TheRPGSite

This is the story of a guy who started his own series of fancruft articles about Randy Richards of Spellbinder Games, who wrote the Dreadmire campaign setting.

Dreadmire's article got deleted (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Dreadmire), and Randy Richards' article got deleted and protected to prevent recreation. List of Dreadmire Fantasy Animals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dreadmire_Fantasy_Animals) is now up for deletion, as well as its twin List of Fictional Animals in Dreadmire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fictional_Animals_in_Dreadmire). The guy also created:

• Abysmal Ooze (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abysmal_ooze)
• Aquatic Ooze (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ooze)
• Blood  Pudding (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pudding_%28Dungeons_%26_Dragons%29)
• Jelly Curd (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_curd)
• Jelly Quasit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_quasit)
• Jelly Wraith (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_wraith)
• Ooze Demon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooze_demon)
• Oozoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oozoid)

All of these are, of course, up for deletion.

So the guy snaps, and nominates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Greyhawk) Greyhawk's article for deletion to, he thinks, prove a point.

Subsequently Spellbinder Games itself went up for deletion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Spellbinder_Games_%28USA%29) and the guy continues his trend by putting Necromancer Games up for deletion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Necromancer_Games).

I love Wikipedia hissy fits. They are fatbeardlicious.

You'll note that he's also claiming Necromancer is not notable because the ENnies are "trivial."

Ah yes, Wikipedia. Never has a place been so prone to flame wars and petty feuds. :rolleyes:

Randy who?  Dread what?  This guy is arguing his point by going after Gary Gygax's Greyhawk, the quintessential D&D campaign world?

Sheesh.

I've become rather disillusioned with Wikipedia over time.  By and large it's not bad, but the basic principles the whole site runs on are fundamentally flawed.  

NPOV is a wrong approach to an encyclopedia.  There shouldn't be a POV in the thing at all, just facts.  The N part of NPOV is largely a joke.  

The end result is a hell of a lot of people running around Wikipedia using it as their personal soapbox, and the administration largely defending their actions, under some bizarre interpretation of "NPOV".  The most obvious of these examples is the now rather ubiquitous "Criticisms" section.

At one point, I attempted to remove the one from the article on computer RPGs (a rather pointless and rambling diatribe about  how inferior they were, couched in a lot of GNS garbage to boot), and wound up getting threatened by the mods.  

If I open up a World Book volume to a random article, I don't see rants.  I see facts and details.  Wiki's approach though, is to instead let the rants continue, so long as they're couched in neutral enough language to skirt by, or you can cite some shitty webpage somewhere to back it up (note though, that you don't have to back up the points in said criticism, only prove that the criticism exists).

And as for the fancruft thing, I think that whole lable has by and large come about as a result of a lot of dorks with big egos wanting to push people around digitally because they can't electronically.  One important respect where Wikipedia differs from a normal encyclopedia, is that it is digital.  There's no page limit, or any of the other things like that.  It's all just a few bytes on a hard disk somewhere, and while that could eventually become a problem with enough abuse, I think by and large it's overstated and pointless.

I mean hell, there's even advantage to allowing a lot of the more obscure stuff regular encyclopedias don't bother to include. Present Wikipedia does already in a lot of ways, like the sheer amount of coverage given to video game stuff.

I assume this was the offending passage:

QuoteCRPGs often face criticism from players of traditional RPGs. A common reason for this is the fact that most CRPGs focus on combat and statistical character management instead of storytelling and deep character development. This trend is called powergaming. Players also criticise the fact that the player has limited, pre-programmed control over their digital avatar, rather than unlimited control of a character who may interact with any aspect of the game's world.
These are common criticisms of simulated realities in general; indeed, these criticisms are also directed at gamist and simulationist players of traditional role-playing games. A virtual world might create the illusion of freedom in terms of choice and motion, but even in the most free-form CRPGs, a player's actions are limited by the amount of content that a game's designers are able to program. Narrativist RPG players, being used to having no such pre-defined limitations, find themselves unsatisfied with the experience provided in CRPGs.

The GNS stuff is ludicrous.

Quote from: Elliot WilenThe GNS stuff is ludicrous.

And completely meaningless to 99.99999999% of the population. It'd be like me using GNS to critique Madden NFL 2007.
What I really like Wikipedia for is as a fancruft resource. If I'm in the mood to learn more than I really need to about a geek or pop culture subject I use Wikipedia. I've long learned that it's simply bad juju for serious subjects aside from the most simple points. As for the jerks who are Greater Internet Fuckwads, well, you can't stop that until you can make a Taser that fires through the internet, so I've learned to tune most of 'em out.

I'm going to take a whack at some light editing to get rid of the nonsense. The "powergaming" thing is also non-sequitur IMO.

And I removed the last paragraph, for one because "roleplaying vs. rollplaying" is such a tired cliche that it pains me, and for two, the example given (information gathering) is actually something that is rarely if ever resolved by way of statistics/mechanics in CRPGs.

Quote from: jrientsRandy who?

You know the author of Dungeons and Dragons according to a current Spellbinder Games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellbinder_Games_%28USA%29) discription.

Quote from: BagpussYou know the author of Dungeons and Dragons according to a current Spellbinder Games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellbinder_Games_%28USA%29) discription.

For mean spirited and proud of it ignorance, try reading the comments by Cryogenic. I doubt he would know a roleplaying game if it came up and neutered him.

Quote from: JongWKAh yes, Wikipedia. Never has a place been so prone to flame wars and petty feuds. :rolleyes:

Except RPGSITE?:p

Quote from: mythusmageFor mean spirited and proud of it ignorance, try reading the comments by Cryogenic. I doubt he would know a roleplaying game if it came up and neutered him.

I'm learning from various sources who have seen the cloak and dagger Randy Richards tries to pull on online communities to inflate his own importance and smear Necromancer Games, amongst other parties.

See, Randy Richards got dumped on his ass by Necromancer Games, because Dreadmire is heavily plagiarized from Gygax and Arneson's work on Greyhawk, and the Necromancer boys didn't like that when they found out.

Bottom line, Cryogenic in all probability is Randy Richards, who has created many many sock puppets and smurfs in many other online communities.

Those who can, write games. Those who can't try to monkeywrench online communities to make themselves look more important.

Cribbing from Gygax and Arneson can get you in trouble?  Cripes!  That's like every D&D campaign I ever ran!  But seriously, how baldly do you have to rip off those two for someone to give you the boot?  My mind boggles.

"Randy Richards" sounds like the name of a 60's marvel charaecter. Really, it's no wonder he has more than one identity.

Quote from: Sojourner JudasBottom line, Cryogenic in all probability is Randy Richards, who has created many many sock puppets and smurfs in many other online communities.

Probable is Randy? More like definiately, there is even a Wiki article for the adventure he wrote for Dungeon ages ago now (created by Cryogenic when this asshattery started).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Magic_in_New_Orleans

Seriously how many Dungeon adventures have wiki articles?

Quote from: Aos"Randy Richards" sounds like the name of a 60's marvel charaecter. Really, it's no wonder he has more than one identity.

I thought it sounded like a 70s porn star, myself.  :D

Apparently Clark has weighed in (http://p105.ezboard.com/fnecromancergamesfrm9.showMessage?topicID=401.topic&index=38) on this.

Quote from: Clark PetersonMy name is Clark Peterson. I am the president and founder of Necromancer Games, Inc. I was thrilled to see a Wiki entry for Necro (as we are called). I was equally disheartened to see a disgruntled prior writer who we terminated our relationship with for clear copyright violations and a stated intent to continue such copyright violations nominate the entry for deletion. I, frankly, don't know whether or not Necromancer Games is relevant enough for an entry. That is not up to me. That is up to you. I respect your decision. But there is a good deal of misinformation posted here that I would like to clear up so that the powers that be can make an informed decision.

First, to understand the relevance of Necro, you have to understand roleplaying and open gaming. Dungeons and Dragons is the leading roleplaying game of all time. It was created years ago by Gary Gygax, among others, and published by TSR hobbies. For years, TSR was incredibly strict with their license of D&D. In fact, TSR very notoriously sued several other companies who tried to make compatible products to D&D. For years, no third parties were allowed to make D&D compatible products. That all changed in 2001 when TSR sold the D&D brand to Wizards of the Coast ("WotC") who then developed the Third Edition of the D&D rules. The brand manager of D&D, Ryan Dancey, made a very bold move. He convinced the powers at WotC to open the D&D rules up and to create "open gaming," creating an open game content license similar to the various software open licenses. This was a HUGE move in the RPG industry. Because of the name of the open license (which also included a logo called the "d20 logo") companies created using the open game license came to be known as "d20 companies."

This is where Necro and I come in. I was one of the early contributors to the creation of the d20 license. I worked with others in the formative stages of the license to get it in a form publishers would work with. In fact, the draft version of the license--which many publishers worked under for some time until the license was finalized--was written by Ryan Dancey directly to me. As a result, I created Necromancer Games. Necromancer Games was one of the first companies to be created to take advantage of this revolutionary idea known as open gaming. In fact, Necromancer Games has the distinction of being the very first company to release any open gaming content under the license--namely, an adventure called the Wizard's Amulet. So, if open gaming is relevant, it cant get any more relevant than Necromancer Games. But there is more.

Necromancer Games, despite comments above, has released approximately 40 products, many being hardback books. We are not just an imprint. The vast majority of our products are written in house. Even materials that we "update" for the new open gaming rules involve extensive rules creation and additional writing by us. Our products have featured writing by none other than Gary Gygax, the creator of D&D and Rob Kuntz, one of the original founders of D&D. Necromancer Games has the distinction of being probably the biggest supporter of open gaming, releasing the Tome of Horrors, a book that not only is all open content, but includes instruction on how to use the content--a first in open gaming.

We have also recieved unmatched industry praise. I personally, and Necromancer Games specificially, was selected as an "expert" by Dungeon Magazine--one of two official monthly magazines specifically for Dungeons and Dragons--to judge the best adventures of all time for D&D. Our opinions were published in Dungeon Magazine Issue 116. The bio ascribed to me and Necro reads (written by Dungeon Mag, not by me): "Clark Peterson, an attorney by trade, Clark doubles as the president of Necromancer Games, perhaps the most prolific adventure publisher in the d20 industry. Necromancer's products boast a 'First Edition feel' that hearkens back to the quality of many of the classic adventures listed in the panel's top 30. Peterson's professional credits (all through Necromancer) include Rappan Athuk: The Dungeon of Graves, The Crucible of Freya and The Player's Guide to the Wilderlands."

In addition, as mentioned by others, we have recieved numerous industry awards. Much comment has been made that the ENNie awards are relatively recent. That is true. The reason, however, is that open gaming is a very new and revolutionary idea. These awards couldnt have existed previously because open gaming and the d20 logo didnt exist previously. Necromancer Games is one of only two companies to be nominated every year the awards have been in existence for consideration as the Best Overall Publisher. We have won numerous industry awards.

I recognize that d20 publishers are indeed a small niche in the world and perhaps that niche industry is too small for a Wiki entry. If that is the case, then that is the case. I have no quarrel with that. However, in my view, Open Gaming is a significant revolution in roleplaying and if any company in d20 is relevant, it is Necromancer Games. As demonstrated above, the industry clearly agrees.

I hope this helps clear up any misconceptions about Necromancer Games, our role in d20, the industry and the status of our publications.

Quote from: Aos"Randy Richards" sounds like the name of a 60's marvel charaecter. Really, it's no wonder he has more than one identity.

I think Randy Richards used to play guitar for Ozzy Osbourne. True Story.

I think he's an elastic super-scientist!

Finally found the whole sordid story, if anyone's interested.

http://p105.ezboard.com/fnecromancergamesfrm17.showMessageRange?topicID=145.topic&start=1&stop=20

Holy fuck.  This guy is a nutcase.  

Damn, now I really wish he would come over here so I could tear him a new one.  The NG guys were being altogether too kind to him. Definitely not enough fucking with his little brain.
:evillaugh:

RPGPundit

I like the bit where he claims that Spellbinder Games, a gaming company that nobody can produce any evidence of, which has a website, paypal account, and several AOL e-mail accounts all maintained by Randy Richards, and conveniently had all physical evidence of its existence erased completely by Hurricane Katrina down to a concrete slab...

...isn't an elaborate ruse concocted entirely by himself.

It supposedly produced three children's fantasy novels in the 80's which likewise were apparently catalogued nowhere and were wiped out by Katrina.

It also had its brick and mortar component in the same building as a dance studio Randy photographed for, and conveniently signed him up the very day Necromancer Games showed him the door.

Amazing.

Near as I can tell, he only really sells this book at cons and via the website. The copies available on Amazon are from the "new and used" dealer program, and are probably just excess stock he has.

Quote from: Elliot WilenI'm going to take a whack at some light editing to get rid of the nonsense. The "powergaming" thing is also non-sequitur IMO.

And apparently that same idiot fucker who wrote it went and reverted all the edits.  And just as it was starting to make some sort of sense.

Doesn't surprise me. Anyone who'd think to put that stuff in in the first place is a doofus, and the "explanation" that reporting unattributed criticisms is "neutral" (because the thing being reported is something someone else said, not an opinion presented by the author) is a hypocritical dodge.

But has anyone, ever, who is confirmably not an alt of this guy actually seen the book?

RPGPundit

Quote from: BagpussYou know the author of Dungeons and Dragons according to a current Spellbinder Games (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellbinder_Games_%28USA%29) discription.

Here's a quote from that article:
Per Mark Williams, Spellbinder Books was a store in Gulfport, Mississippi till it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

While I'm not a coastal resident (I live further north toward Jackson, MS), I can assure you that I've never, ever heard of Spellbinder Books in Gulfport. I'm not saying it didn't exit, but I am saying that I am both a lifelong gamer and Mississippian with plenty of gamer buddies who either lived or live on the coast (Gulfport, Biloxi, etc.) and not a damn one of them has ever mentioned "Spellbinder Books." I'm pretty familiar with the area myself, and have never seen nor heard of the place.

Quote from: mattormegHere's a quote from that article:
Per Mark Williams, Spellbinder Books was a store in Gulfport, Mississippi till it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

While I'm not a coastal resident (I live further north toward Jackson, MS), I can assure you that I've never, ever heard of Spellbinder Books in Gulfport. I'm not saying it didn't exit, but I am saying that I am both a lifelong gamer and Mississippian with plenty of gamer buddies who either lived or live on the coast (Gulfport, Biloxi, etc.) and not a damn one of them has ever mentioned "Spellbinder Books." I'm pretty familiar with the area myself, and have never seen nor heard of the place.

Is there some way you could actually go and confirm this? Would you be willing to rise (or stoop?) to that level of actual gumshoe detective work to actually PROVE that a shitfaced internet liar is definitely delusional?

RPGPundit

If it was destroyed by Katrina, then I won't be able to prove it.

However, I have friends that live down there. My buddy owns a comic store down there, and I have several gamer friends who grew up down there. I'll ask them.

Also, I guess I can check the city tax records. I have to admit I LOVE this kind of shit.:cool:

Quote from: RPGPunditIs there some way you could actually go and confirm this? Would you be willing to rise (or stoop?) to that level of actual gumshoe detective work to actually PROVE that a shitfaced internet liar is definitely delusional?

RPGPundit

It wouldn't do any good.  Wikipedia does not recognize "original research".  If you can't link to some damn website somewhere that proves it, they won't believe it.

Quote from: J ArcaneIt wouldn't do any good.  Wikipedia does not recognize "original research".  If you can't link to some damn website somewhere that proves it, they won't believe it.

Actually, the burden of proof is on the article. If the article is not verifiable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability) by reliable sources, then by default it can't be included. In this case, this works against Randy Richards rather than against sane thinking people.

Quote from: RPGPunditBut has anyone, ever, who is confirmably not an alt of this guy actually seen the book?

RPGPundit

Dreadmire? Let's see...Bill Webb, aka Tsathogga at the Necromancer Games board, and one of the founders of NG, apparently had a copy; see this thread (http://p105.ezboard.com/fnecromancergamesfrm17.showMessage?topicID=149.topic) at the NG boards, where Q1000 says he has a copy and will send it to Webb. Webb then confirms he got it. I never saw the review Webb said he'd do. It's safe to say that if Webb says he got it, that it's a real book. For what it's worth. From what I gather, it may be a galley rather than a finished book, though.

Hi all, I am Quode or Q1000 per the NG site and the one who seems to be the arch nemesis of Randy.

First there is a book, I have had two copies. One I ordered direct from Randy another from a local book store. So one copy was sent to Bill and another for my collection.
I have a review that Randy wishes was never published and so he works to discredit me as much as he can.

QuoteIf it was destroyed by Katrina, then I won't be able to prove it.

Through all government and business avenues I could not prove the existence of the store. What is odd about the store is Randy never told anyone about the stores location till after Katrina when he published the press release.
Spellbinder games has a mail box etc address and the parent company seems to be in a residential area of the city.

Q

Hi Quode! Welcome to theRPGsite!

Would you care to post your review of Dreadmire to the "reviews" section of this site?
If not, would you at least be willing to give us the gist of your opinion of the finished product?

Finally, as to "proving" it, I think it would be as simple as talking to people who are gamers that live in the town that Randy mentioned as where the game store existed... sleuthing, in other words: finding out if anyone knows Randy in person from there, and what they think of him, finding out if there ever was such a store, or what.

For that we'd need a gumshoe who was closeby though.

Anyways, welcome aboard.

RPGPundit

I'd like to point out that this whole gumshoe angle is obsessive and creepy- and I'm 100% in favor of it.

Thankfully as I said, Wikipedia places the burden of proof on those asserting Spellbinder Games does, verifiably and notably, exist.

Which is hard to do.

The AfD has gone on for 8 days. It's overdue to be closed. Soon.

I'm one for reading that review. I'd like to hear more about it. Oh, and welcome to our site!

The review is up, be gentle.

Q

If anything, I'd say the review wasn't hard enough. It also didn't clarify a lot of the stuff I read about the dude's claims about his game: that it was revolutionary, better than tolkien, etc etc.
You didn't deal with that part of the story at all.
You also don't mention if it actually has all the illustrations, spells, feats, whatever the fuck he was saying he'd have in it (the one I really remember is more than one illustration per page), to the point that people were thinking he'd have to be using a positively TINY font for it all to fit, or he was just lying.

Which was it?

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditIf anything, I'd say the review wasn't hard enough. It also didn't clarify a lot of the stuff I read about the dude's claims about his game: that it was revolutionary, better than tolkien, etc etc.
You didn't deal with that part of the story at all.
You also don't mention if it actually has all the illustrations, spells, feats, whatever the fuck he was saying he'd have in it (the one I really remember is more than one illustration per page), to the point that people were thinking he'd have to be using a positively TINY font for it all to fit, or he was just lying.

Which was it?

RPGPundit

Jeez, Pundit, give the man a break! :)

I also own a copy of the book. I picked it up because I figured if NG was going to publish it at some point, it must have SOMETHING good in it. While I can see there are a few creative bits (Some of which I now suspect are actually plagiarized.), I honestly don't know what NG saw in this otherwise mediocre manuscript. It certainly could not have been accurate application or use of the d20 rules set! *Shudders*

Generally I avoid talking about the book because I really don't feel it deserves what little attention it gets.

The author is desperately trying to make it "controversial" to boost sales, and frankly I don't want to feed that need for attention.

I also usually don't post about the book for fear of summoning the author and his army of sock puppet screen names to promote the book (just look at all the fake 5 star reviews on Amazon from accounts whose ONLY activity is writing a single review for Dreadmire).

I AM posting about the book here because frankly this is one place I'd love to see him show up, because this is one of the few boards that doesn't allow crap like that to slide without members like RPGpundit reaming them out, and exposing them for what they are. Hurrah for the flaming keystrokes of truth!

Is this guy like "Candyman"?
Can I summon him by staring into a mirror and saying his name three times? Let's try!

Ahem...
Randy Richards, author of Dreadmire
Randy Richards, author of Dreadmire
Randy Richards, author of Dreadmire

How readable is it? I remember seeing Randy claim they had to ratchet the text down to some ridiculous size to get it all to fit.

Of course, that might have been all talk.

How much real content is there?

There certainly is a lot of content, but little of it useful in a d20 game. Rules are not provided in many sections, and they are not particularly well-written in the sections that have the appropriate rules provided.

There are a lot of monsters, but many of them are simpy a M&M monster with 1 minor change to them that adds nothing to the creature. My personal favorite is the "flying phantom fungus." You guessed it... its a phantom fungus that can fly. Thats it. Nothing else was changed or added.

For what it's worth, the print is small enough to make it annoying to read at length. There are a LOT of pictures, many of them are quite small, some are good to decent, others are less than good, and many have nothing to do with the text they are embedded in. The layout is horrendous, wrapping text around these images in ways that severely reduces the readability of some pages. If Spellbinder is a company, they NEED to fire their layout guy (not that the author or editor are all that great mind you). I think Amazon lets you search inside the book so you can see for yourself.

A LOT of content is taken up by discussion of a group of halflings that speak with a Cajun accent for no explicable reason. Personally I found this both bizarre and annoying. If you are looking for a Cajun halfling sourcebook, then this book is for you! Otherwise, I'd have to recommend that you not waste your time or money.

Looking back at my posts, it all sounds a bit harsh. There are a few interesting ideas. There is also a lot of information on swamps, albeit nothing you couldn't get from a good library book or from public sources on the internet. I have just failed to find it useful in my past games that involve swamps. At the end of the day, that is the book's largest shortcoming as it is supposed to be "the last swamp sourcebook you will ever need" to quote the cover.

Its really more of a setting book. A setting filled with Cajun halflings.

Quote from: mattormegJeez, Pundit, give the man a break! :)

Breaks are for casino workers and the chronically flatulent!
The TRUTH breaks for no man!

RPGPundit

On a more positive note I have found a lot of decent swamp related material out there.

"Monster Geographica: Marsh & Aquatic" by Expeditious Retreat Press has plenty of swamp creatures.

"Bits of the Wilderness: Into the Swamp" by Tabletop Adventures, LLC

"Bite Da Head, Squeeze Da Tail" by Dogsoul Publishing has some interesting swamp related stuff.

"Blood Bayou" by Sword & Sorcery Studios is an interesting read if you like the Carnival Crew and the Jack of Tears from the Scarred Lands setting.

"Ssethregore: In the Coils of the Serpent Empire" by Paradigm Concepts

"Wildscape" also had some really good swamp material in it.


As for swamp related adventures:

"Bleeding Edge #2: Beyond the Towers" by Green Ronin

"Dungeon Crawl Classics #17: Legacy of the Savage Kings" by Goodman Games

"The Magic Dump" by Monkey God

"The Coils of Set" by Necromancer Games

"Palace of Shadows" a C&C adventure by Goodman Games

"The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh" (old TSR 1e module)

"Swamplight" (old TSR 2e module)

"Quagmire" (old TSR oD&D module)

"The Knights of Newts" (old TSR oD&D module)

"The Temple of the Frog" (old TST oD&D module)

Most of the Scarred Lands setting books were rather nice, and fairly creative. Blood Bayou was particularly enjoyable.

"I'm going back some day, come what may to blood bayou."

yew schurr do have a pretty mouth, Frodo.

The review covered as much as it could. I really never finished it. I ordered the book in January of this year in good faith to show there was a book and to look in to the controversy surrounding the book.
Then I became part of the controversy when Randy tried to discredit me. You see, Randy could not stand the fact I gave him a "C" in my overall score of the book. So he attacked me on the Necromancer site and sent out e-mails to members of the site telling them I was some ex of his with an axe to grind.
To funny.
So I keep an eye on the boy to see where he turns up. First at coastcon where he tears in to them and gets ousted then he pops up at the wiki site to blow his own horn as it were.
The whole thing is more sad than funny. He lives in this little world where he's some form of super star. He basically sits in his ez board site and tells himself how great he is. Goes to wiki where he can't delete the things about himself that seem to be less than the star image so out come the conspiracy theories and the so called haters or anti fans.

Q

Quote from: RPGPunditBut has anyone, ever, who is confirmably not an alt of this guy actually seen the book?

RPGPundit

One of the gamestores where I used to live had a copy and I saw it. (didn't bother to pick it up to flip through, though now I almost wish that I had.)

Quote from: QuodeSo I keep an eye on the boy to see where he turns up. First at coastcon where he tears in to them and gets ousted then he pops up at the wiki site to blow his own horn as it were.

I never exactly cought it, what was the deal with him and CoastCon? If someone could point me to a link or give me the short version it would be cool.

Oh, to jump back to page 2, (I'm on dial-up now after my move and can't work through as many threads as I'd like) When Clark Peterson said that "The Wizard's Amulet" was the first D20 adventure, what he isn't mentioning was that they managed it by having it go "live" for dload on thier website at a second past midnight on the first day such adventures were allowed. :D (it's a great lead in to one of the coolest d20 adventures ever imho, The Crucible of Freya. Was more recently updated as well. The idea was that with that short intro adventure and the PHB that had just come out you could be running your first adventure in 15 min or so.)

I called my coast buddy. He lives here in Jackson now, but lived on the coast all of his life and is a lifelong gamer. He has family and friends there and goes down all of the time. He said that there has never, ever been a Spellbinder Books. EVER.

Also, you know, whenever I go to the coast I visit the gaming stores that I know about. This is a thing that I do. Any time I go out of town I search out gaming stores in an ongoing quest for vintage gaming material.

I can guaran-damn-tee you that I would have sussed out this Spellbinder place on one of those trips.

And as someone who was no doubt affected by the Hurricane, how do you feel about the fact that this slimy little worm made up stories invoking Katerina for sympathy in order to benefit personally?

If I was there, I'd say it'd be time to call a few of the good ole boys down round his parts, you know, ones who actually LOST EVERYTHING instead of just lying about losing everything, and just let them know about this guy and what he's done.

Then let nature take its course.

RPGPundit

Not only that... his day job involves selling photos of the hurricane damage:

http://www.dancebackwards.com/

http://dell.shutterfly.com/progal/gallery.jsp?gid=768a5498ce7c6af52212 (http://dell.shutterfly.com/progal/gallery.jsp?gid=768a5498ce7c6af52212)

This guy is milking the Katrina disaster for all the money it's worth.

Yup, if someone desperately deserves being severely beaten by a gang of good ole boys riding in on the back of a pickup-truck, its this guy.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditAnd as someone who was no doubt affected by the Hurricane, how do you feel about the fact that this slimy little worm made up stories invoking Katerina for sympathy in order to benefit personally?

If I was there, I'd say it'd be time to call a few of the good ole boys down round his parts, you know, ones who actually LOST EVERYTHING instead of just lying about losing everything, and just let them know about this guy and what he's done.

Then let nature take its course.

RPGPundit

It's pretty shitty, but he wouldn't be the first or only person to do such a thing. I was fortunate to live upland from where the hurricane hit, but we were without electricity and all of its associated comforts for about a week, and the gas situation was kind of touch and go.

I was involved in the response effort as an employee of a public agency, and it was terrible to see what happened down there. My life was a freakin pic-nic where I was compared to what those folks went through.

The Gulf Coast looked like a nuclear bomb went off. Entire towns went missing.

Quote from: RPGPunditYup, if someone desperately deserves being severely beaten by a gang of good ole boys riding in on the back of a pickup-truck, its this guy.

RPGPundit

Strangely, I really don't know too many of those sorts of folks. At least not well.
Ixnay on the Iolencevay.

Aw come on, you live where you do and you don't know any banjo-playing yokels who beat on anyone who looks at em funny?
That'd be like living in New Jersey and not knowing any fat italian guys who might just be able to get a cousin of theirs to break some guy's legs.
Or me living where I do and not knowing someone who can funnel a few million worth in drug money with a couple of well-placed bribes.

RPGPundit

Maybe you and I have different definitions of "know". I have seen people like this, but I don't know any. I avoid those kind of people like they're the plague, Pundit.
I actually live in a comparatively urban locale, at least compared to the rest of the state.
I totally stand out as a "city" guy when I venture forth into the rural hinterlands. They can smell their own.

Quote from: J ArcaneIt wouldn't do any good.  Wikipedia does not recognize "original research".  If you can't link to some damn website somewhere that proves it, they won't believe it.

Yeah, I never understood that rule of theirs. I mean... they say you must not,

• Do original research.
• Create a wiki article about it on wikipedia.

But you can -

• Do original research
• Create a website about it.
• Create a wiki article about the outside-of-wikipedia work.

A bit strange...

Quote from: mattormegI totally stand out as a "city" guy when I venture forth into the rural hinterlands. They can smell their own.

Smells like...?

You probably know, JimBob, Australia (outside of the cities) is Redneck central, isn't it? :D

QuoteYeah, I never understood that rule of theirs.

Frankly, as I've said, I think the whole rule structure and philosophy behind the site is broken.  I like the idea, but the implementation and attitude is just all wrong.

In some ways I think I like H2G2 better.  At least it's more open about not really bothering with neutrality, rather than pretending to be neutral and hiding behind a fucked up bureuacracy to protect your little rants.

Quote from: mattormegYou probably know, JimBob, Australia (outside of the cities) is Redneck central, isn't it? :D

Hell, yeah.

Matter of fact, I might make a thread about that...

Edit: How I grew up (http://www.therpgsite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=41174)

We can start an exchange program: Mi'sippy rednecks for Aussie Good Ol' Boys?

Quote from: RPGPunditYup, if someone desperately deserves being severely beaten by a gang of good ole gals riding in on the back of a pickup-truck, its this guy.

RPGPundit

Fixed it for you. ('Sides, why bring out the big guns when light ordinance can do the job?)