. Their stuff is good quality plus they are both very cool people and have ethical business practices.

 

[Faraer]

A book's author is by far the main contributor to its nature and quality, and the RPG culture will be stunted until this obvious fact is widely understood. But since I buy a small minority of the books released, it's more a matter of buying books by authors I like than avoiding ones by the few I actively dislike. If there was an author whose work I liked but who I personally disliked, I'd probably end up not liking the work, since I like to engage strongly with RPG materials as wholes rather than browse them.