Was asked what I thought might happen next with #WotC and the #OGL. Here it goes.

1) IT’S UNLIKELY THEY CAN WALK THIS BACK: The new #CEO is hanging his hat on this, so I just don’t see them going “just fooling’!” without him being canned. 2) LARGE COMPANIES USING THE OGL WILL MOVE AWAY FROM THE OGL AS FAST AS THEY CAN: This is already seemingly happening. Signing OGL 1.1 is like placing a self-destruct in your business and giving the detonator to WotC. They can destroy you at any time.

Reading comments on #DeltaGreen today really cemented a thought that’s been floating around in my head: people don’t buy #TTRPGs for rules, they buy them for rules AND a compelling world. And it’s ok if the rules are merely sufficient, but the world? Not so much. The job of a #TTRPG book is to HAND OFF the world to the GM. To christen them God and tell them “do what thou will with this,” but to jump that hurdle you must ENTERTAIN AND HOOK THE GM.

This sounds obvious, but apparently (based on some comments) a lot of people don’t get it.

Most of these creative businesses people daydream about are vanishing small, but none is so tiny as #TTRPGs. There are perhaps a hundred or so real, workaday-world jobs in the whole “industry”. And once you get past WotC, Paizo and Chaosium, that ground grows very sparse indeed. People like to imagine some complex creative ecosystem of pros and non-pros, but in #TTRPGs, that line is blurred so much as to not exist. A nobody with no backing can win game of the year, and sell more than enough to make it all worthwhile all on their own.

If you #freelance, in general, they can do what they want with your work. They own it. They can edit as they like. If there is no “no edit” or “pre-approval” clause, forget it.

This is the price you pay to play with properties like #SpiderMan, #StarWars, or #DungeonsandDragons. Freelance #writers and #artists expecting to have input and editorial clout—to really shape an entire product from soup to nuts, to have final say over nearly anything: don’t bother freelancing.

It’s not for you.

When we emigrated to Canada, my wife had American medical “system” PTSD. We had just paid $18,000 for a bog-standard broken leg my son suffered while fully insured. Most of that was from an unnecessary ambulance we were forced to take from the receiving hospital to another ER. Turns out this whole “ferry them onward” scam is quite common, of course we didn’t know that. The broken leg? Oh yeah, that was fine FAST. Our bills, not so much. When we finally moved to Canada, my wife was so nervous she called up the BC ambulance service.

“Any game book that changes the setting constitutes metaplot!”

Uh. That’s almost every game book…ever.

People in TTRPGs hang on to utterly bizarre, easily falsifiable beliefs like security blankets, when the TRUE core of their complaint is: “I don’t want the game to do that.” And “I don’t like this!” Is a FINE point of view. It’s your opinion! However saying “A game book that changes this established world is METAPLOT AND RUINS A GAME!” is not. How? “Oh, er. Uh. It makes it harder to set up a game!”

Don’t buy it.

VOILA! NOW IT DOESN’T

Here's the deal #America; whatever you had before, forget it. That is all gone. The moment Trump violated the law and nothing was done (day 1), rule of law in the States was over. The Presidential lawyer claims the President is above the law. It's been 1,000 days since then. In those 1000 days, the President has whittled the 3 branches of government down to 1.5. There is the Executive (which OWNS the Judicial, for the most part, and the Senate), vs. the House. Without major legislation or changes, the President has crippled checks and balances.

99.9% of my interactions with fans are delightful. #DeltaGreen fans, in particular, are a great bunch. They want to talk, they want to explore ideas within the paradigm, and most of all, they want to be frightened. So, new publisher, how to deal with the OTHER .1%? Clear lines of communication make some people feel that they can say ANYTHING to you. I've had more than a few "WELL ASSHOLE!" emails and DMs. Usually, this is for something exceedingly stupid — like shipping a book to Australia with real, live, postal rates.

If you estimated how much THE LAST JEDI made in theatres by measuring positive/negative comments on social media, you’d end up somewhere in the $12 range, not the 1.33 BILLION it actually earned. The minority that shouts and screams about nearly anything that does not fall in line with their...limited worldview is in a sounding chamber that amplifies the negative, while the positive is barely audible.

Someone asked for financial advice for artists and writers. OK. Here it goes: the biggest one—live somewhere cheap. I have lived in New York City, Vancouver, and San Francisco. THEY ARE ALL TOO EXPENSIVE. I now live in a town with a pop. of 8k. It's awesome and cheap. If you work for yourself, remove 30% from your income automatically and keep it in another account for taxes. Keep your business purchases on a separate credit card so you can get the maximum deductions in the easiest way.