Yes, he is still doing that. That is far more extensive since the last time I saw it. Remember, there have been at least 200, probably more than 250 staff members since 1978. Those names you listed, for example, are all "Committee" members, they were the original SFB staff. They were among the very few that were there when I saw it about 3 years ago. Alan Gopin and I will eventually make it on there, hahahahaha!!!
Oh boy, this will take quite a tightrope walk to not offend SVC and so many SFB players and staff who know my situation in attempting to explain... this. And that I truly understand the issue, especially you SFB real-life military vets out there. This is necessarily a long response I was trying to avoid cluttering this thread with
When I was that age I had very long hair. I looked a lot like Marcus Cole from B5 (Notice the name... Hmmm...) had just stepped off the stage of Led Zeppelin concert after having filled in for John Paul Jones. So did Alan Gopin. And a few others. But Alan "The One True King of the Kzinti Hegemony" Gopin and I were the "big" ones, so to speak in terms of work volume and reputation. I am sure that Alan is also not surprised to still not be on it yet, haha. SVC is a very fair person, and everyone will eventually be on there since it is obvious he has done a lot of work on it and is actually still working on it. But SVC is... a lot like my WWII drill sergeant grandfather. If my grandfather were not my grandfather he would have looked at me with contempt and almost hatred at first sight just for being the person that I am. SVC, and many other of their kind as there were so many of them in that world, don't like to associate with people like Alan and I based on appearance alone.
A better way to explain this is to explain the conversation of how this was explained too me. Any of you in the military can probably describe what I am about to say in far more specific terms. This was explained too me by a major who wound up going very far in the US Army and is still an active soldier today. We had always gotten along right from the beginning, and it had always been very noticeable too me how differently he treated "our kind" than all the other officers. So I eventually asked him why that US Space Command guy, and the other higher ranking ones always politely made it clear to me that they didn't want me hanging around them at the conventions, it was only OK if we were playing in the same game together... and why he wasn't like that. He explained too me that according to their ethics, it is inappropriate for them to be associated with someone who chooses to have the appearance that I had. That they must take their careers very seriously to reach that level within the military, and must avoid even the appearance of impropriety. He said there was no issue if we are brought together by a social event, which he interpreted as meaning there was no problem with him just hanging with me at the judges table on his own initiative just to talk for a while. But at the same time, he understood the position of most of the other officers and that I should understand that it isn't personal, and it is about their own careers.
So... SVC is fair. That page is far from finished. Someday Alan and I, and the others, haha, will make it up there. I would imagine we will be the last, haha. Most SFB Staff members were engineers, lawyers, doctors, scientists, military officers, etc. Occasionally... One of those "intelligent rock star looking types" would wind up being ask to join the staff. And then we'd show up at ORIGINS and meet everyone... and then the other guys "rock stars" would come over and explain the situation to the new guy. They were polite, but were not their kind of people. They are fair... but we are always going to be the last ones they think of. It was a different world, this wasn't "offensive" back then. Not like it would be today.
This really is a hard thing to explain without offending them. If any of them see this, I would think they would know that I understand this by now, and am not offended by it at all. I like all of you guys, and completely understand that we were very different people brought together by a hobby.
...I think I actually did it! I don't think anyone will be offended! :-)
EDIT: I've realized that I should add this to clear up any confusion. Like I said, I am probably most well known within the SFU because I worked at John Olsen's TFG and only three other staff members ever worked at TFG. But many also know my name as founder one of the premier "den of aces" tournaments (Denver), and for a scenario called "The Orb" that is one of the more famous scenarios of the SFU partly because it is so many things. The Orb was submitted in 1989 and published very shortly after in the very old Captain's Log #18. Very recently, 25 years later, in CL48 there was even a big section where they wrote a multi-page fiction story for The Orb and made me a Romulan character in the story, did some kind of analysis of it (I still haven't seen it yet). Many consider The Orb to be the most Star Trek-like scenario in the game, because of its victory conditions. It is also the only AI monster in the game, that actually fights you, and is one of the best tools in the game for new players to learn with... it forces the use of THE fundamental tactic of the game. My generation isn't as... "self-promotional"... as younger ones so I avoided saying this, but you will understand it and it explains a lot of what you are asking.
A staff member is only in the credits of products they actually work on, you don't just get put in the credits because you were on the staff at the time. Another reason that I really am one of the better known of us is because where you will find my name in the credits is in Basic Set, Advanced Missions, Module C1, C2, and C3. Possibly the next two or three products after that... or maybe not. I can't remember. But those are the core rules of the game, and the C modules are all the core races with their rules. One thing we did during the design of the actual rulebook of the game, was a total redesign of the most difficult to balance race called the "Andromedans", I did a lot with them for one example. SFB players who dislike too much RNG would love me if they knew that I was the one who suggested that the new "leak damage" hit hull before going to the DAC... if they knew that. Just like your industry, individual ideas aren't credited. What they know are what products my name is found in, and the highlights I mentioned above. There's more, but I would think that this would be enough for people to understand. If you want to find my name in the credits, look in the core rules of the final "Doomsday" Captain's Edition. That's pretty much the only place my name is listed... but it's a pretty good place in our universe:-)
