TSR The Cult of Abaddon - Release from NuTSR/TheEvilDM

[J.Quondam]

For me as a professional translator and editor, the very final check of any text before it goes back to the client (after I've edited and reviewed it/translated it and had it reviewed by an editor) is the Read Aloud function in Word. Anyone can use it.

I'd never thought of that. That is a fine idea!

 

[Sacrosanct]

Old people with bad eyesight are fully capable of increasing the magnification on their screens.

I am an old person with bad eyesight (worse as I get older), and there isn't really any excuse for that many errors. Not if you want to be taken seriously as a publisher.

 

[Morrus]

Jason doesn't go into any detail about the editing problems in this video, but in both the video before and after this one on his channel he goes into weird side rants that are clearly justifications for the errors. This includes a tangent about errors in other books, and a justification that "old people with bad eyesight" should be forgiven for editing failures.

That's ridiculous. Why are they hiring editors can't edit?

 

[Deset Gled]

That's ridiculous. Why are they hiring editors can't edit?

I think it's pretty bold to assume they're "hiring" anyone. They probably got exactly the editing job they paid for.

 

[Stormonu]

That's ridiculous. Why are they hiring editors can't edit?

Did your editor take the day off, Morrus?

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Did your editor take the day off, Morrus?

Muphry's Law strikes again.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Muphry's Law strikes again.

Absolutely. Whenever I make a dig about grammar, inevitably I make a grammatical error in my quote.

 

[LongTimeLurker]

Basically, WotC could serve a C&D and possibly file an injunction to stop them from even selling the module.

They didn't do it often after 3E's OGL, I recall one module that got blocked because they used shadow dragons which were not in the SRD but in a licensed FR product.

Probably something from Fast Forward Games (Entertainment). WoTC made Jim Ward pulp multiple titles because he couldn't grok the OGL.

 

[adamantyr]

Probably something from Fast Forward Games (Entertainment). WoTC made Jim Ward pulp multiple titles because he couldn't grok the OGL.

It was a LONG time ago, I think it was a Necromancer Games module. One of their first dozen or so. And that at least was just a minor mistake; they didn't realize the SRD didn't contain shadow dragons, they were only in a FR supplement that was not part of the OGL.

Yeah, as I've looked at Jim's recent work over the last decade or so, I'm not impressed with it. When FF books first came out my brother got several of them and was shocked and dismayed at the incredibly poor quality of them.

It honestly feels, sometimes, like this fragment of the OSR community hasn't grasped that it isn't the late 70's anymore. Hire professional editors. Don't lift artwork from random sources, commission artists to do the work and give them the proper credit. And you can have an old school feel but still have a coherent rules system; telling people to just "make their own rules if it doesn't work for you" is lazy and unprofessional.

 

[DLIMedia]

Back on topic... it seems that Vincent "The Evil DM" Florio has pretty much vanished off the face of the Earth, which is a particularly strange thing to do immediately after releasing a major product. As far as I can tell he's hardly done any promotion for it.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Muphry's Law strikes again.

Murphy was an optimist...

 

[Deset Gled]

Back on topic... it seems that Vincent "The Evil DM" Florio has pretty much vanished off the face of the Earth, which is a particularly strange thing to do immediately after releasing a major product. As far as I can tell he's hardly done any promotion for it.

He's still active on YouTube. But it's mainly been about playing Palladium stuff, and less about D&D. This adventure was his first publication since 2019; I think he's just sticking with playing RPGs and doing social media stuff rather that writing these days. Also, my understanding is that he hasn't been in contact with anyone at TSR since Michael left.

 

[Shiroiken]

Back on topic... it seems that Vincent "The Evil DM" Florio has pretty much vanished off the face of the Earth, which is a particularly strange thing to do immediately after releasing a major product. As far as I can tell he's hardly done any promotion for it.

Given the fact that he's not officially getting paid, and the fact that the final product is a complete mess, I'm not particularly surprised. If it was a gift to help them get going, and they made a hash of it, I'd distance myself too (especially considering the terrible PR of the company).