Holy smokes! Clark is my new hero. I just wish I'd read that thread sooner. Looks like that all went down about 6 months before I got involved with PPP. Then again, to be absolutely honest, Rob treated me like a prince when I first joined up - even paying more than he had promised for the first bit of work I did for him. Nothing went sour between us until June of 2007.

I remember in the summer of 2006, I was driving with Rob to an ATM to get half of a payment, and he was babbling something about NG and about the (then) recent bashing he was taking over his withdrawal from the project with Gary over at TLG. I honestly wasn't in the loop enough to have heard any of the scuttlebutt, so I just nodded politely and lent an ear as he told his side of things. I hadn't had any exposure to either of the other companies at the time, but it sure did sound like everyone was dog-piling on poor old RJC. My experiences with the Trolls since then have been stellar, so the thread over on NG sure makes sense in retrospect.

Regarding Bottle City, I appreciate everyone's concern for the state of my payments. I'm not sure who else (aside from perhaps grodog?) still hasn't been paid from it - it was pretty much a 3-man show, but I know he still owes Jim Holloway for work on Tower of Blood. At any rate, I've given up any hope or expectation of remuneration. Despite grodog's best efforts to hasten my compensation, Rob is obviously taking me at my word that it's payment enough just to be done with his BS.

That's fine with me, since I'm a man of my word. Trust me, I'm not starving because some guy owes me a couple-hundred bucks. Sure, it would have been nice to have that extra scratch after the dozens of hours I put into his vaporware, but it's honestly been more about Rob's gall and the absolute frustration of the fans & collectors whom I busted my rump to satisfy. It pleases me that everyone's getting their stuff! As soon as the LE's drop into your eager little hands, I'll be happy to call this chapter closed.

The damage done to PPP's reputation is karma. We all know that the RPG industry is a tiny little world. The world of freelance artists is even smaller, so rest assured that his name is sullied among those ranks as well. I wonder if he ponders why all of his new artists ask for payment in advance...

I am now able to download the transcription. Thanks grodog.

Suzdal

grodog wrote:Side job on a volunteer basis, Mark.  My real job that pays the bills is with Juniper Networks (and my job title is in flux, changing from Senior Knowledge Engineer to something like Senior User Experience Architect for Support, though that's too wordy ).  Linked-in details, if you're more curious:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/allangrohe

Allan, you used to write poetry, no?  Or maybe you still do?

just checking, has the LE shipped yet?  i ordered my copy the first day it was available.  last time i called home it hadn't arrived yet.

The natives are getting restless on Dragonsfoot now. Was bound to happen:

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27898&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=68f388a8fa40da3bd7a1f737c69cdfe0

Mike B.

Plaag wrote:
Just reading that...seems Noble Knight maybe out of copies for sale as well.

ShaneG.

I am sure you did not mean it to sound as it does.

PPP did not run out of copies to sell, they simply have not shipped all the copies that were PRE-ordered and PAID for.

Still waiting for my PRE-ordered and PRE PAID copies of the LE, for what has it been now? Two weeks after Rob told that other fan site (who are apparently No longer fans) that all the BC copies had been mailed. I am not exactly located in the back country mountainous areas of Sri LonKa here. It should not take more than a few days for mail to arrive from Rob's location.

As was stated above. The Fantasy Gaming / Publishing world is too small to screw so many people and hope to get away with it. Rob will likely have to find another scam ...... umn   sorry, I meant avenue of income.

I don't get over to the Acaeum very often, mostly due to lack of free time and personal interest. I work a lot, and I'm personally more interested in gaming than collecting.

That being said, I followed a link from DF to here, and this thread was certainly an eye opener. If I'd known months ago the information here about the status of Bottle City, Jason Braun not getting paid for his work, etc., I'd have called my credit card company long before this and had the charges reversed for my order to Pied Piper.  

For the record (and because I always find myself defending people whether they deserve that defense or not), Rob paid me for Tower of Blood, so know that he hasn't left everyone turning in the wind.

Do pre-orders represent a sustainable business model?  Nope.  I recently received a refund on an OSRIC product that never materialized.  

Is Rob a good businessman?  That's debatable.

Is Rob a good guy?  Yes.  I can only speak for myself, but he has been nothing but straightforward with me, both personally and professionally.


Peace,

L

Sorry.   By "debatable" I meant "no."  Sarcasm doesn't translate well through this medium.