Does a publisher/author's interaction here influence your purchases?

[Qualidar]

It does, both good and bad. There have been cases where I've been impressed by an author's willingness to explain his product and help other's understanding of it. That makes me feel good about both the product and the author (I'm looking at Steve Kenson here). There have been other occasions where I've got the impression that an author was jumping onto every other thread to off-handedly pimp his products. That made me feel negative to the author, but wouldn't have stopped me from buying his product if it appealed to me. On the far end of the spectrum, there used to be an author who frequented the WotC boards who not only was in every thread, but was bad-mouthing other products that were similar to his, as well as other posters who liked those other products better. it would be a cold day in hell before I bought his book.

~Qualidar~

 

[Umbran]

Generally not. I usually don't pay attention to the publisher or author when looking at a book. I pass by what's on the cover, and look at the content. I generally cannot name who wrote or published which of may gaming books.

 

[pogre]

Absolutely. Wick is a good example of someone I avoid. He doesn't care what I think and that's fine, but he will never see a sale from me. There are many more on the other side of the spectrum that influence me to buy their product through their excitement and good manners on line.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

If I'm on the fence, then, yes, it could tip my hand. Generally, though, it doesn't. I'm more likely to buy or not buy an author if I like his work or not than I am if I like his behavior or don't like his behavior. The only time it really influenced me tremendously was with FFE and their attitude towards reviewers, but, given that their material wasn't so strong, I wasn't seriously considering buying it anyhow.

Nick

 

[jaerdaph]

I really appreciate publishers/authors with a strong boad presence that answer questions about their work, offer suggestions for its use, contribute to the community at large etc.

And community is the operative word - publishers that do this become members of the community with the same rights to state their opinions and not be harrassed as everyone else. When publishers like this occasionally snap back at snarky, nasty fans, it don't bother me at all - if I like and can use their work, I'll still buy it. I can only think of two publishers I would never buy from due to their negative, disruptive presence here - one who consistently leaves negative reviews of other publishers' competing works and many believe masquerades here as someone else now after he was banned, and another one who recently left in a hissy fit because he was called on the fact he had no idea that d20 Modern didn't use Vitality/Wound system, deleting all his posts in the process (not that any sane person would consider him a real publisher anyway).

 

[Fiery James]

To everyone who says "yes": You guys suck and are killing the industry.

No wait, I mean that for the ones who said "no." The guys who say "yes" are all getting tickets to the next Interpol concert. I love you.

(Quick attempt at humor, now I sit back and watch the sales fallout. It's part of a larger experiment!)

Go buy Dark Harbor. Or a Counter Collection. Or gems and jewels and send them to my house.

Thanks!

- James

 

[jaerdaph]

Go buy Dark Harbor.

What's Dark Harbor about?

(See how this works, folks? )

 

[Fiery James]

What's Dark Harbor about?

(See how this works, folks? )

Well... Dark Harbor is Adam Windsor's introductory Iron Heros adventure... available in PDF form from all of your favorite online sources (including ENGS).



- JB

 

[jgbrowning]

Yes. Utility is only one factor in all my purchasing decisions, rpg or otherwise.

joe b.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I generally try to divorce opinions about a creator from opinions about thier work. I do that with music, movies, gaming and just about any other creative product. So negative reactions and bad dealings with fans won't color my chance of buying a book that has content I am interested in.

On the other hand, positive view would make me look into something that I might not have otherwise. If I see a publisher / company rep being polite, helpful, and courteous, I just might take a look at a book thinking "if this person / company is so cool on the boards, maybe his book will be to." This could lead to extra purchases.