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Remember that freakjob Adam Koebel who shat himself during an online game a few months ago?
https://www.adam-koebel.com/blog/2020/7/27/announcement-regarding-dune-adventures-in-the-imperium

Here's the Modiphius announcement about their Dune RPG. (Bold is mine)
After a discussion with Adam Koebel, all parties involved have decided that it is best he resign his ongoing projects with Modiphius Entertainment. We have been following the events of Far Verona and Adam's conduct on the show, and we feel his journey toward rectifying the situation isn't yet complete.

Adam's work for us was written over the winter of 2019 and was specifically about best practices for gamemasters, and we feel it pertinent that the work not be included and his participation in ongoing projects suspended. We are replacing his work using a small team of diverse writers that include women and PoC--writers who were already members of the team who have or will be creating material for our games.  

Consent and safety in roleplaying games is an absolute necessity, and all of our roleplaying games in the future will contain advice and guidance on those aspects for everyone at the table. The safety of our fans is of prime importance to us.

 - Official statement from Modiphius Entertainment, July 27th, 2020

What does this say about how Modiphius's views their audience?

If you're a player of their games, are you such a garbage person that you need writers chosen for their skin color and pants junk instead of their writing and research ability?

Maybe, you are such a fucking loser that you fear playing RPGs could hurt you?

Or just maybe this "announcement" says far more about the imbeciles running Modiphius than its target audience.

One more reason to never buy anything from them.

Man there is a reason I didn't like that company and it wasn't their shitty energy mechanics.  

Seriously in the games I read if you try to defend yourself from a attack you literally feed the GM energy points to use against you later.  I mean wtf?  So playing smart now fucks me over now.

EDIT: That said their attribute, skill, and momentum system I actually liked.  It just a shame that it gets dragged down by the dumber decisions.

Good grief.  I guess he's now one of the fallen ones.

They really do eat their own.
How can anyone comfortably support a group that doesn't think twice about ghosting one of their own when you screw up?

Who knows, maybe Koebel will start hanging out here 'cause it sounds like he'll be running out of places to hang out real soon.
The guy actually has some passion for RPG's so I'll give him that.
Surprisingly, I found him insightful at times when he wasn't spreading the rhetoric and image-thing on too thick.

Modiphius:  Isn't this the company who does Achtung! Cthulhu?  What 'sensitivity writers' did they use to pen that one?  The safety warning must take up the whole front of the book in blinking letters.  Heh

The fact they took in Vampire 5e should be a red flag that this company will backstab you.  There is no brotherhood/sisterhood among sjws.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1143340One more reason to never buy anything from them.

In fairness, their system SUCKS, so that was never a danger from me*. But, Jeeses fuck, that was a stupid statement on so many levels, I can't even begin to dissect the fuckosity of it without rolling for Sanity and taking massive damage.

*Not even with an IP like Dune, which is just one more reminder of: how tha hell do those people get so many awesome IPs for such a crappy system?

Quote from: Spinachcat;1143337Adam's work for us was written over the winter of 2019 and was specifically about best practices for gamemasters, and we feel it pertinent that the work not be included and his participation in ongoing projects suspended. We are replacing his work using a small team of diverse writers that include women and PoC--writers who were already members of the team who have or will be creating material for our games.

This is so wrong. If his advice was good, it can't hurt someone just because of who wrote it. And now they will either replace his good advice with "diverse" bad advice or they will just reword his advice and pretend that makes it safer.

The problem is that I need to have advise from people that share my lived experience so that means that having diverse writers that include women and pocs is just not useful or practical for me.

Maybe that will not hurt them that much, they seem to be doing alrigh businesswise... I was involved in a couple of discussions in their Facebook page and in their own forum (yes, I was part of their customers... up until that announcement) and although there were some people that found that assuming their "fans" are puerile children who need safety tools is offensive to their audience, most were applauding them for that.

I truly can't believe I won't be buying a Dune RPG.

But between their craptastic house system and their SJW politics, its going to be an utter shitfest.

It's really telling Modiphius went with "writers that include women and PoC" instead of their NAMES because they don't matter as writers or human beings. All that matters is their sex junk and skin color. That's what had to be promoted to their audience. Not telling us that Person A is a Dune expert or fabulous GM or Person B is an authority on Frank Herbert. Nope, they instead went with "give us kudos! We got us a vagina and a not-honky!!"

Hopefully, go woke, go broke will knock on their door soon enough.

Oh well, more money to send to a better publisher who isn't a pandering imbecile.

Yeah this went over big on their forums and only a few said anything against it.

I have bought quite a bit from Modiphius in the last few years: the entire Mutant Chronicles line, everything out so far for Conan and Star Trek Adventures, Coriolis, and maybe a few other titles. All of them are nice looking products even if I'm not a huge fan of the 2d20 system (but among them, the Conan version is my favorite, and Coriolis uses a different system based on Mutant Year 0).

So they gave a shitty statement about dumping a guy that did a shitty thing but is probably still a pretty good writer. Whatever. I'll probably still pick up Dune because they make nice-looking products, I have the money, and I don't give a fuck about trying to wage some kind of culture war with my purchases.

My problem with Modiphius stuff is that it looks pretty but is so incredibly BLAND - they seem to suck the life out of whatever they touch.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1143370I truly can't believe I won't be buying a Dune RPG.

But between their craptastic house system and their SJW politics, its going to be an utter shitfest.

It's really telling Modiphius went with "writers that include women and PoC" instead of their NAMES because they don't matter as writers or human beings. All that matters is their sex junk and skin color. That's what had to be promoted to their audience. Not telling us that Person A is a Dune expert or fabulous GM or Person B is an authority on Frank Herbert. Nope, they instead went with "give us kudos! We got us a vagina and a not-honky!!"

Hopefully, go woke, go broke will knock on their door soon enough.

Oh well, more money to send to a better publisher who isn't a pandering imbecile.

And they should beware, because they haven't been that inclusive over the last few years. Their staff is composed by quite a lot of white dudes and then there's a woman and a black guy (but he isn't even a writter, he works in customer support). If the woke mob decides to cancel them they will have a field day.

Quote from: MigRib;1143379Their staff is composed by quite a lot of white dudes and then there's a woman and a black guy.

Of course it is! The hobby has been (vastly) majority white male since its inception. How is this difficult to comprehend?
Imagine a job advert from a few years ago - "Several years experience in the hobby would be advantageous". Who would have that - that's right a lot of middle-aged men! These days you get far more "diversity", but 5 or 10 years ago? It was white males as far as the eye could see. I'm glad it's changing - now being a nerd isn't something to hide from your colleagues. But people moaning because the staff of a games company is mostly white dudes? There are more important hills to fight and die on.

I knew they were Woke even before they turned ion Adam. Though not surprised. I bought the new Klingon core book and their wokeness is on full display as Klingons can now be gender fluid, inclusive and as diverse as can be according to the authors of that book. They could not just make male and female Klingons as equals as they have in the TV shows. Now Klingons can now start the day self identifying as a Batleth or a Distrupter.

I can ignore their politics it's Modiphius doing what White Wolf did initially with their core books. Mostly rehash the rules section with a few changes, slightly expanded Klingon racial information. Not worth the price tag for print. I buy PDf for companies I enjoy though will never run. Thier next big release will be Romulan Core book with the same SJW bullshit and more rehash.

Quote from: spon;1143381Of course it is! The hobby has been (vastly) majority white male since its inception. How is this difficult to comprehend?
Imagine a job advert from a few years ago - "Several years experience in the hobby would be advantageous". Who would have that - that's right a lot of middle-aged men! These days you get far more "diversity", but 5 or 10 years ago? It was white males as far as the eye could see. I'm glad it's changing - now being a nerd isn't something to hide from your colleagues. But people moaning because the staff of a games company is mostly white dudes? There are more important hills to fight and die on.

#FACTS

The problem is SJWs refuse to view anything by context. Of course up until recently it was mostly white men because the majority of them created the hobby. yet don' tell that to the sJWs can't have that going against the narrative.

Quote from: S'mon;1143378My problem with Modiphius stuff is that it looks pretty but is so incredibly BLAND - they seem to suck the life out of whatever they touch.

That's a symptom of underlying other problems, including the one that the this thread is about.  It's been clear for some time that they are a company that doesn't really get what makes RPGs tick.

Quote from: spon;1143381Of course it is! The hobby has been (vastly) majority white male since its inception. How is this difficult to comprehend?
Imagine a job advert from a few years ago - "Several years experience in the hobby would be advantageous". Who would have that - that's right a lot of middle-aged men! These days you get far more "diversity", but 5 or 10 years ago? It was white males as far as the eye could see. I'm glad it's changing - now being a nerd isn't something to hide from your colleagues. But people moaning because the staff of a games company is mostly white dudes? There are more important hills to fight and die on.

Maybe I was misundertood, I wasn't complaining, I was just stating that their virtue-signalling is particularly vacuous because they haven't even tried to practice what they are now preaching. Smaller companies probably get away with that but in their case it's quite obvious.

Quote from: S'mon;1143378My problem with Modiphius stuff is that it looks pretty but is so incredibly BLAND - they seem to suck the life out of whatever they touch.

Bland? To be fair, it is a British company.

And, in the case of Star Trek, much of ST is bland on paper...and on screen.

Quote from: HappyDaze;1143390Bland? To be fair, it is a British company.

And, in the case of Star Trek, much of ST is bland on paper...and on screen.

I don't use their RPG or game rules, however I love their minis lines for Fallout and Skyrim.

Quote from: Shasarak;1143360The problem is that I need to have advise from people that share my lived experience so that means that having diverse writers that include women and pocs is just not useful or practical for me.

OK, that's sheer genius.  Absolute inversion of their own narrative.  It's right up there with "Islam is right about women" in terms of mental judo.

Quote from: HappyDaze;1143390Bland? To be fair, it is a British company.

And, in the case of Star Trek, much of ST is bland on paper...and on screen.

Once Star Trek went from "Wagon Train to the stars" to "United Nations for the Universe", the decline in excitement was inevitable.  Most Star Trek RPG sessions I've ever been involved in are far closer to TOS in tone than any other series (except portions of DS9).  It's the only way to keep it interesting...

Quote from: HappyDaze;1143390Bland? To be fair, it is a British company.

And, in the case of Star Trek, much of ST is bland on paper...and on screen.

But they make NAZIS bland!!! :-O

British RPG stuff hardly has a reputation for blandness, does it? Warhammer? Even TSR UK?

Quote from: S'mon;1143404But they make NAZIS bland!!! :-O

British RPG stuff hardly has a reputation for blandness, does it? Warhammer? Even TSR UK?

I'm just fucking with ya. I enjoy several British made games, Modipius included, but I'll agree that they are very stuck in playing it safe with their licensed works. Maybe it's because so much of their stuff is licensed.

Quote from: spon;1143381Of course it is! The hobby has been (vastly) majority white male since its inception. How is this difficult to comprehend?
Imagine a job advert from a few years ago - "Several years experience in the hobby would be advantageous". Who would have that - that's right a lot of middle-aged men! These days you get far more "diversity", but 5 or 10 years ago? It was white males as far as the eye could see. I'm glad it's changing - now being a nerd isn't something to hide from your colleagues. But people moaning because the staff of a games company is mostly white dudes? There are more important hills to fight and die on.

S In that vein, can we talk about the lake of diversity in the NBA?  Someone REALLY needs to more short white men playing.  /s  

I've tried hammering that point in with friends of mine; there's a difference between removing artificial barriers (which is admirable) and forced diversity, or there's a 'new king of the hill, its _______ groups turn to suffer'.  Anyone that's been to gaming conventions knows that it's always been -everyone- is welcome, but it was mostly slightly socially awkward  white guys.

Quote from: MigRib;1143389Maybe I was misundertood, I wasn't complaining, I was just stating that their virtue-signalling is particularly vacuous because they haven't even tried to practice what they are now preaching. Smaller companies probably get away with that but in their case it's quite obvious.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.  When you base your 'in-group' strictly on ideology, the purity test will bite you in the ass eventually (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre).  

Quote from: Eirikrautha;1143400Once Star Trek went from "Wagon Train to the stars" to "United Nations for the Universe", the decline in excitement was inevitable.  Most Star Trek RPG sessions I've ever been involved in are far closer to TOS in tone than any other series (except portions of DS9).  It's the only way to keep it interesting...

DS9 is my favorite Star Trek -show- but the TOS era and mind set sure make for better gaming.  The core plot to Picard could make a fun campaign... if your players hadn't played Mass Effect and spoiled it already.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1143337Remember that freakjob Adam Koebel who shat himself during an online game a few months ago?
 We are replacing his work using a small team of diverse writers that include women and PoC--writers who were already members of the team who have or will be creating material for our games.  

This is what really bothers me about SJWs: they don't care about either talent or skills. The only things that matter to them are your sex or ethnicity.

And that's why every area of entertainment they've got a foothold on is now in shambles, from super-heroes comic books to TV shows.

Quote from: Greywolf76;1143431This is what really bothers me about SJWs: they don't care about either talent or skills. The only things that matter to them are your sex or ethnicity.

And that's why every area of entertainment they've got a foothold on is now in shambles, from super-heroes comic books to TV shows.

Which has always been their goal.

As a "POC" it's become an issue for me in particular because I *don't* want to be chosen for a project because of the slant of my eyes, or the tone of my skin, and the flatness of my nose. I'd rather be on a project because my ideas and design are good.

It's weird talking to people that have enthusiastically asked me work for them, people I *like* then find out one of the criteria of their organization was to include "more diverse perspectives" which I find insulting. And I do realize they don't mean to insult me, they're just *that* clueless about their ideas. But on principle it now means my work, however good/bad has this presupposition on it based on my race. Which I can't abide by. I don't ever want my work to be considered "charity" for the purposes of my efforts I've put it in to get where I am.

I'll certainly never know if that's been true my whole life... but considering where I came from, and what it took to get where I am - I've enjoyed the journey even though at times I didn't realize how hard it really was. Having some passive-aggressive Leftists pat me (or any other non-white) on the head for their ego-stroking guilty-pleasure is... gross.

As I don't know the people at Modiphius, and I don't know Koebel personally, but I know enough of him based on his online screeds and groupchats, and opinions he's made freely available that I think he's a SJW uniform-wearing dumbass. But I'll be the first person to say - I don't think he did anything wrong. It's a fucking game and nothing actually happened. He was roleplaying an NPC that was a creep. This was merely an opportunity of his own Leftist culture, he helped erect and support, devouring him because he gave someone of relative lower status in his community the opportunity to score Victim-Points. Cannibalism is the results of failing the Purity Test. And in the end... everyone fails the Purity Test.

And Modiphius... apparently now has adopted their own Inquisition (with the usual results for such Purity Test) - where nothing Koebel (or anyone else) will ever "be enough". Cannibalism-engage!

So fine. Modiphius has successfully signaled they do not want any of my money. The math will work itself out, this isn't that big of an industry.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1143341Man there is a reason I didn't like that company and it wasn't their shitty energy mechanics.  

Seriously in the games I read if you try to defend yourself from a attack you literally feed the GM energy points to use against you later.  I mean wtf?  So playing smart now fucks me over now.

EDIT: That said their attribute, skill, and momentum system I actually liked.  It just a shame that it gets dragged down by the dumber decisions.

+This. After running their Conan quickstart adventure I came to the same conclusion.

The Basic 2d20 attribute, skill, and momentum system is solid gold - and the Fucking Cure for those who don't like swingy RQ style mechanics.

But then they threw in a wonky damage dice mechanic, then the a GM points mechanic, then...

IMHO The base 2d20 attribute, skill, and momentum system should be melded with the basic d100 attrtibute skill/damage system. You'd then have a hell of an RPG. With momentum spending serving as a streamlined "hero point" mechanic and the "critical hit" system.

But I'm pretty sure if someone did it that Modiphius will still try and sue the hell out of them no matter how much you re-worded the mechanics.

Quote from: Jaeger;1143496+This. After running their Conan quickstart adventure I came to the same conclusion.

The Basic 2d20 attribute, skill, and momentum system is solid gold - and the Fucking Cure for those who don't like swingy RQ style mechanics.

But then they threw in a wonky damage dice mechanic, then the a GM points mechanic, then...

IMHO The base 2d20 attribute, skill, and momentum system should be melded with the basic d100 attrtibute skill/damage system. You'd then have a hell of an RPG. With momentum spending serving as a streamlined "hero point" mechanic and the "critical hit" system.

But I'm pretty sure if someone did it that Modiphius will still try and sue the hell out of them no matter how much you re-worded the mechanics.

Iirc you cant copywrite game mechanics so go ahead.

Fuck for damage alone I would had gone for weapon damage + damage modifier + momentum - armor = damage.  Clean, simple, and quick.

Quote from: S'mon;1143404But they make NAZIS bland!!! :-O

British RPG stuff hardly has a reputation for blandness, does it? Warhammer? Even TSR UK?

Actually Warhammer and 40k are really bland settings. They are very one-trick-ponies in setting and 90% of their content is "borrowed" from everything else. RPGs, books, movies. Its the blandest of the bland as there nothing original in the settings. This was a problem too from a few other UK based RPGs I've seen.

Quote from: Slambo;1143497Iirc you cant copywrite game mechanics so go ahead.

Just because something is perfectly legal doesn't mean that lawfare isn't effective.

You still got to cough up the six figure defense to prove that the law still says what it has always said.

Quote from: tenbones;1143452As a "POC" it's become an issue for me in particular because I *don't* want to be chosen for a project because of the slant of my eyes, or the tone of my skin, and the flatness of my nose. I'd rather be on a project because my ideas and design are good.

The whole concept of the "diversity hire" is grotesque. It doesn't champion the value of a candidate. It erases their merit.

It's very telling how the "woman and the POC" didn't need names to elicit kudos from Modiphius' audience. That point really sticks in my craw.

Fun aside. I'm working with a Chinese client and he was pissed off because today two American morons apologized to him for bombing Hiroshima. I got an earful about "if they so woke, why can't they tell I'm Chinese" and "Japan deserved it for the rape of Nanjing" and "they called me Asian, like if I was from India."

I'm convinced SJW-ism is a fetish. Their worship of submission and purity reeks of deep rooted sexual issues.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1143517Fun aside. I'm working with a Chinese client and he was pissed off because today two American morons apologized to him for bombing Hiroshima.

That's a good one. :D :D

Quote from: Spinachcat;1143517I'm working with a Chinese client and he was pissed off because today two American morons apologized to him for bombing Hiroshima.

Greetings!

Modiphious are woke morons. I hope they go broke.

I would never apologize for the United States dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Japanese Empire wanted to find out. They thought America was passive and weak, and rolled the dice. Damn right they got what was coming to them.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Jaeger;1143512Just because something is perfectly legal doesn't mean that lawfare isn't effective.

You still got to cough up the six figure defense to prove that the law still says what it has always said.

Yeah you gotta wait till the company goes bust, then you can take the good parts of the system without being sued.

Quote from: Omega;1143511Actually Warhammer and 40k are really bland settings. They are very one-trick-ponies in setting and 90% of their content is "borrowed" from everything else. RPGs, books, movies. Its the blandest of the bland as there nothing original in the settings. This was a problem too from a few other UK based RPGs I've seen.

Warhammer and 40k in the earliest incarnations (back in the 80s) had a kind of 2000AD black humour to them. Apart from the mechanics, the content came from and the way the standard fantasy/SF tropes got refracted through a lens of this probably quite British sense of humour.

My working hypothesis is that got stripped out so it would sell better to the cousins, bless their overly literal-minded cotton socks.

Quote from: SHARK;1143520I would never apologize for the United States dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Japanese Empire wanted to find out. They thought America was passive and weak, and rolled the dice. Damn right they got what was coming to them.

Slightly off-topic to social justice, but SHARK, you do realise that Japan attacked the US only because the US was provoking them, right? Had the US not instituted an oil embargo against Japan earlier that year, the Japanese would not have felt compelled to invade the Philippines. No Philippines invasion -> no Pearl Harbor.

Nobody's shedding any tears for what happened to the Japanese in WWII, but the fact of the matter is that as far as the US-Japan situation is concerned, the US was far from blameless for the escalation.

Quote from: Premier;1143526Slightly off-topic to social justice, but SHARK, you do realise that Japan attacked the US only because the US was provoking them, right? Had the US not instituted an oil embargo against Japan earlier that year, the Japanese would not have felt compelled to invade the Philippines. No Philippines invasion -> no Pearl Harbor.

Nobody's shedding any tears for what happened to the Japanese in WWII, but the fact of the matter is that as far as the US-Japan situation is concerned, the US was far from blameless for the escalation.

uhhh... you realize the oil embargo/asset seizure was in 1941...the Japanese had started on Korea and China and the rest of the mainland 10 years earlier...and one year after the Japanese started interfering with US trade by seizing French Indochina...


As much as I love REH Conan, Space 1889, and Dune; the woke fuckers ain't getting my money.  A shame since the Conan stuff seems so good.

Quote from: Premier;1143526Had the US not instituted an oil embargo against Japan earlier that year, the Japanese would not have felt compelled to invade the Philippines.

Two months before the US sanctions, Japan signed a non-agression pact with the Soviets in order to free up troops for the war with the US. The sanctions didn't start anything, they were just one step in the march to an inevitable war.

You need to question your source and find out why they lied to you.

Quote from: SHARK;1143520Greetings!

Modiphious are woke morons. I hope they go broke.

I would never apologize for the United States dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Japanese Empire wanted to find out. They thought America was passive and weak, and rolled the dice. Damn right they got what was coming to them.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Obviously it's more nuanced than that -

Spoiler

Truman's projected numbers of casualties for taking Japan (the popular number they settled on was 1-million American troops dead) was largely propaganda to win popular support. You can see this in the days leading up to eventual bombing (against the advice of nearly all his military advisors - for fear of kicking off an arms race with Russia - which is exactly what happened) where the numbers were in the 10's of thousands, then the many 10's of thousands in the paper - trying to get plausible deniability in the American papers. Then the magic "million deaths" stuck, then it was bombs away! And that was only part of the issue...

Behind the scenes it was even more calculated, Japanese high-command were already privately communicating with the U.S. prior to the bombings (obviously they had no idea we had nukes) - but they were already offering to conditional surrender. Their primary main condition was "don't kill the Emperor". Their big fear wasn't the Americans - despite us firebombing the shit out of them, it was the fact the Russians were massing to invade them and their reasoning was that the Russians would invade and kill the Emperor as a matter of policy, because that's exactly what they did with their own Emperor.

Truman, not the brightest bulb, wanted to showcase to the Russians his new toys as a warning to the Red Army. The nukes did very little to deter Japan - they were already crushed. In fact, AFTER the nukes were dropped, Japanese high-command didn't even register Hiroshima and Nagasaki had disappeared for a day or two, because they were literally losing cities every night in our firebombing raids. The sad part is we demanded unconditional surrender - which only bought time to get the logistics of the bomb-drop in place. And ultimately gave them the conditions they wanted *after* we dropped the bombs. Which we now know were for other reasons.

But in the big picture... you're ultimately right. Which Japanese admiralty warned the Army not to rouse the sleeping giant. Giant's *do* love to throw big rocks.

- The Japanese didn't surrender after Hiroshima
- Even after Nagasaki, there was an attempted coup to prevent the surrender
- It took two nukes AND the USSR declaring war on Japan to finally get the conditional surrender

I do think though that the nukes freed up the minds of both parties, USA as well as Japan, to talk peace. They were a big permission slip given to both sides. They let Japan surrender without losing face ("We can't fight that"), and they freed up the minds of the Americans not to quibble over the Emperor.

Letter I just sent to Modiphius:

Hello,
I just read that you are replacing Adam Koebel's gamemastering advice.  The announcement specified that this will be advice from women and people of color.

As a disabled white man, I take it that means I am not going to be represented on your new team.  I previously bought products from your Forbidden Lands and Conan product lines.  Should I refrain from purchasing products from you in the future?  Your announcement seems to indicate that you value people of certain identities and my identity is not one of those you value.

Thank you for your consideration on this matter,
Patrick

I sent a similar letter to the producers of Eclipse Phase a while back in response to their announcement that they didn't want men's rights activists playing their game.  I said that since I am a man who values his civil rights does that mean you do not wish me to purchase your products?  They were quick to tell me they did want my business.  The point I was making flew right over their heads.  I wonder if the same will happen with Modiphius.

Quote from: kidkaos2;1143749Letter I just sent to Modiphius:

Hello,
I just read that you are replacing Adam Koebel's gamemastering advice.  The announcement specified that this will be advice from women and people of color.

As a disabled white man, I take it that means I am not going to be represented on your new team.  I previously bought products from your Forbidden Lands and Conan product lines.  Should I refrain from purchasing products from you in the future?  Your announcement seems to indicate that you value people of certain identities and my identity is not one of those you value.

Thank you for your consideration on this matter,
Patrick

I sent a similar letter to the producers of Eclipse Phase a while back in response to their announcement that they didn't want men's rights activists playing their game.  I said that since I am a man who values his civil rights does that mean you do not wish me to purchase your products?  They were quick to tell me they did want my business.  The point I was making flew right over their heads.  I wonder if the same will happen with Modiphius.

Greetings!

*laughing* Funny as hell, man! Great letter to them! Keep sticking it to them!:D

Of course, your deeper point flew right over their heads. Proceed to repeat it several times for them to get it. I know, it's shocking that these people can actually be that dense. (SHARK shakes his head)

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

I have bought exactly one RPG from Modiphius. And that was Monsters & Magic. And OSR game that I have developed an affection for. But it is also likely the only thing I plan on buying from that company.

Monsters & Magic is not supported by Modiphius. Promised books for it have gone unpublished. Which makes the game a clear low priority for them. Which is a pity. Because I rather like it.

Quote from: Darrin Kelley;1143753I have bought exactly one RPG from Modiphius.

Their Thunderbirds board game is excellent. It really captures the TV show and it's simple enough for kids to play but still hard enough to win to be a challenge.

I also have their Fallout Wasteland Warfare game but never played it because of the wonky scale doesn't fit with any terrain I have. I got the starter cheap. I got their Elite Dangerous RPG but I think they just printed that one.

Just a want to point out that not everything that people think is a Modiphius game is one of theirs.

For example the following are actually Free League Publishing - https://frialigan.se/en/startpage/
Mutant Year Zero
Coriolis
Tales from the Loop
Forbidden Lands
Alien

Also Fragged Empire is from Wade Dyer of Design Ministries. - http://www.fraggedempire.com/

Quote from: Darrin Kelley;1143753I have bought exactly one RPG from Modiphius. And that was Monsters & Magic. And OSR game that I have developed an affection for. But it is also likely the only thing I plan on buying from that company.

Monsters & Magic is not supported by Modiphius. Promised books for it have gone unpublished. Which makes the game a clear low priority for them. Which is a pity. Because I rather like it.

   I think Monsters & Magic has moved over to Mindjammer Press like the rest of Sarah Newton's stuff, and she released a free module for it back in March, so it's not Modiphius any more and may not be dead yet.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1143337Remember that freakjob Adam Koebel who shat himself during an online game a few months ago?
https://www.adam-koebel.com/blog/2020/7/27/announcement-regarding-dune-adventures-in-the-imperium

Here's the Modiphius announcement about their Dune RPG. (Bold is mine)
After a discussion with Adam Koebel, all parties involved have decided that it is best he resign his ongoing projects with Modiphius Entertainment. We have been following the events of Far Verona and Adam's conduct on the show, and we feel his journey toward rectifying the situation isn't yet complete.

Adam's work for us was written over the winter of 2019 and was specifically about best practices for gamemasters, and we feel it pertinent that the work not be included and his participation in ongoing projects suspended. We are replacing his work using a small team of diverse writers that include women and PoC--writers who were already members of the team who have or will be creating material for our games.  

Consent and safety in roleplaying games is an absolute necessity, and all of our roleplaying games in the future will contain advice and guidance on those aspects for everyone at the table. The safety of our fans is of prime importance to us.

 - Official statement from Modiphius Entertainment, July 27th, 2020

What does this say about how Modiphius's views their audience?

If you're a player of their games, are you such a garbage person that you need writers chosen for their skin color and pants junk instead of their writing and research ability?

Maybe, you are such a fucking loser that you fear playing RPGs could hurt you?

Or just maybe this "announcement" says far more about the imbeciles running Modiphius than its target audience.

Don't buy games from radicalized Democrats.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1143881Don't buy games from radicalized Democrats.

Modiphius are actually British. Although they may well vote Liberal Democrat. :D

They must have a Hell of a time finding enough PoCs here for their Affirmative Action hiring. At least Seattle-ites can hire half-east-Asians if they want & declare victory.

When I've been to Dragonmeet I'd say the (many, many) Modiphius employees there were 90-95% white male, 5-10% white female. The women you see selling stuff tend to be downstairs in the trade hall selling gem dice bags and other RPG-adjacent paraphernalia.

Quote from: kidkaos2;1143749Letter I just sent to Modiphius:

Hello,
I just read that you are replacing Adam Koebel's gamemastering advice.  The announcement specified that this will be advice from women and people of color.

As a disabled white man, I take it that means I am not going to be represented on your new team.  I previously bought products from your Forbidden Lands and Conan product lines.  Should I refrain from purchasing products from you in the future?  Your announcement seems to indicate that you value people of certain identities and my identity is not one of those you value.

Thank you for your consideration on this matter,
Patrick

I sent a similar letter to the producers of Eclipse Phase a while back in response to their announcement that they didn't want men's rights activists playing their game.  I said that since I am a man who values his civil rights does that mean you do not wish me to purchase your products?  They were quick to tell me they did want my business.  The point I was making flew right over their heads.  I wonder if the same will happen with Modiphius.

I send them an e-mail trying to cancel an order a couple of weeks ago and I'm still waiting for a reply. They don't care much for their clients, one way or the other, I'm afraid...

Quote from: S'mon;1143913Modiphius are actually British. Although they may well vote Liberal Democrat. :D

They must have a Hell of a time finding enough PoCs here for their Affirmative Action hiring. At least Seattle-ites can hire half-east-Asians if they want & declare victory.

When I've been to Dragonmeet I'd say the (many, many) Modiphius employees there were 90-95% white male, 5-10% white female. The women you see selling stuff tend to be downstairs in the trade hall selling gem dice bags and other RPG-adjacent paraphernalia.

Chris Birch may self-identify as a black lesbian.

From About Modiphius (https://www.modiphius.com/about.html):

WHAT DOES "MODIPHIUS" MEAN?
The word 'Modiphius' was the name of a solar system in a world that Chris Birch worked on with long time collaborator Stuart Newman (they co-wrote FATE Sci-fi game Starblazer Adventures together) and came from the verb 'modified' which is defined as:
Make partial or minor changes to (something), typically so as to improve it or to make it less extreme.
Transform (a structure) from its original anatomical form during development or evolution.

The secret of the blandness is revealed!! :D

"Hm, these Nazis are great villains and all, but how do we improve them? Make them less extreme?"

Quote from: S'mon;1143913Modiphius are actually British. Although they may well vote Liberal Democrat. :D

They must have a Hell of a time finding enough PoCs here for their Affirmative Action hiring. At least Seattle-ites can hire half-east-Asians if they want & declare victory.

When I've been to Dragonmeet I'd say the (many, many) Modiphius employees there were 90-95% white male, 5-10% white female. The women you see selling stuff tend to be downstairs in the trade hall selling gem dice bags and other RPG-adjacent paraphernalia.

I think they hire freelancers to write much of their stuff.

Quote from: HappyDaze;1143930I think they hire freelancers to write much of their stuff.

Quite. The rules for Fallout Wasteland Warfare suck. It is almost impossible to die in that tabletop game, very unlike Fallout IV, where it took me six months of playing to learn how not to die, and even now I get handed my A$$ every once in awhile if I'm not paying attention, even with 50th level characters. Fixed that problem though by ensuring I always have a backup.... I have taken some of the flavorful elements of Fallout Wasteland Warfare and added that to a set of free  Fallout 2.0 BRP style rules that have been floating around the Internetz for well, at least a decade now, and that works fine for my home games. Love the minis by the way, but the rules probably written by freelancers are bulky, with lots of weird bells and whistles, in no way uniform, and just slightly above trash.

I use baseline stats from weapons, equipment, perks, and abilities in the Fallout IV video game to run my tabletop game.

Quote from: GameDaddy;1143937Quite. The rules for Fallout Wasteland Warfare suck. It is almost impossible to die in that tabletop game, very unlike Fallout IV, where it took me six months of playing to learn how not to die, and even now I get handed my A$$ every once in awhile if I'm not paying attention, even with 50th level characters. Fixed that problem though by ensuring I always have a backup.... I have taken some of the flavorful elements of Fallout Wasteland Warfare and added that to a set of free  Fallout 2.0 BRP style rules that have been floating around the Internetz for well, at least a decade now, and that works fine for my home games. Love the minis by the way, but the rules probably written by freelancers are bulky, with lots of weird bells and whistles, in no way uniform, and just slightly above trash.

I use baseline stats from weapons, equipment, perks, and abilities in the Fallout IV video game to run my tabletop game.

According to my link above, Fallout was a staff designer, "James Sheahan - Designer: Fallout". The Conan line is by a freelancer - "Jason Durall - Conan Line Manager".

Modiphius' talent is very much in making everything look glossy & pretty. Their rules-fu makes Paizo look competent.

Quote from: Premier;1143526Slightly off-topic to social justice, but SHARK, you do realise that Japan attacked the US only because the US was provoking them, right? Had the US not instituted an oil embargo against Japan earlier that year, the Japanese would not have felt compelled to invade the Philippines. No Philippines invasion -> no Pearl Harbor.

Nobody's shedding any tears for what happened to the Japanese in WWII, but the fact of the matter is that as far as the US-Japan situation is concerned, the US was far from blameless for the escalation.

The Japanese were already empire building and to defend their actions in WWII is the same as defending Hitler's call for Lebensraum.  So fuck off and stop reading that Marxist cunt  Howard Zinn.

1910 Annexation of Korea
1931 Invasion of Manchuria
1937 Invasion of  China
1940 Germany, Italy, and Japan became allies under the Tripartite Pact.
1940 U.S. Oil Embargo and asset freeze.

It's  a terrible shame that Modiphius has managed to secure the rights to some of the best source material (Conan, John Carter, Dune) for their stupid, gimmicky 2d20 system. The fact that they're determined to poz everything up only adds insult to injury.

Quote from: Gagarth;1144377The Japanese were already empire building and to defend their actions in WWII is the same as defending Hitler's call for Lebensraum.  So fuck off and stop reading that Marxist cunt  Howard Zinn.

1910 Annexation of Korea
1931 Invasion of Manchuria
1937 Invasion of  China
1940 Germany, Italy, and Japan became allies under the Tripartite Pact.
1940 U.S. Oil Embargo and asset freeze.

Greetings!

Outstanding, Gagarth! It is good to see some people learn real history instead of guzzling down propaganda jello from Marxist frauds like Howard Zinn.:D

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Snowman0147;1143521Yeah you gotta wait till the company goes bust, then you can take the good parts of the system without being sued.

Nope. They cannot copyright game mechanics.

Steal whatever you want from Moldyfartus, but you must express the game mechanics in your own words.

I can well imagine how they will fuck up a John Carter of Mars RPG.

Quote from: Omega;1144479I can well imagine how they will fuck up a John Carter of Mars RPG.

Seconded. Most likely we will see Deeja Thoris covered from head to toe two steps away from a hijab because sexy women are bad m...okay totally missing the point that Mars is hot as hell and dressing like that is a good way to pass out. Not a huge fan of the system though find it just ok.

Quote from: Omega;1144479I can well imagine how they will fuck up a John Carter of Mars RPG.

It's already out. I'm not a fan of how they removed skills and effectively made everyone omnicompetent. Might work for JC himself, but it's not an approach that I like for group games. "My character is good at everything, yours?" "I'm good too. Bob?" "We're all good."