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

[IcyCool]

I can understand what you are saying, but I don't personally feel it is the same thing.

But it is almost exactly the same thing. And neither of them is a restriction of free speech.

Being naive, perhaps overly excited due to seeing your work in print, you make the mistake of speaking honestly on some fourm.

<snip>

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.

<snip>

... 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.

<snip>

Your publisher has recieved hate mail and no longer wishes to work with you.

This sounds like the individual in this hypothetical situation did more than "speak honestly". Quite a bit more.

The other possibility is that the individual had the misfortune of meeting some of the crazy people on the internet. But, were I a betting man, my money would be on the "more than 'speak honestly'" bet.

Meanwhile, you write something for an independent game, it's maybe half the work because as long as what you have done is 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.) 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.

Did the individual in scenario 2 "speak honestly"? Also, it would appear that not only are the behaviors in the 2 scenarios different, so are the products. That can have a major influence on the scenario.

My advice for the hypothetical individual would be to continue writing, if that's what they love (and you have to love that job, because it's not going to make you rich), and not let one negative experience stop it. And if said individual thinks that they can create a product, publicly treat their customers like crap, and then expect those customers (or friends of those customers) to buy said product, then that individual is in for a very rude awakening.

 

[big dummy]

Edit: ok you are right nevermind.

BD

 

[woodelf]

Kinda depends what you mean. If you mean personal opinions completely unrelated to the product in question, then, no, i've never not bought an RPG product because of them. Or, at least, not solely because of them--can't rule out them contributing to tipping the balance on a product i was only luke-warm on to begin with.

But i have routinely avoided products due to the personal opinions or politics of the companies/individuals i'd be supporting by buying those products. So i'm sure i'd do the same in the RPG world should i (1) become aware of those opinions and (2) disagree with them sufficiently strongly. Personally, i consider it a moral obligation not to further the ends of those you have a moral objection to. I cherish everyone's right to their own beliefs, and to act on those beliefs (so long as others aren't harmed), but don't see any reason i have to actively work to support those beliefs--simply failing to squelch them seems sufficient in most cases. So i don't shop at Wal-Mart (just to give a specific example--probably can't support it, however, within the topic restrictions around here).

However, unlike several posters, i do pay attention to the authors i'm buying from, as well as the companies. There are a few companies that i trust to sufficiently vette their authors that i'll buy anything they put out, sight-unseen, provided it's on a topic i'm interested in. Atlas, frex. They basically don't have to do anything to sell me a product but put their name on it and tell me it's an RPG. I know, from experience, that John Nephew (and whoever else makes the decisions) makes sure everything is of excellent quality. Most companies, however, are very hit-and-miss, IME. Witness the discussions of WotC products around here for an excellent example. While a few seem to see everything they do as good, most seem to agree that some WotC products are awesome, some are poor, and most have some great bits and some lousy bits.

So i more often rely on authors (and other individuals) than on companies. I know anything edited by Jennifer Heartshorn, written by John Snead or Robin Laws, or with mechanics by Steve Kenson, will be excellent. Moreover, i know several names to avoid [not gonna list any, out of politeness]. Unfortunately, even here things aren't reliable. The same folks who did the layouts on the D&D3E books (blech) also did DragonMech and Mutants & Masterminds (both stunningly beautiful). So, while there are a few names to seek out and a few to avoid, a lot fall in the 'gotta check each product individually' category.

But, back to more directly on point: being a jerk probably won't stop me from buying your products. Holding political views i find anathema probably won't stop me from buying your products. Knowing that the money you raise selling your products will be directly put to furthering political views i find anathema might. It's the difference between someone using their income to support their views (understandable, laudable in fact) and "10% of the sales of this product will be donated to X". If i think X is a bad goal, i might not buy the product.

But, realistically, all of these are just factors in making a purchase. Rarely is a product so 100%-awesome that I Must Have It, regardless of anything else in my life. Doubly-so for luxury products like RPG books. And my wants have, so far in my life, always exceeded my means. So i get to buy some fraction of the RPG books i'd like to buy. Just as i consider the cost of the book and what %age of it i'm likely to actually use and whether i 'need' it for an immediate game and whether the layout/art is good, i'll also consider the creatives behind it, when i know anything about them. That means both whether i've liked their previous works, and whether or not i like them. In the former case, given two books that seem to be equally-useful to me and are of the same price, i'll probably buy the one written by the person whose work i've particularly enjoyed in the past, even if i don't have particularl expectations of enjoying this particular work more than the other work i'm considering. I think of it as rewarding them for doing such a good job in the past--it becomes a tie-breaker.

Similarly, being a nice guy or a jerk in your personal relations can be a tie-breaker. And, of course, being a nice guy or a jerk when trying to sell me your product has obvious ramifications.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Your politics as an author (short of outright Nazism) won't stop me buying your book. Your behavior towards members of the community might. I have passed on a few purchases due to the regrettable personal attacks made by a handful of publishers.

 

[greymist]

GQuail asked: Have you ever avoided purchasing a product because of personal feelings regarding the/a designer or company?

Yes.

For me, I feel an obligation to not support people, companies, or organisations whose actions or words I find to be unethical or immoral. Luckily, I have found very few people in the RPG industry whose comments have offended me to the point where I have boycotted their work. In fact, there is only one.

But, contrary to what a number of others have said, I will not boycott someone just because they spouted off at someone, or because they have different political or religious views than me. They have to cross a line in order to get on my bad list.

Outside of the RPG world, there are several companies that I now avoid, most of them are large multi-national corporations.

 

[frankthedm]

just as the author is perfectly correct to speak his mind if so inclined, the buyer is perfectly correct to refuse to purchase on whatever grounds he wishes. If the Author feels strongly enough about an issue, he has to also realize that whatever is said will have an effect on his personal image.

QFTT

 

[Crothian]

The opposite also holds true. I bought Dragon Magic based on who wrote it only. I like those guys and enjoy their books so like to support them when I can.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't care about politics, for the most part (although I suppose there's limits -- if the head of the American Nazis writes modules, I won't be picking them up), but there's at least one designer who's so personally obnoxious that I can't imagine giving him money. Frankly, if he didn't have a game design credit to his name, I imagine he would have been banned here years ago, and good riddance.

So, out of the whole industry, there's only one minor designer I won't buy because of his personal behavior. I'm pretty easy-going otherwise.

 

[Paraxis]

No, a book is a book. I buy it for the content.

Besides if I let stuff like that control my buying habits, I never would have bought alot of core books, lets just say me and a certain Sage have very opposite political and moral views on the real world, but this is D&D so why let real world stuff come into it.

Plus what about those who are not outspoken about personal beliefs but still have conflicting ones or ones that some may consider horrible.

Don't get me wrong yes if I knew any company who's owner or major shareholder was say a terrorist or child molestor of course I would speak with my pocket book and not give them a penny, but those are about the only two extreme casses I can think of.

 

[Odhanan]

I think like Henry basically. Authors can have opinions, but they should accept the fact that not all customers will agree with them. They should also realize, when talking about politics, religions and sensitive topics like these, that whatever opinion they share will affect their personal image, and thus their sales, down the line.

I, as a customer, do not stop having opinions when buying a game book. If I don't like someone, for whatever reason, I just don't support that person by buying his or her products. That's it - this just has to be expected when you are opinionated. I also have to agree, as a customer, that not all customers have to share my opinions, and may very well have opinions diametrically opposite to my own. "C'est la vie". Such is life.

A note on gaming opinions. The opinions of authors or companies on particular aspects of game design certainly do affect my purchases. I support some game aids I think are useful to my game obviously, but I also happen to feel good when I support products I think are good for the game as a whole. Like those game aids that help the information flow of the game while embracing its nature as a RP+Game. Examples? Item packs from Paizo, Steel Sqwire, Dungeon Tiles, Dwarven Forge and such.

People who have affected my purchases by just being decent, good people include Ari Marmell, Monte and Sue Cook, Mike Mearls, the folks of Necromancer Games and Paizo, and I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of others.