From: [p--rt--l] at [io.com] (paolo bertiglia) Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf,rec.games.frp.misc Subject: Re: An Open Letter from Stephan Wieck, President:White Wolf, Inc. Date: 4 Aug 1994 10:45:50 GMT [r--ab--h] at [netcom.com] wrote: : Okay, here is my official response to Steve Jackson's message : concerning the relationship between SJGames and White Wolf. : While Steve Jackson's message seemed to be directed at both : myself and at the gaming public, I would like to direct my response : only to those of you in the gaming public who care enough about : the situation to be reading the internet traffic that has resulted from : Steve Jackson's message. I apologize that the souring of the : relationship between SJGames and White Wolf has been made : public; I'm sure that you all have more positive things to read about : or do. Publicly airing the business problems between companies or : the relationship problems between individuals only serves to detract : from our hobby. : Nevertheless, I feel compelled for basic PR reasons to put forth : something in way of an answer to Steve Jackson's message: : First of all, I would like to offer some defense of my personal : character, since Steve Jackson chose to attack it in his message. By : way of defense, I would simply ask that people look around the : industry and talk to people who have dealt with me personally. Talk : to distributors, retailers, gamers, or other companies like FASA or : WOTC and ask them what they think of my character and my sense : of fairness and honesty. More importantly, you could also talk to : the people at White Wolf who work for me. Ask them : confidentially what they honestly think of me. : I will let that be my character defense. : I cannot help but add the request that you do the same inquiries : about Steve Jackson. Talk to people whose works he has previously : licensed for GURPs and see how many of them are happy. Are the : French creators of In Nomine happy with Steve Jackson? Is Ral : Partha happy with their business dealings with Steve Jackson? Talk : to distributors and other people in the industry, talk to his : employees confidentially. : Form your own opinions of Steve Jackson and myself. Please don't : rely on what Mr. Jackson says about me to form your opinions of : my character or the character the other thirty-five people who work : at White Wolf, such as Phil Brucato, our Mage Developer who has : behaved admirably throughout this situation. : I would like to add on the question of character, that I do not have a : problem with many of the people who work at Steve Jackson : games. Particularly, Jeff Koke and Derek Pearcy have always : conducted themselves professionally and honestly when I have had : occasion to speak with them or deal with them directly. : Second, I would like to comment briefly on the some of the specific : points in Steve Jackson's message. : I did not, nor would I ever condemn the character of a former White : Wolf employee. I did suggest that Steve Jackson take with a grain : of salt anything he may hear from a former employee who may : have left with bad feelings towards myself or White Wolf. : However, the few people who have left or been asked to leave : White Wolf, I still hold in high regard, no matter what the reason : they are no longer with White Wolf. I have even put in positive : words on their behalf when they interviewed with other gaming : companies (I would say something more here, but I won't. Ask me : in e-mail). : Steve Jackson did specifically call me a liar, and yes I did take great : offense to that and found it to be extremely unprofessional and : counterproductive to a good business relationship. On top of all the : other difficulties that we had over our companies' relationship, I : considered name-calling to be the final signal that ended any chance : of the relationship being repaired. : I did not respond to Steve Jackson's fax because I had previously : told him that I was not interested in devoting more time to : clarifying our concerns over the Mage manuscript. I felt that several : hours of Phil Brucato's time reading the manuscript, Phil's response : letter to SJGames, and Phil's and my subsequent hours of telephone : discussions with Steve Jackson were more than sufficient to clarify : our concerns over SJGames republishing our manuscript. I do feel I : have more important and more positive things to pursue with my : time than yet again repeating our position to Steve Jackson for the : twentieth time. : Finally, I do not want to get into a battle of "who said what" or : "who did what" over the internet, therefore I will not air White : Wolf's side of the story on all of these issues, and even if Steve : Jackson chooses to respond to my message here, I will not be airing : anymore messages on this subject over the internet for now. Also : for legal and professional reasons, I have asked the staff at White : Wolf to confine their statements on this subject to a bare minimum. : Certainly, we will be doing everything possible and reasonable to : end our business relationship with Steve Jackson Games. I have no : desire to do business with someone who launches public attacks : against me or the company that I am proud to be part of. : Undoubtedly, Steve Jackson will try to build a public relations front : to the effect that "Big bad White Wolf is trying to squash poor us". I : just ask you all to think long and hard before you allow Steve : Jackson to position himself as a martyr in your minds. : I apologize to all of the people who play GURPs and have enjoyed : the past World of Darkness translation products. I will shamelessly : recommend to you that you try our own books if you are so : inclined. We are very proud of what we publish; otherwise we : wouldn't be doing it. : Thanks, : Stephan Wieck : President : White Wolf : -- : Sam Chupp ([r--ab--h] at [netcom.com], [t--ea--r] at [aol.com]) : White Wolf Game Studio 404-292-1819 : Internet Representative / Assistant Creative Director / Playtest Coordinator : Try The Storyteller's Circle, White Wolf's MUSH: draco.unm.edu 6666