An important notice on political threads in the main forum

[RPGPundit]

Poster A: I say, those bounders at Acme Game Co are uo to some parliamentary schenanigans!

Poster B: Zounds, I don't care for that one bit!

Poster C: Pray, good fellow, would you care to expound on these notions?

Pundit: What devilry confounds your efforts to remain on task?  Though I am loathe to do so, I have a mind to escort you to the exit by summary force!

Except that this is not what I'm saying. AS LONG AS YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THE CONTEXT OF WHAT/HOW/WHY THE SJWS ARE DOING SOMETHING IN THE HOBBY, THAT'S FINE. There's no problem with that, the problem is when someone else shows up and says "Yeah, and let me tell you about something else I hate about Democrats that has nothing to do with RPGs" or "they're doing this other non-gaming related thing in schools" or "Yes but President Orange Man is doing this terribly bad thing that has nothing to do with the D&D hobby so how can you say you're not a racist?"

[Jfrog]

Except that this is not what I'm saying. AS LONG AS YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THE CONTEXT OF WHAT/HOW/WHY THE SJWS ARE DOING SOMETHING IN THE HOBBY, THAT'S FINE. There's no problem with that, the problem is when someone else shows up and says "Yeah, and let me tell you about something else I hate about Democrats that has nothing to do with RPGs" or "they're doing this other non-gaming related thing in schools" or "Yes but President Orange Man is doing this terribly bad thing that has nothing to do with the D&D hobby so how can you say you're not a racist?"

That makes much more sense. Thank you.

[Mishihari]

I suppose if if someone posts something both stupid and political, you can just say "Wow, you're an idiot!" and refute them without going into politics yourself at all

[GriswaldTerrastone]

Folks, I just turned 55 about half an hour ago. So I've been around the RPG scene for a long time.

Pundit, I get what you're saying here, and as a tired middle-aged white guy I like the idea. In the basic forum(s? I'm new here), just keep to basic game discussions, like "can water dumped on a fire elemental put it out?"

The problem is that it's getting harder and harder to NOT bring politics into recent gaming products, because that's what they are filled with. I've seen examples where it hits you over the head again and again. The thing you absolutely MUST understand is that once the "politically correct" get ahold of something it becomes politics first, whatever second. This is what happened to Marvel Comics, Star Wars, etc. It is happening to Dungeons and Dragons products, which is why people download earlier game modules and rules books from the Internet. It's gotten so bad you can hardly say "well I'll just leave the rubbish out," how can you when that's what it is mostly becoming?

The second problem is that it's a perpetual motion machine. It can never be enough: the old "Star Trek" gets bashed by the left for sexism, racism, etc. when back in the day it was a very liberal show. Early episodes of "Sesame Street" come with warnings. It's never enough. If I want to try and sell a game based on my "Ayundell" world then if anything is politically incorrect- gasp, female characters are not as strong as male characters and they are usually not sent into danger?! Orcs are usually evil? That world has the equivalent of evil Drow?- I'll end up in the crosshairs for sure.

It's not a matter of "you play your way I'll play mine," it won't stop until EVERYONE is forced to comply, EVERYTHING not played in a dim cabin somewhere must comply.

I saw the remake of the Dunegon Master's Guide (1977). I noticed how it only showed part of the efreeti, the girl he was holding was gone. That was no accident.

Characters are becoming a grey mush, because of equalism. Evil druids? Since when? If one wanted to bend the rules one could in one's game, but then I guess you couldn't carry the character over to another game following the rules more closely.

I'm sad it's come to this in something like Dungeons and Dragons. It just makes me- tired. And sad. All I want to do is bash bad guys, make friends with good guys and dragons, and get some loot.

[Jamesbeadle]

Wow, it makes a new fellow here feel like putting on slippers and tiptoeing to be greeted with this. I'm glad that there is a strict policy on abuse, but what a commentary on our times that there is so much frustration and anger over politics in a games forum of all places. I promise to behave, for what that's worth.

[Redwanderer]

The USA and UK are an utter shitshow right now and the culture war / political war has exploded full force in the hobby. Pundy, its bad in ways you don't know from watching TV and the internet. Many of us have crazy shit happening in our neighborhoods, in our families and in our companies. I've seen the craziest shit in my life going down in the last few months.

And wouldn't it be nice to have a place where you don't get bombarded with that shit, and can just talk about stuff that makes us happy?

And wouldn't it be nice to wake up and find a pot of gold left on your doorstep left by friendly leprechauns?

The damned woke want it all. Read that a hundred times- THE DAMNED WOKE WANT IT ALL. If they got to put cameras in every house to make sure people play woke approved games they'll do it.

And Pundit getting banned from this place seems to be getting near rpg.net levels. Didn't you say years ago something about not just banning people?

[grzegorz271]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for setting up these guidelines—totally makes sense to keep discussions focused and enjoyable for all. I'm excited to dive into some RPG discussions and share experiences without the thread getting sidetracked by unrelated political debates. Let's make sure we respect each other and contribute meaningfully to the topics at hand. If you get a warning, just take it as a reminder to keep things on track. Looking forward to some great conversations about our favorite RPGs!. Grzegorz