Sebastian wrote:
1. following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.
5. following as a business an occupation ordinarily engaged in as a pastime: a professional golfer.
13. a person who is expert at his or her work: You can tell by her comments that this editor is a real professional.
Rich could easily be described by any of the bolded definition.
In the context of his work/occupation being 'selling books of comics and merchandise' yes. Definitely.
However he is NOT selling the webcomic. The fact that he posts his work-in-progress freely to the web is completely separate from his business of selling his work.
I've read all the arguments about the 'link' and the fact that the webcomic serves to advertise his wares, and that's fine. But that link is subjective and incidental. When you buy the books, nowhere is it written that you are entitled to view future work on the web.
I've read arguments about Rich's promises and how he promised to update three times a week if we bought his book. The thing is, when you ordered that book, nowhere on the contract of sale did it say 'purchaser is entitled to preview future work in progress 3 times per week forthwith'. Did it influence your sale? Maybe, but that hardly makes you entitled to it.
Christopher West wrote:
Most of the fuss being raised about Rich's "professionalism" is based on an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.
Chris summed up what I've been feeling reading all of these posts today. Having an overdeveloped sense of entitlement seems to be a common malady these days. The truth is though, that it does not matter what you FEEL you are entitled to. The only thing that matters is to what you actually ARE, and in this case, it's exactly what you've paid for, be it book, t-shirt, other tangible merchandising object, no more, no less.
Getting back to the heart of the problem, people are upset that something they enjoy isn't available when they expect it. Some take it in stride, but some get angry or feel that something has been taken away from them, despite the fact that it wasn't really theirs to begin with.
I read many references to Rich's promises. As far as I can see those promises were made in good faith. Do you think he doesn't feel bad every time he misses a deadline, self-imposed or otherwise? I am sure that Rich had every intention of fulfilling them and I am equally sure that he was very upset when he was unable to.
Why? because I've been there. I have a long-term condition which can debilitate me to the point where I can do nothing more than pretty much lie still and wait for it to pass. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to not be able to do anything regardless of your willingness to do them? If feels really bad to let people down, to let yourself down, but when it's beyond your control you eventually just have to accept it, and get through it.
Having a horde of angry, annoyed, frustrated, or irritated (for Sebastian ;) ) fans contact you demanding to know where the stuff you promised to provide is just adds insult to injury (quite literally).
I can't argue about your right to vent about this in public forums, to try and find other people who feel the same way, or convince other's that they should feel as you do, as that's pretty much up to the folks who own and moderate these forums.
My view is that if the erratic schedule of the OOTS webcomic bothers you, then it's pretty much your problem and yours alone to deal with. If that makes you stop reading, stop buying, or dislike the author, oh well.
If Rich's illness significantly impacts his ability to post the strips, if people take offence and stop visiting, stop buying his books and merchandise, that's his problem, and it really isn't our business.
But you know, somehow I expect there will be no shortage of people willing to buy his products, for as long as they are made available.
