TBoarder said:
Honestly, I don't think that the average fan knows enough about the industry to make the distinction. It's not a question of being smart enough, it's how much you know about the inner workings of a company.
You don't need to know how an industry works to know that (1) you love someone's creative work, but (2) hate the corporate strategy that releases 400 supplements a year which then prices the hobby out of your reach, or the strategy to sue everyone who makes a game even remotely similar to the corporation's product.
If you're saying that the writers and artists aren't responsible for the decision to release $upplements, I believe that you're dead wrong, which is why any author would get offended by it. An RPG company can't live off of the sale of its core books alone, it needs a steady release schedule to keep itself in business, which naturally means $upplements.
But, unless they
are management, the writers and artists are
not responsible for those decisions. A writer may
want to release a supplement, but the company's management makes the decision whether or not to release that product. In a small company, the writers and artists usually are the management as well. In a large company, they may not be. Note that we don't see these "nicknames" for smaller companies. Only for the very biggest.
]Me, I love supplements. If they help my favorite writers and artists to continue working in the field, all the better. T$R, Wot¢, and $upplements not only trivialize their desire to make a living in providing us with entertainment, but it demeans the hard work they put into writing the supplements.
No, it doesn't. That's quite a stretch. Saying you hate the content of a particular product (or product line) may be demeaning to the creator. But saying you hate management's decision to sue every other game designer because management is greedy in no way denigrates Designer X who created Supplement Y.
For what it's worth, I like supplements, too. But I can like the contents of a supplement and still dislike (or even hate) a corporate decision. I would rather have seen one $40 hardback book, instead of 5 $20 splatbooks. But I'm sure an accountant at HQ would rather sell me the 5 splatbooks than 1 hardback. It simple business economics and that's fine. But I don't have to like it.
In general, I'm very happy with
W 
tC's handling of DnD 3e. I have bought most of the supplements. If I want to denigrate the creator of a supplement, I'll attack the
content of said supplement. Some writers make it easier than others
, but that's the beauty of the d20 world. Almost eveyone can find a supplement (or series of supplements) they like. And no one's pointing guns at our heads, forcing us to buy them.
Sorry about that, I'll let the thread return to its humorous beginnings now.
Humorous? I'm still mourning the death of Mrs. Potato Head.....but those hash browns were delicious!
[edit - fix quote tags]
