Monte Cook Presents the Year's best D20

[Darkness]

Bla, blah, blah.

Things seem to be heating up around here. Lest they escalate, I want everybody to watch their tone, please.

 

[OregonGM]

Folks don't like the object of their adoration questioned.

Snarky. I like that in a publisher who wants part of my gaming dollar.

If Adamant would write this (book, magazine, digest, pamphlet) I'd buy it from them. Imagine that! You get one publisher saying "Here is what I think is good." and you have a statement. You get three to do it , and it becomes an organization! Then, one day, you have ten publishers singing a few bars of "Here is what I think was good last year" and they'll think its a movement and . . .

Ahem. Sorry. Lost track.

What I meant to say is you get, say, six publishers. Each has a different view of what constitutes a "good idea." To further the example, lets say I agree with the gaming philosophy and editorial direction of Adamant's stuff. If I want someone to pick out the year's best, I'm going to seek the counsel of Mr. Skarka. I still have my own tastes, but I would use "Skarka's Best of 2004" as a good starting point.

Alternately, perhaps I have never heard of Adamant. I see that they thought "The Complete Guide to Fantasy Slimes" was horrid except for the bit about increasing potion efficacy with grey ooze. Hey, that's what I thought too! I think I'll take a look at their stuff!

For the love of all that is d20 goodness, I'd read anybody's if it kept me from having to drink the godawful coffee at FLGS, researching my life away.

 

[OregonGM]

I never tried to deny his right to 'get' to do anything

Whoah, sorry. The quotes were reflecting what I think is a job I wouldn't do if there was a gun to my head. Like, I "get" to eat a handfull of nails.

I just pointed out that people who think that Monte is doing anything other than indirectly promoting his own interests are kidding themselves.

Well, yeah. Everything a publisher puts out is to promote his or her own interests, with the exception of Windows ME and Complete Arcane.
(No flamewars . . .I'm making a joke.)

What I had intended to respond to initially was the "fanboys" bit and wondering why something can't be both popularly respected and good.

Venting one's irritations -- isn't that what free-speech is all about?

A'yup. I feel better too.

 

[Acid_crash]

I say give him a chance, let's see what happens, and if it comes out different than we would hope, oh well. It's gonna happen whether or not you like it, so deal with it.

 

[MacMathan]

So I guess it is safe to say AdamAnt will not be putting in an entry, which is a shame because I loved his New Wave Stuff.

There is nothing keeping others from stepping up and doing the same thing. Why all the fervor over a product? Its like going on a rant about co. XYZ and how dare the publish the Unrequited Love Story of the Flumph (but if they ever do I expect a free copy)

If you don't like do not buy it, arguing the merits of a product not out yet, while often done now days, is really not very far-sighted. Hey and just think how much more righteous in your vitriol you will feel when you can actually say you have flipped through it at your FLGS

 

[Prince of Happiness]

So I guess it is safe to say AdamAnt will not be putting in an entry, which is a shame because I loved his New Wave Stuff.

You know, I'd be all over that. I'm pretty sure he'd do an...interesting "Stand and Deliver! A Player's Guide to Dandy Highwaymen" splatbook. Either that, or a large contributor to the Book of Erotic Fantasy.

At any rate, Monte Cook does a top whatever best d20 product list of 200X. I'd be interested in seeing that and seeing which of my favorites are on it, just to see where his and my tastes lie.

 

[MacMathan]

You know, I'd be all over that. I'm pretty sure he'd do an...interesting "Stand and Deliver! A Player's Guide to Dandy Highwaymen" splatbook.

That would ROCK!!! -sorry 80's flashback must go lay down and take my meds now (Seriously I would buy it)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Having been assured time and again that the ENnies judges had no trouble doing basically the same thing in a month has helped convince me that I can get it all done.

I don't think anyone ever said it was done with "no trouble."

 

[Monte At Home]

I don't think anyone ever said it was done with "no trouble."

Yeah, You're right. I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't a ton of work. I'm sure it was.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Monte has better credentials for choosing good game products than any Ennies judge who has yet served - our staff reviewers included. It is reasonable to expect that his judgement will be at least as god, if not better, than theirs.

I strongly disagree with that, but only because what Monte's told us this book is about is d20 crunch, not so much the fluff.

Objectively speaking, I don't think mechanics are really Monte's strong suit. He's always seemed to me, at least, to have a better handle on outside-the-box creative thinking and had trouble (when he has trouble) with mechanics. Monte is about higher level thinking. Big concepts.

There are other publishers with a far better track record on game mechanics. Green Ronin would sit comfortably at the top of that list and have done so for a while.

As for the assertion that Monte has better credentials than the ENnie judges, reviewers included-- well, I think that's a transparent case of "hero worship."

Objectively speaking, again, I'd say Psion-- who reads hundreds and plays dozens of products every year-- probably has a better sense of what OGC was good in 2004 than Monte. Where pure mechanics are concerned, for that matter, John Cooper would be hard to top. For certain, the two of them have a good head start on Monte for 2004.

It's certainly possible to be personally involved in the creation of the product and to have less of a handle on the nuts and bolts of the mechanics than those who use the actual product, day in and day out. To me, this is anecdotally self-evident, in any number of industries.

I strongly suspect that what Monte feels is the #1 thing he's bringing to the table isn't so much his judgement, but his name (which is fine-- I'm sold on that). There are certainly people out there with a better grasp on the rules, but their name's not Monte Cook.

I do wonder how much this will "compete" with the ENnies.

Wulf