Unhappy with TSR
Joseph Delisle
be appropriate to post it here, too. If you wish to repost it, feel
free (it's already been on ADND-L and GMAST-L)
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(NOTE: this post is not about AD&D itself, but about TSR and its
policies. Delete now if you're not interested. This may get long, too.
I apologize to those who are tired of the whole thing.)
OK, after reading all the griping on the Usenet AD&D group, I
don't want to hear it on ADND-L. Do you want to do something EFFECTIVE?
Here's how:
First, don't bother with posts and email; I'm sure the TSR accounts
have more email than they're bothering to read. Send a letter to the
marketing department! That's what they're there for, to handle public
relations and get an idea of how the company can better serve the public.
Tell them what you don't like about the new policy, what you want changed,
and what you will/won't do. Be polite; as teh saying goes "you can catch
more flies with honey than vinegar". Besides, anything vulgar or obscene
will end up in the circular file cabinet.
Second, stop buying TSR products. TSR is a company, and loss of
revenue is more likely affect them than a negative letter. (Or think about
it this way -- by buying their products, you're paying the salaries of
TSR's lawyers and suits, who came up with the policy.) Make sure that you
tell them you've stopped buying their products in the letter.
Third, TELL EVERYONE! If you notice, Rob Repp's notices have
"Please repost" on them. Do you civic duty and let everyone know about
TSR's new policy. Bulletin boards not hooked up to the Internet,
gaming clubs, etc should all be told that they cannot circulate their
creations outside their group, nor make their work publicly
available. Repost the TSR policy statement. Now, those of you on the
list who are Americans have something called freedom of
speech. Exercise your right, and mention the ideas of ceasing to
purchase TSR products and mailing the marketing department to state
your dissatisfaction. You might even want to make up fliers to put in
game shops (_if_ the owners are willing to let you do it). Make sure
you tell TSR all this in the letter, too.
Fourth, follow through. Make sure you write and send the
letter. Don't pick up anything made by TSR (buying used from someone
is a different story). It does no good for you all to complain on
ADND-L where the complaints either fall on deaf ears or never reach
the levels of TSR management that is required. When you send in the
letters, don't send a petition; my time in Trekdom has taught me that
petitions aren't taken as seriously as individual letters. (Think
about it this way: which looks better, a sheet of paper with 50 names,
or a stack of letters the size of one of the Complete Handbooks?)
I know what you're all thinking -- who died and left me god?
(Not any of the net.personas, that's for sure :) I'm just tired of
people getting screwed over, and not realizing that they can DO
something about it. IMHO, the only reason they're pulling this stunt
is because the 'Net represents a small customer base that they can
risk losing (or so TSR thinks). I strongly doubt you're going to see
this policy statment in big letters at the beginning of the newest
worlds and rulesbooks, or of reprints of older books -- the world at
large simply wouldn't take that kind of censorship and would put a
quick stop to it. There's no reason why we should take it either.
"Silence indicates consent"
(Sorry about being so high and might in this post... I'll take
any comments and flames you feel like sending.)
--
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Joe Delisle
j...@clark.net
By sending any email to me, you grant permission for it to be posted publicly.
(rapidly becoming my standard 'T$R Debating' .sig :)