[BNW] Bargainers comments [MATT]

[MForbeck@aol.com]

Hi: 

In a message dated 7/26/00 11:01:19 PM, hackard@io.com writes:

>First of all, let me say that this is a great game. Wish I had a group
>to play it with. (Wish I had time to play it!)
>
>I enjoyed the Bargainers book quite a bit, and I think we'll all be 
>going back and re-examining the rest of the BNW stuff in light of 
>what's been revealed there. Personally, I think this book has raised a
>lot more questions that it has answered.
>
>(I also enjoyed Matt's little digs at some "names" in the industry -- 
>hope that doesn't come back to haunt you later, Matt!)

It shouldn't AEG supposedly contacted everyone and got permission before the 
book went to press. Everyone of the in-jokes is gentle, of course. These 
people are my friends after all. ; )
>
>However, I have one criticism, and I'm afraid it's a major one: The 
>editing of this book was mediocre at best. Misspellings, dropped words,
>grammatical mistakes -- they're all jarring to read in a release from a
>major publisher. Matt's writing is excellent, but mistakes like I saw 
>in Bargainers really throw me out of the reverie I try to maintain -- 
>and they look bad for the company, to boot. I hope more effort will be
>put into editing future BNW releases.

I agree. As soon as I got a copy of the book, I had a conversation with AEG's 
management--as well as the "Allan Smythee" in question--and I was assured 
that this would not happen again. Apparently deadline pressures overwhelmed 
the editor, and not nearly enough attention was given to the details of the 
book before it went out. I'd ask you to consider these production problems 
another casualty of the transition over to AEG and the company learning how 
to best work with a full-time designer who's out of house. 

Note that I'm placing the blame on the transition and not AEG. AEG puts out 
loads of great projects, but this one fell through a crack in the editorial 
process. This shouldn't happen again. I'm told that Glory Days, for instance, 
is a much more polished effort. 
>
>OK, one spoilerish question ... no peeking, players!

No comment on this one yet. Sorry!

Thanks for playing!

Matt Forbeck
AEG