I just pointed out that the same people who put them on the pedestal to begin with are the first people to turn on them since they figured out they shouldn't have put on the pedestal.
Just as claiming you are a famous Dungeons & Dragons player does not mean it should be so, neither does invoking the magical phrase "cancel culture" un-awfulize someone
Satine's $100 panel wouldn't be any issue if it was as good as any of the other workshops and panels in the Con. People pay a lot to go to good writer symposiums, etc. It just seems in this case the celebrities are narcissistic bullies, and potentially criminals.
Most of the writer panels are free and the ones that do charge are like $10.00 with some maybe getting to $20.00. Charging $100 is pretty out there.
That said it looks like more people are looking to make money during gencon. The Shadowrun stuff more than doubled from 2019's cost.
Both of them are legends in this industry as well as being New York Times Best Selling Authors.
Their respected resumes vastly surpass those of the two wannabe celebrities we are discussing.
So how do Satine and Jamieson justify charging $100 for their events and yet two New York Best Selling Authors are only charging $30 which is the cover price of the book?
Seems to me it’s an issue of Satine and Jamieson having inflated egos which is what got them into the mess they are in to begin with.
They justify it because they put in time and effort to curate an audience and have risen because of making good career decisions, partnerships and it probably helps having having a good deal of charisma and charm.
There's a lot more to "I've been doing something for x amount of time" when it comes to doing it in a more celebrated capacity. Time spent in stuff means nothing if you don't have any sort of star quality to go with it. As you can see, the type of folks who shine under the spotlight also can end up being less than humble. Satine probably worked her ass off for her spot (idk I've never followed her career) and some people liked her stuff and wanted to buy it. Turns out she's an asshole. And that sucks for them and for the industry in general because someone who promotes a social activity probably shouldn't be abusive to the people that got them there. Not very classy.
I went down a rabbit hole and looked at events over $88 (True Dungeon's price). There were 24 of them. Phoenix/Stone had the only "cult of personality" events. The rest either provided quantity or extras.
The highest priced event? "Evening of Gaming in Clayshire Castle" from RPG Travel. "Join our professional DMs for an exclusive one-shot played in nearby Clayshire Castle. You will board one of our executive tour busses for a short drive to Bowling Green, Indiana for an evening gaming session. A medieval-themed dinner banquet and followed by gaming session before you are returned to downtown Indianapolis. All transportation to and from the castle is provided, along with the meal, an open bar, and exclusive gifts from our partners." $448.
I was very excited for a moment "They have Castles in the USA?" - took a look. Not a particularly impressive castle, but I grew up in Great Britain and so have a bit of a different expectation. I imagine this trip is only this expensive because of the cost to book the bus.
Whether you accept it or not, or accept that your values of a "resume" or what defines a celebrity, those people are far more of celebrities than the authors you mentioned and in most cases have worked very hard to build their careers. The "I've played DnD for 30 years" crowd isn't spending 10 hours a day on DnD and on publicity / social media work. It turns out in this case the celebrities are narcissistic, bullying, and manipulative jerks; but that part doesn't really matter.
if that is what you base success on I feel sorry for you.
For those who have not been following, a bunch of the stories from people who have been abused or mistreated by S&J have been collected here.
Did you seriously equate the difference between two New York Times Best Selling authors and Satine and Jamieson to the number of Twitter followers they have???if that is what you base success on I feel sorry for you.
I am also aware that there are ways to manipulate the New York Times Best Seller's list, not limited to rich people buying numerous copies of their own book to achieve getting on the list.
Neither metric is a good barometer for measuring popularity. You can fake both results easily enough if you have enough time and money to burn.
I personally hadn't heard of Satine Phoenix before seeing the price tag on her events this year so I had to look her up on the internet. I don't personally get the appeal of watching people play D&D (as to opposed just playing it myself), Much like I don't get the appeal of the Food Trucks but the line at the food trucks explains why they are there.
Regarding food trucks it all depends on the food truck. Some are really good, but I don’t like waiting in a long line when it’s really hot.
I also agree about falsifying a Twitter followers and how the New York Times Best Sellers most can be manipulated. Because of the Fantasy books that Weiss and Hickman write I am less likely to believe that they could manipulate the NY Best Sellers list, but it could happen.
To me social media is a cancer of society. Why people put so much importance on the number of Twitter followers they have makes me question if they truly understand what is and is not important. I am proud to say that I am not on Twitter and have no desire to join Twitter.
I just think people really need to think hard before giving someone celebrity status as more often than not they will be disappointed.
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I do the same thing for music and art and separating them from the given artists.
Best example would be the fact I still love Buffy the Vampire Slayer regardless of how I feel about Joss Whedon or any of the Actors/Actresses that played the characters.
More general comments. Not directed at any one person. I never get the eye rolling of where people spend their money within a particular hobby by people within the hobby. "Spend $100 on an event at Gencon? Pfft.. Hey, check this out, I spent $2000 at the auction hall for this half eaten Gary Gygax twinkie that he signed".
Definitely not unique to gaming, I do a bunch of different hobbies and see this across the board. The psychology of it all is just bizarre to me. I guess people just have this necessity to believe their choices are superior to someone else.
Having said that, I didn't realize that there were some events that were that much at Gencon. If you can run an event and get that much for it, good for you.