This hit me in a few ways that I wasn't anticipating.  I popped over here to see if there was any discussion, but I'm guessing with the Holidays most people haven't even seen it yet.

https://youtu.be/D4SDHS9el0U

It's a bit long, disjointed, and occasionally painful to watch (as a lot of James' videos tend to be) but definitely worth a watch.

I watched it late last night, and was glad to see him deciding to take a stand. Clearly this entire thing has taken a real toll on him both personally and professionally, and it's obvious to me that he and I share the same sort of beliefs on speech and thought. I'm always happy to shoot some cash his way because his products are both generally good, and as a fuck you to the people that would have him silenced.

It also doesn't hurt that we both love japanese pro wrestling 

Quote from: rkhigdon on January 02, 2023, 01:09:42 PM
This hit me in a few ways that I wasn't anticipating.  I popped over here to see if there was any discussion, but I'm guessing with the Holidays most people haven't even seen it yet.

https://youtu.be/D4SDHS9el0U

It's a bit long, disjointed, and occasionally painful to watch (as a lot of James' videos tend to be) but definitely worth a watch.

The problem with Raggi is that he wants to be edgy and transgressive, but still gain acceptance in the mainstream RPG "community", which isn't going to work.

He wants to sell his stuff on DrivethruRPG, and operate as a vendor at Gencon and Origins. If he is going to do that, he is going to have to play by the rules of the woke crowd, and bow down to leftist assholes. He seems to think that there is some monolithic RPG community out there run by Bernie bros, when in reality, there is a big OSR scene, conventions that welcome reasonable people, and Internet publishers who would be happy to carry his stuff

Last I checked, Amazon didn't require "sensitivity readers" or forced edits on RPG products. I have bought some very edgy stuff off of Amazon over the years

Fu** Gencon --I never go to that convention, and I have deep pockets. I go to smaller shows and events, and I don't buy products off of Drivethru

Raggi should start his own convention, and welcome every edgy game designer and lost soul into it --lots of gamers would be interested in attending, including myself.

He needs to stop trying to be Bon Jovi and start realizing he is Slayer. LoTFP is not mainstream.

He needs to organically build an audience on his own terms, and that takes some time and money. He has a great product and a reputation already

  I am reminded by the wisdom of what is humorously called "Finnish Politics" in VTES CCG. The Finnish metagame is very heavy into combat, but many Euro tournaments love politics decks *and especially* dealing a table to death (very much like Euro boardgames, tragically). Basically talk until someone deals or the game times out.

In response Finnish players came to qualifiers and tournaments wearing headphones blasting their beloved metal music. When dealers tried to filibuster a table in regards to each Finnish player's combat rush, the Finnish would just point to their headphones and point to their card action -- the message is clear, "No talk, resolve my beat down of you." It actually won them critical mass to change the tournament composition where combat once again had a chance.   

Maybe social media concerns is just not fruitful enough for its engagement effort, especially as a business. Maybe James might be better served by putting on his headphones and making products with the same passion and focus that got him to the big table in the first place. Perhaps it could be called "Finnish Business", an amusing double entendre where getting your work done takes precedence before worrying about every latest critic. 

I have a soft spot for Jim. He is 100% authentic, which by itself puts him in a class few creators/publishers in the industry occupy.

His challenge is going to be attracting new talent to create content. His reputation for taking care of his creators is great, but he has been in a bit of a spiral for a couple years now. If you have one or two really good ideas, would you risk them on LotFP?

I still would, but that is easy for me to say. For the momentum to continue, people will need to take risks.

For creators reading his, I will continue to financially support those who partner with the Jims, Pundits and Vengers in the industry.

I'm sad that he's suffering from mental issues. I hope he gets through it...

He's always seemed like a genuine guy to me, and that vid came straight from the heart. I also support his 'fuck you' stance when it comes to censorship and the gaming industry in general.

Takes a strange kind of person to be cool with being an outcast. Of course, these days their ranks are growing quickly, because of the actions of the online mob. The phrase is "Nobody volunteers for this, they just get thrown in the pit with the rest of us."

With so many, there's actually communities of outcasts who are willing to back you up. Just not among RPG pros (with rare exceptions).

Easier when your livelihood isn't on the line, of course. And that's no knock on anyone who finds years long perpetual attacks on their person and livelihood to be crushingly stressful.

Hope he pulls through.

As a long time LotFP fan since the grind house box, I have supported him but he lost my support when he bowed down to the woke crowd when he took down his pictures with Jordan Peterson. He should have realized he would never satisfy and it was a wrong move to make.

I will have to take a listen to this and see what he has to say. I would love to support him again.

All the best James.

rofl, who keeps a list of every thing they've been banned or blocked or sanctioned for?

I can't even remember them all, just the last one that made me quit fb, which was sharing a (tastefully black-square censored) pic of a self claimed trans-woman near nude at a protest, the black square hiding all sausage but the point that oh long johnson was hanging around still graphically evident...this was hate speech; simply sharing a pic of a person at a public event as they themselves chose to appear is hatespeech...because you see, the average hillbilly doesn't know that there is really no such thing as a sex change surgery and that what you actually get is just frankenstein tier butchery and amputation...they must not be allowed to know or consider that or they might be more resistant to trans people touching schoolchildren you see.

I recall that one because it was so slap in the face absurd and was the "you know what, fuck these retards i'm gonna get drunk and fuck their sisters" moment that motivated me to dump FB entirely. Countless others over a 5 year period sure but I hardly remember each or the details...i suspect one would have to be heavily mentally or emotionally invested in ones FB activity or something to be able to whip out a list like that, in which case, the mans mental health was already at question imho.

I can't because i'm super busy extra lazy and too froggy but someone should let him know that normal people (not 15 billion facebook bots that like and tweet and share etc) out here in the real world judge him better for standing up to the stupidity than we would with harshness if he were an actual puppy kicking racist. In fact, find a black puppy (or a white one, don't care) right now and kick that little shit if you like, I won't judge you for it at all. Hell I've half a mind to start a real racist group right now "chuds against humanity" who advocate for total human extinction in favor a new and perfect AI race to supplant us. We can call it scientology if it will increase donations any.

I can't support the boy with a purchase just now, maybe around the 1st of march ( i just ordered osric hardback and only because i could not find a good price on pendragon 4th or find the link to order the current pendragon run) but if he's ever out this way i can give him a couch and a sammich. As far as purchasing his products I know far too little about exactly what it is he produces to determine if its something i can steal from and use at the table for my purposes. Presently eyeing midderlands just for the maps alone for example, and also trying to convince myself to hold off on buying the ah-64d and f-16viper modules for DCS world, and also eyeing the electric bill...i'd first have to know what hes got that i can use and then swap the budgeting around.

Regardless, as the old preacher says, it doesn't matter that they come late and broken, so long as they come.

Where's the damn Game Master's guide, already?!

Quote from: Tasty_Wind on January 03, 2023, 08:44:37 AM
Where's the damn Game Master's guide, already?!

In one of the videos this week he stated that the GMG was in second pass editing and he hoped to have that done by end of January.  He also admitted that he doesn't  (and hasn't) done well with hard schedule dates, so he didn't exude a lot of confidence on that. 

Truth is, the Grindhouse GMG works just fine, so I've never fretted much over the new one.

I like his don't give a fuck attitude. He's right: the art is important, not the artist.

Quote from: Slipshot762 on January 02, 2023, 11:46:52 PM
rofl, who keeps a list of every thing they've been banned or blocked or sanctioned for?

He is running a business, maybe he thinks it is important to the revenue of his business to track where his products may get banned, and try to reverse it?

Quote from: Banjo Destructo on January 03, 2023, 05:11:26 PM

Quote from: Slipshot762 on January 02, 2023, 11:46:52 PM
rofl, who keeps a list of every thing they've been banned or blocked or sanctioned for?

He is running a business, maybe he thinks it is important to the revenue of his business to track where his products may get banned, and try to reverse it?

Fair point, as it would be easier to do so with business associated emails and documents and such allowing you to check dates for example. I'm lucky to remember where I parked.

To whom it may concern, he's penciled in as a guest at North Texas RPG Con this year. Considering my first exposure to LOTFP was buying his Grindhouse edition then ranting about full-frontal male nudity at 3AM drunk off my ass, I might have to meet this man in person.