[HOE] Selling Out

[richard a ranallo <toadpooka@juno.com>]

As an authorized Rock Historian, let me lay some science down on those
who've said that PEG and/or Shane Sold Out when the company was sold to
Cybergames.
Semantic BS aside, to Sell Out is the worst fate that can possibly befall
anyone who works in a creative sense.  It is an intentional forfieting of
one's creative authority in exchange for money.  The term has been used,
and overused, many times in the media in recent years.
This does not mean that any creative person who has their ideas infringed
upon is Selling Out.  When PEG was sold, the understanding was supposedly
that the creative teams that produced Deadlands, Hell on Earth, Lost
Colony and Great Rail Wars would continue to do so, and just have the
"business end" handled by Cybergames.  Cybergames also had more cash,
which would be funnelled into funding for PEG's product lines. 
Unfortunately, there are some people (collectively known as "The Man")
who define "business end" as "everything."  When the business decisions
begin infinging upon the creative efforts of the designers, the designers
are left with a choice, to go along or to go home.
You see how this situation can arise without any intentions of Selling
Out by the creators.  At every step of the way, they get faced with a
choice of making a small sacrifice or jumping ship.  At some points, that
can actually look like a decision.  But, at the beginning, when the
problem first arises, there is no question.  You hand the distribution
angle, the bookeeping, and the payrolling over to someone else, so that
the creative efforts can continue.  Then, the screws tighten, the hammer
falls, and you're alone in a darkened office, typing furiously and
wondering why you're doing all this anyway.
Then you get an e-mail from a man who calls himself a Fan...who calls all
the sacrifices you've made and all the snot you've had to swim through
"Selling Out."  This man says he's lost Faith, that he doesn't think you
can pull it off, and worst of all, he blames you for it all.
If the person in this case wasn't Shane Hensley, and if it weren't for
those of us Real Fans, you just might give it up after all.

From Whom It May Concern,
Rich A. Ranallo

"A man who has blown all his options can't afford the luxury of changing
his ways.  He has to capitalize on whatever he has left, and he can't
afford to admit--no matter how often he's reminded of it--that every day
of his life takes him farther down a blind alley."
-Hunter S. Thompson, "Hell's Angels"

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