Re: Paying to Play with the big boys

From: Kevin P. McDonald <paul_mcdonald_at_ncsu.edu>
Date: Thu, 04 Jul 2002 09:38:11 -0400

Not that I want to help beat a dead horse, but there is one more point that I think needs to be made here. IMHO any talk of "getting your money's worth" from a GTA donation is wrong-headed. The GTA has *never* been "worth it" from a purely commercial point of view. It is a severely unbalanced exchange. I see GTA membership as patronage of the arts - a form of enlightened self-interest. Anyone who joins purely for access to unpublished info will be sorely disappointed.

Therefore, I understand Greg's point that the info is provided as another way of saying "thank you" for your financial support. I also understand that the GTA info is speculative in nature (as if the same can't be said about all Gloranthan material), and should not be considered cannon. On the flip side, I do find it frustrating that I can't mention a piece of information that supports my position in an argument. Not that this happens to me very often, lurker that I am. I would much rather Greg find some other way of saying "thanks" - but not if as a result he stops providing the info altogether.

What's my point? Just that regardless of which side of the issue you support, you should try not to depict the GTA as an elitist cabal people with access to amazing secrets of gloranthan lore. The GTA is a charity, thinly disguised as a club, with information access provided as a way of saying "thanks" - rather like the return address labels that the Nature Conservancy sends me every year.

~Kevin

--__--__--