You know, I had a nice exchange of emails with Steve Jackson on the topic of my doing some writing for GURPS a few years ago and it was very civil and I have nothing bad to say about it.

That I didn't go on to do any writing for GURPS falls lower on the pyramid (heh) though in the end the fault is mine alone.  I'm just not interested in writing they type of thing they are interested in publishing.

I would hazard a guess that Steve Jackson is easily frusterated and is short on patience when it comes to creative disagreements.  I would be willing to bet that his perfectionism, obession with precision, and sure, ego too make him hard to work with.

But that's why he makes such great games too.

As for White Wolf, I couldn't tell you.  They were never of much interest to me.

Steve Jackson was gracious enough to correspond with me when I made conversion notes from GURPS to Active Exploits Diceless. He personally took the time to check the document over. That coupled with him being the ultimate small press/indie publisher and putting out awesome sourcebooks, I have a lot of respect for him.

As for White Wolf, my only real dealings with them was back in the 90s when I ordered a book directly from them (part of some promotion) and they lost the order. Oh yeah, and drivethrurpg...

What you have to remember about game companies is that they are run by gamers.

Next game session, look around the table and try to imagine those people running a company.

Creativity? Definitely.
Organisational skills? Um...
Reliability? Er...
Ability to work well with people they perceive as rivals? Ah...

It's a miracle any game books get published in readable form at all.

I don't really buy that. The people who get to the point of someone like Steve Jackson are not your common gamers.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;448074What you have to remember about game companies is that they are run by gamers.

Next game session, look around the table and try to imagine those people running a company.

Creativity? Definitely.
Organisational skills? Um...
Reliability? Er...
Ability to work well with people they perceive as rivals? Ah...

It's a miracle any game books get published in readable form at all.

Really? I've seen it in two industries, hospitality and fitness. Places can be run really atrociously and still make money. That's because there's a demand for their services, so whoever can best fulfill that demand will make money - even if they're not very well-organised.

Whoever can do it best is not necessarily doing it well. And once they have a certain amount of success, they start hiring other and more competent people to do things for them while they "supervise", spending more time having arguments with other people at their level, etc.

That's what I mean - it can be true of anything. No need to even bring it up in this case.

Think about the other gaming companies that started within a year or so of when Steve Jackson Games started.

How many are still around?

How many would have survived the Secret Service attack/controversy?

...and also started a legal foundation for electronic/internet rights?

Compared to other game companies of a similar age - SJG is doing alright and managing to survive in rough economic times.

This is NOT being a 'fanboy' its just a fact.


- Ed C.

Some of the folks who have mentioned negative experiences with the guy I will have to alert them to this thread.  Perhaps they can either share or have their reasoning explained as possibly not what they thought.  If I can remember to bring it up with them anyhow.

Quote from: brettmb;448078That's what I mean - it can be true of anything. No need to even bring it up in this case.

That's my point, and it's important to bring it up in this case.

Ordinary companies are run by ordinary people. Which means they do ordinary things, like have spats with others over nothing, and semi-deliberately fuck up deals that could have benefited them both.

Steve Jackson is just a big dumb geek like the rest of us. And so is Wieck. Has anyone here not ever seen a big dumb geek have an argument with another big dumb geek over nothing, and fuck things up royally?

I had no idea SJG did a VtM spoof!

Mind you I did know Paranoia 5th ed supposidely did a "spoof" that was so bad that it killed the line until Varney revived it declaring that edition and all it's supliments "unproducts"

Quote from: Captain Rufus;448047Any deal that goes south between SJG and any other company is probably Steve's fault from all known evidence.

Anecdotes from random gamers on the Internet about how personal Steve Jackson may or may not be isn't "known evidence."

All things point to both parts being a pain in the ass.

White Wolf, in 1993 being in full-gear thin-skinned artiste mode, and SJG with Steve Jackson being a control freak or whatever.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;448092Ordinary companies are run by ordinary people.

Steve Jackson is just a big dumb geek like the rest of us.

You don't survive in this business for 30 years on dumb luck. I'd wager Steve Jackson is sharp as a tack and has good management and multi-tasking skills, as well as being a PITA perfectionist. I'd offer Erik Mona and Matt Sprange as more recent start-ups who might be geeky gamers but have skillsets and energy that most of us (who remain employees rather than employers) couldn't hope to match.

Quote from: Reckall;447968snip It is an old story, but after reading reading the two versions at the link previously given it is worth noticing how SJ is irate but factual, while WW "answer" doesn't explain s*it. Snip

Interesting to note that WW response is in typical story-game/baby sitting style, whilst GURPS responds in an appropriately crunchy way.

Quote from: Koltar;448079Think about the other gaming companies that started within a year or so of when Steve Jackson Games started.

How many are still around?

How many would have survived the Secret Service attack/controversy?

...and also started a legal foundation for electronic/internet rights?

Compared to other game companies of a similar age - SJG is doing alright and managing to survive in rough economic times.

This is NOT being a 'fanboy' its just a fact.

This is exactly how I feel about the Beastie Boys.