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Whybird posted:Now if only he could publish a book that Raggi had nothing to do with. This is the name of my next OSR game.
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Sep 25, 2019 04:48
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Eastmabl posted:This is the name of my next OSR game. Bonus points if you write it in-character as Scooby-Doo.
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Sep 25, 2019 04:53
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Terrible Opinions posted:I'm glad we've had in the past two years people actually giving specifics on Paizo's shittiness, because MadScientistWorking's constant vague posting on it is infuriating.
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Sep 25, 2019 06:19
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FMguru posted:Playing "I've got a secret" with constant vague accusations is MadScientistWorking's signature shitposting technique. Thanks for clarifying, I was wondering whether MadScientistWorking had somehow reached adulthood without developing theory of mind because their posting style seems to assume you're aware of all the same information they were.
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Sep 25, 2019 08:00
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Monokeros deAstris posted:Dude also had absolutely no women on the team for his kickstarter at first, out of like a dozen artists signed on. He fixed it with little fuss once I raised the issue in comments, but still didn't fill me with confidence in what kinds of circles he moved in. (I ended up ordering a copy of the book but not splurging like I had originally been thinking about.) Honestly, "imperfect but will correct course when their mistakes are pointed out" kind of puts them ahead of a lot of the pack of publishers, indie or otherwise.
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Sep 25, 2019 08:02
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Warthur posted:Honestly, "imperfect but will correct course when their mistakes are pointed out" kind of puts them ahead of a lot of the pack of publishers, indie or otherwise. You’re not wrong. But, like, especially right at that moment when it happened, I was in a mood of, is it really too much to ask that people like at least be acquainted with A Single Woman working in their field? Really? He didn’t even know of any women artists doing osr-type art, at first! “Better than most everybody else” isn’t enough to make me feel good, these days.
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Sep 25, 2019 16:51
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If MadScientistWorking keeps vagueposting, I feel like he should at least start getting sixes for every vagusepost
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Sep 27, 2019 00:24
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Drivethru's decided to leave Raggi's bullshit up because if you ~separate it from the "meta" of being associated with Zak there's nothing wrong with the contents even though -- as admitted by the same jackass that says the above -- the whole drat thing is a defense of Zak. Oh, pardon me, defense of Zak is a "legitimate reading". Gutless cowards. Gutless cowards supporting filth.
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Sep 27, 2019 02:27
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taichara posted:Drivethru's decided to leave Raggi's bullshit up because if you ~separate it from the "meta" of being associated with Zak there's nothing wrong with the contents even though -- as admitted by the same jackass that says the above -- the whole drat thing is a defense of Zak. Oh, pardon me, defense of Zak is a "legitimate reading". Also, apparently one of the characters is a German Jewish cannibal named "Hitler." Sounds like a laugh riot.
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Sep 27, 2019 02:37
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taichara posted:Drivethru's decided to leave Raggi's bullshit up because if you ~separate it from the "meta" of being associated with Zak there's nothing wrong with the contents even though -- as admitted by the same jackass that says the above -- the whole drat thing is a defense of Zak. Oh, pardon me, defense of Zak is a "legitimate reading". The name has been changed and the blurb reference to the print-only editorial has been removed as well. If, for some reason, you want to look it up, the new name is "An Analysis into the Nature of Man & the Satanic Power He Contains". Pretty neat name if you don't know what's going on and haven't yet realized that the men with satanic powers are probably supposed to represent the poisonous community.
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Sep 27, 2019 03:30
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Nothing says "bold stand against the haters and losers" like repeatedly compromising your artistic vision to make it less obvious what you're super bitter about
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Sep 27, 2019 03:48
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Oh dear lord. I just had a fit of nostalgia and signed up for the PBM game Hyborian War. It's a country-level game set in Conan's world; I had a very promising game back in high school cut short by an interstate move and I wanted to try it again. Hell, I've had the map up behind my computer desk for over two decades at this point. What really got me about the game was the intensity of the diplomacy. Way back in 1987, one summer Saturday I come back from lunch at work to hear someone called for me. They called back and it was one of my neighbors in the game wanting to talk about a coalition against Aquilonia. Between a few calls and a bunch of actual letters we did put together a coalition to bring down Aquilonia. There were about 10 of us involved, direct neighbors and other nations called in to backstab some of our allies. See, three of us managed to work out an arrangement where we were going to come out on top, while the rest had their territories traded away to make sure the Big Three got all of Aquilonia between us, as well as big pieces of some of our allies. I wish I knew how it all came out. Notice I didn't say PBEM. You can email a turn in, but they still accept handwritten forms sent via snail mail. Their website (http://www.reality.com) has been up so long it links to multiple webrings. And no credit cards accepted online of course. Oh, and they have Forgotten Realms game too. So, should I just do an F&F of this throwback to a simpler time or go whole hog for my first LP ?
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Sep 27, 2019 05:38
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mllaneza posted:Oh dear lord. I can't answer your question because this post just rocketed me 15 years ago into the past when my little sister and I used to play as the Totally-Not-China in that game and I'm now high off of weapons grade nostalgia. Holy crap I have not thought about that game in a long time. If I stare into space the system was more than a bit janky, but late high school/early college me and middle-school/early high school her had so much stupid fun concocting elaborate battle schemes together and then waiting until we got a reply in the mail. Towards the end when she was older and discovered that beer was delicious, my parents caught us drunk as hell and her bumming my cigarettes as we poured over a giant map on the kitchen table plotting literal months of campaigning. Holy hell how did I forget all this. I uh need to text my sister.
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Sep 27, 2019 05:51
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Rules and maps here: http://www.reality.com/hwpcont.htm Oh, and I'm playing Ophir. I get to try and build a coalition again. Pity you can only request contact info for two players a turn diplomacy takes a while to get going.
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Sep 27, 2019 06:49
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https://twitter.com/Ettin64/status/1177412069164892160 https://twitter.com/MarkMeredith/status/1177439919041470466 jesus christ this loving industry
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Sep 27, 2019 07:19
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So there's this business writer with 100k followers doing a Twitter call-out thread about abysmal pay rates for writing in the technology/magazine/article space. People can DM her their horror stories and she will name-and-shame the offending parties. Evil Hat got @'d in this thread: https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/1177334294521532417 As you may notice, while it's possible here and there for some one-off little thing, no one is regularly paying 21 cents per word in this industry for virtually anything. Maybe you could math at the salaries of WotC employees or something and try to come up with that number as a regular wage. Oh, and what account is the only prominent TTRPG presence that "engaged" (liked or retweeted) this weird accusation? It's D&DWithPornStars! Who a few days ago just so happened to pooh-pooh Evil Hat's public statement about the Kickstarter union dust-up by asking why Evil Hat can't pay living wages. This may be overly suspicious of me, but, man. I think I know who DM'd this lady. That Old Tree fucked around with this message at 12:18 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 12:16
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I have no idea what's driving that conversation or if Zak is involved, but she is absolutely correct that TTRPG pay rates are abysmal by most standards, and the major companies could absolutely afford to pay better than they are. I don't know about 21 cents a word better, but 5 cents ain't poo poo in any kind of writing field outside of this one.
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Sep 27, 2019 12:32
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Huh, didn't know Zak had a grudge against Green Ronin, too Isn't 5 cents a word above par for this awful industry? And there was widespread consternation about DungeonCommandr advocating for 10 cents per word? I would love to know how you get to 21 cents per word from smaller companies.
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Sep 27, 2019 12:37
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Adept Nightingale posted:I have no idea what's driving that conversation or if Zak is involved, but she is absolutely correct that TTRPG pay rates are abysmal by most standards, and the major companies could absolutely afford to pay better than they are. I don't know about 21 cents a word better, but 5 cents ain't poo poo in any kind of writing field outside of this one. Absolutely. But the industry sure couldn't manage regularly spending $15,000 just on writers for small supplements.
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Sep 27, 2019 12:43
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Nuns with Guns posted:Isn't 5 cents a word above par for this awful industry? And there was widespread consternation about DungeonCommandr advocating for 10 cents per word? I would love to know how you get to 21 cents per word from smaller companies. 5 cents a word is actually a pretty common rate (though yeah, it's pretty poo poo). Raggi has paid 21 cents a word, he's promoting LotFP 
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Sep 27, 2019 12:47
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I remember Heidi Moore as being the journo who made this really short-sighted tweet about how Jeremy Corbyn was adopting a "Trumpian outfit" just because he was also wearing a suit and a red tie. Anyway, Zak has always had this axe to grind against Evil Hat, so while I have no particular doubt about how badly the industry pays, him taking on the mantle of that particular complaint is almost assuredly not done with the best of intentions.
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Sep 27, 2019 12:49
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gradenko_2000 posted:I remember Heidi Moore as being the journo who made this really short-sighted tweet about how Jeremy Corbyn was adopting a "Trumpian outfit" just because he was also wearing a suit and a red tie. It was like how he "railed" against the lack of diversity in TTRPGs when he cited the fact that Herald of Compassion™ Satine Phoenix working for WotC meant they had more representation than indie games combined. Of course she no longer works for them directly and he has remained mysteriously silent on WotC's new lack of representation.
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Sep 27, 2019 13:08
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Ettin posted:5 cents a word is actually a pretty common rate (though yeah, it's pretty poo poo). Raggi has paid 21 cents a word, he's promoting LotFP Ah, so he's doing his best to Holdenize his image while also backing up the guy who's currently being besieged by those cruel SJWs for standing by Zak. Cool, cool.
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Sep 27, 2019 13:55
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I meant to post this last weekend but forgot, though it's not directly to do with freelancer pay/industry income: https://icv2.com/articles/columns/view/44094/rolling-for-initiative-wizards-puts-its-money-where-its-mouth-is-other-trends quote:A number of stores have also adopted a pay-to-roleplay program with participants paying for a seat in a RPG game offering an upscale experience. One store runs two sessions on a Saturday with six spots in each game, charging players $15 each for a seat at the table. Other stores with successful pay-to-play programs further monetize the sessions by stocking gumball style machines with plastic capsules containing in-game bonuses such as a +1 to hit, a potion of healing, or a certificate giving the player a rare pet. Sometimes these machines clear $50 to $200 per day with huge profit margins. 'Celebrity' GMs are certainly now a thing, as well. Above mentioned Satine Phoenix is making around $2.5-3k a month off less than 100 patreon subscribers, many of whom are paying $100 a month to game with her online 1/month. And while this is mostly supporting a streaming channel (to the tune of $45k per month), there's at least $2k per month, for the chance to game with them twice a year. So that's $600 per game each. https://www.patreon.com/glasscannon And searching Patreon finds a bunch of people doing the same, though this is the most baffling one i've found in a quick search: https://www.patreon.com/highlevel PST fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 14:11
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the idea of gacha machines with nickel and dime bonuses in them infuriates me
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Sep 27, 2019 14:20
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Mors Rattus posted:the idea of gacha machines with nickel and dime bonuses in them infuriates me Yeah that one is worse than the $15 a session fee, as plenty of stores charge a small amount to cover having staff in late, albeit often also having boardgames available, which of course isn't a thing for playing tabletop, unless they're giving the GMs free stuff. Literal pay to win is just ridiculous. PST fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 14:33
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drat if only it were something other than d&d. i could pull decent numbers running blades in the dark and selling extra stress for $2 and downtime actions for $5
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Sep 27, 2019 14:37
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Mors Rattus posted:the idea of gacha machines with nickel and dime bonuses in them infuriates me I kinda like this, but maybe if it was more like a tip jar for the employees. My local game store GameGoblins has great staff, really friendly, and they're always willing to talk about or explain anything on the shelf. That means they get pulled into a lot of LOOOOONG conversations about someones favorite magic deck, or a super cool paladin named BLOODRAVEN some one played back in 2004, or a goddamned rant about some WOW guild. I wish someone would walk up and give them a dollar every time they had to do that.
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Sep 27, 2019 15:41
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That Old Tree posted:So there's this business writer with 100k followers doing a Twitter call-out thread about abysmal pay rates for writing in the technology/magazine/article space. People can DM her their horror stories and she will name-and-shame the offending parties. seems like its spreading https://twitter.com/mforbeck/status/1177600303010603009?s=20
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Sep 27, 2019 17:21
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Just going to say there's a bit of a logical fallacy there, where the evidence that they have big licenses is used as proof they have a bunch of money to throw around. But they might not have a bunch of money to throw around - they might have paid a big chunk of their budget for the license, and simply don't have a lot left over. I'm not saying it's right, I'm not defending it, I'm just saying that it's not the de facto proof of liquidity the author claims.
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Sep 27, 2019 17:25
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There’s pretty much no one in this industry that could afford to regularly pay 21 cents a word except maybe WotC, who deeeefinitely don’t.
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Sep 27, 2019 17:27
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It's a race to the bottom in pricing the product. It's unsurprising that they pay the writers like crap too. I think the industry as a whole is undervaluing their creative work via pricing too low.
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Sep 27, 2019 17:49
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Yeah, it isn't like the publishers are all getting fabulously wealthy by crushing the writers into dust as part of a supplement mill. The average indie publisher does maybe one or two books a year? At the end of the day, if the pay is too bad don't work for it. I wish I could make a living writing rpg stuff for sure, but I have to prioritize paying my rent.
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Sep 27, 2019 17:52
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Ettin posted:5 cents a word is actually a pretty common rate (though yeah, it's pretty poo poo). Raggi has paid 21 cents a word, he's promoting LotFP To shotgun hires? Or just to Zak again? Because paying your golden goose to keep mentioning you near porn actors is more quid pro quo than paying talent to do talent.
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Sep 27, 2019 18:24
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I can't help mentally comparing talk of 0.21 per word to people who claim liberals all want to give everybody a million dollars a year and free marijuana out of a tap. I can't see writers realistically getting paid 0.21, but something like 0.08 should probably become the bare minimum.
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Sep 27, 2019 18:29
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"Give writers 21 cents a word" has to be tied to a movement in which the market also decides "pay $80 for game books and don't pay anything less even if the author(s) are trying to charge less" and let's see how that works out Prevailing wages that aren't enforced by the government*, will fall to whatever the labor willing to take the lowest amount of pay for their work happens to lie. And for RPGs, that's zero cents per word. Nobody has ever succeeded at raising wages by appealing to an unregulated labor market to please be nicer to the workers, for charity. *this includes the right to organize, which is protected and enforced by the government
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Sep 27, 2019 18:38
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Rand Brittain posted:I can't see writers realistically getting paid 0.21, but something like 0.08 should probably become the bare minimum. I did like DC's take that minority writers should stand up for themselves and ask for ten cents a word. When white writers complained even they don't make that much, DC just said 'it's not my fault you don't respect yourself more.' Sadly what it will probably lead to is minority writers not getting hired if they push for that.
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Sep 27, 2019 18:46
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canyoneer posted:It's a race to the bottom in pricing the product. It's unsurprising that they pay the writers like crap too. I strongly feel that this is a mistake, but on the other hand if budgetary restrictions between an RPG rulebook being a functional aid for actual play and being a pretty-pretty art-and-fiction book that looks purty on my shelves, I'd opt for the former every time, and there's a non-zero number of gamers who'd either opt for the art book or cough loudly and ask why they have to choose at all. There's probably a middle path here - a way we can still have nice RPG rulebooks without putting demands on RPG production values which go beyond anything that applies in any other publishing field short of coffee table art books. The present situation seems to make it too easy to underpay creatives. As long as publishers can say "Well, I'd like to pay you more, but I've had to ringfence all this money for the production budget", that gives them a certain leverage in negotiations over this - after all, production costs *are* high, shipping costs are becoming nightmarish, and any money which isn't already spent on that can plausibly be ringfenced "in case of production issues" - and it'd be sensible and prudent to do exactly that. So long as production demands continue to inflate, there'll always be an excuse to assign money to the production budget and starve the creators. Production values need to be capped at a sensible level - one which allows for artistic expression without breaking the bank - to stop the race to the bottom on creative pay. Otherwise there's always going to be that excuse.
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Sep 27, 2019 18:46
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(The other opinion I regularly find myself coming around to when this topic comes up is that building an "industry" around a hobby with such a strong DIY ethos baked into it was, in the long run, a mistake, and claiming to people in need of money that you can earn a living out of freelance RPG writing is irresponsible unless you add so many caveats that anyone seeking to do freelance writing for survival rather than for fun would move to any other market, literally any other market at all, that they had the skills to coherently produce words in, and that "TG as an Industry" is synonymous with "TG as exploitation mechanism" outside of self-publication.)
Warthur fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 18:53
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I picked up the Song of Swords RPG blind a while back and it is one of the best looking books I have seen in a long time. The whole setting is original and interesting, and the incredible production values made me definitely think it was worth my 20 bucks for the pdf. However, much like 7th Sea, these incredible visuals were married to an deeply flawed system. I got to the combat section and my eyes just glazed over. For me, the game is way too complex to ever actually play. I don't know if I will buy any future books (I may, sure) but I can't imagine any community of people actually playing it. So that is bound to hurts sales. If the sales drop once the things the Kickstarter paid for come out, will the game line vanish or will they just slash production value?
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Sep 27, 2019 18:54
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