Synnibarr vs WotC

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To be fair to Raven those things didn't exist for the first 30 years or so of his concept and not for twenty years of him selling.

It's easy to spiral into hopelessness with twenty+ years of struggle.

Yes, that's true.

On the other hand, that makes him a full-blown adult at this point, by any metric.

At some point, one has to take a deep breath in the shower and say "OK, now what?" and start adulting.

That can include letting go of perceived sleights from decades ago, acknowledging one own's part in the failures of the past, or even simply creating a new plan in the current reality. Ideally, all three would be done and are, IMO, the sign of becoming a true adult, but even just taking the last course, the least mature and evolved one, would be progress.

At a certain point, sitting at the bottom of a pit that you had at least a part in digging for yourself, complaining about being in a pit becomes a problem that no one else's responsibility but your own.

 

[Dioltach]

If at first you don't succeed...

...give it another try. But know when to quit. Unless you're building a cathdral, fifty years is too long by any metric.

 

[Dire Bare]

Yes, that's true.

On the other hand, that makes him a full-blown adult at this point, by any metric.

At some point, one has to take a deep breath in the shower and say "OK, now what?" and start adulting.

That can include letting go of perceived sleights from decades ago, acknowledging one own's part in the failures of the past, or even simply creating a new plan in the current reality. Ideally, all three would be done and are, IMO, the sign of becoming a true adult, but even just taking the last course, the least mature and evolved one, would be progress.

At a certain point, sitting at the bottom of a pit that you had at least a part in digging for yourself, complaining about being in a pit becomes a problem that no one else's responsibility but your own.

The guy suffers from serious mental health issues, and has been for decades. To expect him to just start "adulting" is a bit callous. He needs help, help he isn't likely to get.

Synnibar is a truly awful RPG, classically so, but everytime these threads pop up or get necro'd . . . I can't help but feel bad for McCracken and his continuing mental/emotional health struggles.

 

[gamerprinter]

I know of Synnibarr, and heard of it, a very long time ago, though I've never looked at it, nor had any attraction to it. Raven McKracken is one of my FaceBook friends, and he does comment or like on many of my posts, and I sometimes respond, but have no true interaction with him beyond that, though I know who he is. RM does post Synnibar content now and again as well. Despite being a 'Facebook friend', I barely know the guy. But then both founder/creators of Traveller RPG, who happen to have their own feud and haven't spoken with each other in years - both are my Facebook friends too, as well as bunch of Gygaxes who don't get along. I'm friends with lots of people on Facebook, most of whom I don't really even know...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The guy suffers from serious mental health issues, and has been for decades. To expect him to just start "adulting" is a bit callous. He needs help, help he isn't likely to get.

OK, I'm not familiar with him. In that case, it certainly does feel like he needs someone in his life to intervene.

 

[aramis erak]

That's good info, but it does seem to jibe pretty well with what AbdulAlhazred wrote, IMO. You both agree that SJ is a generalist gamer, and that the company has been supported primarily by other products than by RPGs.

It seems like the main conflict between your info and his was his statement that SJG hasn't done much with RPGs in recent years, vs. you saying they have been publishing new RPG stuff, but just only in PDF and POD due to costs.

Wrong. My beef was his claim that SJ wasn't an RPGer.

SJG has a lot more RPGs than profit from them would support. Sean Punch has been explicitly clear that the continued publishing of GURPS books is entirely out of love, not profit.

Getting TFT back was SJ's white whale. He's just lucky that the muktuk was tasty and the meat still saleable. It was a high risk decision; one mitigated by using crowd funding.

TFT also appears to be the project he's personally overseeing. Of the last 10 SJ Games I've checked the authorship on, only TFT was SJ's design. The others were all by other staff or freelancers. Heck, even Car Wars was SJ & Chad Irby in first ed... more recent have others credited for the revisions and extensions. (SD Haring, especially.) Some of the earlier ones were indeed SJ himself... but most have RPGer-friendly theming. Illuminati even - many players get "into character" when playing it. Battlesuit is the Ogre setting at a 1 counter 1 man scale; I've known people who used it for RPGing in the Ogreverse. (Sadly, its setting info was deprecated by GURPS World of Ogre.)

And SJ's TFT obsession is also reminiscent of Raven's...
the difference being that SJ wasn't blinded by ignorance of Sturgeon's Law nor of the realities that RPGs don't make a great profit. (I do wish he'd not gone imperial on TFT-LE)

SJ makes his money by inculcating a strong stable of both staff and freelancers for RPGs, board games, and card games. And paying them well, having great editing staff, and minimizing print costs when practical, and when not, using pre-production funding via Kickstarter, minimizing the risks. (I got paid about 3× what I expected on my one article for SJG. My editor was brilliant; the quality is every bit his efforts as mine.)

 

[Dire Bare]

OK, I'm not familiar with him. In that case, it certainly does feel like he needs someone in his life to intervene.

All you need to do is read this thread to realize McCracken is struggling, and has been for a long time.

In the 80s and 90s he was young(er), charismatic, and had a support group of friends and gamers. But as we age . . . .

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In the 80s and 90s he was young(er), charismatic, and had a support group of friends and gamers. But as we age . . . .

And folks with profound mental health needs can eventually exhaust their support systems, even well-meaning and devoted loved ones. Lots of the homeless people on America's streets have loved ones who couldn't keep up with the problems indefinitely. (Speaking generally here, not specifically.)

 

[Carlsen Chris]

The guy suffers from serious mental health issues, and has been for decades. To expect him to just start "adulting" is a bit callous. He needs help, help he isn't likely to get.

Synnibar is a truly awful RPG, classically so, but everytime these threads pop up or get necro'd . . . I can't help but feel bad for McCracken and his continuing mental/emotional health struggles.

Finally someone with some human decency.

 

[Blue Orange]

And folks with profound mental health needs can eventually exhaust their support systems, even well-meaning and devoted loved ones. Lots of the homeless people on America's streets have loved ones who couldn't keep up with the problems indefinitely. (Speaking generally here, not specifically.)

That's part of a larger problem with America's mental health system, at least in part due to a combination of concerns about freedom and refusal to fund anything.

Was Synnibarr something you'd play by itself? Probably not. But it's full of wonderfully wacky ideas and there's so much out-there stuff you could nab for your game (the fate of many indie supplements) I hate to crap on the guy. The arts are hard, and unfair--you can spend years refining your skills and craft and perish in obscurity. You have to work as hard as a surgeon to be really good, but you're not guaranteed a six-figure salary and society's respect at the end.