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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Feb 2016 : 15:14:11
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I'm sure the vast majority of the stuff being uploaded to the DM's Guild is quality work, but I just downloaded the free "Al-Qadim Classes and Backgrounds" file and most of it was plagiarized material from previously published Al-Qadim sourcebooks.
Sigh.
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Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2016 : 16:52:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Artemas Entreri
I'm sure the vast majority of the stuff being uploaded to the DM's Guild is quality work, but I just downloaded the free "Al-Qadim Classes and Backgrounds" file and most of it was plagiarized material from previously published Al-Qadim sourcebooks.
Sigh.
That's part of why I've only downloaded a handful of things from there. Any setup like that, without integrated quality control, is going to have a lot of chaff and not so much wheat... On the flipside, though, even the poorest material may still have that one thing someone needs to get an idea. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Delwa
Master of Realmslore
USA
1268 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2016 : 18:11:39
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Yeah, I pretty much use the same standard I use for eBay sellers. If a document/seller has very few ratings, fewer than 3 stars/90th percentile, and is by someone I don't know, I leave it alone. Even if it's free, it's probably not worth my time. Except character sheets. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect character sheet. I found one for 3e, just not 5e... yet.
As for allowing DM's Guild Content at my table, I just allow it on a case by case basis. My player's know I'm a fairly "official supplements only, unless it's by someone I trust" kind of person, so I don't get flooded with requests for broken content. At least, not seriously. I still get requests for that bag of holding/portable hole arrow now and then. |
- Delwa Aunglor
I am off to slay yon refrigerator and spoil it's horde. Go for the cheese, Boo!
"The Realms change; seldom at the speed desired of those who strive, but far too quickly for those who resist." - The Simbul, taken from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Conspectus |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2384 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2016 : 06:28:57
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One problem is that if you select "Setting:
Forgotten Realms", there's all the random junk, including things that have nothing to do with FR and/or furry stuff.
And those that do... here's one: "Occult  Slayer"
"Focusing on countering magic, and the creatures who use it. It is designed for Rasheman area of Faerun. It can be easly used for any setting or region."
It's one of the paid ones. Of course. |
People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11695 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2016 : 13:54:25
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yeah, my big thing so far is I see people submitting "single" entries. Which is good if you have a really good idea that you've tested. However, I'm betting most people (myself included) will be trying to play with the rules and testing the waters for balance and looking for feedback. I don't exactly have the means for playtesting, since I'm now a player again (YES!!!! not the DM, gives me free time to play with stuff like this), and we only meet about once every 3 or 4 weeks.
Along those lines, my idea will be aimed towards spellcasters and include new magic items, new magic rituals, new feats, and I may try my hand at adapting a couple old prestige classes since they've added latch on rules for that as well via unearthed arcana. I may also try creating some new bard colleges, divine domains, arcane traditions, druid circles, sorcerous origins, but that may be something for a later product, etc.... I'd love to adapt a lot of the more iconic old spells to 5e as well (which along those lines, what spells come to your mind as screaming realms original spells). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6353 Posts |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2016 : 15:10:35
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quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
My personal wondering is what do people regard as part of a "quality" piece of work.
How important are things like :
- artwork
- maps
- references
- annotations
Likewise do people only regard things as quality if they slavishly follow canon, in which case references are important and you end up with a repeat or compilation of existing published works. Or do people just want something that meshes well with existing canon in a plug and play sort of way (requiring very little tinkering to be useful).
If something is created new is it more important that the idea be developed fully and be consistent and work well with the work around it or would it be better for it to be a rewording of already published sources.
I'm sure everyone has different things they are looking for regarding the quality of these articles. The one I found was completely plagiarized which is inexcusable. Thankfully it was free, otherwise I would have been a little pissed. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
Try Audible and Get 2 Free Audio Books! https://amzn.to/2IgBede |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6353 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 04 Feb 2016 : 17:42:43
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For me, quality of lore means building on and integrating with existing lore, and not just including a passing reference or two to the Realms. If I may toot my own horn, look at my livegolems article from a couple years back -- I put a lot of effort into giving them a background that was rooted in existing lore, and I also used the formerly-suppressed work ( ) Volo's Guide to All Things Magical to make sure some of the materials used in their creation matched existing lore on magical properties inherent in the materials. Compare that to some of the Perilous Locations articles from several years back -- a series of free web articles from WotC. Some of them were designated as specific to a setting, and in some cases, it was obvious they'd been written with that setting in mind. In other cases, it was equally obvious the setting had been tacked on after the fact. The Twilight Tomb module also felt to me like it was dropped into the Realms after the fact -- I got more of a sci-fi feel from it, myself.
For the presentation, obviously good art and layout are good to have, but the biggest thing for me is making sure there aren't formatting errors and typos. Things that could be caught on a simple Word spellcheck are particularly unforgivable -- like the repeated references to the month of "Ukta" in the 3E Player's Guide to Faerūn or my first TSR typo, in the novel Stormblade - "Tyorl shurgged."
Obviously, typos happen, and a spellcheck is going to have all sorts of issues with most fantasy and sci-fi stuff. But spellcheck can be programmed to recognize certain words, like Uktar, so Ukta should have been caught. And you can't even use that excuse for "shurgged."
I've seen some horrible formatting mistakes, too, even in published Realms material. Places where the page breaks don't match page layout, missing text, and something I saw kinda recently that almost caused physical pain: hyphenating a contraction. I don't recall the exact word in question, but it was "Couldn't" or something like that -- they hyphenated the word, rather than breaking it back to "could not" and thus avoiding that horrible offense against the English language. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 04 Feb 2016 17:45:56 |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6353 Posts |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11695 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2016 : 00:45:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Artemas Entreri
quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
My personal wondering is what do people regard as part of a "quality" piece of work.
How important are things like :
- artwork
- maps
- references
- annotations
Likewise do people only regard things as quality if they slavishly follow canon, in which case references are important and you end up with a repeat or compilation of existing published works. Or do people just want something that meshes well with existing canon in a plug and play sort of way (requiring very little tinkering to be useful).
If something is created new is it more important that the idea be developed fully and be consistent and work well with the work around it or would it be better for it to be a rewording of already published sources.
I'm sure everyone has different things they are looking for regarding the quality of these articles. The one I found was completely plagiarized which is inexcusable. Thankfully it was free, otherwise I would have been a little pissed.
yeah, I downloaded one called the demonologist. It was basically a reference to an unearthed arcana article which held several summoning spells for demons. The only thing new was an alternate arcane tradition which was ok. Guess I'm just expecting more than I should. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1151 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2016 : 01:20:34
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I am really enjoying the "Pay What You Want" option. I download these items for $0 to begin with. If it is not plagiarized material or pure nonsense, I go back and spend $1-2. If it is something truly excptional I put up a lot more.
I honestly haven't found it too hard to filter through the garbage, it's easy to ignore. |
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Edited by - Seethyr on 05 Feb 2016 01:21:27 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11695 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2016 : 23:34:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
I am really enjoying the "Pay What You Want" option. I download these items for $0 to begin with. If it is not plagiarized material or pure nonsense, I go back and spend $1-2. If it is something truly excptional I put up a lot more.
I honestly haven't found it too hard to filter through the garbage, it's easy to ignore.
That's actually a good idea. I was throwing 50 cents or 25 cents at things just to see what they had. Honestly, on what I got so far, I think that was fair pay, since a lot of these would have been a one or two page article in dragon mag, that I would have paid say $4 for in the past, and the mag would have had a dozen or so articles to read. However, the Impiltur History by George, had it been something that he hadn't already freely shared, if I'd seen it for the first time there, I'd have gladly paid $5 to someone who put that much effort in..... even if I had no real plans to use it for anything more than reading material. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Quality of Work
