Chaosium's communication skills

[Trifletraxor]

I can't help but think that Chaosium might have a negative communication skill modifier.

One thing is that they don't answer email from fans, which can be explained by their limited staff, but recently I learned from Nick why Gwenthia went to Mongoose RuneQuest instead of Basic Roleplaying:

Chaosium showed considerable interest at Continuum '06, but expected

communications didn't arrive in September '06. In early October '06

the Design Mechanism discussed and voted on our options. The

majority decision was to pursue releasing a core book under the MRQ

STL.

Fumbled communication roll? Quite annoying, as the setting looks really promising. It could have been Chaosium's new Glorantha.

Cthulhu Rising too, no respons.

SGL.

[Atgxtg]

Disapointing, but not surprising.

From what I've read, Chasoium was still getting it act back together in 2006. Even now they have difficulties making what they want to happen-happen. I think there are a lot of things that they wanted to do, but couldn't make happen in time.

There is a guy I chat with on a different board who has a similar story about dealing with them. I guess they wanted his game world, but couldn't come to an arrangement.

[Enpeze]

Its a strange and impolite behaviour to not answer a mail from a fan. I mean Chaosium lifes from their fans and not vice versa.

:ohwell:

[Atgxtg]

Its a strange and impolite behaviour to not answer a mail from a fan. I mean Chaosium lifes from their fans and not vice versa.

:ohwell:

I don't think it is either. I'm sure lots of companies get submissions from fans and don't have the time or staff to answer all of them. It is probably something like, run the company or answer fan mail.

[Enpeze]

I don't think it is either. I'm sure lots of companies get submissions from fans and don't have the time or staff to answer all of them. It is probably something like, run the company or answer fan mail.

I never experienced this. I always got replies if I wrote to one of the hobby companies out there.

I think there should be always one minute to give a short email answer to one of your customers. This is called customer relation and Chaosium seem to lack this basic service concept. Having no time is no excuse. I also have to manage my time in my job but I would never ever dare not to answer a business email.

[Pete Nash]

One thing is that they don't answer email from fans, which can be explained by their limited staff, but recently I learned from Nick why Gwenthia went to Mongoose RuneQuest instead of Basic Roleplaying:

Fumbled communication roll? Quite annoying, as the setting looks really promising. It could have been Chaosium's new Glorantha.

It was a great shame, since all of our original work was written for BRP rulesets. The game system changeover caused an awful lot of re-writing - at least at my end. Gaining Chaosium support might have placed the project on the fast-track, and we could have had a tangible book published by now.

To be fair to Chaosium, they have a lot on their plate right now. I've received the impression that as well as the not-inconsiderable work being done on the core BRP book, there's a large number of supplements in the pipeline too... and once those manuscripts come rolling in, they will be up to their eyes in editing, publication and distribution.

The good news is that Gwenthia is still being developed with an eye to publishing a full campaign setting. Although technically written for MRQ, it will be easy to use with any d100 rules. The magic system is a new, stand alone development, and can be ported to BRP with a minimum of effort.

I am currently working on Gwenthian Religions in parallel with my continuing commitment to BRP Rome. Once Religions have been completed, there's a little work to do with new creatures and ecology, and after that its just editing, stitching and formatting.

And my wife wonder's why all my spare time is eaten up sitting in front of the computer, typing... :ohwell:

Cthulhu Rising too, no respons.

Now that is definitely a setting that should see proper publication!

[weasel fierce]

you know, this Gwenthia deal has me kind of interested. Is there a link where we can peruse some information ?

[Rurik]

Gwenthia.org

[weasel fierce]

Thanks a ton!

[Lord Twig]

I recently mentioned in the BRP yahoo group that I didn't think MRQ and BRP were really compatible at all, but if a good portion of the book is background and setting information it could work alright. Having it's own magic system will certainly help.

Still, I have had such a negative experience with MRQ that it would take a lot to get me to pay money for a product that supports their line. :ohwell:

Best of luck with it though! I will take a look when it comes out to see if it changes my mind.

[Pete Nash]

I recently mentioned in the BRP yahoo group that I didn't think MRQ and BRP were really compatible at all, but if a good portion of the book is background and setting information it could work alright. Having it's own magic system will certainly help.

The majority will indeed be background and setting. The established magic systems of BRP or MRQ could not encapsulate the (sometimes wild) imagination's of the various members of the design team. Thus a completely new rules system was developed to emphasize the uniqueness and individual flavour of Gwenthian magic.

The only significant MRQ element of the magic rules which would need adjustment, are the replacing of resistance rolls from MRQ's Resilience/Persistence skills to BRP's characteristic challenges. Which is so simple, it could be done on the fly.

Other than character generation, the rest of the book will hopefully be '% based system' neutral.

Still, I have had such a negative experience with MRQ that it would take a lot to get me to pay money for a product that supports their line. :ohwell:

Gwenthia will use the MRQ rules as a base, but the book will (as currently conceived) be an independent publication.

Best of luck with it though! I will take a look when it comes out to see if it changes my mind.

I'm sure the members of the design team will be happy to hear that.:happy:

But this is blatant thread jacking. :focus:

Its a sad fact of life but small publishing companies often don't have the manpower to answer individual fan emails (of which there can be a huge amount), or get crushed under a wave of work at the wrong time, or even simply forget the deal they negotiated the night before whilst recovering from a post-convention party. What has been experienced with Chaosium, has also been experienced with Mongoose and other RPG companies too.

However, Mongoose has alleviated this problem to a large degree by hosting their own development and review forums, to which the authors of each line occasionally reply, and certainly take note of. In a way, BRP Central is fulfilling the same task for Chaosium - both advertising the company's new products, and giving their authors a chance to interact with the players.

If the Chaosium staff posted an occasional comment or update on this forum (if they are not already doing so), then of course that would go a long way to improving the perceived poor communication of the company.

However, I can honestly say from personal experience that once communication has been established, I have never had any problems obtaining a swift reply from them. Like in everyday life, its finding the right initial contact which is tricky... Oh, and the stars being in the correct alignment too!

[Jason D]

However, I can honestly say from personal experience that once communication was been established, I have never had any problems obtaining a swift reply from them. Like in everyday life, its finding the right initial contact which is tricky... Oh, and the stars being in the correct alignment too!

I've got to second this.

I've gone through periods where it was nigh-unto-impossible to get Chaosium to reply to an email. When Charlie had my wife and dog over for his big 4th of July barbecue in the summer of 2006 when we were in the East Bay area, I asked him what the problem was, and he told me "You need something, just call me - I'm not good with email."

[Trifletraxor]

"I'm not good with email"?

Jeeez... Welcome to the 21st century Chaosium!

SGL.

[Atgxtg]

"I'm not good with email"?

Jeeez... Welcome to the 21st century Chaosium!

SGL.

Actually, a LOT of people are like that. My sister works at a computer all day, and at night hates to check email. There have been times where we literally been out of touch because I didn't have a phone, and she wouldn't use email.

[Triff]

Actually, a LOT of people are like that. My sister works at a computer all day, and at night hates to check email. There have been times where we literally been out of touch because I didn't have a phone, and she wouldn't use email.

It's still extremely BAD for buisiness...

SGL.

[Atgxtg]

It's still extremely BAD for buisiness...

SGL.

If the business relies on the net. There are many business that can get by fine without an internet presence. I think it is the "half-way" approach that some companies adopt (they feel the net a website, 'cuz everyone else does, yet don't do much with it) that causes problems.

I think with Chasoium it might be a question of teaching an old dog new tricks.

There have been a lot of technical innovations in the production and sale of RPGs that Chasoium could profit by adopting.

[Triff]

If the business relies on the net. There are many business that can get by fine without an internet presence.

Actually, not responding to their contact email is bad for buisiness no matter what. Here they lost a very promising setting due a lack of communication. And Chaosium who have survived these last years mainly due to a very loyal fanbase should probably take the time to write a short reply to fan-emails too. That's my opinion at least.

SGL.

[Trifletraxor]

The Gwenthia pdf have been added to our download section.

SGL.

[Nightshade]

Actually, a LOT of people are like that. My sister works at a computer all day, and at night hates to check email. There have been times where we literally been out of touch because I didn't have a phone, and she wouldn't use email.

And of course game companies tend to be cottage industries except in the bigger cases, so their operations are preturbed by the habits and quirks of their operators, the same way almost all small businesses are.

[Atgxtg]

And of course game companies tend to be cottage industries except in the bigger cases, so their operations are preturbed by the habits and quirks of their operators, the same way almost all small businesses are.

Plus, these guy have been around for a long time. Sure, we are all technophiles, but not everyone is. When Chasoium started, "Computers" were those things the size of truck that had big tape spools on them.

It not good business, but Charlie & Co. just might not be up to the net part of things.

[Rurik]

Oh, when I had some ordering fiasco when their new store went up a few months back, and had two orders pending payment in the system (there was no way for me to cancel the orders once they'd passed me off to paypal for payment and I was having coupon hassles) I heard directly from Charlie wondering if I was still interested in the purchases pretty promptly.

When I explained what happened and that I'd already completed my order on the third attempt he was also very prompt courteous in thanking me for my order etc.

Dustin was great about resolving my coupon woes too.

So I guess the moral is when there is a sale involved they are very capable with e-mail.

Seriously though, the customer service was very good getting it all sorted. It's too bad the experience does not seem to be the same with general inquiries.

Say what you want about their products, but I personally believe Mongoose's web availability is a big part of their success. Customers like feeling important when authors and owners respond to their web inquiries.

[Nightshade]

Plus, these guy have been around for a long time. Sure, we are all technophiles, but not everyone is. When Chasoium started, "Computers" were those things the size of truck that had big tape spools on them.

It not good business, but Charlie & Co. just might not be up to the net part of things.

From Rurik's post, they pay a lot of attention to customer service mails, but probably tell themselves they'll "get around" to others. Not really suprising.