02-17-2016, 01:51 PM
Rafael Wrote:FTR, this is also why *I* am staying away from it. Writing is great, and writing in a group can be even greater; but not in the toxic environment this horde of angry grandpas has single-handedly managed to create.
I would not describe it as 'angry grandpas'; it's much more the people who came in as second and third generation - 'groupies', almost - with the exception of some of he old ex-TSR guys who were not offered jobs with WotC. There's a lot of 'pining for past glories', and a lot of 'I want to be Somebody!' in there. I was interviewed by one of the teams doing documentaries about the early days of RPGs - they were genuinely shocked that very, very few people know about me and my archives, and wanted to know why I had not been actively promoting myself as An Expert or something. Quote: "Why are you so secretive? Don't you want to be famous?"
No, I don't. I want to paint my miniatures, build my projects, and run fun games for my friends.
I was told that I was weird.
Well, all right, I guess. Not for me, though...
Now, having said all that, I do believe in prudent IP management and protection; I do not believe in the 'hoarding' of IP while one is waiting for the money to roll in, as that's a really good way to destroy the relevance of the IP to the market and destroy any value it might have. We are already to the point where the average gamer - as I've found in my trips to the local game shops - have no idea who "Dave" and "Gary" and "The Professor" might be. They've been largely forgotton by the gaming public at large, and there seems to be very little interest in telling their stories. Instead, it's all about "maintaining the brand identity"...