tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post3053175827773292524..comments2024-03-28T22:10:04.089+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: On the Ends of Eras and DeclineUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-82202784322891259872019-02-18T20:51:17.066+08:002019-02-18T20:51:17.066+08:00Thanks Alistair!Thanks Alistair!noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-73870201511066031272019-02-18T16:49:37.731+08:002019-02-18T16:49:37.731+08:00I’m not a blogger. I used to just check blogs and ...I’m not a blogger. I used to just check blogs and comment occasionally. They led me to other blogs and g+, and I found good stuff on g+ too - mainly more blogs though. Glad to see your interest in blogging revived. Yoon Suin is a marvellous piece of work and I hope a resurgent blogging community yields more things like it. Alistairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04631364538623314004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-21785407554604820622019-02-18T01:56:00.469+08:002019-02-18T01:56:00.469+08:00I've used the end of G+ to quit social media (...I've used the end of G+ to quit social media (G+ was the only social network I used anyway, having deleted my Facebook account years ago). And I'm back at my blog. Quieter and more focused, IMO. <br /><br />Indeed, my blog was active before G+ and will survive it; not bad.Carlos de la Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03690214566897052351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-68888443672064754422019-02-17T19:13:37.274+08:002019-02-17T19:13:37.274+08:00It will transform but I doubt it will decline. Th...It will transform but I doubt it will decline. The self publishing snafu that put the coffin nail in Grognardia, previous center of this tiny section of the universe, didn't cause a decline. Things blossomed, shifted to new platforms (Discord is up on deck now) and grow with the waxes and wanes of the general popularity of the root material (currently 5E, and Critical Role has brought that to new heights) so new players will come into the fringe from the mainstream and a new center of gravity will take hold for other stuff to orbit.Casmariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14199504639246237699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-3046842519263929062019-02-17T05:38:17.136+08:002019-02-17T05:38:17.136+08:00Sorry, Skerples. I'm not doing it. I am not as...Sorry, Skerples. I'm not doing it. I am not as personally wedded to the G+ OSR "scene" as others evidently are; I always took Zak and his controversies with a pinch of salt and stopped paying attention to it all long ago. My views on the current situation are mainly formed by what Patrick Stuart, a good real-life friend of mine who I trust, says about it and on that basis I think Mandy's account is credible. Working in the law in a broad sense I do not feel comfortable with a default position of "believing accusers" and I'm glad that public prosecutors and police services in my country have started to step back from the precipice recently in that regard. I'm not massively interested in getting involved in a debate about the criminal standard of proof but I will if there is huge demand for it (unlikely).<br /><br />I also distrust mob campaigns in general whoever they are organised by and tend to think poorly of the motives behind them.<br /><br />If people are going to listen to me at all, then my view would be: I respect anything you honestly think or feel in response to all of this, except if it's that sexual abuse or domestic abuse are okay. noismsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-64431749977036675502019-02-16T07:07:48.086+08:002019-02-16T07:07:48.086+08:00It matters because it tells Zak he isn't welco...It matters because it tells Zak he isn't welcome here or anywhere in the scene. That there aren't cracks he can widen to slip back in. That he doesn't have allies or safe havens. <br /><br />It matters because being believed when you thought no one would is important. <br /><br />It matters because you're a huge figure in a very small community. People listen to what you have to say because you put a lot of time and thought and care into it.<br /><br />It matters because this scene still has a reputation for being unsafe, a club of "good ol' boys" who all know and cover for each other.Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-19429698750834776652019-02-15T18:45:28.348+08:002019-02-15T18:45:28.348+08:00Why would it go a long way towards anything? Why would it go a long way towards anything? noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-81492748404430361622019-02-15T05:33:05.747+08:002019-02-15T05:33:05.747+08:00Hi Dave, a short statement that you believe the ac...Hi Dave, a short statement that you believe the accusers would go a long way.Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-89260031145483000442019-02-14T22:26:43.194+08:002019-02-14T22:26:43.194+08:00The old school nostalgia and revival has waxed and...The old school nostalgia and revival has waxed and waned for a long time. For me, it's been ten years and it had some steam from Hackmaster and C&C a few years before that. <br /><br />We had Porngate, Dwimmermount and probably a few more that I missed from 11 to 15 -- these things come and go.<br /><br />The long tail is indeed the thing - because something that I think a lot people want to do is escape, to imagine, to have fun and to explore the unknown. D&D/RPGs give us that, and they aren't going away as a medium of telling stories and socializing. <br /><br />We'll see what the next movement brings us, I have a feeling it will be something unexpected. Will blogs revive a bit? I hope so! I'm still plugging away at mine, it would be fun to have some of the conversations we used to have in the late aughts.Michael S/Chgowizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052820400496340137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-40477084682375858242019-02-14T20:54:11.930+08:002019-02-14T20:54:11.930+08:00Nope, he supported him, because, in fact, he first...Nope, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/9wfdmx/dungeons_donuts_why_i_am_no_longer_working_with/e9kie64/" rel="nofollow">he supported him</a>, because, in fact, he first got onto the radar with James Raggi by supporting him in an internet argument.<br /><br />Later, he got on Monte Cook's radar by supporting him in an internet argument, got a recommendation of his work.<br /><br />Dude uses internet arguing as a career building resource.<br /><br />Basically, he will pull in any model of thought or analytical scheme that can be used to benefit himself; he is for absolute freedom for creative people, sex positivity, and an emphasis on art over language. He is an artist who draws pictures of sexy people.<br /><br />He is a libertarian anarchist when that anarchism means avoiding responsibility for your actions, a collectivist community-self-policing anarchist when this justifies building long term feuds and alliances against people he feels have wronged him.<br /><br />He is in favour of supporting marginalised communities, and against slurs, but he embraces accusations of mental illness and all kinds of associated slurs because they allow him to isolate people.<br /><br />He is in favour of explicit personal accountability, for the most curated versions of his public persona, and does the worst of his dirty work anonymously, and does not want to be associated with that.<br /><br />If you believe in free speech, and it's passionate defence, in accuracy, avoiding misleading accusations and distortions, then you will find a lot to like in Zak's positions. You will think, well maybe he's going a little more hardcore than I would, but he is making a good point about how bad that person is.<br /><br />Just like you might say that you don't like Trump, but you like the fact that he is not willing to be cowed by the liberals and their endless moral judgements.<br /><br />The problem is this, narcissists are always opposed to social control, because they think they are above everyone else, that everyone else has wronged them, and doesn't recognise them for what they are, and why they are an exception to the rules.<br /><br />If you feel like the latest batch of rules of polite and respectable behaviour are too constricting, then these kinds of borderline-rapists can, in their public persona, provide a kind of release, someone striking back against the broad crowd of accusing voices.<br /><br />It's like rooting for the villain in a TV show, they show a kind of freedom.<br /><br />But they demand more freedom than you would want, because they want license to abuse those around them to feed their egos.<br /><br />They thrive on conflict, they love to label their opponents, and play around with cruelty, hoping they will draw you into the joke. In fact they want to bring in the full spectrum of emotions for their defence, from sympathy to humour to angry "rightness", but always about taking your focus off their failings, and onto the failings of others, while taking everyone else's work that they can connect to as proof of their successes.<br /><br />They are fucking terrible allies, because they will always do something that will make you look bad, and try to throw off the blame on someone else, creating this kind of confusing storm around them of "toxicity", when people could just be getting on with their lives.<br /><br />Yeah I know, says some anonymous guy. But still, look at what I've said and his behaviour, he's just a little Trump with better lawyer skills, and the same fundamental appeal. It can feel good to have someone on your side who is willing to fight dirty, until you realise they were never really on your side, and they can just as easily turn that shit on you, they just thought they could use your shared interests to get you to ignore their behaviour.<br /><br />Noisms dodging "free cover art" for Yoon Suin was like avoiding a dragnet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-86691330910518753982019-02-14T01:57:01.870+08:002019-02-14T01:57:01.870+08:00I am a bit too kind to do negative reviews but I c...I am a bit too kind to do negative reviews but I could do a lot if I was of a mind to...noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-30417909196635589882019-02-14T01:56:24.258+08:002019-02-14T01:56:24.258+08:00I am not active on any social media unless you cou...I am not active on any social media unless you count blogging and I do not miss it. It is the emperor's new clothes.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-36796735119000833992019-02-14T00:11:20.263+08:002019-02-14T00:11:20.263+08:00I must say that I have to completely agree with yo...I must say that I have to completely agree with you here. I've been following the OSR since it began, back when there was a number of really great products and ideas. Though they grew in number (exponentially), the end result was greatly diminished in value. Still, I too am hopeful things will revert back to their early origins. It sure would be nice. :-)Trailbladeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08051207824154001854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-52446738352729273732019-02-13T19:47:59.038+08:002019-02-13T19:47:59.038+08:00I could stand to read a "the essense of OSR i...I could stand to read a "the essense of OSR is blogging" manifesto post.Anders Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11654797360283177027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-85054708750810587002019-02-13T07:27:04.648+08:002019-02-13T07:27:04.648+08:00It's curmudgeonly of me, but almost from its i...It's curmudgeonly of me, but almost from its inception I've felt that social media is one of the worst things to happen to the internet and probably modern society in general.<br /><br />I didn't discover the OSR until around 2015, and I crawled my way around the blogs for at least a year or so before I even discovered that the G+ scene existed-- and even then it seemed like this impenetrable secret community that didn't have too much bearing on the content I was seeing as a lurker in the blogosphere.<br /><br />• G+ drama<br />• The rise of the paid OSR adventures market (and OSR as brand identity)<br />• The emergence of minor "celebrities"(I hesitate to even use the term) within the scene<br /><br />None of these things were even on my radar when I fell in love with old-school play, and the fact that they're gone makes no difference to me. I welcome a return to quieter times with open arms. Perhaps like others have said this will inspire me to start a blog as well.Slick S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07061439646397481013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-72056301723391576162019-02-13T01:46:52.881+08:002019-02-13T01:46:52.881+08:00Glad somebody got the Bill Hicks reference.
I wou...Glad somebody got the Bill Hicks reference.<br /><br />I would put a lot of people in the G+ crowd in that "fevered egos" bracket. I am not interested in stoking the Zak controversy flames - enough people are doing that already. All I will say is that there are a lot of narcissistic demagogues out there.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-48209589025694564672019-02-13T01:44:00.263+08:002019-02-13T01:44:00.263+08:00Not at all - I know exactly what you mean.Not at all - I know exactly what you mean.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-71408237541584088722019-02-13T01:40:06.475+08:002019-02-13T01:40:06.475+08:00I hope my use of the word "poetic" does ...I hope my use of the word "poetic" does not come across as if I was not taking the issue seriously, by the way. Sorry if it does sound like it.Enzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05040144888171294476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-44189246756961369102019-02-13T01:38:47.968+08:002019-02-13T01:38:47.968+08:00It definitely is kind of poetic that we learn this...It definitely is kind of poetic that we learn this as G+ disappears, and I agree these patterns exist. But I don't think OSR is going away; I think it will go back to blogging and linking to weach others' blogs.Enzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05040144888171294476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-6189095883588948402019-02-12T18:44:48.896+08:002019-02-12T18:44:48.896+08:00Old-school gaming had already been going strong fo...Old-school gaming had already been going strong for several years when Zak showed up. It will stick around as long as people continue to enjoy old-school D&D. Perhaps it will even come out of this boondoggle with a newfound appreciation for actual play, and shed some of the uglier personality politics that have come to dominate the "scene". A crisis is always an opportunity for something new.Melanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07165894144553629675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-14806675526693272062019-02-12T16:03:24.820+08:002019-02-12T16:03:24.820+08:00A very interesting post, I'd not considered th...A very interesting post, I'd not considered the music cycle/community analog. Personally I think that--as with other communities--anytime someone with a great deal of visibility is (rightfully) denounced for behaviour considered abhorrent by the majority there is inevitably a backlash against communities they are involved in and predictions of said communities dying.<br /><br />As an example of this, I've already seen a blog post in my Inoreader list this morning where someone has essentially posted that they've lost all faith in the OSR community and will no longer be participating in it.<br /><br />I hope you are right and that the seeming spiral into oblivion perhaps leads more to a focusing of OSR output and maybe openings for people with perhaps less professional publishing skill and money behind them but enthusiasm for their products (I humbly hope that I am one of those people).Red Dice Diarieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16518202580306013414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-66876836341483840522019-02-12T11:11:37.068+08:002019-02-12T11:11:37.068+08:00For what it's worth, I consider the "cont...For what it's worth, I consider the "controversy" surrounding a certain figure to be a clearing of the air, not a sign of malaise. When a dentist drills a cavity out of your tooth it may hurt, and things definitely change, but it's a change that leaves you cleaner and stronger than before - even if without the dentist's warning it would still have been years before you noticed the rot on your own.<br /><br />I don't know how common this story is. But in this case I was impressed with this person's work enough that I bought their first book and followed their blog for a time. But as often as they put out interesting new takes on the hobby, they would also include sneering dismissals of things or people they didn't like, or eclipse the useful content entirely with hateful screeds.<br /><br />Finally I had had enough and spoke up with some criticism. The criticism was no doubt clumsy and poorly-presented, but I was still surprised when the response from this person was an outpouring of - to put it bluntly - verbal abuse.<br /><br />After some back-and-forth they banned me from commenting on their blog, and this actually came as a relief. I unfollowed the blog and that was almost the end of it. But the sheer ugliness of the exchange sticks with me. It was so bad that for years afterwards, simply seeing their blog title in someone else's link collection would leave a bad taste in my mouth. It was so bad that I couldn't even use their book anymore; any joy that might be had from the interesting bits was poisoned by memories of the rage-fueled personal attacks that they brought out to confront any hint of criticism. Keep in mind that this person had plenty of supporters who also saw fit to pile on with attacks; in retrospect I can see that this was an example in microcosm of how a certain kind of powerful person uses their resources to silence their critics. It comes as no surprise to hear that others saw far worse abuse at this person's hands.<br /><br />All things change. The OSR is in flux, as it has always been since its birth, and after G+ closes it may wither or recede or hibernate or transform. But one thing that I will <i>never</i> be melancholy over is the truth coming to light. It's only by finding and drilling out the rot that we can save ourselves from the true malaise that would eventually destroy the whole if allowed to fester unchecked.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-9892001357318255662019-02-12T10:57:34.914+08:002019-02-12T10:57:34.914+08:00I don't think the OSR is dead or dying, and wh...I don't think the OSR is dead or dying, and while RPGs certainly don't have the popularity of the original D&D boom, I think there's a false perception of it being a long and lowered tail. I think it's a long and gradually rising one. For all the criticisms levied at, say, D&D streamers or media aggregate websites with posts like "The Top Ten Weirdest D&D Classes", they're doing a great job at opening up more people to play RPGs. D&D is cool again, and even if few people who think that try it and few people who try it stick with it or move on to other, more niche things, they're bringing in those rare few all the same.<br /><br />Nowadays I would never consider running a Pathfinder or D&D 5E game when there are so many independent games out there that I enjoy more - and not just OSR games, but PbtA ones and even more experimental games as well. But I would have never even heard about them if it weren't for the success of bigger games like Pathfinder and 5E.<br /><br />I think the thing to keep in mind is that while Grunge is a great example it is a genre and not a form of media. Even if OSR games die off entirely, there will doubtlessly be other, newer forms of RPGs out there. And given enough time, who knows? Maybe there'll be an Old School Renaissance Renaissance, with the same treatment given to things like Lamentations or Yoon-Suin as we currently give to B/X D&D or The Keep on the Borderlands.Malcolm Svenssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14324502676937817722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-35043746888036991092019-02-12T09:10:08.706+08:002019-02-12T09:10:08.706+08:00Wasn't Zak at the forefront of bullying Raggi ...Wasn't Zak at the forefront of bullying Raggi over the Peterson picture? What I recall of Zak is that he is a diehard far leftist (and I mean the flat out self-proclaimed socialist type) snotty elitist who would look down upon people and declare them to be 'those evil people'.<br /><br />And oh look, now its HIS turn to be exposed and attacked. If he even tries to go and ask for mercy from the mob let me tell you he doesn't fucking deserve it as far as I can tell.Bob Somethinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13638406211956979341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-23808246307131685482019-02-12T08:17:41.621+08:002019-02-12T08:17:41.621+08:00I have a feeling (or at least, I really hope) peop...I have a feeling (or at least, I really hope) people are not going to be siding with Zak anymore <br /><br />https://www.facebook.com/amandapatricianagy/posts/10215845527064252ribbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03198571849485788318noreply@blogger.com