The recent spate of threads on the Dungeon/Polyhedron issue has got me thinking about what gamers can do to affect the process of game design. I'm currently a full-time designer and writer in the gaming industry. I've written stuff for Dragon, Dungeon, Polyhedron, Fiery Dragon, Mongoose, Necromancer, Fantasy Flight, Atlas, AEG, White Wolf, and a bunch of other companies. In short, you can't swing a dead cat in a room full of RPG editors without hitting someone that has to whip my prose into shape.
I've been online since 1993. I've bitched about gaming products, I've flamed publishers, I've posted reviews, I've sent fan mail. In short before I jumped into this kooky business I was just like you. I bought games, played them, and talked about them on the 'net. Ironically, now that I write games for a living I don't have anywhere near enough time to talk about them on the 'net, but I still play them and buy them. In fact, I really should be writing up combat cards for my Monday night D&D game, but I feel the need to write this instead.
I want to address something pretty simple about RPGs, the Internet, and you. What you say here, on the Internet, matters. RPG designers, editors, and executives read this stuff. Heck, a lot of them post here. Your comments and ideas can influence the very course of this industry.
Think about that for a minute. Imagine if, after seeing the Matrix Reloaded, you could write a note that the Wachowski brothers would personally read. Wouldn't that be cool? You could tell these guys what you liked and what you didn't like. Not only that, but there'd be a chance that they'd respond to you, or even take what you said into account.
Pretty cool, huh? Well, if my point isn't obvious yet, that's exactly what you get in this hobby. If you have something to say about Mutants & Masterminds, and you say it here, chances are that the folks at Green Ronin are going to read it.
So, that's my first point: RPG companies are listening.
Now, here's where the angry gamer part comes in. See, I can relate to the angry gamer. I've been one myself. You buy that supplement, or that core book, or that magazine, and you think "Damn, this is bad." This feeling is doubly worse if you expected it to be really good, or if the publisher had previously done a great job. You loved the older issues but now, things just aren't as good. So, you're mad, you're bitter, you're an angry gamer.
And hey, there's the Internet, the perfect place to vent.
Right?
Wrong. Remember my first point: RPG companies are listening.
Let's pretend in your gaming group there's a guy named Dave. Dave always shows up right on time, he never loses his character sheet, he has a miniature for his character, and he always brings a 2 liter of Dew and a bag of Doritos. In short, Dave's a great gamer.
Then, one week, Dave doesn't show up. The next week, he shows up late and doesn't have his character sheet. The week after that, he doesn't bring anything to eat. In short, Dave is now a crappy gamer.
You, of course, remember when Dave was a great gamer. You want him to go back to being one. He's your friend, a fellow gamer, the dude who critted that dang behir and wrecked the DM's plans, the first person who ever told you the gazebo story and the legend of the head of Vecna.
Now, let's think of Dave as the magazine you used to love, or that game supplement that wasn't quite as good as you hoped it would be. Both of them were great (or had promise), and both have slipped down hill.
So, what do you do? How do you bring back the magic? How do you get your now ailing friend to leap out of the sick bed of suck and jump back into the fast lane of cool?
What's obvious is you wouldn't insult him, or deride him, or ascribe goofy, malicious motives to his actions. You wouldn't call Dave and say things like "I know you're skipping games because you're too busy being a jerk" or "Man, if you don't show up at the next game I'm going to set your dog on fire."
By the same token, when it comes time to let a game company know that you're not happy with them, you don't say things like "I will never buy your products ever again" or "You suck" or "You guys are obviously padding the page count to charge more money for this book."
If you want Dave to come back to game table, you gotta treat him like the friend he is. You say things like "We really miss you at the game" and "We had so much fun when you were here." You ask him what's up, you're concerned, you're worried. You want him to go back to be Dave the Supergamer, and you know that alienating him isn't going to help. He's your friend, right? And that's what friends do: they look out for each other.
The same exact thing applies to game companies. Publishers want you to like them. They spend all day thinking about ways to publish stuff that you'll like. If you don't like their games, and you don't buy them, they can't keep making them for a living. If you treat them like cool, interesting, but sadly wayward friends, they're much more likely to come around to your way of thinking.
If you say things like "Your first module was great. We played it and loved it. But when I tried the second one, I had problems with it. The maps were blurry, and encounters 4 and 8 were missing stat blocks for the monsters. The adventure was well written overall, but the rules goofs made it really hard for us to use" a publisher is liable to listen. First of all, you've made it clear that you like their products. This is liable to make them think highly of you, since you have the intelligence, grace, and good taste to find their products enjoyable. Publishers are people too. If you are nice to them, they're apt to like you.
Second, that statement is very specific about what was wrong. The publisher can look at it and (here's the kicker) actually DO something about. Maybe the maps were messed up in layout. Maybe the editor overlooked the monster stat blocks because the developer was supposed to add them, and he thought the editor was going to do it. If you give concrete complaints, you give the publisher the tools he needs to start correcting mistakes. Things like "It sucked" or "I wish it was like the old stuff you published" doesn't really help.
Imagine if you had an employee review and your boss told you "You suck, and I want you to do something about it." What the heck would you do? RPG companies are in the same bind when your complaints are ranty, generalized, and vague.
Now here's the kicker, the one thing that, even if nothing else here can sway you, might give you reason to curb the ranting and focus on being positive, constructive, and supportive:
If you post something ranty, whiny, and angry, chances are a publisher is going to think "This person is just an Internet crank. His opinions don't reflect anyone else's. Why should I waste time talking to someone who is obviously just looking to insult me and start a fight?"
Remember what I said about publishers being human, and how treating them nicely is a good way to get them to listen to you? Well, the opposite is also true. Publishers are human, and as such they're likely to ignore people that annoy or insult them.
So, to sum up: the Internet is a powerful tool that gives you direct input into this crazy hobby. The nicer you are to people, the nicer they are to you. If you treat people like crap, they'll ignore you. And, above all, I really need to get to work prepping my game for Monday.
Good gaming, all.
Edit: Grammar goofs. Still not done prepping Monday's game...
I've been online since 1993. I've bitched about gaming products, I've flamed publishers, I've posted reviews, I've sent fan mail. In short before I jumped into this kooky business I was just like you. I bought games, played them, and talked about them on the 'net. Ironically, now that I write games for a living I don't have anywhere near enough time to talk about them on the 'net, but I still play them and buy them. In fact, I really should be writing up combat cards for my Monday night D&D game, but I feel the need to write this instead.
I want to address something pretty simple about RPGs, the Internet, and you. What you say here, on the Internet, matters. RPG designers, editors, and executives read this stuff. Heck, a lot of them post here. Your comments and ideas can influence the very course of this industry.
Think about that for a minute. Imagine if, after seeing the Matrix Reloaded, you could write a note that the Wachowski brothers would personally read. Wouldn't that be cool? You could tell these guys what you liked and what you didn't like. Not only that, but there'd be a chance that they'd respond to you, or even take what you said into account.
Pretty cool, huh? Well, if my point isn't obvious yet, that's exactly what you get in this hobby. If you have something to say about Mutants & Masterminds, and you say it here, chances are that the folks at Green Ronin are going to read it.
So, that's my first point: RPG companies are listening.
Now, here's where the angry gamer part comes in. See, I can relate to the angry gamer. I've been one myself. You buy that supplement, or that core book, or that magazine, and you think "Damn, this is bad." This feeling is doubly worse if you expected it to be really good, or if the publisher had previously done a great job. You loved the older issues but now, things just aren't as good. So, you're mad, you're bitter, you're an angry gamer.
And hey, there's the Internet, the perfect place to vent.
Right?
Wrong. Remember my first point: RPG companies are listening.
Let's pretend in your gaming group there's a guy named Dave. Dave always shows up right on time, he never loses his character sheet, he has a miniature for his character, and he always brings a 2 liter of Dew and a bag of Doritos. In short, Dave's a great gamer.
Then, one week, Dave doesn't show up. The next week, he shows up late and doesn't have his character sheet. The week after that, he doesn't bring anything to eat. In short, Dave is now a crappy gamer.
You, of course, remember when Dave was a great gamer. You want him to go back to being one. He's your friend, a fellow gamer, the dude who critted that dang behir and wrecked the DM's plans, the first person who ever told you the gazebo story and the legend of the head of Vecna.
Now, let's think of Dave as the magazine you used to love, or that game supplement that wasn't quite as good as you hoped it would be. Both of them were great (or had promise), and both have slipped down hill.
So, what do you do? How do you bring back the magic? How do you get your now ailing friend to leap out of the sick bed of suck and jump back into the fast lane of cool?
What's obvious is you wouldn't insult him, or deride him, or ascribe goofy, malicious motives to his actions. You wouldn't call Dave and say things like "I know you're skipping games because you're too busy being a jerk" or "Man, if you don't show up at the next game I'm going to set your dog on fire."
By the same token, when it comes time to let a game company know that you're not happy with them, you don't say things like "I will never buy your products ever again" or "You suck" or "You guys are obviously padding the page count to charge more money for this book."
If you want Dave to come back to game table, you gotta treat him like the friend he is. You say things like "We really miss you at the game" and "We had so much fun when you were here." You ask him what's up, you're concerned, you're worried. You want him to go back to be Dave the Supergamer, and you know that alienating him isn't going to help. He's your friend, right? And that's what friends do: they look out for each other.
The same exact thing applies to game companies. Publishers want you to like them. They spend all day thinking about ways to publish stuff that you'll like. If you don't like their games, and you don't buy them, they can't keep making them for a living. If you treat them like cool, interesting, but sadly wayward friends, they're much more likely to come around to your way of thinking.
If you say things like "Your first module was great. We played it and loved it. But when I tried the second one, I had problems with it. The maps were blurry, and encounters 4 and 8 were missing stat blocks for the monsters. The adventure was well written overall, but the rules goofs made it really hard for us to use" a publisher is liable to listen. First of all, you've made it clear that you like their products. This is liable to make them think highly of you, since you have the intelligence, grace, and good taste to find their products enjoyable. Publishers are people too. If you are nice to them, they're apt to like you.
Second, that statement is very specific about what was wrong. The publisher can look at it and (here's the kicker) actually DO something about. Maybe the maps were messed up in layout. Maybe the editor overlooked the monster stat blocks because the developer was supposed to add them, and he thought the editor was going to do it. If you give concrete complaints, you give the publisher the tools he needs to start correcting mistakes. Things like "It sucked" or "I wish it was like the old stuff you published" doesn't really help.
Imagine if you had an employee review and your boss told you "You suck, and I want you to do something about it." What the heck would you do? RPG companies are in the same bind when your complaints are ranty, generalized, and vague.
Now here's the kicker, the one thing that, even if nothing else here can sway you, might give you reason to curb the ranting and focus on being positive, constructive, and supportive:
If you post something ranty, whiny, and angry, chances are a publisher is going to think "This person is just an Internet crank. His opinions don't reflect anyone else's. Why should I waste time talking to someone who is obviously just looking to insult me and start a fight?"
Remember what I said about publishers being human, and how treating them nicely is a good way to get them to listen to you? Well, the opposite is also true. Publishers are human, and as such they're likely to ignore people that annoy or insult them.
So, to sum up: the Internet is a powerful tool that gives you direct input into this crazy hobby. The nicer you are to people, the nicer they are to you. If you treat people like crap, they'll ignore you. And, above all, I really need to get to work prepping my game for Monday.
Good gaming, all.
Edit: Grammar goofs. Still not done prepping Monday's game...
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