The Original Senex Campaign's Content

After weeks of consideration, I've changed my mind about the comments field of the Senex campaign, and about the original campaign's visibility to the public.  I intend to go on making a rewrite of the campaign, but ultimately I am going to leave the original, jumbled version for the public eye.

First, however, I intend to set all the post on the Senex Campaign blog to visible, but with the comments field locked.  This will take time and diligence, so the Senex Campaign won't be made visible right away.  I'm only writing here what I intend to do, not what I have done yet.  I ask the reader to please be patient.

Regarding the rewrite, those who are willing to take the time will find that I have made hundreds of small alterations to the original text, adjusting the content in order to make it clearer, more grammatically correct, more fluid in pacing and more orderly.  In places, I have added description or answers to questions that were not in the original, either because the actual clarification was made in a private email or because it was never made at all.  I have adjusted idioms as sparsely as possible, but in places because the players, and I, fumbled the right words in the midst of trying to pump our comments out as quickly as possible within the game.  I recognize some will consider this a sacrilege ~ but in truth, this is a common practice.  A good secretary soon learns that the right way to keep the minutes of a meeting is to write what the participants meant to say, not their exact statements.  If the reader wants to contest me on this, they're welcome; a side by side comparison of the original with the rewrite is bound to turn up plenty of examples ~ but only the most pedantic is likely to believe that I have misconstrued any statement the players have made.  At any rate, I'm prepared to give the reader the option of comparing the original with the rewrite, and decide for themselves which they prefer.

Now, with regards to the content being put behind the $3 paywall.  I confess this has created some backlash, and I can attest that readers have been lost because of my decision.  I am sorry for that.  The simple reality, however, is my time spent.  It took six hours yesterday to sort out the last third of Part 3 posted on the blog, spell and grammar check it, then format it for the blog itself.  My generosity in creating free material for the blog or the wiki has its limitations; and though I am streamlining the campaign's original content as much for my benefit as for anyone's, the reader must admit that there is plenty the reader is getting out of it also.

Despite my work yesterday, I'm still bound to produce a long, long post today, and all for the same $3 rate per person.  The rewrite is nothing more than providing more content for that same $3 ... all I ask is that the reader consider that cost in perspective to the hundreds of other things that the reader might buy in a given week ~ the money you pay for parking, for instance, or for a toll road; the fee paid to use a private bank machine, which we all do without hesitation; the cost of a bus ride; or the last few clicks of gas put into your car's tank, just to make the price come out even; the bit of tax you pay on your lunch meal at work; or, as ever, the price of a single cup of coffee, or half a cup of a triple half-sweet non-fat caramel macchiato.

$3 hardly buys a thing any more.  I'm only asking that you spend $3 to hardly buy a thing from me.

I hope it can be understood that I cannot in good conscience back down from this position; but I am making some concessions and I hope that with some of my lost readers that can help us achieve a meeting of minds.

I mean that in all sincerity.

As an added benefit, Patreon is now allowing me to charge new readers Up Front.  This means, no more waiting until the first of next month in order to see the Master Class blog for the first time, or any other content.  If you pledge $3 today, that payment can be processed at once.  I haven't seen it in action yet ... I hope very much that it will be a great boon to the reader.