Well, you are. You're afraid of undeserved criticism, maybe, but it's criticism all the same.

Part of writing is having your name put in a book, and standing up to say that you were a part of creating something that you hope other people will enjoy. If you're not proud to have your name in that book -- for all the good or bad that will come with it -- why are you doing it? Here's a hint: it sure ain't the three or four cents a word.

EDIT TO ADD: "Psychological abuse," really? Jeeze. It's just Dumpshock, man.

Freeze it ??

If you didn't write them, why would you be worried? I may be fortunate in that my self image is entirely independent of other people's perceptions of me, but if people are jumping on me for stuff I didn't have anything to do with on an Intardweb forum, I'm not much going to care.

You all seem to think I'm equating "getting jumped on" with simple criticism. I've seem the severe hate some people seem to have in some of these threads. Whether or not that's deserved, I want no part of that. That's what I'm talking about when I said I wouldn't reveal myself. If I was a current writer, technically I'd be a representative of 4e and the company. Oh, I'd be proud of my work for sure, but I'd still be open to getting jumped by people who've got an axe to grind on CGL and 4e. Whether or not that is true, well it's a perception I have. That's all. Hell, I'm not shying away from having this discussion, so that proves I'm not shying away from normal criticism.

I'd just like to jump in briefly to say this: The existence of official forums is not a reaction to Dumpshock, or an effort to undermine Dumpshock. In fact, it was almost the other way around--I would have been willing to pull the plug on the official forums if I had an indication from various Dumpshock people I spoke to that they thought official forums would have a significant negative effect here. I don't want to hurt Dumpshock, and I don't plan to stop posting here.

I thought official forums might be a good idea because it's nice to have official forums. So that if people come to the shadowrun4.com page and want to talk about the game, there is an easy link for them to talk about the game. That's about the size of it.

Jason H.

Could someone translate that for me? I'm not fluent in spin.

I'm just kidding though Jason (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

See, how could I consider leaving when I get this kind of love?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Jason H.

Me to hes a good friend, I was so happy to get to play Star Wars with him (as for years I had only known him on dumpshock). Then he goes and moves away! Come back to Seattle!

[edit] @ Jason, I wish you guys the best of luck on the official forums! Myself I tend to hate official forums (they tend to be full of people who love the company and the current edition and wont hear any debate or talk of other games)... Dumpshock, RPG.net, EnWorld, PenandPaperGames... yeah none are official and thats where I hang out. I will give it a fair shake though

That pun could have been so much better if you had written Spinish instead (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)

This all smells of corporate back-room deals. All I got to say is my team is prepped and ready to go. Wetworks or structure hits? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

why chose?

No kidding, with enough explosives you can have both. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/love.gif)

As a writer, it's not fear sometimes...

Making your way in the world today
Takes everything you've got;
Taking a break from all your worries
Sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go
Where no one at all knows your name,
And they don't think you're to blame;
You want to be where you can be,
Just someone who plays the game;
You want to be where nobody knows your name.

---

Due to a mistake one Gen-con, many many years ago*, I got a regular badge instead of a dealer's bade, and once that was fixed I found myself with two badges. I could just take of the dealer's badge and be... normal.

That was so good.

Explosions! Music to my ears!

+1 Point. I think suoq at least gets what I'm talking about.

Much as I thought. It sounds good to me, Jason. I look forward to seeing what you guys do.

Tell Bills to respond to my email, too. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) Busy fellow.

It just occurred to me that I'm part of a similar conversation over on Bolter & Chainsword, where some of the Black Library authors have been known to post. Some hide their identities, but reportedly not because they're afraid of the unvarnishable vitriol directed their way, but simply as a way of avoiding the inevitable brush-with-fame type emails, PMs, and fanboy posts that come along with the territory. I'd love to meet Randall Bills or Jason Hardy or Dan Abnett or Phill Kelly or any of a hundred other members of the industry whose salaries I help pay every year -- but I also believe in a person's right to privacy, so while *I* wouldn't behave like Acme would, I can at least understand where he's coming from.

And Jason's post almost -- almost -- suckered me into a positive view of official forums. This place must be strong with the Dark Side of the Force.

I just called to say I love you. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)
That aside, you hit the nail on the head.

QFT & signed.

I do understand where you're coming from, and the fact that you put it into song is even more awesome. I think that's an entirely valid point. My position was largely in response to this idea that freelancers, writers, and developers should for some reason be afraid of this forum, when it's really not a scary place. And that somehow official forums are "safer" for those who work on the game, because they are internally moderated by the publisher's staff.

I'm a very strong supporter of conversation between the fans of the game and writers/developers of the game, though never to the extent that I feel every writer or developer has to do it.

I will also admit that I'm deeply suspicious of things like Herb's social experiments with writers on the official Battletech forums. Official forums are not bad things, but that kind of thing bothers me. I appreciate that here on Dumpshock, I am not held to a different standard than the fans, I follow the same Terms of Service and I'm subject to the same moderation. I am not held to a different set of rules because here I have no "yellow star." I am not a spokesperson for the publisher, I am just a spokesperson for my writing.

you know , when I google " shadowrun forum" , dumpshock is not amoung the first results - but I found this forum cause there is no official one . I think once the official forum is made - and placed first in google - nebies will go there

i still don't understand why dumpshock isn't way up there in the search results either . .

Probably needs some solid search engine optimization. I have no idea if the administrators have set up a robot.txt file or registered the site with Google Webmaster Tools or anything. But they probably should!

And there won't be a sticky link or references back to dumpshock?? Considering how many posters from these forums will peruse and comment on things or bring up threads that are here. I am also assuming DS will include a stickylink back to those forums as well (why have an errata on DS when there is one on the official site).Also, while many SR fans post here. I don't believe they are the majority of SR fans.

In all honesty, it may be a win for DS.

When I did a google search for shadowrun forums I get dumpshock forums and dumpshock.com at the top of my list.
.