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

[2WS-Steve]

Yes.

There is enough gaming product out there that I want I cannot get it all. So, my persoanl opinion of a writer is going to be a factor.

I'm with Crothian on this -- already too much material for me to use so I'll forego the plagiarizers.

I'll also forego publishers who strike me as unresponsive or hostile to reasonable customer concerns.


I will not forego a publisher just because they're from a different political party or have a different religious outlook. America was built on and continues to be strengthened by its acceptance of different points of view -- no matter how whacky! -- and as long as there's not baby-torturing involved, or something similarly universally despised, I'm willing to accept that reasonable people can vehemently disagree but still respect each other. And doing so will be to the benefit of everyone.


That said -- if the makers of the new Battlestar Galactica series are baby-torturers please don't tell me -- because their show's so good that I'd still watch it, and then feel guilty about supporting baby-torturers.

 

[GQuail]

What does somebodies philosophy or politics have to do with a book about dragons or swords or spells? You are trying to punish people who don't agree with you. It's going to lead to less and less people being honest.

This, to me, is yet another piece of a trend which is increasingly leading into an Emperor Has No Clothes situation. If the game does stagnate again it will be, in my opinion, due to the attitude of a lot of the fan base. It's already like "hear no evil, see no evil... or ELSE!!!"

Perhaps your bad experiences with rogue fans has kinda soured you on this, but I think you're really over-reacting to imply that people who don't buy from authors they think are jerks are going to cause the RPG industry to suffer. Yeah, I know, people online can be morons: but they're morons no matter what forum they're on, it's not really a uniquely RPG thing. ;-) If you don't have a thick enough skin to deal with that, though, then yes, you are going to find it hard to contribute to fan circles like this.

Most people here have listed pretty extrene examples for opinions they would boycott people for: which seems fair enough to me, because I imagine most people wouldn't be all about Third Reich D20 Press or whatever. But a constant thing has been not "I'll boycott for opinion" but "I'll boycott for how they express those opinions": that is, if they think you come off boorish, rude, argumentative or similarly jerk-like, they won't buy a luxury produt form you. That doesn't sound like an unreasonable idea to me, and I think it's unfair to imply that it's a stifling force on game designers to expect them to be on their best behaviour when speaking to the people who, at the end of the day, are the source of their RPG income.

Especially for companies who sell PDFs on ENWorld, you are talking on the message board to the exact same people who will buy, read, play and review your product. I expect them, thusly, to act as if they were in the shop with me as I looked over the RPG books and not act like a moron whilst I'm reading the back blurb of their latest product.

 

[Li Shenron]

I voted wrong!

I thought the question was "if an author's opinion about someone else's book has made me skip the book": yes.

Instead the question was "if my opinion about the book's author has made me skip the book": no.

 

[diaglo]

are we allowed to name names and fill in our opinions on them?

Sean K Reynolds

edited by request

 

[DaveMage]

are we allowed to name names and fill in our opinions on them?

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

(My mom taught me that... )

 

[Henry]

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 contraversial ideas, you better keep it to yourself or get a well disguised pseudonym.

You have the absolutely correct idea; not because it's necessarily the right thing to do, but because it's a fact of life with respect to human nature. Monte Cook said something similar when it came to responding to reviews of personal works, and it's really something that applies to a broader spectrum.

It's a very gray area; 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.

 

[Henry]

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

(My mom taught me that... )

Wise woman.

 

[GQuail]

are we allowed to name names and fill in our opinions on them?

I was originally going to put in the OP, "By the way, try not to overtly name names, cause it ain't good for this thread's health", but for the most part people ran with that. Even those who have have been relatively timid so far, IMHO.

I would rather this thread didn't close under a torrent of "XYZ PUBLISHING/MR AUTHOR SUCKS!", obviously.

 

[Psion]

I was originally going to put in the OP, "By the way, try not to overtly name names, cause it ain't good for this thread's health", but for the most part people ran with that. Even those who have have been relatively timid so far, IMHO.

I would rather this thread didn't close under a torrent of "XYZ PUBLISHING/MR AUTHOR SUCKS!", obviously.

Well now that you mention it, XYZ Pub does suck, and even if it didn't, I can't stand Mr. Author's attitude.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

What does somebodies philosophy or politics have to do with a book about dragons or swords or spells? You are trying to punish people who don't agree with you. It's going to lead to less and less people being honest.

D00d, If I you said something that I disagreed with and I walked up to you beat you about the head and shoulders with a dead cat, then yes that would be punishing you.

If I choose not to buy something WITH MY OWN HARD EARNED MONEY, because I disagree with you, is not punishment. It's me making a choice of what to do with MY MONEY.

And honestly for me it's more about being a jerk than it is about difference of opinion although that factors into it too. Youre right what does someone's philosophy or politics have to do with a book about dragons or swords or spells? Nothing unless your philosophy, politics show up in said book. I have a few books from Task Force Games that I value but ifI ever saw anything by Paul Jaquays in print again I would not spend my money on it.

You know, after reading this thread, I'm glad I don't write D20 stuff any more. There are some really nice people in this genre, in the industry and just into this game, but there are also some really vile people, who make me frankly not want to waste my time writing material for. I'm not specifically referring to you ShinHakkaider, I don't know you... but I am really frustrated with some of the general attitude I encounter in places like this.

Uh, Ok?

Look I may not buy your work or like the way that you come across, but someone out there will, one or a few peoples distaste for your positions is no reason for a creator TO STOP CREATING. That's just crazy talk.

Now you can add to that that if you are a writer, you better be doubly careful to keep your mouth shut. Your stuff can be boycotted or worse, companies who have been nice enough to print your work can end up receiving the blame.

Only if youre being a jerk. Seriously, as I said in my original post, I havent boycotted anyone in gaming yet, but in comics there are a few creators that will never see a red cent from me whatsoever. There are specific posters here on ENWorld that I wouldnt urinate on if they were on fire mostly because I think that theyre jerks. None of them, that I know of are authors. Generally above all I believe nerds have a tendency to strangle the fun out of most persuits with their pendantry and I hate that. I really and truly do. So I understand where youre coming from.

But I still stand by a consumers right to buy what they want and not put them on blast for how they come to that decision. I consider my self conservative on some things and liberal on a bunch of other things. I work with a woman who is very right wing and thought I disagree with her on a great many things, we are never rude and abrasive with one another. She also bakes and her cakes and pies are HELLA GOOD. If she sold them I'd buy them in heartbeat. So once again I'm amending what I initially said, if you have a differing opinion and are a JERK about it, you'll see not dime one of my cash. Unfortunately, the internet tends to give people false courage due to being able to hide behind a psudonym and that tends to breed jerky behavior.