Quote from: horsesoldier on March 19, 2021, 09:43:46 AM
You know, I guess it's either a good or a bad thing that RPG writing pays so little. Good in that absolute hacks like Kwan aren't getting rich; bad in that absolute hacks like Kwan are making any money at all.

The be blunt - if RPG writing made big bucks, there would be a lot more competition for those jobs and a lot of the current writers would be out of a job.

Quote from: Charon's Little Helper on March 19, 2021, 04:52:36 PM

Quote from: horsesoldier on March 19, 2021, 09:43:46 AM
You know, I guess it's either a good or a bad thing that RPG writing pays so little. Good in that absolute hacks like Kwan aren't getting rich; bad in that absolute hacks like Kwan are making any money at all.

The be blunt - if RPG writing made big bucks, there would be a lot more competition for those jobs and a lot of the current writers would be out of a job.

Unfortunately no.

What you'd see is even more vicious backstabbing that is already in the gaming industry. Its bad over in the board gaming circles where we have designers telling the new kids all sorts of misinformation to sabotage potential competition.

There still isn't all that much money in board game design. Not unless you get your name on the box. Or if you're the sort where you have enough cachet to get responses from multiple publishers.

I do agree that the money is immaterial to the issue at hand. The days of a TSR having a stable of writers/artists/editors who all work together and in turn making each other better is gone and it is never coming back. We will never see the kind of professionalism we saw in the core 2e books/settings (yeah some of the art sucked but some of it was amazing). Nearly all of them were leftists, as far as I can tell, the culture just wasn't so infested with rot then.

Quote from: horsesoldier on March 22, 2021, 09:53:48 AM
Nearly all of them were leftists, as far as I can tell, the culture just wasn't so infested with rot then.

   I have enough online contact with folks from the late TSR days to know that they run the gamut--many were left-wing, some seem to have been largely apolitical, at least one is more libertarian/independent. I think there was a lot more ideological diversity in those days, largely due to corporate culture and location.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer on March 22, 2021, 10:39:51 AM

Quote from: horsesoldier on March 22, 2021, 09:53:48 AM
Nearly all of them were leftists, as far as I can tell, the culture just wasn't so infested with rot then.

   I have enough online contact with folks from the late TSR days to know that they run the gamut--many were left-wing, some seem to have been largely apolitical, at least one is more libertarian/independent. I think there was a lot more ideological diversity in those days, largely due to corporate culture and location.

That's good to hear. I based my statement off of what I've seen written on twitter or in retrospectives. So I defer to your personal experience.

Either way you'd have no way or knowing based on their output. I can separate the art from the creator, mainly because I only care about the art.

Quote from: horsesoldier on March 22, 2021, 10:50:40 AM

Quote from: Armchair Gamer on March 22, 2021, 10:39:51 AM

Quote from: horsesoldier on March 22, 2021, 09:53:48 AM
Nearly all of them were leftists, as far as I can tell, the culture just wasn't so infested with rot then.

   I have enough online contact with folks from the late TSR days to know that they run the gamut--many were left-wing, some seem to have been largely apolitical, at least one is more libertarian/independent. I think there was a lot more ideological diversity in those days, largely due to corporate culture and location.

That's good to hear. I based my statement off of what I've seen written on twitter or in retrospectives. So I defer to your personal experience.

Either way you'd have no way or knowing based on their output. I can separate the art from the creator, mainly because I only care about the art.

Separating the art from the creator is only possible if the creator does so themselves. Those creators who refuse to do so make it impossible for anyone else to do so, either.

Sure, no disagreement there.

I'm not wholly against alignment. I just prefer the original Moorcock conception over the convolutions that later editions of D&D added.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on March 22, 2021, 12:21:50 PM
I'm not wholly against alignment. I just prefer the original Moorcock conception over the convolutions that later editions of D&D added.

  The 64,000-gp question on alignment: Does it come from Moorcock (both are alien and often inimical to ordinary human beings) or Anderson (Law is good, Chaos is evil)?

Quote from: Armchair Gamer on March 22, 2021, 12:32:43 PM

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on March 22, 2021, 12:21:50 PM
I'm not wholly against alignment. I just prefer the original Moorcock conception over the convolutions that later editions of D&D added.

  The 64,000-gp question on alignment: Does it come from Moorcock (both are alien and often inimical to ordinary human beings) or Anderson (Law is good, Chaos is evil)?

Choose one for your game and go with it. No "one solution for all" required.

Quote from: Omega on March 17, 2021, 10:55:13 PM
What? Deaf people outraged at being offered a cure?

Yes, and the idea that deafness is something to be cured is deeply offensive to them.

Quote from: Omega on March 18, 2021, 06:26:10 AM
Its not outrage or telling people they should accept being handicapped. Just caution to think on surgery before taking the plunge.

No, that's the basis of the fearmongering they use to discourage people from seeking treatment.

I've had more than a few encounters with deaf culture, and I can say conclusively that they see deafness as something which makes them special if not better than others, and believe making otherwise deaf children able to hear is literal genocide. I understand why the sentiment exists, but that doesn't change how deeply problematic it is, especially in this case as being deaf limits your ability to communicate and form connections with those outside the group. And while it's one thing to encourage others to accept their disabilities, it's quite another to demand they do or face ostracization and expulsion.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan on March 23, 2021, 03:20:30 AM
I've had more than a few encounters with deaf culture, and I can say conclusively that they see deafness as something which makes them special if not better than others, and believe making otherwise deaf children able to hear is literal genocide. I understand why the sentiment exists, but that doesn't change how deeply problematic it is, especially in this case as being deaf limits your ability to communicate and form connections with those outside the group. And while it's one thing to encourage others to accept their disabilities, it's quite another to demand they do or face ostracization and expulsion.

That sounds familiar. A bit like the way people become institutionalised by prison such that they are not happy living outside and then commit crimes just to get back in. I have a friend in a wheelchair who told me once if exoskeletons became available he wouldn't use one because he prefers wheelchair culture.

Quote from: Anon Adderlan on March 23, 2021, 03:20:30 AM
Yes, and the idea that deafness is something to be cured is deeply offensive to them.

Quote from: Omega on March 18, 2021, 06:26:10 AM
Its not outrage or telling people they should accept being handicapped. Just caution to think on surgery before taking the plunge.

No, that's the basis of the fearmongering they use to discourage people from seeking treatment.

I've had more than a few encounters with deaf culture, and I can say conclusively that they see deafness as something which makes them special if not better than others, and believe making otherwise deaf children able to hear is literal genocide. I understand why the sentiment exists, but that doesn't change how deeply problematic it is, especially in this case as being deaf limits your ability to communicate and form connections with those outside the group. And while it's one thing to encourage others to accept their disabilities, it's quite another to demand they do or face ostracization and expulsion.

Odds are the ones saying this stuff are either A: Ones born to it and thus it is natural to them. Or B: The usual suspects. The parasites who oh so love to "speak for us".

Pwesonally I want a cure. Not a patch. See my comments in my handicapped thread for the ins and outs of this. But baseline is. People born with, or on occasion very adapted to, their condition are more likely to not see it as a "problem". They have no right to tell those who have had disabilities inflicted on them that they cant have a cure. Some have probably been poisoned by the Moral Outrage brigade as they pull this stunt every damn iteration. This goes back at least to the 70s when first encountered it.

Caution is fine. Trying to force others to continue to suffer just so you can be a snowflake is not fine.

The nearest thing I have experienced was a moderate speech disorder as an adolescent and I cannot imagine anyone wanting to keep a speech disorder. It was misery and made everything harder in life, and it still sucks when it pops up.

What kind of person doesn't want their children to hear the call of a bird in the morning? The sound of waves crashing on the beach? Wind rustling through the forest?

The discussion of deaf culture reminds me of a classic post from one of the earliest blogs
https://web.archive.org/web/20050308192859/http://www.misanthropic-bitch.com/deaf_as_i_wanna_be.html