So in response to what some of the goons have been pre-slandering the upcoming  Arrows of Indra RPG with, I've written this blog entry where I talk in detail about the PC races, and (to the extent I'm qualified to comment on an editorial choice on the part of my publisher) the art choices for the AoI book.

I thought some of you might be interested, if only to learn a bit about the mythological ancestors of elves and dwarves...

RPGPundit

Why does anyone care what these troglodytes have to say. If they're hurting your business sit them down in front of a judge to explain their comments, that's what I'd do. I thoroughly enjoy suing people.

I think it should be obvious to viewers we were deliberatley aiming for an old school aethetic. As Pundit points out in his blog, some people like that style and others are less enthralled by it, but it does evoke a very clear oldschool vibe. I happen to love Fede's work on this (and I do want to clarify that he was paid someone suggested this was free art) and I think a strong effort was made to keep it both interesting and authentic. That said, the publisher, not the writer, takes responsibility for any shortcomings in art or presentation. If someone genuinely has an issue with the art, they ought to direct that concern at myself and Bedrock Games.

Also, those were just a couple of images. I believe when people see the finished book, with all the art, borders and layout design, they will be impressed. We are working with the layout guy now, and it is looking great.

Quote from: The Traveller;623540Why does anyone care what these troglodytes have to say. If they're hurting your business sit them down in front of a judge to explain their comments, that's what I'd do. I thoroughly enjoy suing people.

When I got criticized for some things about the Majestic Wilderlands. I just used it as an opportunity to explain what the product was and wasn't. Seems like what the Pundit is doing here.

I personally didn't care about the criticism I got except the ones about grammar. Which rightfully I should have caught and worked harder on the next products to make sure they were better.

Quote from: estar;623555When I got criticized for some things about the Majestic Wilderlands. I just used it as an opportunity to explain what the product was and wasn't. Seems like what the Pundit is doing here.

I personally didn't care about the criticism I got except the ones about grammar. Which rightfully I should have caught and worked harder on the next products to make sure they were better.

Valid criticism is fine and welcome as long as it's constructive, but I'd have real questions wherever these goon types are involved. I mean it's not as though they've made a secret of their personal distaste for the Pundit.

Quote from: The Traveller;623573Valid criticism is fine and welcome as long as it's constructive, but I'd have real questions wherever these goon types are involved. I mean it's not as though they've made a secret of their personal distaste for the Pundit.

They may be. But it goes with the territory. Whenever you put stuff out there for consumption, you get people who don't like you and will criticize you at every turn. I think these are not well thought out criticisms of the art or the game (and since only a small group of people have actually read the manuscript I think it is safe to say pretty much all their conclusions about the rules and book content are pure speculation). Pundit did the right thing by trying to set the record straight on some key points. Beyond that it isn't worth getting more involved. People have a right to post their opinions on forums. I trust gamers to make an objective assessment of Arrows of Indra on their own.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;623583and since only a small group of people have actually read the manuscript I think it is safe to say pretty much all their conclusions about the rules and book content are pure speculation

...and that would be the part where we enter the realm of malicious libel. It doesn't come with any territory, it's not acceptable, and it's not a right anybody has.

Whatever, this is just my opinion. But when I see people afraid to publish because of these types, like I think it was Sacrosanct, it's time to make some changes.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;623551I think it should be obvious to viewers we were deliberatley aiming for an old school aethetic. As Pundit points out in his blog, some people like that style and others are less enthralled by it, but it does evoke a very clear oldschool vibe. I happen to love Fede's work on this (and I do want to clarify that he was paid someone suggested this was free art) and I think a strong effort was made to keep it both interesting and authentic. That said, the publisher, not the writer, takes responsibility for any shortcomings in art or presentation. If someone genuinely has an issue with the art, they ought to direct that concern at myself and Bedrock Games.

Also, those were just a couple of images. I believe when people see the finished book, with all the art, borders and layout design, they will be impressed. We are working with the layout guy now, and it is looking great.

I hope that when the layout guy is just a little further along, you might release a page or two of a completed part as a sample of what the interior is going to look like.

I've seen it, and I think the border art is fantastic, the tables are really well built (note that the actual layout of the tables was done by Bedrock's layout dude, I just sent it all in as text), and with the interior art added in there its going to look spectacular.

RPGPundit

Once I get something final, or close to, I definitely intend to post a preview.

Quote from: The Traveller;623597...and that would be the part where we enter the realm of malicious libel. It doesn't come with any territory, it's not acceptable, and it's not a right anybody has.

Whatever, this is just my opinion. But when I see people afraid to publish because of these types, like I think it was Sacrosanct, it's time to make some changes.

Well, I appreciate your support on this subject but if people took every thread like this that seriously, then everybody on every rpg forum ever would be taken to court. I can't speak for Pundit, but suing people over internet isn't part of how I do business. Having read the manuscript and played the game I can say it will be obvious to anyone who plays Arrows of Indra that the characterization of the game on the SA thread has no grounding in reality. Reasonable people can of course disagree over things like art quality and the details of history, but Pundit definitely made a point of being true to the source material. The game, though firmly OSR,  reflects the Indian setting quite well (contrary to what they were speculating).

I think you guys are handling it the right way, showing the actual cultural history, so the detractors simply look ignorant, like the guy who doesn't like Shakespeare because there are too many cliches.

However, while I like the Old school feel, a lot of the art looks too rough and unprofessional I think.  It's not Old School as much as Grade School if you know what I mean.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;623652the characterization of the game on the SA thread has no grounding in reality.

If you want to take into consideration a few posters who spend their days trawling the internet for badwrongopinions (which, of course, is no different to badwrongfun, except for the worrying compulsive aspect of collecting said opinions) then you're doing it wrong.

Yes, I was amused by the naysayer's blatant mischaracterizations because all it did was give me a chance to strut my stuff and show my know-how, all with the airtight alibi of defending my book from "misconceptions".

RPGPundit

Quote from: CRKrueger;623671I

However, while I like the Old school feel, a lot of the art looks too rough and unprofessional I think.  It's not Old School as much as Grade School if you know what I mean.

And these kinds of criticisms don't bother me. Art quality is fair game and subjective so I don't mind people saying they don't ike what they see. Everyone has a different reaction to art, particularly stylized art, and I knew during the process of these being made that getting that old school feel meant walking a fine line (and I kept having to ask myself when I saw a new image where it fell in relation to that line). This particular image reminded me of a very iconic image of fantasy races in old school games, so I thought it looked great, but like I said reasonable people can disagree.

Where I get a bit irritated is when people suggest something like racism was behind any of the images because they look too light skinned, etc. I was very conscious (as was Pundit I think) of the effect art can have and one of the downside of black and white interiors is skin tone can be very hard to convery with any degree of subtlety. This is why you can clearly see the skin tone of the characters on the cover (which is in color) but not on the inside images so much. Because shading the black and white images would like have looked quite exagerated, I made the call that the artist should approach that ith caution.

Who gives a fuck what those entitled mouthbreathing wankers at SA think? not a single one of those basement dwellers has managed to put pen to paper and create anything of relevance, the very fact they are making a fuss about this game is a sign that yet again they've realised how pointless they're collective existances are and how little they have achived in life beyond pissing into the void and expecting to be showered with riches as a result.

Damn good blog post btw pretty much covered everything needed to shut them down and also gave me insight into how much work was done researching indian history and culture.