From this article:
http://news.yahoo.com/terror-files-osama-bin-laden-bookshelf-144937919--abc-news-topstories.html (http://news.yahoo.com/terror-files-osama-bin-laden-bookshelf-144937919--abc-news-topstories.html)
Quote"Website Claims Steve Jackson Games Foretold 9/11," article posted on ICV2.com (this file contained only a single saved web page)
Apparently Muslim fascist in chief was at least interested in an article about Steve Jackson games enough to print it out and put it on his book shelf.
I'm guessing it is the only thing remotely RPG related that was on his book shelf. But I'm calling for the full documents to be released.
If it turns out Bin Laden was also a Chthulu dice fan... that's it, I'm out.
(lots of snark and sarcasm implied)
God, the thumbless are gonna be short-stroking this thing all over the place. Still, in the spirit of the card game, let's play. :D
Interesting that the 'Terrorist Nuke" card doesn't show a nuke going off, but an explosion in the upper third of the WTC right where the plane hit...:hmm:
(http://icv2.com/images/articles/1500x1500_d7dc2487837e1752ca459ba38b73f90854fedf5c648e8d7098ba5148.jpg)
Interesting that the "Pentagon" card, which doesn't represent an attack on the Pentagon at all, but the Pentagon itself, shows it on fire...:hmm:
(http://icv2.com/images/articles/1500x1500_79ca775a40d70faf9a60f073a54ece1523b7cb8d971579b64dc9ae99.jpg)
Interesting that the article says the "Population Reduction" card shows "The WTC in flames" but that's not what it shows, it shows the skyline of New York without the WTC and a black cloud of death over the city, actually foretelling the bioweapon attack that has yet to materialize...:hmm:
(http://icv2.com/images/articles/1500x1500_7ed015496941611d19cb9c4b105726d5c25786404646555bb51b2a0c.jpg)
Traced back to various pages at some website:
https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Acuttingedge.org%20illuminati%20jackson&gws_rd=ssl
Theres a couple of sites addressing that at least since 2009.
Also before that pepole were pointing at some of Stackpoles Battletech books as some sort of foretelling of yadda-yadda.
Its like the whole "Kubrick placed hints of his work on the moon hoax in The Shining!" gag. Sometimes linked with the Vrll who live in the hollow center of the Earth and... well you get the idea.
So did the Johnny Bravo cartoon on 4/27/01:
(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZLmvOCrENPM/hqdefault.jpg)
...as did The Simpsons:
(http://cdn.splitsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/simpsons911.jpg)
...and Sesame Street:
(http://forum.malazanempire.com/uploads/monthly_05_2009/post-1198-1241882073.jpg)
...and the short-lived X-Files spinoff, The Lone Gunmen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rsMG2hHsLo
Also, fun fact: TSR got a visit from the FBI and Secret Service when early game notes for an upcoming espionage game (that later became Top Secret) were found in the trash in Lake Geneva and someone was alarmed at the content (assassinations, etc.)
Considering that they are in a theater. That poster in the Johnny Bravo one was probably for or a nod to Towering Inferno.
(http://www.empireonline.com/images/image_index/original/60678.jpg)
I have drawings of Skylab taking out the Twin Towers.
The Muslim Extremists (TM) had a well known hate on for the World Trade Center(TM) for a long time before 911.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;832785I have drawings of Skylab taking out the Twin Towers.
So NASA is in on this
too, eh?
We're through the looking glass, people
Got a paper cut from GURPS Ultra-Tech once, does that count?
If not, how about the time my wife punched me in the chest after a particularly intense monster fight in Munchkin that turned viciously against her?
Quote from: thedungeondelver;832720Also, fun fact: TSR got a visit from the FBI and Secret Service when early game notes for an upcoming espionage game (that later became Top Secret) were found in the trash in Lake Geneva and someone was alarmed at the content (assassinations, etc.)
Actually they got raided over GURPS Cyberpunk which the FBI at the time thought was a hacking manual , the story is here (http://www.sjgames.com/SS/)
The other game you are conflating was Killer which is a kind of assassination LARP played back in the day when the US wasn't so brittle.
My oldest kid likes Munchkin way more than a ttrpg. So yeah, SJG is ruining 'murica.
I think SJG still secretly wishes it was so badass as to be on the radar.
They might have wished that before they actually got raided/looted by the FBI.
"Predicting 9/11" is pretty ironic, since it only seems prophetic if you don't notice the outright lie that attacking the World Trade Centers or even using hijacked jetliners to do it was unexpected. US intelligence agencies had been rehearsing that scenario for some time.
I played in a GURPS game in 1992-1993 where the players were in a US intel agency, and we ended up plotting attacks on the USA, including taking out the WTC with explosives (we had our moral reasons). We weren't prophets, and GURPS didn't give us any ideas to do that - but it didn't seem like a particularly original idea, since real-world "terrorists" had already tried to blow up the WTC once or twice before 1992, IIRC.
Quote from: RPGPundit;833330I think SJG still secretly wishes it was so badass as to be on the radar.
They sure love bullying the little guy.
Quote from: Omega;833464They sure love bullying the little guy.
What's this a reference to?
Quote from: ThatChrisGuy;833467What's this a reference to?
Couple of incidents over the last decade or so. The most recent one from a few months back where they pretty much told some guy who asked if he could resize some counters for personal use that No. He could not. Not counting the Kwaicha retheme incident as that was mostly justified. Calling the guy a criminal for making a free fan version of a game that had been OOP for 10 years was a bit over the top though.
YMMV of course. Some SJG fans applaud their actions as just and right.
To touch back on Pundits comment though.
By SJGs own admission anything that isnt Munchkin is an afterthought at best now.
Quote from: 5 Stone Games;833032Actually they got raided over GURPS Cyberpunk which the FBI at the time thought was a hacking manual , the story is here (http://www.sjgames.com/SS/)
The other game you are conflating was Killer which is a kind of assassination LARP played back in the day when the US wasn't so brittle.
TSR != SJG. I'm talking about a different company, different incident.
Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers also predicted the War on Terror.
Quote from: dsivis;833557Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers also predicted the War on Terror.
There's a cartoon based off of Heinlein's book, but I don't remember a movie...
Quote from: Warboss Squee;833572There's a cartoon based off of Heinlein's book, but I don't remember a movie...
Very loosely based (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers_(film)).
Quote from: RPGPundit;833330I think SJG still secretly wishes it was so badass as to be on the radar.
I think they can't hear you over the fountains of money pouring out of Munchkin.
I got banned from the SJG forums for asking when Hot Lead was going to be released...
Does that count?
I still have Hot Lead miniatures...
Quote from: Bren;833576Very loosely based (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers_(film)).
I was being sarcastic. That movie was an abortion.
Quote from: Warboss Squee;833604I was being sarcastic. That movie was an abortion.
That's a relief.
Verhoven's satire of the original was way unsubtle and didn't really seem intended as a total parody - the action is obviously supposed to be actiony. Also he skipped the powered armor, which was far and away the best part of Heinlein's story so a big strike against for that. But to be fair, Heinlein took himself so seriously that in some of his works he comes across to me as self parody.
Quote from: Warboss Squee;833604I was being sarcastic. That movie was an abortion.
I thought it was brilliant. Paul Verhoeven likes making films that try to trick the audience into cheering for the fascists.
It had almost nothing to do with the book but it was a brilliant critique of modern society. It's one of the few gory action movies that has actually gotten better with age.
Quote from: Warboss Squee;833572There's a cartoon based off of Heinlein's book, but I don't remember a movie...
One anime OVA series, Uchū no Senshi, and one CG series, Roughnecks.
Oh and at least 4 movies supposedly about the book, but not.
Quote from: Bren;833613That's a relief.
Verhoven's satire of the original was way unsubtle and didn't really seem intended as a total parody - the action is obviously supposed to be actiony. Also he skipped the powered armor, which was far and away the best part of Heinlein's story so a big strike against for that. But to be fair, Heinlein took himself so seriously that in some of his works he comes across to me as self parody.
Verhoven didnt even read the book. He hated it without even reading it and just slapped the title on an existing unrelated script that he hadnt been able to sell.
Back on topic.
The new Car Wars is still meeting with grumbles over the backhanded way it was handled. Only special backers of the Ogre KS get to have any say or vote in how the new CW develops or changes. But it will probably also do well on the upcoming KS.
Dan Jenkins had a character mention blowing up the World Trade Center in Semi Tough, so this isn't a new idea by any stretch of the imagination.
Quote from: YourSwordisMine;833602I got banned from the SJG forums for asking when Hot Lead was going to be released...
Does that count?
I still have Hot Lead miniatures...
I've snarked at them a few times over there about Hot Lead myself and didn't get as much as a warning. Just some glares I could feel all the way from Austin.
Quote from: Omega;833478Not counting the Kwaicha retheme incident as that was mostly justified. Calling the guy a criminal for making a free fan version of a game that had been OOP for 10 years was a bit over the top though.
YMMV of course. Some SJG fans applaud their actions as just and right.
The Melee redesign, right? I've got that somewhere. So the guy was hounded and cease and desisted? I could certainly see SJ's point of view.
Melee redesign? SJG doesn't seem to have done anything to Dark City Games, which has been basically redoing The Fantasy Trip for years now. The TFT rights are owned by Howard Thompson anyway.
Quote from: Omega;833666Verhoven didnt even read the book. He hated it without even reading it and just slapped the title on an existing unrelated script that he hadnt been able to sell.
I suppose it was tough for him to sell as he wasn't the scriptwriter.
Quote from: The_Shadow;833795The Melee redesign, right? I've got that somewhere. So the guy was hounded and cease and desisted? I could certainly see SJ's point of view.
Ogre actually. And the C&D was within their rights as it wasnt just counter rethemes, it was the rules too. But calling the guy a criminal? This coming from the company that would refuse to pay artists? What a chucklefest.
Quote from: The_Shadow;833795The Melee redesign, right? I've got that somewhere. So the guy was hounded and cease and desisted? I could certainly see SJ's point of view.
Quote from: Omega;833938Ogre actually. And the C&D was within their rights as it wasnt just counter rethemes, it was the rules too. But calling the guy a criminal? This coming from the company that would refuse to pay artists? What a chucklefest.
Kwanchai Moriya produced a graphic re-design of both Melee and Ogre.
Quote from: Bilharzia;834215Kwanchai Moriya produced a graphic re-design of both Melee and Ogre.
It was the ogre one that got him in trouble with SJG. Wouldnt surprise me if they went after him over Melee too eventually. Hell, they threaten people making fan material for stuff they dont even own.
Quote from: thedungeondelver;833528TSR != SJG. I'm talking about a different company, different incident.
You are correct there tdd, sorry for the mix up.
I had no idea TSR got raided.
SJG got raided. Did TSR? I think he was talking about the other part of the comparison, attributing some product to SJG that was a TSR product, not the raid.
SJG got raided for Cyberpunk
TSR got raided for Top Secret
This is the first I'd heard about TSR being raided.
http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wizards.com%2Fdnd%2FDnDArchives_History.asp&date=2008-10-04
Scroll down to 1980.
Quote from: Ronin;835254http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wizards.com%2Fdnd%2FDnDArchives_History.asp&date=2008-10-04
Scroll down to 1980.
That does not sound so much like a raid as it does an investigation.
I suppose investigation is better wording:)
Oh and found this,
"In the early '80s we published an espionage RPG called Top Secret (later expanded as Top Secret SI). A number of interesting stories arose thereby.
At one point Officials (won't say who) visited to investigate a possible crime, and instead received irrefutable evidence that it was merely a discarded story line for a TS game adventure. However, at least one TSR employee vanished soon thereafter.
One TS adventure that was published involved action on an ocean liner. The deck plans were those of the Achille Lauro. Within a year or two that same liner was hijacked by terrorists. (We never found out whether the PLF used our published material in planning their activity.)
Other strange incidents occurred, all connected to TS. Eventually the game was discontinued, tho the true reasons for that are still..."
Frank Mentzer
Quote from: jeff37923;835259That does not sound so much like a raid as it does an investigation.
When people come into your office and take things away? You've been raided. Raids vary in violence and intensity, but under other circumstances sans raid a judge could have simply ordered them to surrender the computer, etc. However, they were likely worried valuable data would be erased, hence the "need" for a raid vs. an order.
Quote from: Bren;833613That's a relief.
Verhoven's satire of the original was way unsubtle and didn't really seem intended as a total parody - the action is obviously supposed to be actiony. Also he skipped the powered armor, which was far and away the best part of Heinlein's story so a big strike against for that. But to be fair, Heinlein took himself so seriously that in some of his works he comes across to me as self parody.
Mecha shows up in movie #3. Of course that one also has a Sky Marshal be brainwashed by a brainbug into worshiping a queen as god, and his replacement effectively becomes pope.
and it has this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIsv1YOFNys
as for the original subject, I was at a friend's place and his stack of GURPS books (I think he had them all) fell over on top of me and broke my toe. does that count?
Quote from: trechriron;835292When people come into your office and take things away? You've been raided. Raids vary in violence and intensity, but under other circumstances sans raid a judge could have simply ordered them to surrender the computer, etc. However, they were likely worried valuable data would be erased, hence the "need" for a raid vs. an order.
In this case they didnt take anything. I suspect they saw that this material that was found in the trash was fiction, considering it originated at a game company and investigated, just to be sure.
@remial Yep, I have a metal box edition of Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, which I got free from a friend and I managed to watch the whole thing. Oh my god. It is almost down there with films from The Asylum such as Megalodon vs. Giant Octopus. So, so bad. I gotta get that thing out of my house...
... maybe if I post that I am writing an espionage RPG, the FBI will moronically raid my house and take it from me.
Quote from: Ronin;835254http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wizards.com%2Fdnd%2FDnDArchives_History.asp&date=2008-10-04
Scroll down to 1980.
huh. Interesting!