How do you view products that recommend other products inside them. Not full page ads but items like "a good system for generating unique demons can be found in Scribe of Orcus #2". Does it make it seem like you've been sold a broken or incomplete product? Does it matter if the products are produced by someone other than the producer of the book you're reading?
The reason I ask is I'm taking a first pass at some sections of A Demon Haunted world and I'm inclined to recommend items I use in developing the playtest scenarios (and if I get players the campaign).
As long as the product stands on its own merits and the reference isn't just trying to sell the next item in the product pipeline, I'm game.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind it, with the caveat that I tend to assume the pitched product will be about the same quality as the one I'm reading. Which is a good referral in some cases, but may be unfairly bad in some.
ReplyDeleteI don't like "see this other random book because you need it" - especially if the content is OGL, it should be reprinted unless the dependency was clearly noted on the cover or it's obvious (it's from the MM...)
If it's an honest recommendation, then it's fine. It's less likely to raise eyebrows if it is for another company's product that you have no financial interest in recommending. It might be best to make a section at the end of the book similar to suggested reading lists in academic books that list a work and then give a one or two sentence remark on why the reader might want to check it out.
ReplyDeleteNo problems with it.
ReplyDeleteFor example: If you build all the guns for your near-future game using Greg Porter's Guns Guns Guns, you had might as well tell the reader that so they know that they can pick up said volume and use it to build more guns instead of reverse-engineering your firearms system.