This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Author Topic: OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.  (Read 2508 times)

Abyssal Maw

  • some random jerk!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5624
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« on: January 03, 2007, 09:20:17 PM »
Seriously. I have nothing against Tony personally, and I'm basicly treating him with guilt by association.

I feel bad about it sometimes because (in real life) I swear I'm like a cheery little sunbeam.  Seriously.

But you gotta understand this. I am no longer willing to accept a world in which those people are allowed to make shitty pronouncements about how my side of the Hobby lives, or whether we have brain damage, or whatever the hell those guys want to say about us. On top of that, I seriously doubt the talents of many .. maybe most of those fucks, and I do hold a grudge. I think the theories are stupid. Ron Edwards struck me as a windbag and hardly as talented as people want to give him credit for.  I have noted that one of the main guys saying "I hate gamers" had three blogs devoted to gaming. The guy that says he wants to 'de-geek gaming' is notable for being a complete nerd.  

So how is that these guys feel so comfortable shitting all over my hobby? And why shouldn't I speak up?

So I apologize. In a way. I am being unfair.

But I also want to be clear, that the basic issue is respect. To the extent that they disrespect my fellow cavemen, I vow to show no respect in return. I vow to sabotage, denigrate, troll, and ridicule. Maybe it won't be much-- maybe I'll be the lone heckler in the crowd. But I promise, it'll be enough for me, and it doesn't take much to take the wind out of their sails. I've found that much out from experience.

There's also the reality that the story-games aren't actually catching on to throw in their faces from time to time. But that's almost cruel. All the podcasts, all the flood-marketing posts and backslapping can't change it. All that money, all that energy, and they're still only a footnote.

Finally, Pundit is paying me 5$ Uruguayan for everytime I troll those guys. But with the exchange rate, you know. I gotta really work for it.

"Peace? Peace. I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee."
--Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet
Download Secret Santicore! (10MB). I painted the cover :)

James McMurray

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • J
  • Posts: 4790
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2007, 09:26:27 PM »
I'm sorry, you're just not going to be able to out-Pundit the Pundit. If you want any sort of recognition as a Forge Hater you're going to have to break off from therpgsite and try to start your own splinter sect.

David R

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • D
  • Posts: 6874
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2007, 09:37:17 PM »
Quote from: Abyssal Maw

But you gotta understand this. I am no longer willing to accept a world in which those people are allowed to make shitty pronouncements about how my side of the Hobby lives,...


:shrug: At least you got a side. Me - I'm on my own. I've got to be wary. All these snipers with bad aim...

Regards,
David R

RPGPundit

  • Administrator - The Final Boss of Internet Shitlords
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 48855
    • http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2007, 10:24:43 PM »
I admire your fed-upness, Maw, and your willingness to answer these fuckers. The implication that not only that the type of games I enjoy are inferior but that, if they had their way, the preferred job for me in my play (GM) would be reduced to something akin to the "Banker" in monopoly, makes it very clear that they are out for my blood; so I will be after theirs.

RPGPundit
LION & DRAGON: Medieval-Authentic OSR Roleplaying is available now! You only THINK you've played 'medieval fantasy' until you play L&D.


My Blog:  http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/
The most famous uruguayan gaming blog on the planet!

NEW!
Check out my short OSR supplements series; The RPGPundit Presents!


Dark Albion: The Rose War! The OSR fantasy setting of the history that inspired Shakespeare and Martin alike.
Also available in Variant Cover form!
Also, now with the CULTS OF CHAOS cult-generation sourcebook

ARROWS OF INDRA
Arrows of Indra: The Old-School Epic Indian RPG!
NOW AVAILABLE: AoI in print form

LORDS OF OLYMPUS
The new Diceless RPG of multiversal power, adventure and intrigue, now available.

TonyLB

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • T
  • Posts: 2274
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2007, 08:36:57 AM »
Quote from: Abyssal Maw
To the extent that they disrespect my fellow cavemen, I vow to show no respect in return. I vow to sabotage, denigrate, troll, and ridicule.
Well ... okay, if you must.  I'd like to ask something, though, if I may:  In the long run, what do you hope to see come out of that?
Superheroes with heart:  Capes!

Abyssal Maw

  • some random jerk!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5624
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2007, 09:59:48 AM »
Good question!

Keep in mind that some of this is rhetoric, but my goal is totally serious.

I foresee a day when people representing a creative community will think twice about making shitty pronouncements about the rest of the community.  

Some of you guys will still do it. I know I can't stop people from being exactly who they are. But they'll do it like.. you know.. in a private post. In IM. Furtively, out of the public eye. Somewhere where they can't be answered back. And when one of them slips a little, there will be some self policing. And when you guys individually get tired of having to watch everything you say, you'll do the right thing and get out.

By the way, to a degree, I think this is already happening, or beginning to happen.
Download Secret Santicore! (10MB). I painted the cover :)

James McMurray

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • J
  • Posts: 4790
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2007, 10:01:44 AM »
Quote from: Abyssal Maw
I foresee a day when people representing a creative community will think twice about making shitty pronouncements about the rest of the community.


And you really think that acting like an ass and making shitty pronouncements about a portion of your community will cause that to happen?

Abyssal Maw

  • some random jerk!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5624
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2007, 10:07:45 AM »
Quote from: James McMurray
And you really think that acting like an ass and making shitty pronouncements about a portion of your community will cause that to happen?


Yep.

Because:

1) I have nothing to sell, and thus nothing to lose.  
2) I have no supremacist theory to defend or prove.  
3) I can only shoot them with the ammunition they give me.

Once they stop giving me ammunition, I can't really say anything to or about them anymore. But the goal is for them to stop giving me ammunition in the first place. So even when I lose, I win.

Are you that fucking obtuse? I'm laying out my entire battle plan here.
Download Secret Santicore! (10MB). I painted the cover :)

Garry G

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • G
  • Posts: 517
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2007, 10:15:37 AM »
Quote from: Abyssal Maw
Yep.

Because:

1) I have nothing to sell, and thus nothing to lose.  
2) I have no supremacist theory to defend or prove.  
3) I can only shoot them with the ammunition they give me.

Once they stop giving me ammunition, I can't really say anything to or about them anymore. But the goal is for them to stop giving me ammunition in the first place. So even when I lose, I win.

Are you that fucking obtuse? I'm laying out my entire battle plan here.


So your plan is to bicker with people who are bickering in order to put a stop to bickering?

James McMurray

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • J
  • Posts: 4790
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2007, 10:23:46 AM »
You forgot that he also intends to insult people who are insulting people in order to put an end to insults.

It ain't exactly the most intelligent strategy I've heard. But some folks just like to rationalize being an asshole into some sort of noble deed.

Abyssal Maw

  • some random jerk!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5624
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2007, 10:28:25 AM »
Quote from: Garry G
So your plan is to bicker with people who are bickering in order to put a stop to bickering?


Close! Not bicker. Bickering involves some sort of a back and forth struggle over something. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who cares?

What I'm doing is sharing out the disrespect in a focused way, under the assumption that there's not much for us to lose in doing so. We've already been disrespected, after all.

But what they lose is influence and credibility.

Not the most intelligent plan? I don't like to brag about my successes, but I already have a few skulls painted on the side of my cave-man club. I know of a couple of blogs that basicly pulled up stakes. And I can see self-policing from people who never did it before. It's working.

Macmurray, your'e kind of a funny character. I suspect you don't understand what I'm gunning for. You seem to want to defend those guys, and you tend to get involved in these little spats, but it makes no difference whether you do or you don't. Your'e an extra.
Download Secret Santicore! (10MB). I painted the cover :)

James McMurray

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • J
  • Posts: 4790
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #11 on: January 04, 2007, 10:31:14 AM »
You really think that you have nothing to lose from that proposition? Or that you insulting them will make them lose influence and credibility? Their entire mindset is that of a martyr. How will you defeat it by granting them martyrdom (without the finality of death that usually comes with it)?

TonyLB

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • T
  • Posts: 2274
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2007, 10:32:15 AM »
Quote from: Abyssal Maw
Once they stop giving me ammunition, I can't really say anything to or about them anymore.
Honestly?  I don't think that sort of plan works real well in a world where, y'know, misunderstandings happen.

If you've got two sides, and folks on both sides are saying "I won't shoot first, but whoo-nellie, if they shoot first then they're gonna get one hell of a counter-attack," it should theoretically be perfectly fine for everyone.  The only people who could ever get attacked by those virtuous counter-attackers are the nasty, aggressive types that shoot first without justification, and they deserve it!

But in reality, the moment there is some slight misunderstanding (the classic case being "a soldier sees a snake in the grass, about to bite him, and shoots it") what happens is that everyone escalates from the misunderstanding, and both sides cut into each other with the unquestioning ferocity of people convinced that they bear no responsibility for what is happening.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but your personal track record on correctly judging whether people are attacking you or not is ... not perfect.  Do you really want to put yourself into that sort of situation?  It seems likely to get you stressed out and angry.
Superheroes with heart:  Capes!

James McMurray

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • J
  • Posts: 4790
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2007, 10:34:18 AM »
Basically the possible responses to being disrespected are

1) disrespect right back. This leaves both parties looking like asses. Generally the ones that do this are the ones that already look like asses. Getting someone to look like an ass who already looks like one is neither a victory nor a feat worthy of recognition.

2) laugh and ignore it. This leaves the disrespecting party looking like an ass.

You've bought into the propaganda that says you can win a diplomatic war by busting out the verbal nukes. It just ain't so.

TonyLB

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • T
  • Posts: 2274
OK, I admit it. I'm being an ass.
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2007, 10:37:44 AM »
I like to mix #2 (laugh and ignore it) with a healthy dose of #3:  Keep explaining why I love what I love.

If people are really dissing your old-school fun (and I don't see a lot of it here, but I've certainly seen it elsewhere) then why not bust out some actual play reports of juicy, old-school goodness!  Show what you love and enjoy about your style.  People respond to enthusiasm and happiness ... I know I do.

Yeah, it's not as satisfying as a "boot to the head" response ... but it has the benefit of making everyone a little happier, rather than a little bit more angry.
Superheroes with heart:  Capes!