What's in a name? Would an Orifice by any other name smell as sweet? - The Black Orifice

You might by now have seen Nigel's recent blog post (http://www.webjam.com/the_black_orifice/nigels_blog/$nigels_blog/2010/05/19/pinnacle_entertainment_group_can_go_fuck_themselves). I'd just like to add some of my own thoughts on this most recent turn of events.

Whilst what I have to say is perhaps - no not perhaps, definately - more measured that Nigel's coments, I do agree with much of what he said. So much so that I am seriously considering scrapping my plans for publishing Sion and just putting it up as a freebie giveaway. May be if anyone actually reads this, you might want to make some posts and let me know which side you think I should come down on.

Here's the situation as I see it. Firstly "The Black Orifice" is cheeky, and it is a double entendre - perhaps even cheekier if you consider that we put a logo that says "a Black Orifice Production" on our books. But it is a DOUBLE entendre - Orifice is a synonym for hole, so you could see it as "Black Hole", which seems perfectly valid for a RPG producer. Its not even like its a particularly original pun - it's only one letter different from the well respected back office shareware software "Back Orifice"! Okay, perhaps we're playing a little game, being riske in order to help draw oursleves a little attention, to help os stand out in an otehrwise uniform marketplace. Hell we're not the first to use that strategy when naming our "company" - I mean where do you stop? Is "Reality Blurrs" suggestive of taking hallucinatory drugs? is "Kram" suggestive of multiple penetrative sexual intercourse? Is "Nevermet" suggestive of swinging? Is "Third Eye" suggetsive of a penis? It just depends how much you're willing to read into things. What really galls is I've already posted (in good faith) my announcement on the PEG boards, that I've posted numerous times on those boards using the Black Orifice name and no one has (to my knowledge) complained.

My first impression is that it's pretty pathetic to even bother about something like this in a grown up world - hell, I teach 11-16 year olds and I'd accept with a wry smile if such a pun was used in a student's work. To be frank it shocks me that Pinnacle would be so bothered about such a harmless little pun to prevent a product that they have previously praised from going to print. Okay, I can understand that they want to protect their image and good name, but I don't see how this really would damage them. Rather I would have thought if anything there's a net gain for them - perhaps I'm being cocky in assuming that my little product is going to be well received, but I am certain Pinnacle have benefitted from having licensed products for Savage Worlds keeping a steady trickle of SW products on the latest release shelves in your FLGS. They've approved the product - not just that even, praised the product - so surely the very small possibility of damage to PEG from a licensee being called "the Black Orifice" is more than mitigated by them having a high quality new licensee supporting their system. I think this kind of oversensitivity is a relic of the "D&D is the work of Satan" period of the 80s. I think roleplayers are mature enough to deal with this fairly mild double entendre.

But then on the other hand I have to think whether or not I'm being just as pathetic if I don't just change the name. I've put a lot of time and effort into Sion and I would dearly like it to be available as a physical book, dearly like it to be on the shelves of gaming stores so that others might see my work and play their games in my world. Is a simple change of name not a small price to pay? Or would I be selling out?

If there's anyone out there comments to help me resolve my dilema would be appreciated.

CHeerio for now,

Ben

Comments

written on 20-May-2010
Bryan Hitchcok says:
Really, I think you guys are taking this too hard. Black Hole Productions is way cooler than Black Orifice. If you really want to make a pun that what you produce is crap, that's fine, but don't get upset when someone you want to do business with thinks that's not cool. Your game sounds fun. You guys sound like cool oldtime gamers, like me, but the name of your company blows.

As a writer myself, I often have to make choices based on feedback from editors that I don't agree with. What do I fight for and what am I willing to change to get published. Usually I can find a balance, and luckily two of my stories have seen print. A publisher asking for such changes is not practicing censorship. Governments do that. Pinncacle is practicing good business sense, that frankly is in your best interest, if you can get over your outrage. I have phrases or ideas in stories that I loved, yet when I made the edits requested, I realized the story was better for it.

Honestly, Black Orifice is not a serious name that makes me want to take a chance on a new product. If you are going to post it for free, I suppose I should just shut up, but I bet you'd rather see it in print, with great artwork and the full support of a great gaming company. Make the edits. See it through.

All the best.
written on 21-May-2010
Helmut says:
Didn't any chance of a business relationship end the moment the PEGG company was told they could go f**k themselves? I'm confused as to why this is still an issue for you. Here's a comment -- in a "grown up world," business-related grievances are discussed among the people involved, not aired out in public blog posts.
written on 25-May-2010
Rob Lang [http://www.thefreerpgblog.com] says:
Ooops!
The problem now is that if you ever want to be a professional writer, this will stick to you like the proverbial to a blanket. A company name doesn't matter at all, it's the people who work there that make it. The company I work for now has changed its name 5 times in 20 years - to move with the times and to rebrand. At no time did they 'sell out'. If a company offers us 20 million quid and says we can write their software but we have to be called Kneecaps and Elbows then I can guarantee there would be a taxi booked to Companies House.

You need to rebrand - here's what you do:

1. Close down this site right now. Put up an index.html which has a 'sorry we're not here anymore'. Don't link anywhere else.
2. Set up a new company under a new name that may still be clever but won't offend anyone's sensibilities.
3. Set up a new site of Ben-and-Nigel with the new company name. Pay for a .com
4. Send an apology to PEG via email or - better still - get on the phone.
5. Swallow pride and get published.
6. Never do this again.

As Helmut says, keep business relationships in the email, not out on the net.

Good luck!
written on 25-May-2010
Rob Lang [http://www.thefreerpgblog.com] says:
Oh and please do email me if you have any other questions or concerns! I'll be happy to chat them out with you and Nigel. brainwiped at gmail dot com.

Rob
written on 04-Jun-2010
Andy says:
A few random observations--I have no stake in this except that I've enjoyed your work in the past and hope to see more of it in the future.

1) The RPG industry is a relatively small one, and so burning bridges by publicly slamming another company is not going to do you any favors in the long run, even if you feel that it's justified.

2) Ben's blog post called Pinnacle's ultimatum "censorship"--but it's not really censorship. Just as you have the right to name your company whatever you want, they have the right to not do business with you if they don't want to, even if the reason seems silly to you.

3) Pinnacle is a respected company that has been around for quite a while in a difficult, niche industry. If they think your company name is a potential liability, then I would at the very least think about that very carefully. Do you have evidence that suggests they are wrong, and that potential customers won't be turned off of your product by the name?

Simply complaining that people *shouldn't* be offended by something isn't very productive. There are probably things that offend or annoy you that somebody else wouldn't bat an eyelash at. You may disagree with Pinnacle, but sneering at them in public is poor form.

4) Just my $.02, but if you've put a lot of work into Sion, I think you should consider working with them (if they are still willing... Ben's post is pretty darn harsh) to find a compromise. Unless you have a lot invested in your current brand name, it doesn't seem like a hill worth dying on. If you absolutely must keep your company name, what about creating a separate imprint under which to release the book through Pinnacle?

At any rate, those are just some thoughts from a random internet fan. I hope you find them helpful.
written on 05-Jun-2010
malladin_ben says:
Thanks everyone for your comments - it surprises me that there are so many who pay attention to anything we say.

As far as things go, as people may have noticed on the PEG boards a week or so ago, I have now decided not to change the name and publish Sion as a Savage Setting.

I will set out my full reasoning (as unreasonable as many of you may thing it) in a separate blog post shortly, but before I do I would lilke to respond to a few of the comments made here:

Firstly we have no desire to be "professional" nor see ourselves as operating in a "grown up [business] world", nor do I want particularly to be "taken seriously". We are unashamedly amateur, operating as fans in a very niche hobby market place. Our goal has never been to make money or grow as a business. We simply want to produce the games we enjoy ourselves and make them available to as many people as possible, You may think, "why not simple give everything away for free", the trouble is free=download only, and download means limited exposure. I tried a POD printing, for sale at cost, with Midgard, but it just doesn't get the exposure (and Dave at Fanboy3 thinks its priced so low that "people will look at the price and think what's wrong with it"). The plan with SIon was to try and get something out there that would be able to hold its own in distribution, any personal profit it might generate would be minimal.

Whilst I don't agree with PEG's position I do respect it. The trouble is if anything it depresses me more about the state of the hobby - if they are right and the name "The Black Orifice" is likely to damage the success of PEG, or even just ourselves, then I have to question whether its a hobby I want to be involved in at this level. For now I will merely think them misguided lest I sink into a deep depression about the state of the hobby and the sort of people who are playing these games.

Cheerio for now,

Ben

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