Well,

Eldritch Ass Kicking went up for sale last night. I was so excited. I came back into the office today, finished up some website changes, and so on. I had a couple of emails for people wanting to get comp copies for reviews. I say cool... The buzz on the listserv is hot.

I come back from work, and then look at my email. I see a message on my listserv from myself, with an attachment. I look at the attachment and realize that it is the complete FOR SALE version of the game. I was sending the message to a reviewee person, and it went to MY WHOLE FRICKIN EMAIL LISTSERV.

I have 118 dedicated souls on that listerv. SWEET LORD! They now have the game for FREE.

So, I pumped out another email, explaining my mistake, and asking them to delete it and still pay for it... But alas, I am doomed. :)

Actually, I am giggling about this, but at the same time, I am pounding myself on the head. This is just one of those things that happens. Maybe I was working to fast, or simply not paying enough attention... But, heck, it happens.

So what would you do in my situation? Would you shoot yourself in the leg and leap off a cliff? Or would you simply be polite and patient? I feel like Homer Simpson right now.... I am simply saying "DOH!"

*sigh*

Somebody give me some comfort please.

nathan hill
nathan@mysticages.com

Comfort. Uh, er. Well, that was a hell of a boner, but I assure you, my friend, there are much worse things one can do in computer life. I bet you've never carelessly wiped out a whole database of passwords for a major Internet Service Provider, requiring some major hoodoo to get things back up and running, since said ISP had no real backup program to speak of . . .

So, take heart. It's not the end of your life, and since you haven't had to pay to print those 118 accidentally-distributed copies, you haven't bankrupted yourself or anything. I try to make it a rule not to be attached to earnings I expect to get. I mean, I expect to live to be a hundred, but that might not happen either. Best to take care of today and not worry about it.

--JB

To err is human. To really screw up takes a computer.

I did the exact same thing with my Starfire stats, sent them to everyone in the game instead of just the GM. Whoops. I'm aware of a guy who works for a company similar to the one I do who accidentally posted fourteen million dollars to various peoples accounts electronically. 118 copies of your game is nothing.

Tell them it's a gift, but they have to pay for it if they want the the next edition free. Call it extraordinary advertising. Then get about writing a new edition.

Mike

As I understand it, Ron started out by giving Sorcerer away and asked folks who liked it to mail him $5. A lot of people did.

You're in a unique position to test just how well the "honor system" works - consider it an experiment in moral/ethical behavior . . . :-)

Gordon

Nathan wrote:
Somebody give me some comfort please.

Hi Nathan,

Owwwwww ... the only thing I can say is much what Mike said: acknowledge the mistake to everyone and hope that some fraction of'em pay you for it.

On a wider note, though, you have instilled enough terror in every other designer at the Forge to ensure that no one else does this ever. So that's good ...

Best,
Ron

Thank you all for your positive comments.

One thing to prevent this from happening again: I set my listserv so that it won't send any message through with more than 100kb in size. I'll have to manually check it to make it go through.

Sheesh.

Well, I am still getting some reviews out of it, and I will indeed make the most from it. Next week, I pray that things pick up a bit. :)

I was thinking of doing posters of me with an empty soup bowl and passing those out to the list with phrases like, "You really are going to let Mr. Game Designer go hungry?" or "Stealing is against the law... and it takes away food from Mr. Poor College Student Game Designer Guy." :)

Guilt, anyone?

Thanks,
Nathan

You've got my sympathy.

On the plus side, there's no such thing as bad publicity, and there's 118 people there who certainly won't forget your game. Every time they mention the incident, they have to mention the game.


Matt