thread: 2012-03-03 : Ben Lehman: Caveat Scriba: Margret Weis Productions
On 2012-03-04, Mcdaldno wrote:
Hey Ben,
I feel like the writing style you've chosen to adopt here is kind of bullshit, because you're blurring together some facts with some disconnected opinions.
Your article says:
1.) MWP doesn't pay people.
2.) There are ethical issues with buying non-indie RPGs.
If you think #2 is true, you should write an article explaining why. In this one, you say that it's true and then never explain why. Instead, you reference point #1 again without substantiating it.
Now, in an early comment, you do finally start to substantiate #1, by saying, "I wrote this based on the experiences of four people I know with MWP. Since publication, that number has increased, as people contact me and tell me that they've gone through similar things."
I wish the article had unpacked what information you knew, rather than alluding to it and then cutting to some opaque claims to indie publishing being good and other publishing being bad.
I'm not saying you need to name names, but I still don't really know what MWP did. I'd be willing to take you at your word, but I don't know what your word is.
What would be really fruitful and clarifying is a note in the article saying something like: "I know 4 people who have experienced payment issues with MWP. 2 had payment withheld for over 6 months. 2 remain unpaid, despite numerous promises and a waiting period of X months."
As is, I can only tell that you're angry, that MWP did something wrong, and that you think non-creator-owned publishing is unethical.
