Trying to add a review

[Dragongirl]

I think removing all free products from the normal database is the best way to go, including Creative Mountain. It avoids any problems of saying what free product is worthy of being in the database and what is not. If you do set up a separate database for freebies that would be cool too.

 

[Krug]

I dunno.. There are some GREAT free products out there that are way better than a lot of stuff one has to pay for. I think if there are people who bother reading the reviews, then it's worth reviewing. Some of us do want to know before we spend time downloading or registering for a product.

As for E-zines; they should be left out. I think Joshlemak is compiling a list of ezines and perhaps a link to access them would be sufficient. Emerald Sage is definitely an e-zine. I think retitling your zine just so you can get into the EN World database just shows how highly you think of your own material. If it's good, people will read it.

 

[Dragongirl]

Really didn't want to get in this but.

What exactly makes something an ezine and something else a free product? Not trying to be arguementative, just curious what the exact differences are.

 

[Morrus]

Really didn't want to get in this but.

What exactly makes something an ezine and something else a free product? Not trying to be arguementative, just curious what the exact differences are.

Same as the difference between a magazine and a book, really.

One is a cohesive whole, the other is a collection of articles, reviews and so forth.

 

[HellHound]

A magazine includes interviews, reviews and related "articles". While magazines try to stick to a theme each issue (usually), they also publish material that is not directly related to the theme at hand (such as reviews, and articles that are not directly linked to the theme). Additionally, the contents of a magazine are broken up by article instead of by chapter. For example, a magazine might have prestige classes in four different articles, whereas a sourcebook will most likely have all (or most) of the prestige classes in a specific chapter.

Those are the determining differences between a product such as the Stygian or Emerald Sage and a product such as Portable Hole Full of Beer (this product contains no alcohol).

All In My Opinion, btw.

 

[Mark]

Does this mean all Creative Mountain stuff is out too? Those are free products but I believe they are base products that will be built upon by further products you can purchase.

I think removing all free products from the normal database is the best way to go, including Creative Mountain. It avoids any problems of saying what free product is worthy of being in the database and what is not. If you do set up a separate database for freebies that would be cool too.

Which CMG products do you see in the database that are free?

 

[Dragongirl]

Which CMG products do you see in the database that are free?

For my part I said CMG because the other person didn't want them included. I took a look at the products and saw you were charging token prices so no freebies.

 

[Dragongirl]

Same as the difference between a magazine and a book, really.

One is a cohesive whole, the other is a collection of articles, reviews and so forth.

Fair enough.

Next question : Why do periodicals get treated as second class products? Several people have voiced that they should not be in a database. If a periodical brings you 40 pages of gaming information, why is that looked lesser upon than a non-periodical product with the same page count? This is not a critisism of anyone at ENWorld or any of the posters, I am just really trying to understand why people seem to think so little of them.

Edit : And no I am not saying that Stygian or Emerald Press should be in the ENWorld main database, I am quite satisified with that just being for pay products.

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Blame EternalKnight, I had no intention of getting into periodicals before.

 

[Mark]

For my part I said CMG because the other person didn't want them included. I took a look at the products and saw you were charging token prices so no freebies.

It's one of those carry-overs that is particular to print products that publishers haven't quite yet caught onto yet. PDFs can be any size (though perhaps technology sets a high limit) and as long as you get what you pay for, there really is no limit on the lower end. They aren't actually token prices as much as low prices for smaller products. And, indeed, as DocMoriarty points out, they do serve as building blocks in that, for instance, the Trundlefolk are highlighted in The Whispering Woodwind adventure and so the Lexus - Culture Class Trundlefolk NPC class PDF is included in the zip file with the adventure at no extra charge. It allows for someone to check out the Culture Class separately, and ahead of time, to determine if they might even like to go on and purchase the adventure.

 

[Eternalknight]

Unfortuneatley, on another messageboard at another time, a similar sort of debate once came up.

Morrus, Psion, and whoever else counts, while I understand your point of view, what makes free pdf's different to say, 5-10 page pdfs that people charge (for example) .50c for? Why (to use the Emerald Sage as an example), does a 40 page pdf become less 'legitimate' than the above example?

Now, let's take another example. The Emerald Sage has a bard theme, with almost all of the articles based around it. What if, instead of calling it an 'e-zine', we called it a bard supplement? Although it would have been free, would this topic have even come up, leading to all free products to be banned? Would the Emerald Sage: Bard Supplement still have been in the database?

What's done is done I suppose, but I just had to ask these questions.