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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EvilBeeker" data-source="post: 1865560" data-attributes="member: 11606">Turjan ... your comments regarding my post are fair and to the point; however, I would like an opportunity to clarify my position. I don't post to ENW a lot, as Jim seldom lets me out of my cage, but mostly because I just don't have the time. This does not mean I am out of touch with the Internet community. While I do represent a publisher, I do consider myself a gamer first and foremost. We who are publishers are also allowed to comment on things in the RPG world just like anyone else. In it’s context, my first post was more from a gamer standpoint if you’ll allow me to separate the two.Like my BP comrades like to point out (in less than kind ways sometimes), I've been around gaming longer than most and often have a different perspective on gaming today. I'll be the first to agree that I can be thin-skinned and defensive about things I enjoy, but that can be said for many other publishers that post to ENW as well as non-publishers. I don't think this is an exclusive club either way. In fact, this community probably has some of the most opinionated people on the Net. This is a good thing. On the flip side, critics of publisher (reviewers or otherwise) should in turn be open to other critics (publisher or otherwise) -- it is only fair. While I may have a bit harsh, that was the basis of my previous posting.At the core of my argument was the discussion of art, since it seemed to be at the core of everyone’s “no love for Oathbound”. Oathbound or otherwise, it burns me a little that people tend to judge a product more on it's art rather than its contents. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of Todd Morasch's art (or maps) either, and I told Jim as much after he published MINIONS long ago. However, critics of Oathbound and Todd's art make it sound like he is the *only* artists for Domains of the Forge, be it the core book or something we published last month. I happen to love Jeremy Jarvis's interiors in the core book, as well as the cover art by a'lis and Jim’s layout. To bash Oathbound art based on a dislike for Todd’s art is slightly and a poor critique overall. Now, if you dislike the majority of the artists, the layout, the maps, AND the cartography --- that’s another story. In addition, many of our critics fail to bring forth the fact that Jim is the only original member of Bastion Press still around. Both Todd and Greg have moved on since before the publication of Wrack & Ruin, and both Oathbound and our d20 lines have continued to grow with new artists, layouts, and other aspects of overall design. Often this seems to be forgotten when taking the entire campaign into account, which does nothing but irritate my so indicated thin skin. How many other publishers who have been around since the onset of d20 have changed the way they do products, art or otherwise, over the years? Probably everyone; yet Oathbound is the most heavily criticized for something that was done two years ago and the campaign is not taken into account as a whole (i.e. six products total and counting).Where I get my thin skin on this subject Turjan is with those that discount Oathbound (or any product or publisher for that matter overall) based mostly on their dislike of (Todd’s) art. Again, I’m not overly wild about many of Todd’s pieces, but at the time I did not let that dissuade me from reading through what is a very original and well-written campaign. In the end it became what is probably one of my most favorite campaigns (even before I joined BP) in my past 25 years of gaming. Yes, art is important, but it is not (in my book) what an RPG product is all about. If that were the case, D&D would have never became this popular because the original blue and red box set look like they were designed on Sesame Street compared to today’s *standards*. People tend to forget those humble beginnings of our favorite hobby, and often let is skew their overall opinion of product.If you thoroughly read through my post Turjan, you will notice that I made the statement that all of our critics are listened to, whether we agree with them or not, and all critiques are weighed by our entire design team. If there are overwhelming issues, we do address them. In addition, I did defend the right for everyone to have an opinion, which I do fully support. What I personally do not care for is when people do not take the time to fully understand (or read) the product and circumstances they are critiquing. If after all that, someone doesn’t like Oathbound, then that is their choice and I respect that – but don’t come online and belittle a product when not taking the entire product into account. It is nigh impossible to design “the perfect product”, it is more important to us that we strive to design “the perfect campaign”, because in the end I believe that is what really counts.Kevin W. MelkaBastion Press, Creative Director<a href="http://www.bastionpress.com" target="_blank">http://www.bastionpress.com</a><a href="http://www.oathbound.net" target="_blank">http://www.oathbound.net</a><a href="mailto:kmelka@bastionpress.com">kmelka@bastionpress.com</a></blockquote>

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