Barak said:
Bid Dummy.. First, note that I think you stated your views in a civil fashion, and I would certainly not -not- buy your products due to posts you made.
That said, I need to point out something.
You stated that it wasn't right, in your opinion, for people to boycott products from certain authors due to them stating their opinions/being jerks, since it restricted their freedom of speech/opinion.
Yet, in this very thread, you stated that you were glad you stopped writing D20 products, and certainly wouldn't consider writing more, because of that very fact. So, basically, you boycotted the D20 industry. Which, in turn, restricts the consumers freedom of speech, doesn't it? I mean, if they state that said writer is a jerk, he'll stop making D20 products..
I can understand what you are saying, but I don't personally feel it is the same thing.
Lets say hypothetically you spend six months working on some project for maybe $500. Then after another six months it finally comes out (and you finally get paid).
Being naive, perhaps overly excited due to seeing your work in print, you make the mistake of speaking honestly on some fourm.
You have now instantly acquired a handful of permanent enemies who openly declare their determination to do anything they can to harm you including boycotting or undermining your work by any means possible.
If they have any connections in the industry or enough time on their hands (or both) there is a good chance that they can and will obscure by controversy or even sabotage (a planted review, say) or somehow otherwise prevent positive buzz from building at least until the very short window in which it might get noticed passes... meanwhile, if you didn't back down right away leaving any number of (what you consider to be) disparaging lies unanswered, you may have even aquired a few hard core stalkers.
Your six months of work and contribution to the D&D world soon disappears beneath the rising flood of D20. It's never even been evaluated on it's true merits. It's just gone, with this sort of dirty smear of nasty bickering to permanently mark it's passing on the internet. Your publisher has recieved hate mail and no longer wishes to work with you.
...
Meanwhile, another book you wrote around the same time for an independent game is published. It was maybe half the work as the other job because as long as it's technically accurate, you don't have to worry so much about issues like perfect balance or not offending the existing D20 culture, (it's GM's are a bit more accustomed to tailoring things to suit their own campaigns in this game.) You still make the same lousy $500 but when the work comes out, the fans actually use it, test it out, and many even apparently like it. It has an impact on the game. You make friends, some of whom you may work with in the future on other projects. Online you have interesting conversations about gaming, about numerous technical subjects related to your book. You pick up no stalkers. You even get good reviews.
It's kind of a no brainer.
BD
(Not that er... any of this happened to me necessarily you understand
I'm just inventing a hypothetical situation based on what I er happen to know about some examples of writers in the relative industries...)
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.
), someone posted an alternate weapon proficiency ruleset, wherein the idea was that it wasn't the weapon that was dangerous so much as it was the wielders skill. If someone posts the link to it, you should check it out.
