Gary was always beholden to the Blumes. When Gary and Don wanted to publish, they needed a third member (the Blumes) to help cover the costs. When Don passed away, it was the Blumes who bought out his ownership shares. Despite being given the title of 'President', Gary was an employee of the Blumes and remained so until he was forced out.
Synnibarr vs WotC
You should read this, by Greg Costikyan: SPI Died for Your Sins
Beyond that, if you have further questions/discussion, I would request that you start a new thread so we can refocus this one back to Synnibarr.
jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
That has always been my understanding of the role of the Blumes and Gary's relationship with them, as well.
Gary made some questionable decisions, but not as many as are attributed to him. People think he was in charge because he was the president, but he was never in charge. There are a lot of stories from the 70's about people who were getting to meet Gary and they were nervous because he had a reputation (due to what he wrote) as being an advocate of "one-true-way-ism" and being something of a hard ass. But when you actually met him, he wasn't like that at all. His games were very freeform and he hated rules lawyers. In "official" writings though, he had to toe the company line which came from the Blumes. At the time, most gamers had little to no idea who the Blumes even were. By the time the 3 core AD&D books were out by the end of 1979, the Blumes were already sick of Gary. That's a large part of the reason he was shunted off to California - the Blumes didn't want him anywhere near the day to day running of the company.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
We also know of at least one instance where Gary went on the record publicly supporting decisions that in actuality he disagreed with, but were forced by the Blumes. For more on that, check out the product history of Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits (affiliate link).
Bringing this thread back to life for a bit of an update to the original story/question. Raven McCracken has shared a bit more of the story of his feud with Peter Adkinson and/or WotC.
It sounds like Raven wasn't just denied a table at GenCon, he was trespassed from the venue. It also sounds like much more of a personal issue with Peter than a problem with WotC as a company. I'd still love to hear the other side of it. Fascinating history.
It sounds like Raven wasn't just denied a table at GenCon, he was trespassed from the venue. It also sounds like much more of a personal issue with Peter than a problem with WotC as a company. I'd still love to hear the other side of it. Fascinating history.
Wicht
Hero
For some reason, I am reminded of the scene from Guardians of the Galaxy where Drax gets his first chance to confront Ronan in Knowhere
Parmandur
Book-Friend
I suspect even more now that Raven violat3d some terms of service and had to be ejected. This rant is grandiose, self-aggrandizing and psychotic.
Yeah, I wouldn't trust Raven's point of view, or at least take it with a heaping mound of salt.
Composer99
Hero
I'd like to have the certainty that any IP I generate is on part with Star Wars! Talk about confidence.
However, the post runs pretty deep with a strain of what comes across as conspiratorial ideation. While I am sure McCracken believes every word he's writing, I think there'd need to be more than just his say-so to accept the idea that some shadowy cabal of RPG industry insiders is deliberately trying to keep him and Synnibar down.
What's more, there are tools these days to a least give Synnibar a chance! Discord/social media activity, Patreon to provide a steady support, and if there is enough interest, crowdfunding for fancy publications. I rather doubt that avenue is being deliberately shut down by industry insiders.
However, the post runs pretty deep with a strain of what comes across as conspiratorial ideation. While I am sure McCracken believes every word he's writing, I think there'd need to be more than just his say-so to accept the idea that some shadowy cabal of RPG industry insiders is deliberately trying to keep him and Synnibar down.
What's more, there are tools these days to a least give Synnibar a chance! Discord/social media activity, Patreon to provide a steady support, and if there is enough interest, crowdfunding for fancy publications. I rather doubt that avenue is being deliberately shut down by industry insiders.
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