Quote from: Ghostmaker on July 02, 2021, 11:36:01 AMBy whom, if I might ask? Sorry, I get twitchy when someone declares they are a 'spokesman'.

Sorry, my bad. I was in telepathic contact with Venger and I forgot to turn off my Mass Mind psi-power that I use to dominate this forum so everyone accidentally was infected with unconscious mind worms and that's how Venger got declared our spokesman.

It happens to the best of us.

Quote from: Rhedyn on July 02, 2021, 02:19:30 PMWhat makes you assume that being conservative or Republican is in general acceptable?

My guns + my willingness to use them.

Quote from: tenbones on July 02, 2021, 05:02:12 PMTL/DR - I don't want to let the leeches suck our energies dry slap-boxing with these morons, when we know what we need to do. Because there is *nothing* else left for us to do.

THIS is the exact advice I give to people talking about trying to save the USA. I enjoy shitposting on commie clowns, but my political efforts are for the audits and Red State Secession and my hobby efforts are for my own games...and I'd be down to help launch MAGAcon.

We need our own convention and the more I think about it (and I've been musing on it more than I should), I think Chris24601 nailed it with "Make Adventuring Great Again" Con happening the week directly after GenCon in Indianapolis. Or the week before might work too. Depends on prices / competition.

We need the convention because it needs to be a real world event where people can feel empowered to meet up in person and those who can't attend, see the pics and videos. The Twatter eruption will be tasty free publicity.

Segregation is the future. Not by race, but by culture.

Quote from: Shasarak on July 02, 2021, 05:24:50 PMOver 120 million Americans died from the Wuhan virus and you want to down play it as only 605K.

Zero traffic in LA and my pick of empty beach houses?

I'm gonna pass out from that boner.

Quote from: Spinachcat on July 02, 2021, 10:20:36 PM

Quote from: Ghostmaker on July 02, 2021, 11:36:01 AMBy whom, if I might ask? Sorry, I get twitchy when someone declares they are a 'spokesman'.

Sorry, my bad. I was in telepathic contact with Venger and I forgot to turn off my Mass Mind psi-power that I use to dominate this forum so everyone accidentally was infected with unconscious mind worms and that's how Venger got declared our spokesman.

It happens to the best of us.

It's all good. I have this knee-jerk reaction to 'I speak for the masses'.

That being said, Venger is absolutely spot on.

Quote from: Fergurg on July 02, 2021, 03:07:16 PM

Quote from: tenbones on July 02, 2021, 01:49:51 PM
As much as I like VS's sentiment, the reality is he is preaching blasphemy to the Anointed.

These institutions on a corporate level have made their bet. They will not relent in their positions until they're shown their calculus is off. That means them losing money, and on the fringes of niche-hobbies like TTRPG's that might mean going out of business.

I'll go further. They won't relent even if they are shown that their calculus is off. The true believers of the SJW religion have been treating the TTRPG world as foreign land that they are conquering; going Scorched Earth and destroying everything is acceptable to them because the purpose is to destroy. Subversion is their preferred method, but leaving nothing behind to salvage is also just fine.

This reminds me of an episode of Person of Interest, where an assassin working for the bad guys, controlled by a supercomputer called Samaritan, was assigned a task of killing someone as a threat to national security. She asked to see the evidence, but was denied because her security clearance wasn't high enough - even though she had the highest security clearance. Her questioning this led to HER being temporarily placed on a list of targets.

At the end of the episode, she was back in Samaritan's good graces, and she tracked down her target who was defenseless. He asked her, "Can you consider, just for a moment, the possibility that I am innocent?" She immediately answered, "No" and killed him.

That is the mentality we are dealing with. They will not turn from their ideology EVEN WHEN PROVEN WRONG!

That just makes me want to fight them even harder.

Quote from: tenbones on July 02, 2021, 05:14:04 PM

Quote from: Fergurg on July 02, 2021, 03:07:16 PM
I'll go further. They won't relent even if they are shown that their calculus is off. The true believers of the SJW religion have been treating the TTRPG world as foreign land that they are conquering; going Scorched Earth and destroying everything is acceptable to them because the purpose is to destroy. Subversion is their preferred method, but leaving nothing behind to salvage is also just fine.

I'm banking on this. This is precisely why we need to create the thing we want to see. Otherwise we're playing their game. LITERALLY. I say - no. And we need to convert the convertible with GM's outreaching. We need people that have been thinking of getting their hands in the trenches and publishing their own material doing so - to DO IT! This is the best time ever to DIY. We need collaborations between like-minded game-interests to hunker down and prepare to say Fuck Off to the Nay-sayers, and the weirdos that have brought this upon our hobby. And for those not wanting to do those things, you have to be ready to support your fellows that are going to do it.

Complaining is a gross hobby. Gaming with cool TTRPG's is a *way* better option.

Quote from: Fergurg on July 02, 2021, 03:07:16 PMThis reminds me of an episode of Person of Interest, where an assassin working for the bad guys, controlled by a supercomputer called Samaritan, was assigned a task of killing someone as a threat to national security. She asked to see the evidence, but was denied because her security clearance wasn't high enough - even though she had the highest security clearance. Her questioning this led to HER being temporarily placed on a list of targets.

At the end of the episode, she was back in Samaritan's good graces, and she tracked down her target who was defenseless. He asked her, "Can you consider, just for a moment, the possibility that I am innocent?" She immediately answered, "No" and killed him.

That is the mentality we are dealing with. They will not turn from their ideology EVEN WHEN PROVEN WRONG!

And because we know this - WE have the advantage. In fact I'd say if all this complaining on various threads has a shred of value - then we have a responsibility to ourselves, at minimum, to flip the finger at them, the companies we know pushing this garbage, and support the ones that don't. *At minimum*.

We need to kill off our allegiances to "brands" - and remember the spirit of our hobby is what happens at our tables. Not what WotC tells you is D&D. How many editions of "fuck you" do you have to consume before you realize 1) your favorite edition already happened 2) nothing prevents you from playing those 3) you always have the option of creating content for yourself and other likeminded people 4) FIND THOSE PEOPLE. Curation starts at your table. 5) Stop supporting gaming companies that hate you.

It's too easy to simply go with the herd. Especially when that herd is a bunch of parasitical cannibals that are looking to eat you and your money, time and energy in no particular order.

Yes, love both your posts.  Do you have a blog, too?  I might paraphrase some of your excellent points in a video coming up soon.  I assume that's cool with you.

I'm talking to my wife now about the possibility of organizing a gaming convention in my neck of the woods (south-central WI) the same weekend as GenCon.  And like-minded gamers are interested in doing the same in their local communities.

If anyone would like a quick opinion on their RPG work or even proposals of future work, perhaps we could create some kind of "feedback circle" in order to promote excellence in gaming?

Quote from: Dapig on July 02, 2021, 09:43:18 PM

Quote from: VengerSatanis on July 02, 2021, 11:20:01 AM
I wrote an open letter to gaming conventions regarding conservative attendance...

https://vengersatanis.blogspot.com/2021/07/open-letter-to-gaming-conventions.html

Copy/paste...

QuoteOpen Letter To Gaming Conventions

Thanks, hoss!


I've been tasked as the spokesman for a plurality of traditional and OSR gamers to ask conventions a very important question in light of Gencon and Origins banning the new TSR over Ernie Gygax Jr.'s interview.  Maybe you aren't aware of it, but it's been all over social media lately. 

I have to ask if your convention will be accepting of non-woke, non-SJW gamers, gamers who reject that particular ideology, who are openly conservative, who are sick and tired of being harassed by the radical-left and labeled racists, bigots, nazis, whatever phobes and ists, white supremacists, etc. just because we don't subscribe to recent, reality-warping theories of gender identity, critical race theory, and anything having to do with cultural Marxism.

As an example, if you'd allow someone to wear a Black Lives Matter t-shirt, but not a MAGA hat... that's a serious problem. Similarly, if individuals such as Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson would not be allowed to attend, that speaks volumes about the egregious levels of gatekeeping in the gaming community.

If politically moderate, old-school liberal, libertarian, right-leaning gamers and just normal people who want to game without politics (including leftist politics) aren't welcome, then there's no reason for my continued presence at your gaming convention until mainstream, middle-America values are tolerated once again.

Hundreds of us (soon thousands, I hope) are sick and tired of being excluded from our beloved hobby by those championing (in name only) inclusion, diversity, and equity.  The culture of RPGs has always been welcoming, decent, and law-abiding, but our past seems to be continually altered by revisionists to make it seem like everyone in Lake Geneva, WI circa 1974 owned slaves! 

I'm sure you have been around long enough to know our hobby was pretty darn great back in the good old days, even though there have always been and will always be exceptions.  Now... well, we're not so sure.

Sincerely,

Venger As'Nas Satanis
High Priest of Kort'thalis Publishing

Rock on man.  I don't have all the same beliefs as you (I assume!) but damn it if I hate this intolerant Stalinist shit we are being faced with.

Grab your dice and get ready to play; you are welcome to join me No matter who you are, but once you start telling me what to believe politically and to bow down to the cult of identity politics you can fuck right off.

Gay, straight, atheist, religious...all are welcome.  SJW thought police?  Sensitivity reading fascists?  Hit the fucking road. 

Well said venger!

Quote from: VengerSatanis on July 03, 2021, 09:49:41 AM
Yes, love both your posts.  Do you have a blog, too?  I might paraphrase some of your excellent points in a video coming up soon.  I assume that's cool with you.

I can't tell you how many times people have asked me this, heh. I've largely avoided blogging, and doing social media because my views would put my wife's business in the sights of the mob. But we've both known that my internet history is unavoidable (not that I've said anything I won't defend) and I didn't want to bring any drama to my day-job. But I'm working on transitioning out of that career and I'm seriously considering getting into publishing. My wife is an insanely good editor. Our concern with the mob lessens as the inevitable approaches. So we're getting our ducks in a row, and I'll be doing a website, blog, and likely podcast in the future.

Feel free to paraphrase me as you see fit!

Quote from: VengerSatanis on July 03, 2021, 09:49:41 AMI'm talking to my wife now about the possibility of organizing a gaming convention in my neck of the woods (south-central WI) the same weekend as GenCon.  And like-minded gamers are interested in doing the same in their local communities.

If anyone would like a quick opinion on their RPG work or even proposals of future work, perhaps we could create some kind of "feedback circle" in order to promote excellence in gaming?

I totally support you in this. We definitely need to get more organized if only to hash out strategies of mutual support.

I realize not all of us agree in terms of systems/mechanics etc. To me this is totally besides the much larger points we agree on: our games should be wide open and unhindered by cultural Marxists and corporate assholes that have essentially laid siege to our hobby.

Personally, I'm interested in creating great GM's. GM's are the heart, soul and the lifeblood of our hobby. A great GM will elevate *any* system or setting. I think that's an element which we could be targeting as part of our strategy which raises the water for all of our respective ships.

Our hobby needs to rally around some best-practices to teach GM's how to GM regardless of system (that will come later) and that's where we can beat Them(tm). They rely largely on name-recognition alone (obviously), we'll have to rely on performance, skill and design to build better games AND provide better methodologies for GMing which of course translates to better games.

I'll leave Tool Design to you and others, heh. But I'll chip in with my feedback there too.

So count me in on the feedback circle.

It's a bit simpler than Venger is putting it.

What we should ask, not just to conventions but demand an answer from everyone who has a claim to any part of this hobby: Is it acceptable for an RPG game to just be about fun without infusing it with any modern political agenda, yes or no?

Then we have to make a list.

Quote from: RPGPundit on July 03, 2021, 05:59:13 PM
It's a bit simpler than Venger is putting it.

What we should ask, not just to conventions but demand an answer from everyone who has a claim to any part of this hobby: Is it acceptable for an RPG game to just be about fun without infusing it with any modern political agenda, yes or no?

Then we have to make a list.

Agreed.  Or even more simply, can I just play a game?

Quote from: RPGPundit on July 03, 2021, 05:59:13 PM
What we should ask, not just to conventions but demand an answer from everyone who has a claim to any part of this hobby: Is it acceptable for an RPG game to just be about fun without infusing it with any modern political agenda, yes or no?

Then we have to make a list.

I'd want to ask GenCon what their community manager means by "White silence is white consent".
Do I have to make some sort of racialist affirmation to play a game at their con?

Quote from: DocJones on July 03, 2021, 07:17:44 PM
I'd want to ask GenCon what their community manager means by "White silence is white consent".

Apparently if you ask a white girl at their convention to sleep with you and she doesn't say anything, it means she consented.  That's consistent with leftist woke ideology, right?  Silence equals consent...

QuoteThis is what blows me away.  If there are real players in the outrage mob, they have not done a single thing with all of their energy that makes the game more fun.

I cannot believe how much discussion and energy is expended on this stuff via a vis the actual game.

I play for fun, period.  I really wonder if their silence during games about world hunger makes them somehow complicit with starving babies, by their measure.

As I'm part of various RPG groups on Facebook, I can safely say there is shittons of leftists playing RPG, and I'd say some colossal overrepresentation of well for simplicity of language non-cis people. Which isn't even that surprisng TBH. And they are genuinely interested, and can be quite useful in terms of RPG advice (that's why I stick in groups when I'd be banned in 0,004 miliseconds showing true colours - though I have to say they seems mostly less toxic than RPG.net - I mean Big Purple mods would simply check my main feed on FB, but those seems not that inquisitve). Nevertheless they are WOKE as hell, it's clear any moment given subjects appear - and they will appear in terms of gaming, because settings and so on, and they are definitely happy to push out right wing people from hobby and fandom.

It's not like they don't play RPG or don't like RPG. They like. They love maybe even. But they cannot stand people they consider vile, immoral, FASCISTS - loves the same shit as them. Even in entertainment. Because that would probably be... well humanising thing about people they would love to dehumanise and reduce to random faceless Starkiller Base disposable mooks.

Which I think is bigger problem than if they'd be simple enemies payed goons.

Quote from: Wrath of God on July 03, 2021, 08:34:01 PM

QuoteThis is what blows me away.  If there are real players in the outrage mob, they have not done a single thing with all of their energy that makes the game more fun.

I cannot believe how much discussion and energy is expended on this stuff via a vis the actual game.

I play for fun, period.  I really wonder if their silence during games about world hunger makes them somehow complicit with starving babies, by their measure.

As I'm part of various RPG groups on Facebook, I can safely say there is shittons of leftists playing RPG, and I'd say some colossal overrepresentation of well for simplicity of language non-cis people. Which isn't even that surprisng TBH. And they are genuinely interested, and can be quite useful in terms of RPG advice (that's why I stick in groups when I'd be banned in 0,004 miliseconds showing true colours - though I have to say they seems mostly less toxic than RPG.net - I mean Big Purple mods would simply check my main feed on FB, but those seems not that inquisitve). Nevertheless they are WOKE as hell, it's clear any moment given subjects appear - and they will appear in terms of gaming, because settings and so on, and they are definitely happy to push out right wing people from hobby and fandom.

It's not like they don't play RPG or don't like RPG. They like. They love maybe even. But they cannot stand people they consider vile, immoral, FASCISTS - loves the same shit as them. Even in entertainment. Because that would probably be... well humanising thing about people they would love to dehumanise and reduce to random faceless Starkiller Base disposable mooks.

Which I think is bigger problem than if they'd be simple enemies payed goons.

     I have a feeling that could be an over representation of player populations due to the nature of the platforms.   I do think the people most vocal about playing RPGs will trend left, because IMO experience lefties are pretty vocal about everything they are into, as if no one who has ever come before them was as into their "thing" as they are.  Reality is, at this point, what hard lefties have shown me regarding the things they will stand with, cannot be in a shared meat space with me.   I do not care if they love exactly the same RPGs at this point.  I like dogs and vegetables too, but I would not sit down and hang out with Hitler either.