Oh, yeah...forgot to mention that I'm being interviewed by the folks over at Save or Die this weekend...they wanted to talk to me about the B/X Companion and (if I understand this correctly) I will be "podcast live."
I think. I'm not really sure how this all works. All I know is I'm going to be doing an interview via Skype with the same folks who interviewed Frank Mentzer last August.
Um...are they sure they've got the right guy? I mean, did Raggi turn 'em down or something?
Wow, just by the way...listening to the Mentzer interview makes me feel like a total heel for some of the BS I've said about his BECMI books. Some of us (like moi, for example), sometimes forget the guy used to have a goddamn job to do for TSR and sometimes working for "the man" (any man) means sacrificing your own creative impulses or control over your writing...for the sake of getting paid, man.
Let me just say, I would be writing swill splatbooks for White Wolf or revamped supplements for 4E if it meant I could get PAID for writing. Probably, anyway.
"What, JB? You'd sell out?" Well, I can't say for 100% certainty that this is the case, but it would really depend on the money being offered, I suppose. I DO have a mortgage and a baby and all, and it would be nice to do something different from my mind-numbing day job...something creative...
Or maybe not. Probably my biggest (or weirdest) fear is somehow being thought of as "the Ace of Base of the OSR" (not sure if that means anything to you, but as far as I'm concerned, there's a special corner in hell reserved for AoB...). Yes, I realize it may already be too late for me, but I can always hope some future project of mine will somehow redeem me...that I will somehow find a way to publish a Vornheim or a Death Frost Doom or a Stonehell Dungeon...something.
ANYhoo. I haven't sold out yet, and will do my best to say something nice about Mr. Mentzer in Saturday's podcast. Just thought I'd let you all know.
; )
By The Way, Stuart from Strange Magic is courting me to do something with my War of the Mecha game on the same scale as his Weird Magic RPG. I'm tempted, if only because he's offered to do the artwork, and I dig Stu's style (highly reminiscent of Peter Bergting, one of my personal favorite RPG artists). Anyway, if some sort of pocket mod gets done, I'll be sure to let folks here know all about it.
...boy, I'm really tired right now...
Wow. Now I'm thinking of a magic item: the Sign of Seeing. Acts like a Robe of Eyes, but also confers a +2 morale bonus on followers, as long as they chant "I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign..."
ReplyDeleteLove your "Ace of Base" reference. Very funny!
ReplyDeleteAnd this whole idea of "sell-outs"... I think it's a lot of BS. Maybe it's because I'm older now and in the same boat as you, with a mortgage and a baby to support... but seriously, how bad can something be if people buy it and enjoy it?
Sure - there have been LOTS of RPG product (heck, lots of D&D specific products) over the years that I personally thought were a pile of crap. But, at the end of the day, I have to figure that someone liked them and got some enjoyment out of them.
I never for an instant thought that the companies or authors behind the products thought to themselves, "Let's put out a huge steaming pile of crap for people to buy."
Rather, they probably thought, "This seems to be the kind of stuff that people are buying, so let's make it like this."
I know I'm oversimplifying it a little, because the "suits" and other factors are involved, but really... I just don't think people intend to put out bad product.
If you can get paid for writing something for 4E, then you should do it! It's not a sell-out! Just because the OSR folks who follow your blog won't buy it, that doesn't mean that a bunch of other people who really enjoy 4E won't get hours of entertainment out of it.
Listening to the Mentzer interview now. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWar of the Mecha in pocketmod? I'd buy that for a dollar. Hell, I'd even pay a toonie.