Publishing just to Publish

[Dregg]

I have been looking at alot of stuff on RPG now as of late. I don't mean to sound too high and Mighty but some of the quality of product is Crap, and Crap with a 5-10 dollar price tag on it.
Bad Graphics, rehashed stats, flogged concepts, ect...
I have been twisting and turning in my sleep about doing the "Put out just to say I did" game on RPGnow just to see what happens.

Is it a worth while thing? Putting out a lesser product, before publishing a labor of love?

I'm kinda torn, but the impatient part of my says ,"hell just do it!"

Thoughts

Has anyone put out a PDF, just to say Looky what I did?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Dregg,

It seems to me that the first paragraph of your post answers your final question. Clearly, people have done exactly that.

Is it "bad"? "Good"? Neither? Or?

I can't say, mainly because a person's motivations are inaccessible from viewing their work, and also because we're talking about a market - there's not much value-judging one can make about putting something into a market.

Speaking strictly as a customer, it seems reasonable to me that a manufacturer (and I include PDF as manufacturing) do his or her very best to make the product worth my attention and money. But that doesn't mean I can, as a customer, set "rules" for how they do it, and with what.

Best,
Ron

[matthijs]

Well, it seems kind of pointless, doesn't it? It doesn't actually seem like you would achieve anything by putting out a lesser product. You would'nt have the satisfaction of a job well done; you wouldn't get any acclaim for adding to the pile of garbage already out there; and you certainly wouldn't make any money.

Are you currently involved in a project, or were you thinking of writing a game from scratch just to publish it quick and dirty?

[Jack Spencer Jr]

I am certain that plenty of people have published just for the sake of publishing, and not just RPGs either. Books, films, CDs, tv shows, paintings, scultures, concert tours. Many done just to be done.

I cannot stop you if you decide to go that route, but I would encourage you to find a better reason to publish that just to do so. What are you trying to say? What experience are you giving the tools for? And most importantly, is it ready? Too often otherwise good products are put out before their ripe, giving the audience the green apple splatters.

[Dregg]

Are you currently involved in a project, or were you thinking of writing a game from scratch just to publish it quick and dirty?

I would problably not go for the quick PDF route, I feel when I do put something out in the Public Eye it should be quality, not quanity of ideas.
I do post things on my site for free, these are PDF's of adventures or rpgs that I have done, but in no way meant for the Likes of RPGNow.
I guess I was just probing to see if others felt the way I do about these .COM esc game companies who are flooding the market with IMHO half thought out ideas, instead of using the PDF medium to get out quailty product without the uber production costs.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Dregg,

Well, the only way to answer that question is to check out the free-PDF work from publishers themselves. I mean, we'd all say that we are "quality first," right? But you have to evaluate the work itself on your terms, to answer.

Best,
Ron

[Dregg]

Hi Dregg,

Well, the only way to answer that question is to check out the free-PDF work from publishers themselves. I mean, we'd all say that we are "quality first," right? But you have to evaluate the work itself on your terms, to answer.

Best,
Ron

Thanks Ron
I have been impressed with alot of the free stuff, PIG's Active Exploits is a brilliant piece of work, and for paid stuff WuShu and Deep 7 products are so worth it. On the other hand there has been some stuff I paid 10.00 for that was a serious waste of bandwith.
I worry about the flood of bad PDF products. If Joe D&D decides to buy a PDF we want him to see some quilty in indie designed work, not be turned off to it by some of the depressing work that is filling the market.