Re: [DL] Fw: [HOE] Long time lurker sharing position

[SteveL1979@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/6/2001 3:17:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
zacharin@pluto.dsu.edu writes:

<< get one of the Golden Freelancers, such as the inestimable Messrs. 
McGlothlin and Long, to write some books. >>

    Heck, I've already got two manuscripts completed (or nearly so) that I'm 
hoping someone will buy. :)  I just wrote them up for myself, for my own 
campaign, but hopefully they'll see the light of day eventually. ;)
    Believe me, I'm all in favor of there being more freelance work! :)  
Unfortunately, hiring freelancers is not always economically feasible, or 
smart.

<<  Look at the Legion of Rabid Fans(tm) that PEG has on this list.  Then 
consider the members of that Legion that AREN'T on this list, like my friends 
Chuck and Ian.  Chuck's beginning to amass a reasonable collection for as 
rarely as we play, but if nothing new  gets put out, stores won't carry ANY 
of the stuff and he won't have anything of yours to buy.  You have people who 
WANT to throw money at your feet, but you're not letting them.  This is 
foolish.  Actually, I take that back- it's idiotic. >>

    It's only foolish or idiotic if that Legion of Rabid Fans (TM :) ) is 
large enough to make it financially feasible to publish a book or books. A 
legion o' fans, however rabid, isn't in and of itself enough to support a 
game line, or reason for a company -- which has to answer to owners and 
stockholders and such -- to publish a book. There have to be enough sales. 
It's great that you want to throw money at Cybergames's feet for supplements. 
But you've gotta bring enough people, and their money, along with you to make 
it economically viable to publish those books. :)
    The game industry, unfortunately, is a relatively small thing. Except for 
WOTC,  all the companies experience financial difficulties, often severe 
ones, from time to time -- or sometimes perpetually. These difficulties cause 
delays in publication and a zillion other problems that essentially occur 
behind the scenes. Much like you don't see the field labor that went into 
putting a can of beans on the grocery store shelf, you don't see a *huge* 
amount of behind-the-curtain stuff that occurs in the game publishing 
industry. Heck, I'm a *part* of that industry, and I don't even see all of 
it. Only the manufacturers see the whole picture, and much of it they either 
cannot, or should not, reveal. Shane is one of the best, kindest, coolest, 
most open guys in this industry -- but even he doesn't tell you every little 
detail about PEG as a business. Nor should he.
    It's all too easy, in this hobby and industry, to engage in speculation 
based on anecdotal evidence.  "My friends and I all bought this, it must sell 
well!"  "We've got a great listserv full of fans and a bunch of websites, the 
game must be really popular, so that means it's selling well!"  
Unfortunately, anecdotal evidence isn't always a very good indicator of the 
Way Things Really Are. Sometimes it's spot-on. More often, it's not, because 
by definition, it reflects a limited perspective.
    PEG, and Cybergames, are businesses. They're in this to make money. If 
making money were as easy a matter as slapping a cover on a finished 
manuscript and sending it out to retail stores via distribution, don't you 
think they'd have done that? Sadly, it's not that simple. There are a lot of 
factors in play here.
    Shane, Steve Peterson, Christopher McGlothlin, me, and pretty much all 
the other people involved are gamers from 'way back. One of the reasons we 
got into this business -- which, as some of you have pointed out, doesn't pay 
nearly as well as much comparative work -- is that we love to produce games. 
Shane loves it. Steve P. loves it. I love it. To me, there's nothing better 
than seeing a game with my name on it out there for sale on the shelves, and 
then hearing consumer feedback about it. I suspect Shane and Steve Peterson 
feel *exactly* the same way. They *want* to get books out to you. They are 
doing their best to do so. But they have to do so with an eye on the bottom 
line, and sometimes that slows things down.
    In sum, I believe *everyone* involved here deserves the support and 
understanding of the DEADLANDS fanbase. If you choose not to agree, that's 
OK; that's your privilege. But I think we will all catch more supplements 
with honey than we will with vinegar. :)

Steve Long
P.S.:  Oh, yeah, one more thing -- when you address comments to Steve 
Peterson, could you guys please use his full name, or at least "Steve P."?  
I've been around here for a mighty long time (no pun intended :) ), and I'd 
like to be clear when a comment's directed towards me, as opposed to Mr. P.  
:)