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homullus posted:I think the point was that the way they treat you and pay you with that job sucks, and should be much better, which is why it's a bad way to survive under capitalism. It's not that DC made a bad choice in taking the job. Ah, okay. Apologies. But yeah, Large Picture, and from Wizards/Hasbro's end they should hire more FTE's with benefits. And Fire the poo poo out of Mearls. Contract work loving sucks. But it's just such a pet peeve of mine when a member of a marginalized group takes a job at a problematic company because bills gotta get paid. And everyone decides to pile on said person and call them a hypocrite. When there are extremely few jobs in this world where you aren't working for a company with trash culture, trash history, and trash policies. This job just happens to crossover with a hobby people are passionate about. I don't get mad at someone who takes a job at amazon despite that company being trash. I don't blame a woman who works at Riot despite that company having a trash history, and management. I don't get mad at someone who takes a job at Faux Deadspin because they are a sports writer and union writing jobs are so loving hard to come by, even more so in this environment, despite the utter trashfire of a management team. Edit: This doesn't apply if they decide to actually cape up for said trash at the job, but if they aren't caping up for the shitheads then it's just a job. Dexo fucked around with this message at 18:35 on May 22, 2020 |
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May 22, 2020 18:33
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The way I see it, if the choice in front of DC was "pick contract A, which is pretty much any RPG design contract with almost any company in the field" and "pick contract B, which involves writing in pretty much any other market other than tabletop RPGs", then DC probably did make a bad decision in going for contract A from the perspective of being adequately paid and treated with dignity. But my understanding is that that's not the choice freelancers make most of the time! The choice is usually "Contract A, for work available right now", or "fuckin' nothing".
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May 22, 2020 18:41
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Agreed. The reason I could and would say no to working for trash people like Mearls is because I have the privilege of already having decent jobs. It's not fair to be judgemental of people who don't have that privilege.
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May 22, 2020 18:42
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What I was saying is that it's a shame because contract writing for RPGs comes closer to paying nothing than almost anything that pays at all. The second shame is that the reason for still doing it for WOTC is resume padding, and I don't know if that bit of calculus is still paying off.
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May 22, 2020 18:50
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theironjef posted:What I was saying is that it's a shame because contract writing for RPGs comes closer to paying nothing than almost anything that pays at all. The second shame is that the reason for still doing it for WOTC is resume padding, and I don't know if that bit of calculus is still paying off.
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May 22, 2020 19:18
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Also they did Plot Armor, and Mutant's in the Night. Which are on their Itch store.
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May 22, 2020 19:25
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Warthur posted:I think it does, and to substantiate this, I submit into evidence the recent special episode you did where you spent about an hour lamenting about how lots of people don't look beyond 5E. Getting your name on a 5E book is step 1 to getting a level of name recognition that you don't get in a big chunk of the rest of the industry, and whilst it might not be impressive to other game designers or publishers or well-informed consumers, it probably is impressive to the sort of less-informed consumer who has the sort of "5E only" interaction with the hobby you've talked about, and publishers know this. Sure that's fair, and of course there's always the chud refuge market for the "cancelled" where you can go write for Webb or Raggi or whatever. I'll be honest I was thinking at least partially about moral calculus because of that. That the kind of jobs this opens up might not be the kind of jobs that DC would want.
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May 22, 2020 21:25
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Warthur posted:I think it does, and to substantiate this, I submit into evidence the recent special episode you did where you spent about an hour lamenting about how lots of people don't look beyond 5E. Getting your name on a 5E book is step 1 to getting a level of name recognition that you don't get in a big chunk of the rest of the industry, and whilst it might not be impressive to other game designers or publishers or well-informed consumers, it probably is impressive to the sort of less-informed consumer who has the sort of "5E only" interaction with the hobby you've talked about, and publishers know this. Yeah, a lot of RPG names stick out in my head if only because I saw them on a 3e book once (for example, the creator of THE SECRET FIRE also did the 3.5 cold climates book.)
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May 22, 2020 21:46
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Eh, I don't know. I don't think WotC has the sort of reputation that would make someone cancelled by extension. And while those of us who know the industry pretty well realize that D&D is basically coasting on its own momentum and the power of Let's Plays, I don't think the average RPG consumer knows that. Which means that an indie publisher might still think, "Hey, maybe slapping 'D&D 5e writer' on this product might move a unit or two," even if they themselves know it's not that impressive. It comes down to this: Most publishers are not going to kick someone to the curb because they wrote for D&D, even under Mearls, and a lot of the RPG market still think of the D&D brand as having a certain level of prestige, unearned as it is.
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May 22, 2020 21:48
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e: nm
Absurd Alhazred fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Jul 22, 2020 |
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May 22, 2020 21:50
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sexpig by night posted:I'm genuinely angry over this poo poo, 'removed from the project but still getting a heavy paycheck' was a weak punishment to begin with but the idea that they'd lie about even that is just insane. No one loving knows who he is aside from turbo nerds like us. This isn't a loving movie where you can't remove your big name star for being an abusive freak, he's Mike Who Gives A poo poo Mearls. It's just such a clear example of 'yea well he's our friend, so gently caress off'. Every time I've ever googled him to pull up all the Zac poo poo, I've seen bunches of posts about his Happy Fun Time.. podcast?.. stream? idk what it is but people go gaga for it. poo poo, the reddit thread about the announcement is just a massive cesspool of "SHOW ME THE SMOKING GUN" posts getting pushed up and anyone who disagrees getting downvoted until they aren't visible anymore. https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/go3wpw/mike_mearls_is_back_full_time_on_the_dd_tabletop/?sort=top
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May 22, 2020 22:52
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homullus posted:I think the point was that the way they treat you and pay you with that job sucks, and should be much better, which is why it's a bad way to survive under capitalism. It's not that DC made a bad choice in taking the job. This was my meaning, yes. There are maybe a couple hundred people on Earth, tops, who can survive in TTRPG production as a full-time living, and every single one of them would be financially better off doing something else. Frankly, they should be doing something else if it puts them in precarious financial straits - suffering for your art isn't worth it, go find a role that will pay you a viable wage and make your art on the side as time allows. That shouldn't be the way of things, but it is. As for DC, I don't know enough about them or their work to say whether they made a bad choice in working for WotC, though it wouldn't surprise me. If you have the resume to get picked up by WotC, you have the resume to go somewhere that will pay you better, albeit for non-RPG-related work. They're gunning to be one of those couple hundred people, and the odds aren't good.
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May 23, 2020 01:18
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theironjef posted:What I was saying is that it's a shame because contract writing for RPGs comes closer to paying nothing than almost anything that pays at all. The second shame is that the reason for still doing it for WOTC is resume padding, and I don't know if that bit of calculus is still paying off.
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May 23, 2020 03:16
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I write coffee table books aimed at the parents and acquaintances of nerds buying them office presents and stocking stuffers, and I'm fairly sure it does better than RPG writing. Advances, royalty checks, even if they're small they're reliable, and no payment by the word.
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May 23, 2020 03:39
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e: nm
Absurd Alhazred fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Jul 22, 2020 |
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May 23, 2020 04:22
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Dude's just having a rough week. Either leave him a nice message or let him be.
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May 23, 2020 04:31
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Absurd Alhazred posted:https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1264015587480465408 Matt Mercer is probably the person who is not a full time employee at Hasbro that has the most influence over Mike Mearls’ employment. Critical Role is vital to the D&D brand at this point in time. Mercer stance on Mearls’ continual employment has been to wring his hands and go “pity me” rather than taking a financially risky (not that risky) but morally sound position.
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May 23, 2020 04:34
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Or do whatever this sociopathic poo poo is. That's an option.
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May 23, 2020 04:37
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Meinberg posted:Matt Mercer is probably the person who is not a full time employee at Hasbro that has the most influence over Mike Mearls’ employment. Critical Role is vital to the D&D brand at this point in time. Mercer stance on Mearls’ continual employment has been to wring his hands and go “pity me” rather than taking a financially risky (not that risky) but morally sound position. Is this seriously what that tweet is about? How cowardly and pathetic.
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May 23, 2020 04:37
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King of Solomon posted:Is this seriously what that tweet is about? How cowardly and pathetic. It’s not absolutely clear, but the timing of it all seems to indicate that it is the case.
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May 23, 2020 04:38
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Meinberg posted:It’s not absolutely clear, but the timing of it all seems to indicate that it is the case. If that's the case, it's actually worse than just saying nothing.
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May 23, 2020 04:39
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King of Solomon posted:If that's the case, it's actually worse than just saying nothing. Don't worry, he'll get a million "I wish I could hug you" comments, switch his avatar to have a rainbow in it, and make another million dollars. For right now though, he's got a sad because people want him to do anything.
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May 23, 2020 04:47
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theironjef posted:Don't worry, he'll get a million "I wish I could hug you" comments, switch his avatar to have a rainbow in it, and make another million dollars. For right now though, he's got a sad because people want him to do anything.  You're like a prophet, you should write a book. I bet it'd be a real joke!
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May 23, 2020 05:02
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"Oh Matt, you go above and beyond for everyone else in the world" right up to the point of doing anything. That's a bridge too far. Books? Just finished my second and I have a schedule for the third. Of course they're just silly, folks around here write actual RPGs which goddamn you people are amazing.
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May 23, 2020 05:13
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"The Ballad Of The Cis-Het White Male Ally Who Never Actually Does Anything" is an old song whose lyrics never, ever change.
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May 23, 2020 07:37
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Toshimo posted:Or do whatever this sociopathic poo poo is. That's an option.
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May 23, 2020 07:39
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Won’t somebody think of the poor straight white dude, he’s really suffering here.
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May 23, 2020 07:42
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Mr. Maltose posted:Won’t somebody think of the poor straight white dude, he’s really suffering here. Just the idea that he might actually do something to make the game he loves more safe and inclusive for his LGBTQ guests and friends is too much, sorry, he can't handle it.
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May 23, 2020 07:50
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If these tweets are about anything else, I will profusely apologize. I’ve just seen this sort of behavior so many times before, where people are more concerned about making money than in doing the right thing.
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May 23, 2020 08:00
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Yeah, I think it's a bit premature to assume that this is about Mike Mearls and not, like, (gestures vaguely at pandemic-stricken world)
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May 23, 2020 08:13
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The ultimate crime of D&D's alignment system is that it fosters believing your heroes are lawful good guys because they're prominent industry figures. They worked on something you liked and use a rainbow Twitter avatar. Making poor moral choices is out of character for them! Would an evil person publicly support LGBTQ? Hardly! Eveyone thought D&D's legacy would be an apocalyptic generation of satanic witches, but all we got were poor judges of character.
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May 23, 2020 10:32
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The Chairman posted:Yeah, I think it's a bit premature to assume that this is about Mike Mearls and not, like, (gestures vaguely at pandemic-stricken world) I guess we will find out if he has the courage to speak against Mearles directly in a different tweet. I doubt he will though.
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May 23, 2020 12:24
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Twitter is heavily astroturfed and filled with bots, generally divorced a bit from reality even when it isn't, and outside of that is basically a tool for celebrities and companies to market or accidentally torpedo their brands. I strongly urge people not to give too much of a poo poo about it. This episode broadcasts to me that D&D is still not that big a deal at WotC or generally, when it's unclear what the lead designer is doing for a year. Or at least, their D&D Twitter outreach is poor.
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May 23, 2020 12:49
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That Old Tree posted:Yeah I'm probably being overly judgy. There's a reason why, no matter how hungry I get, I'm not touching TTRPG with a barge pole, that sector is a trash fire. Granted, at least part of that is pragmatism, given the horror stories I've heard...
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May 23, 2020 13:24
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Lord_Hambrose posted:I guess we will find out if he has the courage to speak against Mearles directly in a different tweet. I doubt he will though. You know if CR wanted to they could play another game. I'm pretty sure D&D needs them more than they do D&D at this point.
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May 23, 2020 13:25
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Oh definitely. I think by they time your actual play is getting official comic books you have made it.
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May 23, 2020 13:29
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e: nm
Absurd Alhazred fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Jul 22, 2020 |
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May 23, 2020 15:39
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Dawgstar posted:You know if CR wanted to they could play another game. I'm pretty sure D&D needs them more than they do D&D at this point. When TAZ ended their D&D game (with a lot of houseruling and complains about how the system didn't work for them) and shifted PbtA games, lots of people unsubbed and/or were loving constantly asking when they were going to switch back to loving D&D.
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May 23, 2020 16:05
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Evil Mastermind posted:If they did, people would abandon the ship so fast the whole project would crash. You think so? I dunno, it doesn't feel like much would change. CR fans seem way more about the people than the system.
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May 23, 2020 16:27
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I mean, I'd love to be proven wrong but for a lot of people gaming = D&D and that's it.
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May 23, 2020 16:33
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