Wow, glad to see nothing's changed down Big Purple way.

I should also report in as another casuality. I had an account there since 2007 which I can no longer log into.  Apparently they not only scrambled my password but also my email so I can't log back in.

I have an email that I've used for over 10 years and I know for a fact it was registered with that one.

No big loss. Let them stew in their cesspit of ideological purity and I'll hang out here and on the Pub.  It's sad to see that these same mental defectives who took over TBP have managed to also stage a hostile takeover of EN World, but whatever.  It's their forum they can do what they like with it.

Quote from: Ghostmaker on January 07, 2021, 08:14:16 AM

Quote from: David Johansen on January 06, 2021, 11:43:47 PM
In The Bible, the ancient Hebrews used the word "shibboleth" as a password because the Philistines couldn't pronounce it right. 

Wait what? Seriously?

That's hilarious.

Well, bearing in mind that the Old Testament is a pretty one sided account and it was probably a pretty old story by the time it got written down.

Quote from: David Johansen on January 07, 2021, 09:51:47 AM
Well, bearing in mind that the Old Testament is a pretty one sided account and it was probably a pretty old story by the time it got written down.

The full account's in the Book of Judges, if anyone's curious; it was following a battle between the Gileadites and the invading Ephraimites.
And it sounds perfectly plausible to me; verifying a suspected hostile agent by testing his ability to pronounce a given language has plenty of historical examples, according to the Wikipedia article on the word.

Quote from: Stephen Tannhauser on January 07, 2021, 09:59:59 AM

Quote from: David Johansen on January 07, 2021, 09:51:47 AM
Well, bearing in mind that the Old Testament is a pretty one sided account and it was probably a pretty old story by the time it got written down.

The full account's in the Book of Judges, if anyone's curious; it was following a battle between the Gileadites and the invading Ephraimites.
And it sounds perfectly plausible to me; verifying a suspected hostile agent by testing his ability to pronounce a given language has plenty of historical examples, according to the Wikipedia article on the word.

Learn something new every day

Quote from: Ghostmaker on January 07, 2021, 12:49:32 PM
Learn something new every day

I've always remembered a story my father told me about a German spy in World War 2, who was infiltrating an English town, and had mastered the language flawlessly and spoke without any perceptible accent at all, but was caught out when he asked a bartender, "Two martinis, please," and the bartender said, "Dry?" and the agent replied without thinking, "No, two."  --Because the German word for three, drei, is pronounced exactly like "dry" in English.

Lesson for me was, it's always the things so reflexive you don't think about them that trip you up.

Quote from: Stephen Tannhauser on January 07, 2021, 01:08:30 PM

Quote from: Ghostmaker on January 07, 2021, 12:49:32 PM
Learn something new every day

I've always remembered a story my father told me about a German spy in World War 2, who was infiltrating an English town, and had mastered the language flawlessly and spoke without any perceptible accent at all, but was caught out when he asked a bartender, "Two martinis, please," and the bartender said, "Dry?" and the agent replied without thinking, "No, two."  --Because the German word for three, drei, is pronounced exactly like "dry" in English.

Lesson for me was, it's always the things so reflexive you don't think about them that trip you up.

There's also the story of one of Skorzeney's boys in an American uniform and a perfect American accent rolling up to an American position and asking for petrol.

Quote from: Ghostmaker on January 07, 2021, 08:14:16 AM

Quote from: David Johansen on January 06, 2021, 11:43:47 PM
In The Bible, the ancient Hebrews used the word "shibboleth" as a password because the Philistines couldn't pronounce it right. 

Wait what? Seriously?

That's hilarious.

It's also a password in Freemasonry.

Quote from: Semaj Khan on January 07, 2021, 01:18:39 PM
It's also a password in Freemasonry.

A fellow traveling man?

Quote from: Thornhammer on January 07, 2021, 01:55:00 PM

Quote from: Semaj Khan on January 07, 2021, 01:18:39 PM
It's also a password in Freemasonry.

A fellow traveling man?

I've had my hand in many esoteric matters over the decades.

Had (have?) an account on big purple. They gave me some bullshit warning over something or other (don't remember any specifics). If I recall correctly, I wasn't banned or anything, but I just quit posting (or reading) over there. I figure everyone is happier, so that's all fine with me. Walking away seemed like the best thing (no drama, no "I'm leaving" post -- just stop).

Sounds like suicide by mod to me...

TBP sucks.

Quote from: TJS on January 05, 2021, 02:44:00 AM

The thing is you don't actually need the wider world to explain the evolution of rpgnet.  You can pretty much chart it all according to it's internal development.

Some forums have been infected by poltics - but at rpgnet the dynamics that led there never needed to be imported, they bred natively.

*SNIP*

You actually hit the nail on the head here.  The thing about RPG.net is that the moderation staff have always been tribalist, gaslighting little petty tyrants.  SocJus just gives them a convenient cover so they can feel righteous while just continuing to do what they were always going to do anyway.

Moderation on TBP has always been based on the In Group vs Out Group.  If a user is part of the In Group, they can do whatever they want without fear. They can insult people, derail threads, "threadcrap," brigade and be total shitstains and the worst they will get is a performative slap on the wrist.

If a user is part of the Out Group, they have always had to walk on eggshells around the mods.  Every word out of their mouths will be scrutinized for any evidence of impropriety or upsetting the In Group.  Step one hair out of line and you got the Banhammer

The only thing that's changed are the post hoc justifications the mods give for being little petty tyrants.

Remember how Byron Hall, author of F.A.T.A.L., was treated?  Remember Matthew Grau, the author of Cthulhutech?   Remember what happened to Venger?

In all cases, the authors of each book were relentlessly dogpiled, insulted and basically prevented from communicating with their fans on TBP.  If they complained to the mods about this behavior they were laughed off, or just banned to make them shut up and go away.

Quote from: Torque2100 on January 08, 2021, 09:35:37 AM

Quote from: TJS on January 05, 2021, 02:44:00 AM

The thing is you don't actually need the wider world to explain the evolution of rpgnet.  You can pretty much chart it all according to it's internal development.

Some forums have been infected by poltics - but at rpgnet the dynamics that led there never needed to be imported, they bred natively.

*SNIP*

You actually hit the nail on the head here.  The thing about RPG.net is that the moderation staff have always been tribalist, gaslighting little petty tyrants.  SocJus just gives them a convenient cover so they can feel righteous while just continuing to do what they were always going to do anyway.

Moderation on TBP has always been based on the In Group vs Out Group.  If a user is part of the In Group, they can do whatever they want without fear. They can insult people, derail threads, "threadcrap," brigade and be total shitstains and the worst they will get is a performative slap on the wrist.

If a user is part of the Out Group, they have always had to walk on eggshells around the mods.  Every word out of their mouths will be scrutinized for any evidence of impropriety or upsetting the In Group.  Step one hair out of line and you get the Banhammer

Remember how Byron Hall, author of F.A.T.A.L., was treated?  Remember Matthew Grau, the author of Cthulhutech?   Remember what happened to Venger?

In all cases, the authors of each book were relentlessly dogpiled, insulted and basically prevented from communicating with their fans on TBP.  If they complained to the mods about this behavior they were laughed off, or just banned to make them shut up and go away.

Not sure Byron Hall is the best example here, considering the godawful trainwreck and display of gratuitous edgelording FATAL was.

That being said, though, TBP's mods are incapable of nuance, many get a cheap thrill out of lording their (imaginary) power over posters, and the rules are so inconsistently enforced they might as well be rolling on one of FATAL's spell failure charts to see what happens.

Quote from: Ghostmaker on January 08, 2021, 09:41:25 AM
Not sure Byron Hall is the best example here, considering the godawful trainwreck and display of gratuitous edgelording FATAL was.

That being said, though, TBP's mods are incapable of nuance, many get a cheap thrill out of lording their (imaginary) power over posters, and the rules are so inconsistently enforced they might as well be rolling on one of FATAL's spell failure charts to see what happens.

Oh no question.  F.A.T.A.L. was a gods-awful trainwreck system-wise.  Nothing in the rules made any sense, the author's abject failure to research their "historically accurate medieval fantasy RPG" (probably the literal only time this phrase has ever been used unironically) is apparent to even a casual student of history.  That being said, I carefully avoid saying that F.A.T.A.L.  "shouldn't exist" because it's a trainwreck of edgelording and incompetent design.

Look at what James Raggi, Jim Desborough  and Venger Satanis publish on a regular basis.

No argument from me on the Moderation policy. It is hilarious to me how quickly their supposed "values" will be dropkicked out of a 7th story window the second it's inconvenient for them.

Quote from: Torque2100 on January 08, 2021, 10:04:10 AM

Oh no question.  F.A.T.A.L. was a gods-awful trainwreck system-wise.  Nothing in the rules made any sense, the author's abject failure to research their "historically accurate medieval fantasy RPG" (probably the literal only time this phrase has ever been used unironically) is apparent to even a casual student of history.  That being said, I carefully avoid saying that F.A.T.A.L.  "shouldn't exist" because it's a trainwreck of edgelording and incompetent design.

Look at what James Raggi, Jim Desborough  and Venger Satanis publish on a regular basis.

No argument from me on the Moderation policy. It is hilarious to me how quickly their supposed "values" will be dropkicked out of a 7th story window the second it's inconvenient for them.

FATAL is the gaming equivalent of testing the sentiment of 'I detest what you say, but defend to the death your right to say it'.

I admit I'm unfamiliar with Raggi, Desborough, or Satanis. So I can't state if their stuff is good or bad. Hall's magnum opus is pretty damned bad on multiple levels... but then, so was Traveller 5. T5 just had less obsession with sex and gore. That's probably what got FATAL put in the crosshairs.