So, what eats a Mongoose?
May. 23rd, 2006 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebitterguyIt's no secret that I've been fairly disappointed with Mongoose's B5 products.
Okay, let me rephrase that. Mongoose has made B5 products, and I've been fairly disappointed with most of their products I've read, including those B5 books.
God, to think I own that much Judge Dredd material. If anyone asks, it's for a Hero game. Or Savage Worlds. Or Top Secret SI. And I must constantly fight my desire to buy Paranoia books, but that's mostly because I still have oodles of '80s era stuff I'll never use.
Now, I don't have the same level of distrust of the company that many people have (I guess I'm just a good person), but I still think any organization capable of producing the Earthforce sourcebook deserves to have their buildings burned and their lands sown with salt.
So, this discussion on the B5 newsgroup contains only minimal amounts of Schadenfreude for me. YMMV.
In it, Matt Sprange attempts to defend his recent statements on a B5 podcast which apparently implied that Joe Straczynski was involved with the upcoming Mongoose B5 novels (which I will admit have filled me with dread initially, a feeling not eased any by the announcement of famous actress Claudia Christian writing one of them) even though it's been established fairly well that he wouldn't, although I have no idea if $500 per book is a good rate for that kind of thing or not.
The result of Mr. Sprange's post is a rather firm factfinding attempt from the assembly.
Okay, let me rephrase that. Mongoose has made B5 products, and I've been fairly disappointed with most of their products I've read, including those B5 books.
God, to think I own that much Judge Dredd material. If anyone asks, it's for a Hero game. Or Savage Worlds. Or Top Secret SI. And I must constantly fight my desire to buy Paranoia books, but that's mostly because I still have oodles of '80s era stuff I'll never use.
Now, I don't have the same level of distrust of the company that many people have (I guess I'm just a good person), but I still think any organization capable of producing the Earthforce sourcebook deserves to have their buildings burned and their lands sown with salt.
So, this discussion on the B5 newsgroup contains only minimal amounts of Schadenfreude for me. YMMV.
In it, Matt Sprange attempts to defend his recent statements on a B5 podcast which apparently implied that Joe Straczynski was involved with the upcoming Mongoose B5 novels (which I will admit have filled me with dread initially, a feeling not eased any by the announcement of famous actress Claudia Christian writing one of them) even though it's been established fairly well that he wouldn't, although I have no idea if $500 per book is a good rate for that kind of thing or not.
The result of Mr. Sprange's post is a rather firm factfinding attempt from the assembly.
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Date: 2006-05-23 07:15 pm (UTC)As far as the talent abuse goes - I've been working for Mongoose as a full-time freelancer for three years now. In that time, I'd have absolutely zero problems with them. They've paid on time, given me raises, been reasonable to deal with, and have had no problem with me travelling around Europe with my laptop. As long as I get my stuff in on time, it's all good. The pay rate isn't bad for the rpg industry, and it's a fun job.
Quality control - well, I'm just a writer. And I'm even less happy with the Earth ALLIANCE book than you are. (I wrote the EarthForce book, which is a totally different book, and has no sweeping racial generalisations other than calling the Minbari a lot of names.)
There is playtesting, and I do spend more than ten minutes thinking about my rules, thank you very much. The books are generally written by staff writers, not whoever shows up that day.
And I have no problem apologising for anything that I personally screwed up. :)
Yes, the company has produced some utter crap. Most companies have done so, at some point in their lifespan.
But 'everything that's wrong with tabletop rpg publishing'? No.