Record call of Cthulhu Rules price...
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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 7:49 pm 
 

PaulofCthulhu wrote:I was the losing bid in this particular auction. If I had won it, I would have asked for permission to release it as a freely available PDF. Of course there was no guarantee you would have said yes! - but that was the plan.

Am fairly certain Steve would've been AOK with publishing those online, for reference. Asked about that for the items I'd picked up.

Thanks, Paul. I'd lost the auction URL (since I'd reached my $ limit for snipes!).
Yes, that format now looks exceptionally familiar (since I've got the rest of the "Misc. Notes", as Steve mentioned ;))

Mike, is that entirely "American Gothic" rather than that part of the Cupric Text campaign which was the closest lead-into this? (I know I'm missing some from those, and the 1977 date would tally). *squints to try to read the fuzzy text scan*
(Mike <improvstone>, Ian and myself all have refs to those creatures/classes elsewhere in the material we picked up, for obvious reasons).


And Steve had said there was no ruleset at first for American Gothic either, no?
I deliberately checked on the date, in passing...
harami2000 wrote:Presuming that "American Gothic" wasn't started until 1979(?) or thereabouts, was this a totally separate parallel development to the other material you were working on, then? ("Other material" pushing more towards RQ with your own system ideas and reworkings ("mana", rune-based, etc.) bubbling-through from time-to-time?).
Ethesis wrote:American Gothic actually got started without a rules set at all, then we had a "d20" type game, played with 3d6, kind of GURPish.... It would have been around 79 or so, that is when Sandy had his RQ campaign rolling and we were back together at BYU (I had been at CSULA so we had not seen each other for a while).

OK, am slightly puzzled now. *waits and listens*

=
"Developed by Stephen Marsh and Sandy Peterson, the manuscript are some D&D compatible Cthulhu creatures and classes"

Are there any refs. in there, beyond the list of monsters/classes noted?
(Was one of the reasons, other than $, that I decided not to have a stab at that lot...).

  


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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:18 pm 
 

Instead of a rules set (and you've seen the 100+ pages that is a rules set) all there was was the rules he got, which is far fewer than 200-300 pages of manuscript.

We started with just what was really an outline of rules, if that makes any sense.  What went at auction.

Visit my website for an idea of what I consider a bit more mature set of rules.

Bottom line, more than enough rules for Sandy to run a campaign, but not what I'd send to a publisher, if that makes any sense.  If I'd known collectors were going to be buying them years later, I'd have done something more complete  :oops:

Guess I'm embarassed that I didn't do a more complete job, but they were good enough for us to use and get things started.


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Stephen

  


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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:19 pm 
 

Anyway, no rules set, just some rules.

Mistworld is inbetween "just rules" and a rules set, Shattered Norns (on-line) is a rules set.


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Stephen

  


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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:35 pm 
 

Howdy,


invincibleoverlord wrote:Well this is when things got crazy! Do you guys have some secret-circle of Billy Gates CoC collectors? That above mentioned Ebay'er leaked my personal e-mail to either again this secret brotherhood of cash or the entire CoC scene, and these "BIG GUNS" came forward. I'm not going to exactly quote what the highest standing offer is on the table, but I will say it's staggering. More than what the entire Marsh auctions went for combined 8O . I'm honestly sitting here writing this feeling bad. If this thing was advertised on a CoC board before the auction ended, Stephen could have more than doubled the profits. Or maybe this is just some kind of post auction scramble. I just don't know what to say :? . I guess I should be happy, but the taste is bittersweet.


I contacted several members of the CoC board to advertise to them. They brought it to the attention of the whole board. Even Sandy Peterson chimed in, confirming the manuscripts importance to the development in the game.

The CoC board knew about it well before the auction end and just basically blew it. One guy promised if he won it, he'd post it as a free PDF. Now they regret it and the post auction frenzy is on. Sad to say but you can only sell unique items once. Invincible had the proper conviction and he won. Good one Mike.


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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:52 pm 
 

Ethesis wrote:Instead of a rules set (and you've seen the 100+ pages that is a rules set) all there was was the rules he got, which is far fewer than 200-300 pages of manuscript.

We started with just what was really an outline of rules, if that makes any sense. What went at auction.

Thanks, Steve... By "we" in that context, do you mean the PBM?

Or did you (also?) give Sandy copies of all those rulesets again when you were more back in touch in 1979?

Ethesis wrote:Visit my website for an idea of what I consider a bit more mature set of rules.

Thanks. Spent some time browsing... Recognised many familiar ideas (and a few names and faces) developed further. :)

Ethesis wrote:Bottom line, more than enough rules for Sandy to run a campaign, but not what I'd send to a publisher, if that makes any sense. If I'd known collectors were going to be buying them years later, I'd have done something more complete :oops:

Guess I'm embarassed that I didn't do a more complete job, but they were good enough for us to use and get things started.

Hey, a lot of stuff never even got written down at an early date (as with Dave Arneson & co.).

Yup, was noted which material you sent to JG did make it into print (the various RQ cults) vs. the planes material which they didn't use.

=

Am still trying to figure out why those particular pages on that auction are tied in to "American Gothic" and CoC, other than a possible mention of Sandy's involvement in one of the classes (that's my best guess, anyhow);
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5943210065
(Have certainly found no reference to HPL or "American Gothic" anywhere else in your materials and 1977 is just too early in that previous 1979 context, no?).

I'm pretty certain those pages in that auction are volume 1 #2 of the Cupric Text installment issues, since you were /going/ to put Lightwalkers in the first issue but "?????"'d through that after LIGHT and typed up the Philosopher class instead, mentioning later that Lightwalkers would be in the next issue.
Am missing volume 1 #2, but have #3 and most thereafter (except for that Mystic class which was extracted).
*
Does that sound close enough, Steve?

  


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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:54 pm 
 

(oh, and thanks for editing that long line of sarcasm out just in time for it not to show as an edit, Paul.
I was querying your researching not your marketing, anyhow. And I'd already commented on how the latter included selling items out-of-context, which appears to be the case here, again.
Am willing to stand corrected on that, since I'm only 90% sure as to what Mike actually purchased in that auction).

  


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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:05 pm 
 

Howdy,


harami2000 wrote:(oh, and thanks for editing that long line of sarcasm out just in time for it not to show as an edit, Paul.)


I didn't want to clutter the board with it. Meant to delete it prior to submitting it. My bad.


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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:07 pm 
 

stormber wrote:I didn't want to clutter the board with it. Meant to delete it prior to submitting it. My bad.

Thank you, Paul. Much appreciated.

Now, to get to the bottom of this particular piece of research...

Mike; what exactly do you have there? ;)
(And have I got the right end of the stick in that previous post, Steve?).

  

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Post Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 5:19 am 
 

stormber wrote:The CoC board knew about it well before the auction end and just basically blew it. One guy promised if he won it, he'd post it as a free PDF. Now they regret it and the post auction frenzy is on. Sad to say but you can only sell unique items once. Invincible had the proper conviction and he won. Good one Mike.


Futures Bright,

Paul


i have to totally agree with Paul there. having an item like that prb doesnt come around like that too often in your life (well to us norms anyway). if you want it that much, you should put your money where your mouth is. If mike has any sense at all, he will keep hold of it regardless of its value - you've seen the post-auction frenzy already..... they missed their chance to have something that great and thats that.

and as for stephen and his hindsight.....i think we would have all done something like that if we could :)

whether it was a "loose set of rules" or not....do you think it means that much to the collector who has it now? i hardly think so :)

anyway, what do i know  8O  :D


Are we nearly there yet?

  


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Post Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 11:14 am 
 

stormber wrote:Howdy,

invincibleoverlord wrote:Or maybe this is just some kind of post auction scramble. I just don't know what to say :? . I guess I should be happy, but the taste is bittersweet.


The CoC board knew about it well before the auction end and just basically blew it. One guy promised if he won it, he'd post it as a free PDF. Now they regret it and the post auction frenzy is on.
Paul


hey, you should feel happy.  :D  :D  :D
I 'blew it' because I was on hols (as am again now foe the w/end) and simply forgot.  There are some big spenders on CoC (not me sadly  :( ).  I would have thought you often get this kind of post-auction activity though on the more unusual items?  I have bought stuff in the past by asking people if they want to resell or if sellers have duplicates etc..  If I recall, I dropped you a polite line and expressed an interest. but you seemed reasonably certain that you were going to keep it for your collection so I left it at that.  Whether you eventually sell to the Bill Gates of rpg collecting or keep it - well done :D

  


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 12:44 pm 
 

killjoy32 wrote:
stormber wrote:The CoC board knew about it well before the auction end and just basically blew it. One guy promised if he won it, he'd post it as a free PDF. Now they regret it and the post auction frenzy is on. Sad to say but you can only sell unique items once. Invincible had the proper conviction and he won. Good one Mike.


Futures Bright,

Paul


i have to totally agree with Paul there. having an item like that prb doesnt come around like that too often in your life (well to us norms anyway). if you want it that much, you should put your money where your mouth is. If mike has any sense at all, he will keep hold of it regardless of its value - you've seen the post-auction frenzy already..... they missed their chance to have something that great and thats that.

and as for stephen and his hindsight.....i think we would have all done something like that if we could :)

whether it was a "loose set of rules" or not....do you think it means that much to the collector who has it now? i hardly think so :)

anyway, what do i know 8O :D


To clear up some points in this regard.

I was the gent who said that if I won, I would have sought to release it as a PDF. As an advertised American Gothic It would have been nice to share.

As for "Money where mouth is" - I was contacted privately to see if I was serious on bidding. I stated I was planning to put in a final bid in the "serious three figure range" - it later turns out in essence, "no matter how much you would have put down, it would have been beaten."

BTW, please don't mistake conviction for not having the deepest pockets. If I was a millionaire I likely may have bid more... :D

Still, well done the winner! It sounds like a nice piece of CoC ephemera!

Paul



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Post Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:44 pm 
 

PaulofCthulhu wrote:I was the gent who said that if I won, I would have sought to release it as a PDF. As an advertised American Gothic It would have been nice to share.

In the auction description "American Gothic" was only mentioned in the following context;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5943210065
"Prior to their being a Call of Cthulhu game there was American Gothic. Developed by Stephen Marsh and Sandy Peterson, the manuscript are some D&D compatible Cthulhu creatures and classes: Mycenean Thought Crafters, Lightwalkers, and True Salamanders. Later these creatures, classes, and abilities would form the basis for the original Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game published by Chaosium... Now you can own a piece of the original development of American Gothic and ultimately the Call of Cthulhu game."

A bit vague, perhaps; certainly no apparent "claim" that those five pages are an "American Gothic" ruleset as such...

PaulofCthulhu wrote:Still, well done the winner! It sounds like a nice piece of CoC ephemera!

Am still waiting for Mike's response on my queries, above. (Please...).

If the ms. is what I think it is, it's at best a precursor en-route rather than that (stated) "holy grail".
(And, IMO, the vampire, weretiger, "eaters of the undead" rulesets would be perhaps more "Gothic" in the public understanding, along that path).

PaulofCthulhu wrote:BTW, please don't mistake conviction for not having the deepest pockets. If I was a millionaire I likely may have bid more... :D

*nods to that observation, Paul, regardless of contents*

  


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:47 pm 
 

"eaters of the undead"

Those rules ended up as a part of the City of the Revenaunt I ran at Glascon after chairing a panel on scenario design.

The weretigers and vampires I don't know what happened too -- ask Sandy.

Anyway, still hoping to have my computer fixed.  Dragging at the shop.


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Stephen

  


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:01 pm 
 

Harami wrote:

Mike; what exactly do you have there?
(And have I got the right end of the stick in that previous post, Steve?).


And.

Am still waiting for Mike's response on my queries, above. (Please...).


David,

Please forgive me as I've wanted to think about this question and reread the manuscript before posting a response.

I'm going to give you a synopsis of each page and any points of interest.

Page #1

Dated 14 of May 1977

Title text states:
The installment issues of the Cupric Text.
Produced courtesy of Underwood and Xerox.
Unless otherwise noted all herein is subject to the unrestrained whims of the subscriber.

It then goes into a long paragraph and starts with "A new type of game called AMERICAN GOTHIC". Where, "Lovecraftian monsters lurked", "Kali was unrestrained", and even Poe, Derlith, and Hitchcock "drew their ideas not from fantasy, but from the hidden truth". It then goes into the perils of adventuring and running this type of Fantasy-Modern game. Like, "How do you hide your treasure from the IRS", or "How do you cart around that magic sword without being noticed".

The remainder of the page consists of monster template for the MYCENEAN THOUGHT CRAFTERS except for the bottom of the page there's a short paragraph with the following-

"On the succeeding pages will come the various thoughts that can be crafted, 1w and more. For now, since my patience for copying is wearing thin, Ill note that I've my own assassin rules and that there are several cleric variants available. Also, I'm taking a few test players in an American Gothic campaign. This is in lieu of the other campaign, and players in it will be vaulted thru time and space at some into a normal fantasy campaign. Just an offer".

Hay Stephen, is the offer still open? I'm only about 28 years late. :lol:

Page #2

Whole top-half of the page on the existence of the "Life-Force" or "to an anthropologist it is mana', to certain people in NYC it's "Heart"; and to ebony skinned types it's ‘SOUL' and so forth".

There's a level of MAÑA, 0-20 listed and it coincides with BREADTHS OF SOUL doubling with each level 1 at 0, 2 at first, 4 at second and so forth.

The bottom half is a list of skills, some mental and some physical. For example; stuff like Weapons Skill, Voice Projection, and ESP.

Page #3

Requisites and such, "each player gets 500% points and may apply them in any way he sees fit."

Page #4

The whole page is spells/thoughts for the THOUGHT-CRAFTER. Levels 1-7 are listed and there are 3 or 4 spells per level.

Page #5

Levels 8 -- 9 for the THOUGHT-CRAFTER are continued, and then there's a large paragraph about the THOUGHT --CRAFTER; spell/thoughts prep, stored thoughts, scrolls and such.

The second half of the page is a monster template of the LIGHTWALKERS. Similar in layout to the above mentioned Mycenean Thought Crafters.

Page #6

Top half of page is monster template of TRUE SALAMANDERS, and the second half of the page is a list of 28 spells with no corresponding levels.

I hope this helps to get the research started as like yourself we're Historians first and Collector$ second. WE have also made the decision to keep the manuscript regardless of is value it is truly an amazing piece of RPG history.

Stephen, please feel free to chime in and comment on any of these descriptions.


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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 5:11 am 
 

invincibleoverlord wrote:I hope this helps to get the research started as like yourself we're Historians first and Collector$ second. WE have also made the decision to keep the manuscript regardless of is value it is truly an amazing piece of RPG history.

Thank you. That helps a lot, Mike.
(And thank you for that decision, too; the "museum" aspect to your collection did pretty well from that acquisition, IMO).

The ms. does indeed have "historical significance" in an RPG context, just not at all in the manner it was presented and certainly not "in isolation".

*reads again*

All of this explains why Steve does not (as far as I could see) mention "American Gothic" anywhere else in the mss.

The "A new type of game called AMERICAN GOTHIC" paragraph is the first note of Steve's idea, afaik (unless I've overlooked any, or else it is pre-empted in the text at the foot of the Mystic rules page which, in reality, belongs immediately before those five pages. Convenient, huh?).
btw. Kali, in that context, is not (directly, at least) of Indian decent, but (I'm fairly certain) of Steve's "universe"; the creation myths, etc., and other material in the context of the PBM (Town/Tower of Kali) are all in the other manuscripts, here.

The third paragraph "On the succeeding pages will come the various thoughts that can be crafted" relates to the 1976/7 Cupric Text PBM. Steve was continually feeding ideas to the players.
The assassins mentioned (Blue Lodge Assassins) and Cleric variants (Marsh Healer Variant) rulesets are also all in the other manuscripts, here. The former have their own very specific position in Steve's "universe creation".


>"Also, I'm taking a few test players in an American Gothic campaign. This is in lieu of the other campaign, and players in it will be vaulted thru time and space at some into a normal fantasy campaign. Just an offer"
As Steve has patiently explained, this did not happen for two years, when he was back in touch with Sandy, IRL. (He was not in the original PBM).
....Hence no further apparent mention of "American Gothic" in the later installments, nor (at a glance) in Steve's "Elaikases Tower" perzine which bridged that gap timewise (will check, but late 1979, IIRC).

Everything else you have relates to rulesets for Steve's PBM, most of which go further back in time, too.
For example, the character details for Peggy's Mycenaean in that PBM are dated March 1976 (have been meaning to ask Steve when the PBM actually started- between that date and May 1977), and the ruleset is market as "complete - needs testing" on the list of those sent to EGG.
*
I might have a zerox of that second page re. the mana system, but it is also mentioned in various other contexts elsewhere in the original typed mss. and also plays a part in at least one of Steve's outline RP systems for which there are details.
(aside: The Salamanders, Acid-Based Mages (the first of the Speciality Mages), etc. are all mentioned in the Cupric Text mss. as (having) "projections into the dimensions that normal magic is drawn from"; which may be of interest in Steve's "Planes" development context.
Is that alluded to in the five pages you've got, Mike, with regards the Salamanders?).

==

OK, Paul...

You bit me hard in return when I stated that you had taken the Mystic character class ruleset from its original context in the Cupric Text mss. and presented it as though the other pages were "lost to time".
I did not believe you, then, when you stated that you could not find the original context, since that would have been a trivial task.
Feel free to maintain that position if you wish.

However, for the Cupric Text installment (and all the others were all neatly stacked) immediately following the Mystic Rules to have also "jumped out" in order to form another apparently self-sustaining entity for your auction of Steve's work (purely for marketing purposes?) is further reprehensible (as mild as I can put it), in my eyes, not just because it never WAS a self-sustaining entity, but because that also distorts the meaning of those five pages, loses vital links in RPG history and creates a new false context for the genesis of a much-loved system. (n.b. Even if there is "no apparent "claim" that those five pages are an "American Gothic" ruleset as such", as I stated, above).

Sorry, but your sales pitch on that particular auction stinks (to put it politely).
Developed by Stephen Marsh and Sandy Peterson, the manuscript are some D&D compatible Cthulhu creatures and classes: Mycenean Thought Crafters, Lightwalkers, and True Salamanders. Later these creatures, classes, and abilities would form the basis for the original Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game published by Chaosium... Now you can own a piece of the original development of American Gothic and ultimately the Call of Cthulhu game.
*
In fact, commenting about "D&D compatible Cthulhu creatures" put myself- and perhaps others- off, because that simply did not make any sense.
(Mike; is Sandy Petersen (sic) even mentioned by name in that mss.? The idea for such an "American Gothic" campaign is all Steve's, to the best of my knowledge).

Paul; If you had asked a few questions and still chosen to sell just the one page merely (and clearly) as the "first mention of 'American Gothic'", I know the final bid would have been higher.
But that would still have needed the correct original context... (and personally keeping everything together would have made a lot more sense).

==
Steve Marsh (on yog-sothoth.com) wrote:With some of the criticism and anger, I'm almost sorry I didn't just throw the stuff away. I'm about to clean out the storage unit and am rethinking sending anything else to Paul instead of throwing it out. Who needs the hostility?

(And I noted the bit about feeling you were being called as a "witness", too, Steve... Yes, sorry; agreed with that, but that was necessary to try to pull everything back into its original context. I think I finally have that now; well, for the Planes, Revenaunt, Cupric Text campaign, Specialist Mages and the above, at least).

Any "hostility" (and, indeed, it is more "frustration") is directed at Paul (on an "issues" basis) for managing to get almost every single ms. auction description "out of context" and hyped-up with inaccuracies (for whatever reason). The manner in which the manuscripts were split didn't exactly "help", either.

Please take that as an indication that people actually care about your contributions to RPG development; and, yes, you are obviously the key witness to that.

(And if there are any pages (/character sheets/etc.) specific to "American Gothic" still extant, either yourself or Sandy are presumably still in possession of those).

Best wishes to y'all,
David.

  

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:00 am 
 

harami2000 wrote:OK, Paul...

You bit me hard in return when I stated that you had taken the Mystic character class ruleset from its original context in the Cupric Text mss. and presented it as though the other pages were "lost to time".
I did not believe you, then, when you stated that you could not find the original context, since that would have been a trivial task.
Feel free to maintain that position if you wish.

However, for the Cupric Text installment (and all the others were all neatly stacked) immediately following the Mystic Rules to have also "jumped out" in order to form another apparently self-sustaining entity for your auction of Steve's work (purely for marketing purposes?) is further reprehensible (as mild as I can put it), in my eyes, not just because it never WAS a self-sustaining entity, but because that also distorts the meaning of those five pages, loses vital links in RPG history and creates a new false context for the genesis of a much-loved system. (n.b. Even if there is "no apparent "claim" that those five pages are an "American Gothic" ruleset as such", as I stated, above).

Sorry, but your sales pitch on that particular auction stinks (to put it politely).
Developed by Stephen Marsh and Sandy Peterson, the manuscript are some D&D compatible Cthulhu creatures and classes: Mycenean Thought Crafters, Lightwalkers, and True Salamanders. Later these creatures, classes, and abilities would form the basis for the original Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game published by Chaosium... Now you can own a piece of the original development of American Gothic and ultimately the Call of Cthulhu game.
*
In fact, commenting about "D&D compatible Cthulhu creatures" put myself- and perhaps others- off, because that simply did not make any sense.
(Mike; is Sandy Petersen (sic) even mentioned by name in that mss.? The idea for such an "American Gothic" campaign is all Steve's, to the best of my knowledge).

Paul; If you had asked a few questions and still chosen to sell just the one page merely (and clearly) as the "first mention of 'American Gothic'", I know the final bid would have been higher.
But that would still have needed the correct original context... (and personally keeping everything together would have made a lot more sense).

Surely if you own an item, you are free to sell it in whatever manner you so desire? Provided neither the buyer nor seller are disappointed with the transaction, I see no reason to quibble over the 'advertising' and distribution of the lots.

I fail to see the purpose of the continued Paul bashing.


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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:21 am 
 

mbassoc2003 wrote:Surely if you own an item, you are free to sell it in whatever manner you so desire? Provided neither the buyer nor seller are disappointed with the transaction, I see no reason to quibble over the 'advertising' and distribution of the lots.

I fail to see the purpose of the continued Paul bashing.

You're missing my point, Ian. (02 cents, or otherwise).

As for "Paul bashing", the "board" has unilaterally condemned people on eBay for lesser degrees of misrepresentation of items, in the past.

(If anything, I would have expected us to have held board members to a higher degree of probity in such matters as their auction research and descriptions; especially those board members who have a high reputation to uphold and who are dealing with key "artifacts" of RPG history/ development which have a context beyond a particular sale).

  


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Post Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:51 am 
 

harami2000 wrote:(And I noted the bit about feeling you were being called as a "witness", too, Steve... Yes, sorry; agreed with that, but that was necessary to try to pull everything back into its original context. I think I finally have that now; well, for the Planes, Revenaunt, Cupric Text campaign, Specialist Mages and the above, at least).

Any "hostility" (and, indeed, it is more "frustration") is directed at Paul (on an "issues" basis) for managing to get almost every single ms. auction description "out of context" and hyped-up with inaccuracies (for whatever reason). The manner in which the manuscripts were split didn't exactly "help", either.

Please take that as an indication that people actually care about your contributions to RPG development; and, yes, you are obviously the key witness to that.

(And if there are any pages (/character sheets/etc.) specific to "American Gothic" still extant, either yourself or Sandy are presumably still in possession of those).

Best wishes to y'all,
David.


David, the thing that I think that you are missing is that Paul(stormber) did the best he could with what he had to work with. I do not think it was his intention to misrepresent anything. He was given a stack of very unique papers with no references and he did his best to sort them out in a way that he thought made sense. This is not a case of him lying in his auction descriptions to max out what he was getting in return for them. Reading all of Stephen's comments on yog-sothoth site and in particular:

Steve Marsh (on yog-sothoth.com) wrote:With some of the criticism and anger, I'm almost sorry I didn't just throw the stuff away. I'm about to clean out the storage unit and am rethinking sending anything else to Paul instead of throwing it out. Who needs the hostility?


I think that comment was kind of directed at yourself. The anger and hostility he is referring to is the backlash of these auctions and the fact that Paul is now taking a beating because of the way that he chose to list them in his auctions. Like Ian said, the fact is that whats done is done, and continuing to harp and criticize Paul at this point isn't getting anyone anywhere, except to maybe create more hard feelings. At this point I am sure that he realizes that you are frustrated with how he selected to list those auctions, but once again he did the best he could with what he had, and those auctions ended 3 months ago and have long been delivered to winners(yourself and IO included). Question is, What is going to be gained in continuing to bash Paul? Hind site is ALWAYS 20/20, and back seat drivers are never wrong.


"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

  
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