Funny Email From a Publisher re. Reviews

[Vanye]

I wont be buying their stuff either.

I also wrote them and told them as much.

-Neomunchkin

Does anyone have their snail mail address? I'd like to write to them and let them know my opinion as well.

 

[Khan the Warlord]

Does anyone have their snail mail address? I'd like to write to them and let them know my opinion as well.

The following is the only contact info I could find at the AP site:

Marcelo A. Figueroa
C/o Avalanche Press, Ltd.
West Coast Division
1463 West Cypress Avenue
San Dimas, CA 91773
Ph: 909-592-4314
Cph: 909-322-1526
Fax: 413-618-1583
Em: squidguru@adelphia.net
Hours: 9:00am - 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time

 

[frankthedm]

There are several websites I no longer read because they are simply hype machines that don't break things down and expose the glaring flaws.

Thats why I go to usenet and sites like this.
Most official sites no longer have any credibility.
I suspect there is a kind of "scoop blackmail" at work here, an informal but real pressure.

And statements like this serve simply to confirm such morbid suspicions.

most?

You think there are ANY credible official sites? By being "official" they have already stated who butters thier bread. [Not to mention who has the piano wire wrapped around thier spheres.]

 

[tarchon]

BTW, has anyone done a search for the other Simon who reviewed this product so badly?

I think I've seen one related to it. I got the same wrong impression about the Simon/Simon Collins issue when I first went looking at the reviews to see what the fuss was about, and it really was a useless and perhaps somewhat mean-spirited review.
http://www.enworld.org/d20reviews.asp?sub=yes&where=currentprod&which=ROAGN

'Ragnarok: Tales of the Norse Gods' (Avalanche): worthless, contains almost nothing of any interest. There are free .pdf downloads with better info on the Norse gods, or read any book on Norse mythology. The idea of deities as low-level PCs is interesting but not developed (the sample arch-nemesis is a deity 5th level Rogue). Nice cover though.

This review was obviously written in October (apparently) but perhaps it represents a pattern of this "Simon" slamming Avalanche products? It's also possible the apologist is getting a couple different reviews confused. (One might note that the Anti-Simon actually compliments the cover ).
On the other hand, the reaction was definitely a bit out of line.

 

[Ghostwind]

AP did specifically mention that the bad review was of their product Black Flags. So the "anti-Simon" cannot be the culprit unless his review was removed for some unknown reason. The only review of Black Flags posted on EN World is by Simon Collins (who did rate it a 2).

 

[Umbran]

Actually it is. The company with that email pretty well came out and said that their free copies to reviewers are in fact bribes given to get good reviews.

Wow. Unforgiving crowd.

If you ignore the second letter, and the context it claims for the statement, then perhaps. So you have to ask yourself - do you wish to say that Mr. Figueroa was lying in this second letter?

Personally, I'll sit on the side of "reasonable doubt". Is it possible that Avalanche is now lying, trying to cover it's own rear? Yes, I suppose that's possible. Is it possible that there was misunderstanding? Also yes.

Given that, I'll stand by the Golden Rule, and give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Corwin]

I side with Umbran. Let's all take a breath and put things in a bit of perspective.

I think the beauty of the internet is it's anonimity. But that can also be a liability. Many of the vicious/derogatory comments are able to be expressed becuase people can hide behind their monitors and keyboards. Moreso, however, is the fact that the rhetoric can quickly compound by the tendancy of groups to bandwagon and/or escalate in an effort to one-up each other. This can lead to a lot of nasty remarks and lynch mob behavior.

Whether APL is in the wrong, or everything is being blown out of proportion, who knows for sure (other than the parties directly involved). But some of the people posting here are a bit extreme, to say the least.

Anyway [shrug], I guess I'm just not seeing things as terribly as some would suggest.

 

[Decamber]

Yeehaw - nice mail...

 

[Psion]

As someone who actually LIKES Heavy Metal magazine and the art thereof (which uses the same artists and styles as AP's material), I get tired of the constant bashing of their product covers. I'm 31, married, 2 kids... But this is a "classic" form of art that I enjoy, just not one that was ever before seen in the RPG industry.

So you like the Heavy Metal look then? Sure, fine.

But how would you feel if your National Geographic came wrapped in a heavy metal cover? That is the effect of most Avalanche books that most people complain about...

 

[HellHound]

You are asking the wrong man, Alan.

I would cheer if my National Geo had a cool Heavy Metal cover on it.