This Swords & Wizardry/Frog God thing.
The announcement (has it already been edited?). Some of the response (here and here and here) has been negative.
But in it's own too-honest-for-its-own-good way, the controversial statement in the announcement was in some ways necessary in order to grab the attention of the customer base they're hoping to get.
This is potentially a big step up, and if Frog God gets a quarter of the market penetration and fan adulation that Necromancer got, this will be huge news for Swords & Wizardry and (hopefully) the OSR.
To stand alongside and compete with Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, Fantasy Flight, and all the rest, you have to let the distributors, the retailers, and the potential customers know that every release will be quality from top to bottom. You can't appear be a hobbyist, people have to be confident that you're pro. And I suspect Frog God wants Necromancer's old spot in the industry.
I know for my stuff, I've done everything I can to keep the quality high. I fail in some places, some due to budget and some just because I'm a natural fuckup, but you better fucking believe I kick myself in the ass for every layout glitch, every typo, every picture that doesn't look as awesome as the most awesome thing I've ever seen. Every single thing I've ever released, I've looked at after the fact and thought, "Oh SHIT. This isn't good enough. The next thing has to be better."
Think about it. Just looking at production values, The original Creature Generator & Fantasy Fucking Vietnam-> Green Devil Face -> Death Frost Doom first printing -> No Dignity in Death/People of Pembrooktonshire -> Grinding Gear -> LotFP box... why do you think I've developed this way?
If I had the budget, every damn thing I release would be printed on solid fucking gold with unique Cynthia Sheppard work on every damn page. Not because it makes the writing any better, but because if I'm going to do something I want people to marvel at it. Hell, I want to marvel at it.
The OSR has in large part prided itself on things that perhaps it shouldn't. The fact is if you're going to charge money for anything, let alone $20 or $40 or *gulp* $65, you better make damn well sure you've done everything you can to make it special. To make it cool. To make it quality. For something to be special it's got to be something that not anyone could do.
The OSR has promoted the fact that anyone can contribute, and they do. But when it comes to commercial products, is that a good thing for breaking the overall RPG market and attracting players (and the dollars it'll cost for top-quality material)? I say no.
The special part of DIY is the personal attention is supposed to inject the work in question with a personal touch, a personal stake in a job well done and not just making a faceless bland piece of corporate crap. The special part of DIY is not that any old shit gets to be praised just because somebody bothered to do it. DIY is better because people will beg, borrow, and fucking steal to make the project as good as it can be because their pride is on the line.
Presentation matters. That old Creature Generator that I was selling for 4,50€ postage paid? 20 copies sold. FFV, what, a dozen? The Creature Generator got picked up by Goodman Games and has sold many, many, many times the amount I sold. I cleaned Fantasy Fucking Vietnam up and turned it into Green Devil Face #1 and it has sold many times the original version.
Coincidence? And guess which versions bring me greater pride now?
Frog God's put everyone on notice that they're here to deliver top notch stuff, from top to bottom. I know I'll be interested in their modules and will likely buy one or more. Guess how many purchases for personal use I've ever made from Lulu? One. (although to be fair, their blatant disregard for the work people sell through them has more to do with that than anything else. And actually, that one thing was something I requested as a present and so I actually didn't buy it...)
But damn, Frog God had better deliver.
Did your feelings get hurt because of their press release? Or this post? You want DIY to be respected?
Shut your mouth and go do something yourself that kicks the shit out of anything Frog God is going to release.
That's my plan, anyway.
The announcement (has it already been edited?). Some of the response (here and here and here) has been negative.
But in it's own too-honest-for-its-own-good way, the controversial statement in the announcement was in some ways necessary in order to grab the attention of the customer base they're hoping to get.
This is potentially a big step up, and if Frog God gets a quarter of the market penetration and fan adulation that Necromancer got, this will be huge news for Swords & Wizardry and (hopefully) the OSR.
To stand alongside and compete with Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, Fantasy Flight, and all the rest, you have to let the distributors, the retailers, and the potential customers know that every release will be quality from top to bottom. You can't appear be a hobbyist, people have to be confident that you're pro. And I suspect Frog God wants Necromancer's old spot in the industry.
I know for my stuff, I've done everything I can to keep the quality high. I fail in some places, some due to budget and some just because I'm a natural fuckup, but you better fucking believe I kick myself in the ass for every layout glitch, every typo, every picture that doesn't look as awesome as the most awesome thing I've ever seen. Every single thing I've ever released, I've looked at after the fact and thought, "Oh SHIT. This isn't good enough. The next thing has to be better."
Think about it. Just looking at production values, The original Creature Generator & Fantasy Fucking Vietnam-> Green Devil Face -> Death Frost Doom first printing -> No Dignity in Death/People of Pembrooktonshire -> Grinding Gear -> LotFP box... why do you think I've developed this way?
If I had the budget, every damn thing I release would be printed on solid fucking gold with unique Cynthia Sheppard work on every damn page. Not because it makes the writing any better, but because if I'm going to do something I want people to marvel at it. Hell, I want to marvel at it.
The OSR has in large part prided itself on things that perhaps it shouldn't. The fact is if you're going to charge money for anything, let alone $20 or $40 or *gulp* $65, you better make damn well sure you've done everything you can to make it special. To make it cool. To make it quality. For something to be special it's got to be something that not anyone could do.
The OSR has promoted the fact that anyone can contribute, and they do. But when it comes to commercial products, is that a good thing for breaking the overall RPG market and attracting players (and the dollars it'll cost for top-quality material)? I say no.
The special part of DIY is the personal attention is supposed to inject the work in question with a personal touch, a personal stake in a job well done and not just making a faceless bland piece of corporate crap. The special part of DIY is not that any old shit gets to be praised just because somebody bothered to do it. DIY is better because people will beg, borrow, and fucking steal to make the project as good as it can be because their pride is on the line.
Presentation matters. That old Creature Generator that I was selling for 4,50€ postage paid? 20 copies sold. FFV, what, a dozen? The Creature Generator got picked up by Goodman Games and has sold many, many, many times the amount I sold. I cleaned Fantasy Fucking Vietnam up and turned it into Green Devil Face #1 and it has sold many times the original version.
Coincidence? And guess which versions bring me greater pride now?
Frog God's put everyone on notice that they're here to deliver top notch stuff, from top to bottom. I know I'll be interested in their modules and will likely buy one or more. Guess how many purchases for personal use I've ever made from Lulu? One. (although to be fair, their blatant disregard for the work people sell through them has more to do with that than anything else. And actually, that one thing was something I requested as a present and so I actually didn't buy it...)
But damn, Frog God had better deliver.
Did your feelings get hurt because of their press release? Or this post? You want DIY to be respected?
Shut your mouth and go do something yourself that kicks the shit out of anything Frog God is going to release.
That's my plan, anyway.
