QuoteIt is damaging to the reputation of the D&D community which is damaging to the industry. Some people care about that.

QuoteSo basically, all that nonsense is indeed 100% true and his butt-buddies have shown up here simply to get some free stuff. Lame.

1 add 1 = does not compute

Sooo... is this still about the book and getting the book? Because somehow it escalated to namecalling to explaining how someone who lost the court case actually won it because it's complicated you won't understand (what?), to claims that it is very bad to stop working for someone who behaves like le asshole (why?), to pointless statements that I wouldn't pay a thousand bucks for this and I spent my time looking at it and now I'll die young (that's very sad), and this is all confusing and make no SENSE.

Quote from: Brad on December 15, 2024, 03:46:21 PMBecause he's an obnoxious, narcissistic faggot.

So basically, all that nonsense is indeed 100% true and his butt-buddies have shown up here simply to get some free stuff. Lame.

I don't care if he's a hoboe, people give away free stuff all the time and you have to "like this post and leave a comment" or "recommend it to your friends". Thank Xiombarg people don't go crazy about it, well maybe they will now, I don't know anymore. My point is it's not a spooky conspiracy or even something new.
And people pay thousands of dollars for craziest stuff all the time, at least this is not an NFT or whatever it's called, it's a paper book and you can actually hold it.

Quote from: GnosticGoblin on December 15, 2024, 03:38:40 PMIt is damaging to the reputation of the D&D community which is damaging to the industry. Some people care about that.

I don't fucking care, and I want you to fuck off forever because it's obvious you're a godsdamned shill for a shit arrogant narcissist asshole whose work is best used for toilet paper.

Seriously. Go play in the street. Right now.

Quote from: GnosticGoblin on December 15, 2024, 09:55:23 AM

Quote from: HappyDaze on December 15, 2024, 09:47:43 AMInteresting that GnosticGoblin joined this site right around the time that Zak suggested that others do exactly the same thing...

So the situation is that new people are coming to the site and members of the site are being hostile to them.
 
The stated reason for the hostility is because 'Zak exists.'

This site advertises itself as a place to discuss D&D and RPG related topics and products. The name of this site indicates that is its purpose.

That is its purpose. And you are allowed, within the appropriate bounds, to talk about any subject in RPGs, which in theory could include nothing but posts celebrating how much you like Zak's books. On here there's no problem with that. If Zak told you to come here and that's why you did, I don't care. As long as its clear he isn't just using you as a human sockpuppet, writing your posts for you, that's fine.

I don't think the problem here is "zak exists". I think for some people the perception is that Zak was trying to generate transactional enthusiasm, and at least one of the people he contacted with the offer was bothered by it being done behind the backs of the specific sites he mentioned, I guess.

I do find it weird, myself, particularly as I'm sure that some of his fans (maybe yourself) would have assisted him anyways without all of what he wrote, in a natural way. Like my fans often do, ever moreso as the grip of wokism starts to choke on its own cancel-culture bile.

But I don't think that problem is "Zak exists"... unless what you mean is something like "Zak can't stop himself from doing things like this instead of just acting normal".

And this thread is the sort of "elevated conversation" Zak and his sycophants bring to the discussion of RPGs and then seem incapable of comprehending why none of the people they call idiots and garbage and trolls want to engage with them in a friendly way.

I look forward to whenever they hit their post count for unlocking their free goodies and can then go trundling off, never to be heard from again.

Quote from: Chris24601 on December 15, 2024, 04:36:35 PMAnd this thread is the sort of "elevated conversation" Zak and his sycophants bring to the discussion of RPGs and then seem incapable of comprehending why none of the people they call idiots and garbage and trolls want to engage with them in a friendly way.

At no point have I ever claimed I don't understand why people who post misinformation don't like it when you point it out.

It's still an obligation to point it out.

Quote from: Zak S on December 15, 2024, 11:50:56 AM..and one factor contributing to Macris shrugging off giving up on our deal at the time that you know nothing about is that Macris knew he had broken previous agreements and guarantees repeatedly before that by, among other things, refusing to pay on time more than once.

Was that Alex Macris? Because it seems a bit weird he'd be paying you himself... or do you mean Defy Media, who owned the Escapist?

I worked for Defy writing articles for many years, and it was always Defy, not Alex himself, who paid me. And always on time, but I guess you could  have had some weird specific deal with Alex...

Quote from: Riquez on December 15, 2024, 11:54:38 AMIncidentally, I also appreciate Pundits work, Cults of Chaos sits on the shelf behind me.

Thank you!

Quote from: Zak S on December 15, 2024, 12:29:33 PMAgain, this started because the front page has people falsely claiming people who want the book have to "say nice things about me" or the work.

Who said that?

Quote from: RPGPundit on December 15, 2024, 04:42:11 PM

Quote from: Zak S on December 15, 2024, 11:50:56 AM..and one factor contributing to Macris shrugging off giving up on our deal at the time that you know nothing about is that Macris knew he had broken previous agreements and guarantees repeatedly before that by, among other things, refusing to pay on time more than once.

Was that Alex Macris? Because it seems a bit weird he'd be paying you himself... or do you mean Defy Media, who owned the Escapist?

I worked for Defy writing articles for many years, and it was always Defy, not Alex himself, who paid me. And always on time, but I guess you could  have had some weird specific deal with Alex...

Alex and I negotiated a deal through which I got paid. I don't know whether the entity paying was technically Alex or technically Defy or what the exact financial connection was between them--only that Alex appeared to be entirely responsible for all the decisions resulting in me getting paid by whatever entity was paying and all other ultimate decisions when I worked with that company.

When I was getting paid late, I called Alex and Alex was the only contact I had about getting paid late. Alex was also the only entity I had contact with about leaving.

Quote from: Riquez on December 15, 2024, 12:48:15 PM

Quote from: BadApple on December 15, 2024, 12:05:06 PMRead the OP and you'll see it certainly looks shady and Pundit was right in bringing it to the light. 

I am critical of some of the professional things I've seen out of Zak.  He did them publicly and therefore we have a right to discuss them publicly.  I don't want to crucify him, I just want him to make appropriate changes, make amends, and behave better.

I have looked at some of his works and I do agree that he has talent.  I try to take all such things on their own merit. 

Indeed the OP was inevitable. It wasn't exactly hidden.
The warnings about "hostile" are just because there's a high risk of getting booted if you mention Zak.

To this forums credit, at least you guys are more tolerant of discussion.
Other places you will get hate mail if you so much as mention him.

Since Zak is so precise about his language, I'm sure that could NOT have been his definition of "hostile", because there is pretty close to ZERO risk of someone getting booted here for mentioning Zak.

So clearly that's not what he meant by hostile.

Quote from: RPGPundit on December 15, 2024, 04:47:22 PM

Quote from: Zak S on December 15, 2024, 12:29:33 PMAgain, this started because the front page has people falsely claiming people who want the book have to "say nice things about me" or the work.

Who said that?

These two:

Quote from: RPGPundit on December 15, 2024, 04:47:22 PMWho said that?

Okay, you're gonna laugh but I think it was you.

Quote from: RPGPundit on December 13, 2024, 05:29:52 PMAnd sadly, from here on people who post nice things about your work will be under the shadow of doubt as to whether they're just doing it for merch.

Which, again, I think is nothing new, people have been doing stuff like that for years.

Quote from: Zak S on December 15, 2024, 04:53:54 PMThese two:

You are such a godsdamned illiterate shitbag.

Pundit didn't fucking claim that you said people had to say nice things about whatever work you shit out, you fucking buffoon. He was pointing out that by engaging in this kind of idiocy, people are going to assume that whenever someone says something positive about your shit they're doing it because they're sucking up to you and want free shit.

Can you please for the love of fuck go be retarded somewhere else?

Quote from: GnomeWorks on December 15, 2024, 05:04:10 PM

Quote from: Zak S on December 15, 2024, 04:53:54 PMThese two:

You are such a godsdamned illiterate faggot.

Pundit didn't fucking claim that you said people had to say nice things about whatever work you shit out, you fucking buffoon. He was pointing out that by engaging in this kind of idiocy, people are going to assume that whenever someone says something positive about your shit they're doing it because they're sucking up to you and want free shit.

As the text contains no transaction re: the exchange of "saying nice things" for "free shit" that is inaccurate and Pundit was negligent at best.

Plus that's clearly how people construed what he said.

Plus he used the word "brigading" which is inaccurate. Joining a website (whether you are urged to or not) and posting whatever you want on whatever topic is not brigading.

There's no way to escape the misinformation issue here.