Drama! Usually I avoid it like the plague, but the last couple of months have seen reports of retroclone fans and publishers getting critical and threatening emails and messages from someone who thinks they should just go away.
In each case so far, the victims have been too gentlemanly to name their attacker(s) in public, and have opted to stew/suffer/agonize in private. While I can respect taking the higher ground about that, it also appears that the culprit(s) behind these attacks are taking things a bit too far, and should really be dealt with. The OSR is more than a hobby, its a community, so name your attacker and we'll help you out with it. :)
I'm amazed at how assinine many gamers are, whether it's edition wars or other nonsense. We all have different opinions, even on such things as "what is oldschool" ( I know I don't always agree with many of the OSR BLOGgers/Game Designers). How do these folks deal with life which is full of many differing opinions?
ReplyDeleteD&D in all it's editions is JUST A GAME. None better. None worse. No matter what ruleset it uses it's still a Dorky silly game of make believe. It's a fun hobby, and fun to talk about how it has evolved, but it's not all that important in the grand scheme of life. Anyone who would stoop to the harassing antics really needs to get a grip (or more likely, laid ;O) )
jeffb
Debates between players over what "old school" means or if ascending armor class is okay is a lot different than one publisher trying to pressure another to cease operations.
ReplyDeleteI don't know a whole lot of details about what's going on, and I wonder if it's really as dramatic as some are making it out to be, but it sure sounds pretty underhanded.
Tastes Great!
ReplyDeleteLess Filling!
Tastes Great!
Less Filling!
I swear, people will argue about anything. I wonder if the OSR attackers are actually WotC people in disguise, working under the cover of darkness? Dum dum duuuuuummmmmmmmm! The plot thickens!
Love the image for this post. Good stuff. I am curious who the "jerk" is as well. We are a niche within a niche hobby - no room for jerks. :)
ReplyDeleteHuh. I haven't even heard about this yet. It is interesting, and somewhat disturbing if someone's getting threatening. I agree this person's identity should be publicized so we're all aware.
ReplyDeleteAll of a sudden, no one is talking about it, despite hints that it was in some way common knowledge. Very strange.
ReplyDeleteit's still a Dorky silly game of make believe...it's not all that important in the grand scheme of life.
ReplyDeleteBah to you, Sir! Bah! ;-)
I swear, people will argue about anything.
No we won't...
someone who thinks they should just go away.
I'll walk, but we're talking to the tune of six figures here. Oh, I'll walk alright.
Hopefully more info will be leaked soon. A little drama might spice up this lazy summer.
Randall over at http://blog.retroroleplaying.com/ put up and then removed a post about a nasty email he received from a professional rpg publisher, berating him for the damage his free game (and games like it) were causing to this particular publisher's business. Randall didn't name names sadly.
ReplyDeleteNope, I tell a lie, Randall didn't delete his post. I found his comments in the Harry Potter rpg post: http://blog.retroroleplaying.com/2009/07/harry-potter-plus-dungeon-exploration.html
ReplyDeleteSounds like economic stress has sent someone off the deep end. Oh well, more munchies for Yog-Sothoth.
ReplyDelete