I've been lucky enough to miss the majority of the most recent drama in the OSR Community. Maybe it's how I've pruned my online social circles, though I suspect it has more to do with how others have trimmed theirs. I appreciate being left out of the latest useless drama.
Why is is that folks would prefer to tell other folks "how they're doing it wrong"instead of shutting their mouths and trying to lead by example? What is right for you might not work for others. If others are truly wrong in their actions, those actions will take care of themselves. Can we leave the Bad Wrong Fun to other gaming communities?
Ah well, I've got more important things to think about, like how the Panthers are crushing the Cardinals, the 2' of snow I have to dig my car out of tomorrow, writing more StarSlinger material and beer. I need to start posting to the Beer Blog again :)
Just an offshot of Victim Culture, Fake Apology Culture, and the Eternally Offended. Ignore as usual and you'll be much happier.
ReplyDeleteI try Mike, really I do.
DeleteJust hate when good people unfairly get victimized by shit like this. It's Scarlet Letter shit and I find it offensive to my sense of... sensibility.
I can't even begin to think of how many times I've posted something to my blog like "Hey, I had this neat, fun idea and it might be fun if other people try it" to get a bunch of "You're doing it wrong" responses in the comments.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe problem is that much of this stuff is so entrenched, and newcomers from either side walk into the proverbial machine gun fire. I like your advice of leading by example, is what we actually do that counts.
ReplyDeleteit's always easier to criticize than lead by example
DeleteActually, true criticism is hard. It requires a degree of expertise and understanding context.
DeleteBitching and moaning about things you don't like? That's easy.
*blink blink*
ReplyDeleteHuh?
*goes back to painting minis*
Well, now I know why a mutual acquaintance was randomly railing against cleverness.
DeleteWhat a weird thing to rail against!
DeleteBasically, he pointed to an article by John Wick (the game designer, not the fictional hitman) which ranted about how Tomb of Horrors was a crap adventure blah blah blah because it was a contest of designer vs. player cleverness. Or something - I've sworn off reading anything by John Wick because his theories about gaming don't match my experiences.
DeleteWick heartily dislikes D&D, and thus all his ruminations on the subject are either subtle or obvious jabs against the system and those who play it. When he's not writing about D&D his stuff is usually interesting.
DeleteIf you say so. His non-D&D writings have never been very interesting to me either, but to each their own.
DeleteYeah I am so out of the loop I have no idea what this is about.
ReplyDeleteAs a witness to the epithets thrown at those who tried out 3rd edition D&D, Castles & Crusades, or other games that weren't the blessed and holy editions of the game written by St. Yrag of Ekal Aveneg, I am glad to have missed another resurgence of gamers hating on others' fun. While I do have a preference for pre-1986 Greyhawk (for instance), others' love of post-1985 GH does not affect my game. They're not making me play it and I'm not making them play my druthers.
ReplyDeleteI've missed this as well. Each group, sometimes each game has a different vibe. I currently run two 5E campaigns: My monday game is a weird Out of the Abyss game that has morphed into something completely different with major plot lines, big secrets, epic battles, and lots of scheming--because thats how those players are.
ReplyDeleteMy friday game is a Princes of the Apocalypse game that emphasizes combat and moving forward with far less character development, side trips, or plot lines--because thats what those players want.
And I have fun running both groups and am happy to report that they are having fun, as well.
Play some games. Laugh. Roll some dice. Relax. No gaming is better than bad gaming.
Whatever you like, just make sure we have new gamers coming up. Teach them any D&D you can but make sure they have something they can play now and for a lifetime!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.creativemountaingames.com/2016/01/the-friday-grab-bag-teaching-d-to.html
Things can get bad on the various Traveller sites, and especially on the Traveller Facebook group. If you don't like PCs dying during character creation or play anything other than Classic Traveller, the hatred comes out pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteCompletely missed this as well, but probably all in circles I stopped interacting with (or avoided on principle) long ago for this exact reason.
ReplyDeleteI've posted about this several times over the last few years. I don't get why some folks feel the need to define what's fun for others. Especially those who love heel stomping any discussion that doesn't happen to be about a game/edition they are found of.
ReplyDeleteI've found as I grow older btw you have to actively fight the Curmudgeon that wants to grow and thrive in all of us. You never see it wrestling control. For that reason i don't bash millennials, Justin Beiber or these damn new fangled games. lol. I might not embrace all things new but I try to be accepting. To each their own.
ReplyDeleteNicely put, and worth taking to heart for all of us.
DeletePut me down as someone else who has no idea what you're talking about.
ReplyDeletePut me down as someone else who has no idea what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteSo, John Wick has an opinion (because that's what this is - an opinion piece) that many others disagree with, and he expresses it in his usual forceful, even hyperbolic style. It is like listening to a music fan explain why grunge destroyed rock-n-roll or why colorizing Casablanca was a sin worthy of death to a movie fan.
ReplyDeleteIf he had written this about a non-Gygax non-old school TSR module most people wouldn't have blinked... or they would have agreed...