One of these was $50. The other was less than $10.
One of these was $50. The other was less than $10.
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Originally shared by Scott Smith You should watch this awesome Sesame Street/Beastie Boys mash-up right now. http://www.vimeo.com/27009580
Didn't one get people to write and illustrate the content for free? I imagine that cuts costs quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteHow's the art and layout compare to the MM?
ReplyDeleteHey, on that note, I just got paid by Metal Weave games for making Pathfinder-compatible statblocks for an upcoming Baby Beasts supplement. Like, he began the conversation by saying "I will pay you to help write this thing which I will sell." That's a great place to start a conversation.
ReplyDeleteMichael R the layout is professional quality, in the style of the original MM and Deities and Demigods. The art varies from serviceable to excellent, overall higher quality than a lot of games.
ReplyDeleteJames Olchak it's sold for cost so of course it's cheaper. The pdf is free. No one that contributed made any money at all. So dollar spent per useful game content ratio is really high.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're getting paid for something someone is going to sell, but that's not the case here.
Yeah, I actually like it when the products I buy monetarily reward the people who produced them.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand. This was a volunteer project all the way around. Done for fun, not money.
ReplyDeleteJames is a bit of a troll.
ReplyDeleteI purchased the 5e books and Petty Gods within a few weeks of each other and I must say that I prefer the layout and images in Petty Gods. The new corporate RPG products are just way overdone.
ReplyDeleteSo the comparison is between paying 50 bucks for the thing where the people who made it got something, and 10 bucks for something where the creators got nothing.
ReplyDeleteI'm okay with paying the extra 40 bucks so that artists, and writers, and people like me can get some mailbox money for their hard work. In fact, I'm for that. That's what I want. To have fun while making some scratch.
The artform has little enough respect, and the people who want to work in it little enough pull, that it can do without someone crowd-sourcing a bunch of ideas off social media, then publishing a big glossy book with his name on the cover and the people who did the work in small print inside.
There are thousands and thousands of jagoffs out there telling artists to work for "exposure." I'm not going to applaud it.
You can call WOTC corporate overlords, but you bet your ass they paid real American currency for every line of text and illustration in that 50-dollar book. Not "exposure."
And I'm certain there are plenty of defenders who will come out of the woodwork, and go "Hey, organizing and publishing a product like this is a lot of work, it's not like it was easy." Which subtly reinforces the inherent conceit that what the exploited volunteers did wasn't hard work, and what they did was easy.
ReplyDeleteConvincing people that their talent is worthless, but the product made with their talent is worth something is as corporate an attitude as it gets.
Perhaps oddly, I understood the intent was to make something cool and make sure other people could get a copy. It's not even about 'exposure'; the likely audience already knows many of the people involved.
ReplyDeleteAs I said...
ReplyDeleteJames Olchak I had a big response but I realized you're "concern trolling." Your concerned people are being taken advantage of, but they aren't. People post gaming content in many venues, for fun, without thought of getting paid. Including you. That doesn't hurt anyone.
ReplyDeleteRight, that's the big OSR go-to, different opinion? Troll.
ReplyDeleteHere I thought I had a clear idea of what my reasoning was, but no. Just trolling.
Certainly saves all that difficult addressing of contentions!
I guess I misunderstood when I read articles like this one, where one guy is mentioned multiple times, that he might be getting more out of the process than everyone else. I guess that was a wild coincidence, and he's just one of the rabble from the inside block of contributor text:
ReplyDeletehttp://osrtoday.com/2015/05/18/petty-gods-revised-expanded-released/
OK, this was your weird anti-OSR thing all along. I wondered. You're usually pretty cool, so when you become irrational about the kind of games people like it's strange.
ReplyDeleteIs everything for sale from that company equally costed only to cover expense? Or is he in it for a buck like some kind of corporation, and having a product under his umbrella that he didn't pay the authors of and doesn't pay to produce serve as valuable content for his brand?
ReplyDeleteIs he only in it for "fun?"
Once again, you're not addressing anything I'm saying.
ReplyDeleteIf WOTC gave out a free module on free RPG day, that they didn't pay the author of it anything, and they got it printed for free, would that be a valuable contribution to their brand? If the answer is yes, then explain how this situation is different.
There is no company.
ReplyDeleteShow me on the hit location chart where the OSR hurt you.
ReplyDelete<<< Will draw for free friends.
ReplyDelete"...no company."
ReplyDeleteWhy was "New Dragon Press Unlimited" mentioned and linked in the first sentence of that article, right before the words "has released the long-awaited Petty Gods etcetera, etcetera."
Why is a nonexistent company that produces RPG material mentioned in an article about a product they have no affiliation with?
Lulu listing: http://www.lulu.com/shop/old-school-role-playing-community-orc/petty-gods-revised-expanded-edition-premium-softcover/paperback/product-22172856.html
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't answer my question.
ReplyDeleteAnd the reason I have it out for OSR guys is when I disagree with them, they call me a troll, while people like Paul Schaefer stand behind them like Scut Farkas' hypeman in "A Christmas Story."
ReplyDelete" You gonna cry? You gonna cry?" Yes, very clever.
Ask whoever wrote that article on that website I've never seen before, not me. Or Richard LeBlanc. Jesus Christ the number of people that might know about Petty Gods, but not Richard's other stuff might number in the tens of people. This is small community.
ReplyDeleteWhy is this person, Richard LeBlanc, taking credit (along with his nonexistent company) if he had nothing to do with the product? Does he exist?
ReplyDeleteWhy is his nonexistent company getting press and links off the back of this completely communist publication?
Maybe there's a reason they're calling you a troll?
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/PivWY9wn5ps
You still haven't answered my question, though.
ReplyDeleteIs Richard LeBlanc getting press and links off the sale of this book? Is he benefiting from its publication?
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a tough question, man, stop stonewalling.
Three name-calls, a snotty insult, and a buck-pass later, and you're still just as certain that no one person is benefiting more than the other block of contributors?
ReplyDelete"How can I respond again without acknowledging that having one guy's name in the press for this 'crowd-sourced' book seems weird...I'll just insult him again, somehow."
ReplyDeleteJames Olchak I can only speak for myself, of course. I believe you have good intentions on this subject. You want to defend the rights of the writers and artists of this and future projects.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I anticipated my name getting lost in the shuffle, because there were so many other creators involved. However, I knew from the start that this was going to be sold in print at-cost, no profit, or free pdf format, and I keep the rights to my work.
Also, I could not pass up the opportunity to be published in the same pages as Erol Otus, Jennell Jaquays, and many other great creators, many of which are friends here on G+. Where the hell else is that going to happen?
So that's why I participated. For fun, friends, a bit of fame(?), and some great free material for everyone to enjoy.
Jesus, was crafting a polite reply like that so hard? Kudos to you, sir.
ReplyDeleteSo you didn't read my three first responses responding to your condescending attitude and seemingly purposeful misunderstanding of the project? Paul Schaefer eloquently summed up what I'm sure everyone who contributed was thinking.
ReplyDeleteYour concern for a bunch of OSR writers rings pretty hollow when a search of "James Olchak osr" only turns up comments with snark/disdain levels above 9000. Except for one about the Swords and Wizardry Erol Otus cover.
Why people post in threads about shit they don't like boggles my mind.
Last word: The history of Petty Gods.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.orderofgamers.com/petty-gods/