The reasons why "novel-talk" is taboo on WotC Boards?

[Razz]

Posts of rape and killings of the authors? Geez, who the hell were these people? I am surprised the game designers aren't receiving these threats also, why was it geared only towards novel authors?

Exactly what reasons did these people have to say such stuff? That's beyond creepy, that's the Book of Vile Darkness. Screw banning, the company could've locked up plenty of these weirdos and been regarded as exalted heroes for putting them away (and earning more revenue as sales rise in WotC, declared as heroes! lol).

Another good question is, where have the Novels discussion moved to now? And, scary to think, where have the weirdos moved to continue their disgusting thoughts?

 

[diaglo]

Posts of rape and killings of the authors? Geez, who the hell were these people? I am surprised the game designers aren't receiving these threats also, why was it geared only towards novel authors?

Exactly what reasons did these people have to say such stuff? That's beyond creepy, that's the Book of Vile Darkness. Screw banning, the company could've locked up plenty of these weirdos and been regarded as exalted heroes for putting them away (and earning more revenue as sales rise in WotC, declared as heroes! lol).

Another good question is, where have the Novels discussion moved to now? And, scary to think, where have the weirdos moved to continue their disgusting thoughts?

some authors post here. I know for sure.. Paul Kemp...

some post on other dedicated FR boards... like over at Candlekeep or whatever it is called...

and some don't post anymore. just chat with you at conventions and such or thru private email.

 

[mythago]

But on the other hand WotC is hosting a website for teens and almost teens to interact. All it takes is one disgruntled kid telling his parents he was ‘abused’ by some employee on some corporation’s (read: Hasbro’s) website for things to go south real fast. Plus, WotC is a corporation. You don’t just go changing your procedures willy nilly, especially for those elements of your business that deal directly with the public (and that public’s children).

This part of your post baffled me--I have never heard of a company getting in trouble with parents because of TOO MUCH moderation. If fear of one disgruntled teen was the problem, then the WOTC boards would not have banned anything at all, ever, lest there be a complaint about...something.

Someone else already posted about haphazard and inconsistent moderating, which I suspect is more the problem. You either need a benevolent dictator (or two, and they all agree) or a firm policy, or moderating simply won't work. And you need a thick skin.

 

[Klaus]

Once again, but with link:

WotC novels can be discussed here: http://worldsofdnd.com/forum/

Some authors frequent those boards as well (I've spoken with Keith Baker and Matt Forbeck there).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

By "amateurs" I assume you mean "have not published professionally before". That would be the case if WOTC didn't practice what you call 'cronyism' at all--given that they have had open calls for novels before.

The number of books produced by open calls is dwarfed by the ones that aren't. It's almost to the point that I think of them as stunts at this point.

I'm guessing that the point of relying on an employee is less 'cronyism' than knowing who is going to turn in material on time and to spec.

Probably true. But the problem remains that you have fiction writers of a lower tier in quality. If the goal is to lessen the criticism of the fiction, figuring out how non-game publishing companies get manuscripts in a timely fashion is probably the way to go.

If, on the other hand, WotC is laughing all the way to the bank and doesn't care that there are common complaints about the quality of their fiction, game on.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Not every author is going to be JRR Tolkien, but that is not a bad thing. You don't like RA Salvatore, or Drizzt, then DON'T READ ANY OF HIS BOOKS! You don't have to read them, and don't begrudge those of us that do enjoy them.

Who's saying you can't enjoy them?

 

[RisnDevil]

The assumption was mine, that some one who refers to the authors as "ametures" or "cronies" was not enjoying the books. My apologies for the misconception.....

That having been said, I just want to say: I don't know how I ever didn't notice Candlekeep, but after the "recommendation" by this board, I am now a member there. And I have to say, the novel talk is amazing. Even the people who disagree with an authors seeming disregard of a "fact" express this respectfully. If I had a place like this, as an author, that I could go to read from fans and discuss ideas, I would never want to put up with the abuse at Wizards.Community either.....

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You’d have to have a pretty broad definition of amateur, as well as a pretty paranoid notion of what ‘personal ties’ means (which, in the real world, often refers to friends, work acquaintances, contacts, getting to know people through basic networking, etc…with no conspiracies implied or assumed).

Paranoid? I am under no illusions that anyone at WotC is out to get me.

And for the purposes of this discussion, a fiction author never published outside of game fiction is an amateur novelist. I don't think that's a broad definition at all.

But I guess it’s too much of a stretch to believe a company might actually train, elevate and evaluate from within, huh?

I don't see writing novels as career advancement. If the goal of a publishing line is to publish the best fiction possible, "promoting from within" instead of going with a strict meritocracy is a bad idea. If that's not the idea, then WotC doesn't need knights in shining armor riding to the defense of their novels' quality.

The whole concept of the ‘real world’ is a false one, by the way. Splitting hairs leads to an empty argument.

What empty argument? They publish people who have never published a novel before, chosen more for apparent personal ties than by their skills. Then people complain about the quality of their work. The only argument I'm making here is that there's a link. I'm not sure it's a particularly shocking conclusion to reach.

How does not becoming a successful (again, vague) novelist validate your claims?

How is it vague to say that someone hasn't had a novel or other fiction published other than game fiction? That's a pretty cut and dried question.

Does this really prove that all authors who don’t write more than one novel are corporate-inbread, amateur hacks?

I'm not sure that was what I was trying to prove, but OK. Strawman time it is, I suppose.

But you’d assume a whole lot about their skill sets and experience.

Um, there's no assumptions necessary when you read their bio and hey, look at that, this is their first published work.

It’s objective if it’s true regardless of who says it. ‘Many people’ is too vague and too unlikely to be true without real sampling to rely upon as fact.

Better to call it what it is, an assumption.

Mmm, personal attacks, I like it.

Dig up the polls done on this board about how people feel about game fiction. You have a lot more people to attack.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The assumption was mine, that some one who refers to the authors as "ametures" or "cronies" was not enjoying the books. My apologies for the misconception.....

You're free to enjoy the books, I'm free to not enjoy them. (In point of fact, I have found a few to be enjoyable.)

No one's a bad person in any of this, though. WotC is doing what friends do -- give friends a break. The new-to-published-fiction writers are taking a shot and running with it, as well they should. People who enjoy the books are getting books they enjoy. People who don't enjoy the books have lots of other choices.

All I'm saying is that there's a relationship between the way WotC (and all game companies for the most part) choose writers for their game fiction and the critical reception of that fiction.

 

[RisnDevil]

I think the only relationship that can be pointed out about people being critical of the fiction, is you can't please all the people, all the time. For example, take one of the "larger" realms authors, who was not "in the industry" before he began publishing, and MANY, MANY people do nothing but trash him and his novels (more exactly, the novels main protaganist).

People are going to complain about ANYONE who writes in an established world, because they don't agree with the authors vision of some aspect of "THEIR" world. They are only SLIGHTLY less critical of products and enhancements, which somehow are ok if they do not fit into the readers idea of the world.....