Mongoose Steele said:
People sometimes forget the level of blood, sweat and tears that go into these projects and just how much production goes into a book every day. So, when we come onto the equivalent of our home on the internet just to find that we are getting bashed...it is a bit disheartening.
OK. I am a programmer by trade, alas. Imagine that I worked for a company that has a well-established suite of programs. There is a User Group for this suite and we, being very generous, have provided a User Group Forum on our website for comments and discussion of our Suite.
Now, imagine that we have brought out a new version of this Suite and there are some differences between the versions. Now, some people write into the Forum and complain that there are some things they could do in the older version that they can't do in the new version. Other people write in to say there are slight differences in the File Structures and that programs linking with our new version don't work. Others write in to say that the Documentation supplied with the new system contains errors and needs changing.
What should we do?
Should we take on board the comments, send out explanations about why things have changed and perhaps write new programs to get over the difficulties? Should we write new documentation and correct the errors and bugs that have been found and highlighted? Should we apologise for the many errors in the new version?
Or, should we complain that people have dared to make comments that our new version is less than perfect? Should we say that they shouldn't come to our home and make these comments. Should we say that we have spent a lot of time on the new version and that they should be grateful that they get anything at all?
What do you think?
Mongoose Steele said:
I mean, on the RQ forum alone we collective Mongeese have been called liars, profiteers, ignorant, uncaring and a host of other terms that most people would never say to someone's face in their home.
Which clearly is wrong and shouldn't happen.
People should make comments in a polite and non-abusive way, regardless of the problems.
There will always be a hard-core group who believe that games companies should not make any money out of roleplay gaming and that anyone who does is profiteering. Of course they are wrong.
Others have conspiracy theories about how certain people in the RPG community are trying to get even with other people and this explains their actions. Once again, this is wrong.
Others believe that RPG writers should be passionate about certain worlds and should care more about those worlds or rules than anything else in the world. Once again, this is living in cloud-cuckoo land.
Business is business and RPG manufacturers need to make money, need to develop different lines and need to balance how much time they spend on writing a product with how much money they will make on the product.
Having said that, RPG players also have expectations. They expect products that are reasonably priced and of reasonable quality. They want products without large numbers of errors. They want consistent products. They want products that are in well-defined product ranges. When there is a perception that they aren't getting these then they become very vocal.
But, there is a difference between being vocal and being rude, which some people don't seem to understand. That is unfortunate.
Mongoose Steele said:
I've rambled on long enough about that. What I really wanted to come on here and say is that rather than screaming "nigh and the end is near" because of "heavy-handed editing" and "bad art"; maybe just give an intelligent opinion and know that Matthew has one helluva head on his shoulders and perhaps these well-voiced opinions will be taken more to heart for future products than that all of the doom and gloom posting.
As an old boss of mine used to say "We should get it right first time, then there wouldn't be any complaints."
Many of the people on these forums will continue to buy RQ products. The so-called "Old Guard" will probably buy RQ Glorantha until well after they pick up their pensions.
I've probably spent £100 so far on them and am looking to spend another £30 this month and more over Christmas and the New Year. Now, that's a lot of money to me (to my wife it's 4 pairs of shoes that she begrudges me for not buying her) and I expect the things I am buying to be of the highest quality.
So far, the Core Rules have been reasonable, but there have been a lot of errors and omissions.
I've only bought one Gloranthan Supplement so far, but that has contained some errors, even though it is a good book despite that. I would expect the Gloranthan range to be as good as the Core Rules range and hope I won't be disappointed.
Even so, I will continue to buy the Gloranthan and Core Rules Supplements, even if they stink. Of course, if they do stink then I would hope to be able to comment on how badly they stink and to highlight any problem areas. If nobody tells you of a problem, you cannot correct it.
Clearly, I hope they don't stink and, so far, they haven't.
Mongoose Steele said:
I'm not saying anyone here is right or wrong...merely that being right or wrong but voicing it like a gentleman or a lady (depending on who you are) is more likely to get the attention it deserves.
It does sometimes seem that even politely expressed comments are not picked up on or are simply ignored.
But, people should always be polite and non-abusive and I apologise on behalf of anyone who hasn't been.
Anyway, I've rambled on enough, too.
