There's a point where getting out errata to fix products becomes not a point of wanting to do it, but rather a point of needing to do it to get books to the point where people realize that they are actually going to do quality products. I think Catalyst is about one bad book away from a having a substantial portion of the fanbase (and I'm not even just referring to the vocal online fanbase) stop buying books because they realize they're going to be crap.
Truth be told from some of the griping I've seen around here and Dumpshock I'd say they hit that point with War! amongst a statistically significant portion of the vocal internet fanbase. Even a start on putting out some old errata might help their case here, given that there are at least 2 books worth that sound like they only need layout at a max before being put out. I'm not even going to cut them slack at this point for the fact that they've had to change layout people because their old one left during the Bills crisis, since from the sounds of it this has been ready more than long enough that it could have been solved before then.
Given that they fought to keep the license for Shadowrun, it's about time they started making us think they actually want it rather than treating it like an ork born in a humanis neighbourhood.
And it's my opinion that they haven't reached that yet based on the outcry on these forums. Except for some (about a dozen) very vocal people, I don't see the majority of fans here ready to stop buying books.
If the product doesn't meet with your expectations, that's fine. Vote with your pocketbook (god knows I've been doing just that with WotC products for the last 3½ years). But here's the thing. You've made your point that you don't like it and want better quality. So have others. That doesn't mean you need to come in and reiterate that sentiment every few weeks/days/hours.
Now to go off on a tangent:
As the old adage goes, "You get more flies with honey than vinegar". Posting on the boards with polite comments regarding the errors in the books, detailing what you've found in the
Errata subforum and telling the writers what you liked and didn't like (again, politely) will get more of a reaction than complaining that they haven't made any good decisions since X.
I'll tell you what I'm basing this off of. I'm a long-standing resident over at
Candlekeep forums as well, and they have a LOT of authors and FR Game Designers come by to answer questions and such. They got to where they are by being very conscientious towards their industry guests and making sure all the scribes do the same. I'd love to see that type of atmosphere here, where we could show that we're mature enough that we might convince other "bigwigs" to stop by and answer questions from their fans without fear that they'll get a bunch of comments that are more appropriate over on Youtube.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying that you can't complain. Bitch, whine and moan! But you can do so and STILL be polite to those that are writing what we're reading. The general rule of thumb I use for posting ANYTHING on the internet is "Would my mom/dad/whomever be okay with what I wrote if taken out of context?"
