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RJ Grady: Proving Grounds of the Quirky Underlord
Feb. 9th, 2012
11:57 am - Marvel, IP, work-for-hire
Re-posting from G+. This may ruffle a few feathers, but here we go.
I get that people are unhappy with Marvel. It's a shame they have pushed so many creators out of ownership. However, I object in principle to the idea that work-for-hire is wrong or a thing of the past. Publishers have the right to develop properties which they own, and to hire people to contribute to that development who do not own the properties. Moreoever, if you really believe in creator rights, surely you believe in the right to sell them!
-- On a somewhat related note, I object entirely to the notion of "moral rights," possibly excepting defamatory uses (which are probably already slander or libel anyway). I think moral rights reify the notion that artists "create" things, which ultimately serves to bolster the corporatism of art. Art should be considered as discovered, with proper and due rights to profit going to the discoverer, but the discoveries of knowledge and nature are not owned by any person. Moreover, all works morally should, and ultimately must, pass into the public domain at some point. I can conceive of no argument for the public domain which does not weaken the argument for moral rights. If you don't wish your work to be tarnished by public use, appreciation, and commentary... don't publish it. If you don't want your the children of your mind to be appropriated to whatever corporate end, don't work-for-hire.
-- Lastly, I'll note that the realm of self-publishing is the salvation for the artist who wishes to own their creations. However, self-publishing is a business, carrying with it risks and responsibilities its own, costs ordinarily carried by a skilled publisher. I certainly hope that in your dealings with freelancers, you will be very careful, explicit, and fair about defining and acquiring ownership of others IP, which includes: art, writing, editing, layout, fonts, graphical design, configuration of elements, and branding. It is a certainty that as self-publisher, you will be enjoying the royalty-free labors of at least one person at some point. It's possible to condemn Marvel's greed, while at the same time, criticize the sense of entitlement of creators working-for-hire, which itself is a sort of greed. Marvel deserves criticism, strong criticism, but its enablers are not blameless, artists who wished to prosper in their financial shadow, but then complained when, in turn, Marvel prospered under the umbrella of their creative work. Going to work for a corporation is itself a deliberate decision. I sympathize with the janitors on the Death Star, but I do not pardon them. If you are going to work for Marvel, or whomever, you need to decide at the outset whether you are an employee or a business person, and conduct your dealings only along those lines. If your status overlaps between the two in any way, take nothing for granted that is not in writing! IANAL, but that's my two cents as an armchair philosopher, occasional freelancer, aspirational self-publisher.
Jan. 25th, 2012
01:16 am - RPG stuff, Tripod Machine, ICO
I wanted to drop a few notes about what is happening with me and Tripod Machine lately. First, as you may have noticed, the Fantastic Creatures Kickstarter did not make. The upshot is that I am instead releasing it as a PDF only. It won't be the art book I hoped for, but I hope it will provide solid content for M&M players.
Second, Conquest of the Universe is slowly lurching forward. At some point, I plan on releasing M&M and Savage Worlds versions. Later versions will relate to ICO (keep reading).
As for A Few Denarrii More, for Pathfinder, it's been on the back burner. However, there is enough material that I may still release it when I am able. I love the Pathfinder community. I'm not sure what the future holds, with another edition of D&D in the works, but if feasible, I'd still like to get a couple of Pathfinder books out that I've had in the works, including A Few Denarii More.
Lastly, ICO. That's a whole topic in itself. ICO is my concept for a role-playing game core engine. I have a three step plan:
1. ICO Core - a mini RPG release that introduces the mechanics
2. ICO Role-playing Game - a cookbook, essentially, for playing ICO and creating ICO-based campaigns.
3. ICO-powered RPGs - I have a couple of projects of my own in mind (including an ICO version off Conquest of the Universe). Coinciding with these projects, I'll be looking at licensing ICO for commercial works.
What is ICO? ICO is a pragmatically focused, narrative-friendly, immersive and improvisational approach to role-playing games. ICO is a distillation of things I love about RPGs from the mid 80s to the present, specifically designed for easy conversions to and from other popular RPGs, particularly anything of the 2 to 18 or 1 to 20 attribute valuse family. ICO is a traditional style of game, using a unified core mechanic and polyhedral dice. However, it also incorporates dramatic and stylistic elements that reflect the mature state of the art. If it were a flavor, it would be vanilla, but it would be a real, rich, breathtaking vanilla flavor permeating an ice cream of perfect consistency.
Jan. 23rd, 2012
10:49 pm - hello LJ
I still value LJ, but I notice that checking it regularly is not part of my routine as much as it once was. I like it because it's more reflective than Facebook or G+. But, being more deliberate in nature, it requires more of me to get anything out of. Sorry, LJ. I'll try to post more often.
Aug. 18th, 2011
03:22 pm - D&D 4e: Random Observation
There are good things about D&D 4e, there are not so good things. Then there things that are just different. I have found the different thng that pretty much exemplifies everything different about 4e that frustrates me. The spell Force Cage, in 4e, lasts six seconds. One round. You cast it, and on the following round, your opponent remains imprisoned, and then that's it. That's pretty unsatisfying. I'm not advocating that magic should be an automatic "I win!" for wizards, but I've watched Thundarr, I've watched He-Man, and glowing cages of force do not work that way. That's not a Force Cage, that's a Force Speed Bump.
Jul. 1st, 2011
03:49 pm - gay marriage
Recent events with gay marriage in NYC, Obama's adminsitration backing away from DOMA, and Obama's comments raise some interesting points in my mind.
First of all, the DOMA occurs entirely within the domain of things the federal government is in charge of. The feds are allowed to say what they will or won't recognize as marriage according to federal programs, statues, and so forth. The Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, and other law make it clear that marriage, which affects property and ownership, which is recognized as conferring certain rights and privileges, and which is a matter between the states and not merely within them, is potentially a federal matter.
Obama's argument that the federal government has no vested interest in the DOMA is essentially an argument that the DOMA is discriminatory without a just rationale. That is, if any persons, including gay persons, are to be treated differently by the law, there must be a reason the state or public has a need to treat them differently. This is interesting because it is not an argument against the DOMA, but rather, against its content. Logically this argument extends to every state law that attempts to bar gays from marriage.
The non-discrimination argument has been, basically, that gays have as much right to heterosexual marriage as anyone. However, with the rise of support for gay marriage, the mainstream recognition of gay unions by churches, and the reocgnition of homosexuality as a stable characteristic, this argument has evaporated. Marriage has become defined as a stable union between lovers, something that can exist for homosexuals only (or at least in vast likelihood, including corner cases) with a person of the same sex. It is not a pseudopriesthood, as considered by the Mormon and Roman Catholic choices, but a coupling of choice.
At one time, sexual orientation was considered a choice. Now the scientific consensus is that it is, to a large extent, fixed at an early age, if not at birth, and evolves only slowly. Sexual preference is a complex subject and I shy away from categorization, but it is plainly obvious that you cannot insist someone be attracted to those to whom they are not, and not to love those whom they do. Freud recognized homosexuality as the outcome of human development, not a free choice, and while his (ahem) understanding was not the end of the discussion but its beginning, there has been no other rationally supportable consensus other than what he suggested: homosexuality is not a simple choice, but a stable characteristic. Even if homosexuality were labelled, as Freud sometimes seemed to do, as an aberrant behavior, it was clear that homosexuals deserved to be afforded some chance at happiness. As the evidence mounted over the coming decades that homosexuals were not "sick" but quite functional, the last rational argument against public acceptance of homosexuality was dead. In my view, the issue should have been settled in the 20s, by the 50s at the latest. And since that time, as long as American culture has continued to treat marriage as a central building block of family and community, every person has deserved to have their relationships equally enshrined.
There is certainly an argument to be made against the co-personhood of marriage in general, but until some other social force is supplied as a replacement, the exclusion of the GLBT community from the support, protection, and participation offered to the married is nothing short of villainous.
This is no doubt abundantly clear to much of the Republican elite. Clearly, many so-called "leaders" within the party, including most front-running presidential candidates, either choose to retain an irrational opposition to this udnerstanding, or are willing to feign such superstitions in order to pander to their base.
Jun. 22nd, 2011
11:34 am - CotU updates
Updates page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/502
Developments so far:
- It looks like full-sized, full color softcover is the way to go
- I've settled on using a number of True20 features for character creation, and I've committed wholly to making a hybridized and unique game, rather than just a cousin to an existing game
- in that vein, combat bonus and resistance as defenses, with ability scores being used for Saving Throws
- Class design is very simple and stripped down, mainly a number of progressions, plus a custom feat list, a la True20; similarly as in True20 and Fantasy Craft, origins/backgrounds provide flavor and starting abilities
Preview of the Warrior class here (nothing fancy if you're already familiar with True20):
http://paizo.com/store/downloads/tripod
11:16 am - Clarence Thomas: enemy of Western democracy
I don't know if you've been following the news on this or not, but apparently Clarence Thomas, always the quiet and sneaky type, has apparently been in the pocket of rich friends for several years now. In some cases, their non-profits and other groups have been involved in cases before the Supreme Court from which he did recuse himself. He also failed to disclose his wife's income, which would have revealed even more conflicts of interest. This man has been casting the deciding vote on one after another democracy-destroying votes, in favor of big business.
I never liked the guy, but this is like finding out Chanellor Palpatine is actually Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith.
Read this link, share this link, I beg of you.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/res
Jun. 7th, 2011
11:47 pm - CotU Kickstarter
Kickstarted is kickstarted.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/502
Jun. 6th, 2011
03:07 am - CotU Kickstarter rewards
What do you think?
$5 Supporting only: At this level, you are only supporting the project and not receiving a copy of the work. Pledging at the lowest level will earn you a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page of the finished product. We appreciate your generosity! You will still receive supporter-only updates, including some playtest documents.
$10 PDF: You will receive a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page, access to supporter-only updates, and an electronic PDF copy of the final game.
$40 (USA shipping address) Print: You will receive a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page, access to supporter-only updates, a PDF copy of the final game, and a printed copy of the game. Every additional $40 scores you an additional printed copy.
$60 (Outside the USA) Print: You will receive a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page, access to supporter-only updates, a PDF copy of the final game, and a printed copy of the game shipped to whatever corner of the galaxy in which you reside. Every additional $60 scores you an additional printed copy.
$99 (USA shipping address) Hero of the Universe Reward: You will receive a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page, access to supporter-only updates, and a PDF copy of the final game. You will also receive an autographed copy of the game and a T-shirt.
$124 (Outside the USA) Hero of the Universe Reward: You will receive a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page, access to supporter-only updates, and a PDF copy of the final game. You will also receive an autographed copy of the game and a T-shirt.
$149 (USA shipping address) Art Director for a Day: You will receive a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page, access to supporter-only updates, and a PDF copy of the final game. You also get to suggest themes and details for a quarter-page illustraton used in the book, and to evaluate the artwork. You could even base a portrait on yourself. You also get a printed copy of the game and a T-shirt.
$175 (Outside the USA) Art Director for a Day: You will receive a special thanks as a project supporter on the credits page, access to supporter-only updates, and a PDF copy of the final game. You also get to suggest themes and details for a quarter-page illustraton used in the book, and to evaluate the artwork. You could even base a portrait on yourself. You also get a printed copy of the game and a T-shirt.
$199 (USA shipping address) Art Director for a Day Deluxe: As Art Director for a Day, but you get to propose and review a half-page illustration instead of quarter-page. How awesome is that?
$225 (Outside the USA) Art Director for a Day Deluxe: As Art Director for a Day, but you get to propose and review a half-page illustration instead of quarter-page.
Jun. 4th, 2011
11:13 pm - steampunk and ray guns?
What exactly is the connection between steampunk and ray guns?
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