#and the price I'm paying for my passion is unemployment

[mnmovdoom]

Thanks for the tag, @musewrangler!!

A book I want to reread:

Oh god, there’s plenty of them, buuuut... Ivanhoe!

Any books you reread every two to five years:

I used to do this with The Silmarillion/The Hobbit/LOTR when I was 14-17, but I don’t have the energy for this anymore :’)

Any books you reread once a year:

Not anymore.

The book you reread within the shortest turnaround time:

The Teutonic Knights - A Military History, Livonian Rhymed Chronicle, Chronicle of the Land of Prussia :’)

The book you've reread the most times:

The Rule of the Templars and The Rule and Statutes of the Teutonic Knights (but I’ve had the one about the Templars since I was 13 so I guess the Templars win)

Tagging nobody, feel free to steal this!

[itsclydebitches]

Holy shit go to the RTX website and go to where they list their badge tiers for the con. Fucking 650 for 2 lottery chances for a autograph. 1500 for 2 guaranteed autographs. Also cost 20 to watch live streams from home, but those streams will have cut out any exclusive announcements or teasers. What a shit company.

Everyone's talking about this today and for good reason. I mean, this would be an eyebrow-raiser at any time, but specifically now, in 2022? I know a lot of people have reached a point where they're acting like the pandemic is over (it's not), but even if that were the case, we're smack-dab in the middle of all the long-term repercussions. Unemployment rates have just barely made it back to what they were pre-2020. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Generally speaking, the cost of living is insane right now. If you want to hop a plane to RTX be prepared for a hefty bill and the risk of another summer Covid surge (to say nothing of, you know, being there). If someone told me I had to shell out 650 for a pass and two autographs — on top of all the other expenses of going — I would have laughed and said sorry, I can't swing that. But that price for just the chance of autographs? That's where it gets insulting. These prices are steep for a lot of fans, especially right now. The very least RT can do is guarantee a reward that makes shelling out hundreds of dollars worth it.

And what's the point of paying for a stream if they're going to cut out what 99% of the fanbase is there for? I mean sure, people enjoy the rest of the panel, but that's the kind of stuff that if you're not already there in person — or getting it for free — you're probably fine with looking up later as a transcription of what was said, a shitty phone recording, etc. It's been over a year since the end of Volume 8. People want information on Volume 9. So eliminating that precise information rather defeats the purpose of tuning in. Or, more specifically, defeats the purpose of giving 20 bucks for the privilege of tuning in. To be honest I don't think 20 is a bad price at all for virtually attending the event, but that opinion rests entirely on the buyer getting to watch the important bits.

I get that they need to make money — they're a company, after all — but there will always be fans with the desire and the means to pay for certain perks. You can turn a profit without pissing off the majority of the fanbase. In my experience, stunts like this just encourage people to pirate and/or ignore the event until information is free. It'll probably be the latter given that excluding announcements and teasers is likely a way to keep people from screen recording and sharing the content... but fans always find a way lol. And if they can't, the result certainly won't be to pay for an event that doesn't include what they wanted in the first place...

Also, not to be That Person™, but are RT peeps worth 650 for an autograph, let alone just the chance at an autograph? I mean yes, that price is for the event as a whole too, but let's be real, the rest of the additional stuff (lanyard, 10% discount on the store — which is easily eaten up by this price — early access to exhibition hall) aren't really what most fans will be interested in paying that kind of money for. It's the autograph. And I'm by no means an autograph expert, but most of those I've come across are 50-100, reaching up into the 400-500 range for A-list celebrities... which I wouldn't call the RT crew. It just seems WAY too expensive to me, all on its own, but right now when so many in the U.S. are struggling, travel simply isn't an option for most, there's risk involved, etc.? That's insane. Obviously it's been like this for a very long time, but we've absolutely left the "RWBY is a passion project made by nerds just like you who want to share their creativity ^_^" like no RT isn't just looking for fair compensation for a popular product, they're out to squeeze as much money as possible out of your wallet during the worst possible time. I hope the higher tiers/the virtual stream bombs, showing them that no, this is not a good way to get your fanbase excited to pay for your content.