Acmegamer
Legendary Pubber
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2021
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So last year I noted that I spent over $4k USD on my gaming hobby, between Kickstarter's, Tabletop RPGs and some online gaming that I do. I'm mentioning the amount because it gives you an idea of what I'm willing to spend on my hobbies and passions. (We won't go into how much I spend on my motorcycle addiction er hobby)
One ongoing point of frustration is how some game developers go about communicating with others or not. One company that I felt used to be pretty good with communicating was Steve Jackson Games. I've noted that in the last year plus in particular that their communication skills have become rather spotty, selective ignoring of easy to answer questions etc. This has lead me to a growing sense of frustration with them and reducing my desire to support them. I've backed quite a few of their Kickstarter's only not backing one when I didn't care for a design direction or if I truly felt that I was tapped out. What I mean is that I felt that I'd spent too much on my hobby that particular month and didn't want to annoy my ever supporting spouse.
Anyhow when I back Kickstarters I'm one of those who goes all in. I've backed The Fantasy Trip full in when Steve regained the rights because I was thrilled for him and wanted to support that. Even if I wasn't going to play, I was happy to add it to my collection. I did have fond memories of playing Melee and Wizard back in 1980 at game shop I hung out in of course, but I'd mostly moved on and felt that GURPS was superior to it. That said I wanted to back further work he did with it and so I'd continue to back future TFT Kickstarter's that came out.
Problem is and I found this to be true last year with a GURPS Kickstarter that they'll suddenly become blind to questions and refuse to acknowledge the questions being asked. I get that they're busy and I get that some questions ones they want to avoid but seriously at least respond to those who want to support your endeavors.
Long winded rambling post which I apologize for, I'm mostly wanting to vent and get this off my chest. Anyhow SJG's when they do Kickstarter's include PDF's with their Kickstarter's. This currently "QuickStarter" though they aren't mentioning whether PDF"s are included or not. So I thought I'd ask on their forums which I'm not really an active person on but I do go there from time to time to ask questions mostly. (I'm not fond of unsecure forums as an aside)
Remember this is a Quickstarter so time is of the essence if they want my money. Two days later and they've still not responded to what I felt was a reasonably asked question. A simple "no" we aren't providing those would suffice even if I wouldn't have been happy with the answer I'm at least happy that they responded. A "yes", those are included would be better don't get me wrong since I read on my Surface Pro or my Kindle these days more than physical books. (thanks aging close up vision) A no answer might have continued to at least get me to back future projects, but silence is guaranteed to sour me to the point of not backing anything in the future.
SJG isn't the only one to pull this lack of communication but in this case they're the current one I am frustrated with because they might not get anymore money from me which I feel is a damn shame. I'll still be spending that money but I'll be spending it Pinnacle Games or Chaosium based games. I already do that mind you, it just means more to them and none to SJG in this case. Am I being unreasonable?
Here's the Kickstarter... it's got three days to go, since it's Quickstarter. Oh and with how flimsy the Adventure Cards are, I'd definitely want PDF versions of them so I'd have backups that I could markup and add to if I wanted. I'll note that one of the backers under the comments section asked about the PDF question and though SJG's responded to questions all around this person's post they skipped replying to him. This is the same issue I ran into last year with a GURPS Kickstarter BTW. I think of us can attest to how frustrating it feels to see someone answering everyone else's questions and obviously avoiding theirs.
This is the post I did on the SJG Forums myself.
I also mentioned this on the forums here under the Kickstarter thread when someone posted the Kickstarter, didn't get a reply though here it's because someone from SJG isn't posting as far as I can tell and none of the posters knew of course.
One ongoing point of frustration is how some game developers go about communicating with others or not. One company that I felt used to be pretty good with communicating was Steve Jackson Games. I've noted that in the last year plus in particular that their communication skills have become rather spotty, selective ignoring of easy to answer questions etc. This has lead me to a growing sense of frustration with them and reducing my desire to support them. I've backed quite a few of their Kickstarter's only not backing one when I didn't care for a design direction or if I truly felt that I was tapped out. What I mean is that I felt that I'd spent too much on my hobby that particular month and didn't want to annoy my ever supporting spouse.
Anyhow when I back Kickstarters I'm one of those who goes all in. I've backed The Fantasy Trip full in when Steve regained the rights because I was thrilled for him and wanted to support that. Even if I wasn't going to play, I was happy to add it to my collection. I did have fond memories of playing Melee and Wizard back in 1980 at game shop I hung out in of course, but I'd mostly moved on and felt that GURPS was superior to it. That said I wanted to back further work he did with it and so I'd continue to back future TFT Kickstarter's that came out.
Problem is and I found this to be true last year with a GURPS Kickstarter that they'll suddenly become blind to questions and refuse to acknowledge the questions being asked. I get that they're busy and I get that some questions ones they want to avoid but seriously at least respond to those who want to support your endeavors.
Long winded rambling post which I apologize for, I'm mostly wanting to vent and get this off my chest. Anyhow SJG's when they do Kickstarter's include PDF's with their Kickstarter's. This currently "QuickStarter" though they aren't mentioning whether PDF"s are included or not. So I thought I'd ask on their forums which I'm not really an active person on but I do go there from time to time to ask questions mostly. (I'm not fond of unsecure forums as an aside)
Remember this is a Quickstarter so time is of the essence if they want my money. Two days later and they've still not responded to what I felt was a reasonably asked question. A simple "no" we aren't providing those would suffice even if I wouldn't have been happy with the answer I'm at least happy that they responded. A "yes", those are included would be better don't get me wrong since I read on my Surface Pro or my Kindle these days more than physical books. (thanks aging close up vision) A no answer might have continued to at least get me to back future projects, but silence is guaranteed to sour me to the point of not backing anything in the future.
SJG isn't the only one to pull this lack of communication but in this case they're the current one I am frustrated with because they might not get anymore money from me which I feel is a damn shame. I'll still be spending that money but I'll be spending it Pinnacle Games or Chaosium based games. I already do that mind you, it just means more to them and none to SJG in this case. Am I being unreasonable?
Here's the Kickstarter... it's got three days to go, since it's Quickstarter. Oh and with how flimsy the Adventure Cards are, I'd definitely want PDF versions of them so I'd have backups that I could markup and add to if I wanted. I'll note that one of the backers under the comments section asked about the PDF question and though SJG's responded to questions all around this person's post they skipped replying to him. This is the same issue I ran into last year with a GURPS Kickstarter BTW. I think of us can attest to how frustrating it feels to see someone answering everyone else's questions and obviously avoiding theirs.
This is the post I did on the SJG Forums myself.
Coming to Kickstarter - New Quick Quests - Steve Jackson Games Forums
Coming to Kickstarter - New Quick Quests The Fantasy Trip
forums.sjgames.com
I also mentioned this on the forums here under the Kickstarter thread when someone posted the Kickstarter, didn't get a reply though here it's because someone from SJG isn't posting as far as I can tell and none of the posters knew of course.