I've been using Amazon Affiliate Links to supplement The Tavern's modest income for a number of years. As such, Amazon recently invited me to apply for their "Influencer" Program. Although I have a decent Facebook following, it pales in comparison to the number of viewers the YouTubers and such bring in. Still. the promised a "manual review" and it appears that' what I got. And then I got approved.

Yep. I guess I have "influence." ;)

In any case, the official Amazon storefront to support all of the things the Tavern does - as well as wants to do in the future - can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/shop/eriktenkar

Use it like you would your regular Amazon link, but this way a portion of the monies you spend will go to support The Tavern. It costs you nothing. It is literally the easiest way to show your support.

I thank everyone in advance.

The release of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia in Print is a big deal. I covered it yesterday. ENWorld posted about it over night.

A few years back, when WotC started releasing (or re-releasing) the classic TSR titles in PDF on RPGNow, I was excited and started posting their releases here at The Tavern nearly in realtime. As I do with reviews, I included the publisher's boilerplate. I also was including Shannon Appelcline's historical pieces that were attached after the boilerplate. I truly don't recall if I gave Shannon credit or not - but as his credit line is the last paragraph of each of the entries, I probably did. I'm an asshole if I didn't.

I was, however, accused of "stealing content" from OneBookShelf in a thread at ENWorld at the time and they were right. The boilerplate is legit, its the product description, but the historical summary? That's wasn't mine to copy the whole cloth of. Quote a few sentences perhaps, but refer back to the source for the rest.

I guess such social graces don't apply to ENWorld. Funniest part? They use the whole historical piece EXCEPT for the author's credit:

Here's the bottom part of the same article on RPGNow:

Oh, and I guess they no longer worry about mentioning articles with affiliate links have such links:



Notice the line just over the posts here at The Tavern?


Its not hard to do. And I mention it again on posts that have affiliate links.

I am far from perfect. I do, however, admit my mistakes and try to not repeat them. I find it amusing to see others commit the exact same mistakes they rightfully called me out on prior.

Before I get into Sean (now doesn't that sound awkward?) I'd like to highlight that ENWorld is indeed continuing to prominently highlight when a post is sponsored. Which is a good thing. Heck, this week's Sponsored Post was posted by none other than Sean Patrick Fannon (SPF) himself. Take a looksie:


So, its obvious that Sean understands the conversation that has been going on about disclosure, advertising and affiliate links. I mean, he is the one that inadvertently got the discussion started for us with this piece of wisdom:


Why is it then, that Sean, obviously under pressure, included such a disclosure on his weekly posting right before ENWorld went down and lost 4 1/2 month of posts (including the one in question) and since resurfacing hasn't disclosed?


Simple. He was trying to get rid of the negative attention he himself had generated. He put himself in a corner and had to find a way out. By posting the above, he figured he had. When ENWorld lost 4 1/2 months of posts, he saw his chance to wish it all away. Because without the above screenshot, it never would have happened.

If it seems that I am insinuating that Sean doesn't appreciate his readers, he most certainly does - as a revenue stream. You see, when ENWorld was offline for those days, Sean's affiliate referral monies nearly disappeared. Now I'm sure in Sean's mind that drop in revenue was due to the disclosure of his affiliate links. Folks simply didn't want to feed his family. Or at least, that's the excuse he's telling himself. ENWorld being offline had nothing to do with it.

My personal experience is that disclosure, disclosure as full as humanly possible, results in a noticeable increase in revenue for The Tavern. Maybe my readers are simply better than Sean's (well, I know they are ;) but I truly believe that folks prefer honesty and openness.

The Tavern existed before there was significant monetary support from the community. It would still exist even if that support were to cease. Your support allows me to devote time to gaming projects, post excessively, be a burr against the skin of those that have taken advantage of the gaming community and, most importantly, justifies devoting my time in retirement to the community and not some time filler of a part time job (yes, you effectively keep Rach happy.) Heck, starting next year you may see us at more than one Convention. Not because I'll be a Guest (thanks Sean for bragging about that today) but because I want to get out and meet more of The Tavern's Community - and game! Your support will make that happen.

Thank you all for your support. Without you, there is no community. Without the community, there would be no reason for The Tavern to exist.

edit: Sean discloses his affiliate link usage at his own site, which makes his failure to do so at ENWord ever more perplexing

I think we can safely say that the latest mini-tempest in this hobby of ours has been brought to it's positive conclusion.

Over the past weekend, there was pushback over on ENWorld (to the point where a long time poster was blocked) over Sean Fannon's outright refusal to declare his use of affiliate links in his Sean's Pick's posts.


Well, I guess Sean saw things differently after giving it further thought. I applaud him for his decision to disclose his affiliate links in a manner total appropriate.

From this morning's Sean's Picks post:

I tip my hat to Sean in respect.

Changes like this and the prominent labeling of Sponsored Content at ENWorld wouldn't have happened if the community weren't vocal, and you were. Well done.

You can read the full set of FTC Guidelines here.

Let me start by saying if you are NOT a US resident or citizen, the guidelines don't apply to you. If you ARE a US resident or citizen, even if you are posting on a foreign website, they do apply to you.

Now, I am NOT a Lawyer (IANAL) You do not need to be a lawyer to make sense of the FTC Guidelines regarding affiliate links and product endorsements online. It's written in plain English with numerous examples.

Basically, what it comes down to is this - if there is a benefit for YOU, you must disclose such. If the affiliate links are in a post, a forum comment or an online article benefit you (such as the 5% you get back from OBS) you need to indicate such. Not the exact amount of the benefit, but that there IS a benefit for you. This applies to review copies too - if you are reviewing a product and you were comped, you must explicitly say so.

At The Tavern, every page has the same surrounding text, links, ads, lists. I prominently disclose exactly how much of a commission I get at OBS and OGS. These are at the top of the page, just under the header. This SHOULD cover me for disclosure of any affiliate links in my posts that announce products or are reviews, but IANAL. I could be wrong. It may be that I need more explicit disclosure. I am, however, acting in good faith upon my interpretation of the guidelines in question.

Now, if you do a review of a freely distributed product, or one you purchased for yourself, no disclosures are needed (but you would still need a disclosure for the affiliate links, if any.)

What about connections to products, publishers, authors and the like? I have started to fully (some have said TOO fully) disclose such relationships. I may add some humor to said disclosures, but that's simply how I am.

At this point, I know so many people and publishers that nearly every post mentioning a product will probably require a disclosure from me.

Do I think the FTC is going to come down on bloggers and the like in the OSR for lack of disclosure? Probably not. We are small fish in a small pool. Too much work for too little in return. Disclosure, however, keeps the hobby honest and that is a good thing.

Nothing in this post should be considered legal advice. The examples herein are how I am approaching these guidelines. Notice these are guidelines and not hard rules. As such, there may be gray areas.