the article Krug linked to by Lewis Publisher whom I think is a great writer said:
I stopped writing for The Dragon when they insisted on buying all rights to articles.
This is hardly
Dragons' fault. TSR had to give up a lot because they neglected to secure all rights and some of their content providers pointed out that it left TSR in a very legally fragile position.
Moreover, what D&Ders seem to want these days is an unending stream of new prestige classes, new magic items, and other new stuff to make characters more powerful. In general, third edition D&D seems to be an excuse for players to find unearned advantages for their characters. The more new rules you can get hold of, the more ways you can find to circumvent play balance.
Yes, gamers want more control over their own characters. This is why I permit powergaming at my table when I DM. If a guy spends two hours pouring over the rules to eek out an extra +1 to hit under some specific circumstances, I see no difference between that and a guy who spends two hours developing his character's backstory. Both of them are putting time into their character. I want to encourage that. Call it "muchkinism" if you will, but I think players should be more involved in the game and you can't
enforce roleplay, you can only
encourage it.
But I have to admit, I'm also disenchanted with 3D&D generally. It is more complex than first edition D&D (I never played second edition, which is very much like first anyway), battles take a long time to resolve because movement is non-simultaneous, and some of the rules are just bizarre. You buff up one or two fighter types and watch the fighter pound on the enemy; if the fighter goes down, you cure him, he leaps up again, and the fight continues. Duh!
Yes it it more complex. It is also more concrete. I also played in 1e and 2e and there are fewer arguments about what can happen with what consquences. I -- and feel free to disagree -- would prefer bizarre rules to rules that are made up and changed at the DMs whim. It is not the DMs game. It is everyone's game and everyone should know what rules they are playing by.
I also remember the old fights. They were worse. The figher and cleric would both charge in. The cleric would whap innefectually with his mace while the fighter did all the real work. Then, after the combat, the cleric would heal the figher up. Now the heals happen in combat more often and if they don't happen there are greater consequences.
So I don't play 3D&D very much, and I'll never be an expert on the rules the way I was with older versions. Moreover, writing 3D&D adventures requires extreme attention to detail (in the stat blocks) that takes a very long time, according to current authors. This just isn't worth five cents a word, to me.
I can not argue against any of that. I would reccomend some computer tools to generate statblocks and encounter levels, but I admit it's harder under 3e.
I attended some seminars at Origins (summer '04) to listen to FRP writers, and was appalled to learn that even the most successful of them sell all rights to their "books" (some of which are truly book size)! So those big FRP books that seem to be everywhere, with D20 versions for SF, modern, and so on, with sources from every historical era, are all written as works for hire, at as little as two cents a word
Yes. It's pretty bad being a d20 writer. But I find it ironic that he's compaining about large books. I also note that he ignores the huge increase in the cost of paper that happened around 1995. Publishers aren't exactly getting rich and consumers want a higher quality product. Yet still we have these large books. Back in 1990, books were thinner and there was less attention to game balance. So if you discovered by 5th level that you had a gimped character who was never going to ammount to be more than a sidekick, you were stuck with that.
Five thousand words a day, folks, is really humming.
I completely agree. And I don't think a lot of d20 writers should settle for what they get. I think they should branch out. I know I can't even afford to pay someone 1 cent per word, which is why I don't reccomed that people work for me.
Hearing this, I understood why so much of the D20 output is junk.
There is a metric ton of stuff back in the 1980s that was perfect garbage. And this is where Mr. Publisher and I deviate. There were entire product lines that were complete trash. And remember, there was no internet. You had to typically go on the copy on the back of the book to determine if a product was any good. Actually, you generally had to buy an entire box of crap. I remember buying one RPG that had no character generation system. The DM/GM/Referee decided what your abilities and skills were and if you disagreed you had to shut up and deal with it. This was roleplaying back in 1985.
Games (board, card, etc.) are still produced on a royalty basis. So if your game sells well, you make more money; if it sells poorly, you make less money. When you work for hire, if your d20 book becomes a national best seller, you don't make a dime more than if it sells only 50 copies.
Yes.
I recently exchanged emails with someone who I consider to be an exceptionally talented writer. He said that he was unwilling to work for royalties because that depended on the publisher doing a good job promoting the product. It cuts both ways. I think Green Ronin does things the best. They generally give you a flat fee and if you have outstanding sales you get a bonus. I would do that, but then I can't afford to pay people 1 cent a word.
From an economic viewpoint, producing this stuff is a poor way to make money. From a creative viewpoint, it's a poor way to produce good game rules. From a business viewpoint, writing for hire is a poor way to do business. So I don't do it.
Yes. No. Irrelevant. I'm sorry.
Yes, RPGs are not a gold mine. They're not a silver mine. They're not a copper mine. They're barely even a salt mine. If you don't want to write for RPGs for economic reasons, I totally understand.
No. If a writer is only creative if he gets paid what he thinks he should then I don't want him working for me. I don't know what magic dollar value in the writer's head is where he'll do the real quality work versus just producing a given word count. A game rule should appear in a book because it's good, no other reason. If a guy I'm hiring says "gee, I'd put this rule in but Mr. Geekus is a tightwad" then I don't want him working for me. Either accept the terms and do your best or go to another field where they will almost certainly pay you better.
Irrelevant. Writing for hire may or may not be a poor way to do buisness. There are plenty of companies that do just fine with that. Other companies fall on their face. The terms of hire aren't the problem. I have found some amazing writers on the internet who do incredible work for free. The money isn't the issue. Knowing what is a good product, knowing if a writer is up to it, being able to edit that work, and having a buisness model that can support the product all weigh a lot more heavily.
And I'm sorry. I'm sorry we lost you Mr. Publisher. I'm sorry I can't afford you. I'm sorry you looked at the 3e rules and decided they were too complex so you never appriciated what you can do with them. I'm sorry you feel that powergamers don't have a place in RPGs. You are quite a talent. The industry could use you.
Happy gaming.
edit: clarity
