Thomas Costa's page

Mike,

It's been a year since my original submission, but only 4 months since I resubmitted my submission and was told it would be put at the top of the pile. As for emailing, I can't seem to get a response from anyone, thus I came here.

Dear guys,

It's been _over a year_ now and I haven't heard back on my article proposals.

I know you know the story, but I sent something in early last year. It 'fell into the black hole' and was lost when you dug yourselves out. When we cleared that up I resent in a new proposal over four months ago and was told it would be at the top of the heap to look at. I've emailed a few times with no response. Am I in a new black hole or being punished by the gods of Greyhawk for abandoning them all those many years ago? And if it's the former, any idea when those ideas might crawl out of that hole?

Thomas M. Costa
THOMASC148@aol.com

FYI, the grandfather plaque has a few errors....

* Initiative should be +4 (the Immobile penalty doesn't mention Initiative so it should be +0 Dex +4 Improved Initiative).
* Skills should be Diplomacy +9 ranks +3 Cha +2 Negotiator +2 Sense Motive synergy = +16, Listen +9 ranks +4 Wis +2 Alertness = +15, Sense Motive +9 ranks +4 Wis +2 Negotiator = +15, Spot +9 ranks +4 Wis +2 Alertness = +15
* Since its intelligent, unlike most constructs, and the original write up and its current write up both suggest a sense of following orders, it should probably be usually lawnful neutral alignment.

Fellas,

I still haven't heard back on handful of proposals from back in April....

Thanks Mike and as well to Jason for responding to my email. I'll look forward to hearing from you all in the coming weeks or so.

Best,

Tom

Thanks for the responses everyone. (And yes, I wrote the bowman charger. Glad you liked it. Thanks.) I suppose I will have to be a bit more patient.

Dear Dragon,

I'm a long-time contributor and subscriber. Not sure the best way to get to you and apologize if this isn't the most effective way.

About 6 months ago, I sent in several article suggestions. I have yet to hear back though I have sent several follow-up emails. About 2 or 3 months ago, I also had a phone conversation with you. You suggested I would hear back shortly. I have also been awaiting word on when two articles you accepted that where to be scheduled for publication.

I have held off from sending in new article submission ideas pending your response.

If you could contact me directly at the email below, I would appreciate it. Thank you for your assistance. Best,

Tom Costa
THOMASC148@aol.com

GVD,

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, there are some errors of fact or at least the facts aren't as established as you assume. (Note I have no knowledge of WoTC sales figures.)

Ed Greenwood has not had an RPG hit since the Realms back in the 80s. Yes or no?

No. This presupposes it's not an ongoing hit. Neither of us has sales details proving that one way or the other, but since WoTC continues to publish it (and they appear to run a tighter financial ship than TSR did), one might reasonably infer that it's still profitable. Moreover, Ed is one of the few D&D authors to warrant hardcover books and even got his own "Best of" anthology of short stories -- not something to give to a has-been (plus he continues to publish game product in addition to the novels). Given that WoTC is the largest d20 publisher, one might suppose it's in the top three most popular supported settings in the whole industry. Also, not sure how you're defining a hit here, and ... and when does something stop being a hit. That said, you are welcome to not like Ed's writing style or what have you, and there are certainly those who don't, but it appears on the face of it that he's still quite the draw in D&D circles.

The Realms is not in the RPGA as such since the demise of Ravensbluff. Yes or no?

After running the longest RPGA campaign ever across at least 2 (I think 3) editions of the game, Ravens Bluff was retired, but Legacy of the Green Regent is the new Realms campaign.

Eberron is the new "omni-setting." Yes or no?

I'd say "no". So far there's been equal numbers of Realms books as Eberron gaming books released at an annual rate. If you include novels, there's far more support for the Realms. (And I would argue that many people use the novels as gaming support.) Of course in earlier editions, the Realms had to compete with Dragonlance, Planescape, Ravenloft, Spelljammer, and of course Greyhawk, among others. Wizards now is only really supporting 2 settings -- the Realms and Eberron (which has a lot of merit as well).

Greyhawk is the default or "core" world. Yes or no?

Yes, but one could argue it gets the least support. I suppose if you count generic D&D products like Frostburn as "Greyhawk" that it gets the most support, but given that products like Frostburn pay no attention to previous Greyhawk continuity (e.g. all the new gods instead of picking the Greyhawk gods that could have been flushed out), I'd say that the core books are not particularly supporting of Greyhawk.

Anyway. My apologies the thread's author. A constructive criticism of the format of the cities articles is certainly worth having.