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Owen KC Stephens' Tabletop RPG Truths
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<blockquote data-quote="JLowder" data-source="post: 8008702" data-attributes="member: 28003"><p>Sure. Not with every post they make, though. And not necessarily in the way you demand. Posting about the harsh truths of an industry can certainly be part of looking out for those who are starting out.</p><p></p><p>You're likely not seeing the "legs up" because you are not in the industry or not looking very hard. There's mutual support in the tabletop industry, just like others arts communities. I've spent a lot of time fighting for better contract terms and have used every project I have worked on in any capacity since I left TSR in the early 90s to improve things for others. I answer all kinds of questions on fiction publishing for game companies and offer advice on best practices, whether I am working for them or not. (It's the right thing to do, and that's why I do it, but any time I spend on that stuff also undermines my pay rate. Same for everyone else. So when you suggest industry people champion work conditions and the like, do keep in mind that you tend not to get paid for those efforts.) I am hardly alone in offering this kind of support. Gen Con runs a brilliant Writers Symposium track of panels and critiques parallel to the main convention. Those resources exist at a lot of cons, staffed by pros, geared toward those who want to get a start in publishing. There are resources online, too.</p><p></p><p>Having worked for Paizo as a freelancer, they are, in my experience, a very good company. They cannot, however, change the fact that freelancers are a decentralized workforce or that the entire publishing industry has been tethered to a broken economic model for decades. They cannot change the expectations of consumers about the price point of RPGs or the fact that US culture frequently equates salary with your value as a person. Those are the sorts of things that Owen is addressing, not the more localized issues of a publisher offering underhanded contracts or not paying bills. So trying to turn Owen's discussion on Paizo somehow is way off the mark.</p><p></p><p>--Jim Lowder</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JLowder, post: 8008702, member: 28003"] Sure. Not with every post they make, though. And not necessarily in the way you demand. Posting about the harsh truths of an industry can certainly be part of looking out for those who are starting out. You're likely not seeing the "legs up" because you are not in the industry or not looking very hard. There's mutual support in the tabletop industry, just like others arts communities. I've spent a lot of time fighting for better contract terms and have used every project I have worked on in any capacity since I left TSR in the early 90s to improve things for others. I answer all kinds of questions on fiction publishing for game companies and offer advice on best practices, whether I am working for them or not. (It's the right thing to do, and that's why I do it, but any time I spend on that stuff also undermines my pay rate. Same for everyone else. So when you suggest industry people champion work conditions and the like, do keep in mind that you tend not to get paid for those efforts.) I am hardly alone in offering this kind of support. Gen Con runs a brilliant Writers Symposium track of panels and critiques parallel to the main convention. Those resources exist at a lot of cons, staffed by pros, geared toward those who want to get a start in publishing. There are resources online, too. Having worked for Paizo as a freelancer, they are, in my experience, a very good company. They cannot, however, change the fact that freelancers are a decentralized workforce or that the entire publishing industry has been tethered to a broken economic model for decades. They cannot change the expectations of consumers about the price point of RPGs or the fact that US culture frequently equates salary with your value as a person. Those are the sorts of things that Owen is addressing, not the more localized issues of a publisher offering underhanded contracts or not paying bills. So trying to turn Owen's discussion on Paizo somehow is way off the mark. --Jim Lowder [/QUOTE]
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