TheRpgSite in popular media

Shasarak · May 26, 2020, 05:09:12 AM

I was reading the Knights of the Dinner Table Issue 271 and I found an interesting reference to TheRpgSite, which I present without comment:

Quote from: DeadDMWalkingAutism and Conventions

I just finished reading #267 and #268 - I kept 267 unopened for a few agonizing weeks so I wouldn't get stuck on a cliff-hanger that'd drive me crazy (again).

The strips have been amazing. I've been reading regularly since 2001. I love everything you guys do - I understand why so many people feel connected to the 'gaming scene' through the magazine. While I come for the comics, your articles are like a pulse on the larger gaming community.

I really enjoyed Derek White's Op-Ed in #268 and feel that it is worthwhile to share with a larger audience. I sent an e-mail request to Derek White moments ago asking asking if that might be something that I could do - I posted on theRPGsite to discuss the article and one of the first requests was to see it in whole to comment.

I will admit that theRPGsite is generally hostile to requests to make gaming more accessible - it's probably the main reason I post there. I think that the posters there are often hostile to the idea that maybe they don't do enough to make gaming fun for as wide an audience as possible, and I think they tend to forget that there are real people who'd love to sling dice but have real obstacles that they might not be able to overcome on their own.

In some ways, Mr. White's article reminded me of the story you shared around accessible video games for your daughter. My heart broke for you and for Barbara when you lost her 8 years ago. I can only imagine that it is a painful subject and don't bring it up lightly.

When you brought up Amber's love of gaming and the desire to see accommodation from the game publishers, that may have been the first time that I really thought about the ways gaming had contributed to my life, my friendships, and my happiness, and what it would have meant if I couldn't have been a part of that. While everyone has challenges and setbacks, I have been truly blessed, and it is my sincere hope that others will spend some time imagining how their lives might have been different and how they might appreciate some kindness from the larger gaming community.

Toward that end, I was wondering if you would publish Derek White's article or permit me to transcribe it to the following discussion forum:

Game on!

DeadDMWalking

Thanks for your inquiry, DM. By the time this sees print, you should find a downloadable pdf of the article on our website at //www.kenzerco.com. We invite readers to share it with others. -- Jolly

S'mon · May 26, 2020, 07:08:13 AM

"I think that the posters there are often hostile to the idea that maybe they don't do enough to make gaming fun for as wide an audience as possible"

Well I do lots to make gaming fun for as wide an audience as possible, so yeah I'd be hostile to that idea!

The Exploited. · May 26, 2020, 07:18:08 AM

I'm not hostile... I'm just interested in changing my games or how I play to suit anyone else's taste. Been doing it that way for over 30yrs, so if it 'aint broke and all.

Also, why do you even need to make a game 'more accessible'? Change it to suit your group, add in (or take out) whatever you want.

And if you're really pissed that something isn't in a game. Just write your own, like everyone else does. The only real barrier in gaming, is a mental one, that people put up themselves.

Slipshot762 · May 26, 2020, 08:16:56 AM

You can be a full blown weretranny in full kit and play at my table, no bully, but when you start whining that the game world is too white or not inclusive or where are the gay or tranny rulers/villains/tavern keepers i'm probably going to pistol whip you to death and sell your organs on the korean version of craigslist.

CTPhipps · May 26, 2020, 08:28:38 AM

I feel like I'm opening a Hellraiser puzzle box but is something more meant by "accessible" than just easy to use?

Hakdov · May 26, 2020, 09:26:46 AM

I only read kodt for the comics. The rest of the magazine is lame so I just buy the bundles of trouble versions. And even the comics get pretty weak after around #150 or so. The stores I frequented quit selling it years ago which makes me wonder how it continues to be a thing.

Brad · May 26, 2020, 10:31:37 AM

So now it's being "hostile" if you just play with your friends and don't actively seek out gay black female Muslim quadriplegics with Downs Syndrome to join in.

CTPhipps · May 26, 2020, 10:44:39 AM

I feel like gaming should be available to everyone.

And most everyone agrees.

Steven Mitchell · May 26, 2020, 10:55:08 AM

Anyone can buy a game, learn it, prepare, and GM. It's not that hard to find players, either, if you put a little thought and effort into it--though it helps to just run a fun game first, last, and only, instead of being on a real-life crusade (of any type). So gaming is available to everyone.

Don't want to run a game of the type you prefer? Can't find players to play the kind of game that you prefer? Complaining about people not finding a game? Can't find another GM to do all the work and run exactly what you want for you? I think I know where the problem started. It's this little thing called the common denominator.

The Exploited. · May 26, 2020, 11:19:33 AM

I only discriminate against assholes. A core principal that has served me well.

Everyone else is welcome.

insubordinate polyhedral · May 26, 2020, 11:37:43 AM

It's so interesting for me to read stuff like that and discover that I've been hostile to my own participation in gaming since 1995. Fuck all you RPGSite Nazis, I can oppress myself just fine without your help, god damnit.

Quote from: The Exploited.;1131310I only discriminate against assholes. A core principal that has served me well.

Everyone else is welcome.

Cheers to that

Ratman_tf · May 26, 2020, 12:01:40 PM

Quote from: Shasarak;1131277I was reading the Knights of the Dinner Table Issue 271 and I found an interesting reference to TheRpgSite, which I present without comment:

Oh noes! People on theRPGsite don't agree with me! Therefore they're "hostile" to accessible gaming!

What a jackass.

VisionStorm · May 26, 2020, 12:12:48 PM

Quote from: CTPhipps;1131290I feel like I'm opening a Hellraiser puzzle box but is something more meant by "accessible" than just easy to use?

It means that you're supposed to alter the entire game mechanically and on its presentation to suit a bunch of imaginary people cuz people purporting to speak for every whamen and minority on Earth declared that the game was alienating to them, and if you don't accept that blindly and without question then obviously you're just a racist POS that just wants to keep women and minorities out of gaming cuz you want it to be a white male only space.

Snowman0147 · May 26, 2020, 12:31:02 PM

Is anyone surprised it was deadDMwalking that posted this shit? I am not as that fucker is sjw snake so of course he is going to bad mouth the site.

CTPhipps · May 26, 2020, 12:34:04 PM

I love the representation found in the original Chicago by Night and Ed Greenwood went out of his way to do this for Forgotten Realms 1st Edition. Shadow Run was all about diverse minorities versus the ManTM. I'm not sure where they are looking for greater representation among games.

Mind you, I loved the revived Masks of Nyarlathotep with its updates.