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Author Topic: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)  (Read 306582 times)

Ghostmaker

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RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« on: July 27, 2021, 08:10:46 AM »
After consulting with the staff (talked to Pundit), I'm starting a new thread here to discuss the ongoing unintentional hilarity that is RPGnet.

Let's check out the latest casualties. I see Thorn Drumheller got the heave ho -- sorry, Thorn. My guess is they didn't like what you had to say here, or elsewhere.

It should come as no surprise that they're all up in arms about Sandy Petersen, because he's a meany who won't kiss their ring. Wah wah wah.

Here's one that I find particularly amusing: https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/katastrophe-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-one-day-ban-and-threadban-bad-sexist-takes.884676/

Now, if they'd gigged him for 'negativity' or 'threadcrapping' it would've still been bullshit but at least it would be consistent bullshit. But rolling out the excuse of 'tired MRA talking points'? I guess they've completely missed how Kevin Smith lied through his teeth about the plot of MOTU:Revelation. Or they're just dishonest. My money's on dishonest.

oggsmash

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2021, 08:17:57 AM »
I really do not know what has gone on with the moderators there.  I remember there was a shift in tone years ago, and then that shift really went into overdrive.  I visited the site last year, and saw it was now just insanity.  I do not understand having a political forum on the site where you are not allowed, in any way, to show any support whatsoever for what half the country voted for.   It would seem just do not have a political forum if you have rules like that. 

   I remember years ago the forum was useful for asking about games and discussion of same, now it looks like people are wondering if they will be banned for showing any sort of individual opinion about anything.  The "tired MRA talking points" is a great example of same, those talking points are "tired" because hollywood/media are doing the exact things the dude that got a one day ban was complaining about all the time. 

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2021, 08:19:52 AM »
RPG net is such cancer I -site:rpg.net them from my search results just so I don’t have to look at their bullshit. If you go to their bans overall they’re pretty funny at how petty that mod team is
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Thorn Drumheller

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2021, 08:55:57 AM »
After consulting with the staff (talked to Pundit), I'm starting a new thread here to discuss the ongoing unintentional hilarity that is RPGnet.

Let's check out the latest casualties. I see Thorn Drumheller got the heave ho -- sorry, Thorn. My guess is they didn't like what you had to say here, or elsewhere.

It should come as no surprise that they're all up in arms about Sandy Petersen, because he's a meany who won't kiss their ring. Wah wah wah.

Here's one that I find particularly amusing: https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/katastrophe-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-one-day-ban-and-threadban-bad-sexist-takes.884676/

Now, if they'd gigged him for 'negativity' or 'threadcrapping' it would've still been bullshit but at least it would be consistent bullshit. But rolling out the excuse of 'tired MRA talking points'? I guess they've completely missed how Kevin Smith lied through his teeth about the plot of MOTU:Revelation. Or they're just dishonest. My money's on dishonest.

Thanks man. It's really no loss cause I was not a fit for their totalitarian regime. I started there back in the day when it really was a ton of good rpg ideas going on. Games were discussed and support was given. That board really isn't about rpg's anymore, they realize it but don't want to admit it. All the good posters were either banned or left the site. So it's a shame it's turned into such a hollow shell.

And yeah, I watched the first two episodes and, since I'm trying to remove things in my life that get my blood pressure up, I'm not finishing the series. Now if I'd seen this as I kid I might like it but there's a reason the last three Star Wars movies sucked......but that's the direction stupidwood is going for entertainment.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2021, 09:06:06 AM by Thorn Drumheller »
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Ghostmaker

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2021, 09:50:59 AM »
Thanks man. It's really no loss cause I was not a fit for their totalitarian regime. I started there back in the day when it really was a ton of good rpg ideas going on. Games were discussed and support was given. That board really isn't about rpg's anymore, they realize it but don't want to admit it. All the good posters were either banned or left the site. So it's a shame it's turned into such a hollow shell.
They'll never admit they're doing all the purging that you warned about back in 2019 (and promptly ate a 30-day ban for).

Elvs Waxman just ate a similar ban (bumped from one to thirty days) for expressing similar concerns about purges and purity spirals.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/elvis-waxman-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-one-day-ban.884716/
https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/elvis-waxman-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-thirty-day-ban-derailing-group-attack.884720/

Frankly, I would suggest Elvis go ahead and jump ship. Judging from his prior 'infractions', I believe the mods have decided he needs to go.


Reckall

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2021, 10:48:53 AM »
I really do not know what has gone on with the moderators there.  I remember there was a shift in tone years ago, and then that shift really went into overdrive.
I remember when RPG.net made sane objections to RPG contents. For example, when I read 3.5E "Races of the Wild" I didn't like how halflings were presented as a stereotype of Roma people. It was disgusting and even reductive. Shortly later I stumbled into a review of the book on RPG.net, and it was the only one that made the same point.

Then things exploded - everywhere. There are actual studies on why this happened, with the majority of them pointing out a perfect storm of events happening in a short time: the #metoo movement, gamersgate... the big one possibly was the election of a certain US President. Even if wokeism was already on the rise, that was like throwing a molotov cocktail in a room already saturated by gas, Boom.

And, for some reason, the "guardians" of popular culture (critics, actors, content creators and the like) decided that it was their job to become... dunno, PALADINS of what was moral and just - sane reasoning be damned.

I saw this degradation happening in real time on "The Guardian". Sure, they are (well, were) a bastion of liberal thought. However, they had no problems in hammering something with leftist contents if they felt that the quality of the work was shoddy. Today, I guess that they wrote their five stars review of MOTU even before the show was out.

And this created a widening disconnection between these PALADINS and the sane, normal people. I.e. "The Guardians of Culture" are guarding, via their screamed sentences, an increasingly empty keep.

"Variety"!! Your job is to publish a fair assessment of events inherent to the entertainment sector, not to write sad articles like this one: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/he-man-masters-of-the-universe-revelation-kevin-smith-netflix-1235026831/

"Kevin Smith Made Netflix’s ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’ Specifically to Please ‘He-Man’ Fans. Some Got Mad Anyway."

...Because you are lying. He-Man is not in the show. This is why He-Man fans got mad. Also, you support a liar who claimed for months that the rumors of a "female-centric" show were false - only to put out a female-centric show.

No "Variety": your job is to call out Kevin Smith and question him frankly for his jokes - not to arbitrarily support something because it is woke.

Even worse, this already happened. "Star Wars" is a shining example. When "The Last Jedi" destroyed the franchise and had the fans up in arms, the answer was not an analysis of what went wrong, but this:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a25560063/how-fans-ruined-star-wars-the-last-jedi-2018/

"The Year Star Wars Fans Finally Ruined Star Wars
In 2018, a loud movement of racist, misogynist trolls derailed the beloved family sci-fi franchise."


Maybe you will notice a pattern.

But we also have the result. No more toy sales, empty "Star Wars" attractions in Disney parks, a widely panned third movie that made half of the first, and finally this:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/gross-altman-star-wars-mandalorian/619016/

"How Disney Mismanaged the Star Wars Universe
And how The Mandalorian can restore the true power of George Lucas’s galaxy"


Boy, was it so hard to understand? I guess that there is nothing like haemorrhaging money to get someone's attention...

Be assured that it is the "Star Wars" pattern what we already saw (like, for example, with "Ghostbusters", but also the 2021 edition of the Oscars) and that we will see. It will always go this way.

What is worrying is that once upon a time the entertainment industry had a "herd mentality". "Star Wars" is a hit? Let's do our Star Wars! "Mars Needs Moms" was a flop? Let's drop "Mars" from "John Carter of Mars" (believe it or not, this is what happened). "Magic: the Gathering" exploded as the new way of playing? Let's rush out our card game!

Today? "Star Wars" loses a s*it-ton of money and no one learns the lesson. No one even copies the right way to handle things even if he doesn't understand why, just out of prudence. No. "He-Man" gets woke and "Variety" repeats the same mistakes that doomed Star Wars.

I'll follow from my window the sales of He-Man toys. It will be an interesting view.
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Thorn Drumheller

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #6 on: July 28, 2021, 11:35:21 AM »
Thanks man. It's really no loss cause I was not a fit for their totalitarian regime. I started there back in the day when it really was a ton of good rpg ideas going on. Games were discussed and support was given. That board really isn't about rpg's anymore, they realize it but don't want to admit it. All the good posters were either banned or left the site. So it's a shame it's turned into such a hollow shell.
They'll never admit they're doing all the purging that you warned about back in 2019 (and promptly ate a 30-day ban for).

Elvs Waxman just ate a similar ban (bumped from one to thirty days) for expressing similar concerns about purges and purity spirals.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/elvis-waxman-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-one-day-ban.884716/
https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/elvis-waxman-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-thirty-day-ban-derailing-group-attack.884720/

Frankly, I would suggest Elvis go ahead and jump ship. Judging from his prior 'infractions', I believe the mods have decided he needs to go.

Oh.... well then. They did ban Elvis for rational thought. Well, Elvis should read the writing on the wall (mod red text) cause they're not long for big purp.
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Ghostmaker

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #7 on: July 28, 2021, 11:53:15 AM »
Thanks man. It's really no loss cause I was not a fit for their totalitarian regime. I started there back in the day when it really was a ton of good rpg ideas going on. Games were discussed and support was given. That board really isn't about rpg's anymore, they realize it but don't want to admit it. All the good posters were either banned or left the site. So it's a shame it's turned into such a hollow shell.
They'll never admit they're doing all the purging that you warned about back in 2019 (and promptly ate a 30-day ban for).

Elvs Waxman just ate a similar ban (bumped from one to thirty days) for expressing similar concerns about purges and purity spirals.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/elvis-waxman-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-one-day-ban.884716/
https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/elvis-waxman-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-thirty-day-ban-derailing-group-attack.884720/

Frankly, I would suggest Elvis go ahead and jump ship. Judging from his prior 'infractions', I believe the mods have decided he needs to go.

Oh.... well then. They did ban Elvis for rational thought. Well, Elvis should read the writing on the wall (mod red text) cause they're not long for big purp.
When I see something trotted out like 'prior infractions' or 'not a good fit' for an account that's been there since 2003, I like to search through the Infractions forum for these actual 'prior infractions'. In a lot of cases it's penny-ante bullshit, or ginned up to justify their stupidity and hypocrisy.

Coherent thought really isn't a trait they breed for in wokeism. They don't need to be coherent or consistent because they are always the Good Guys. Regardless of what they do, it's Always Right (I referred to this as 'informed morality', a pun on the trope informed ability). And it's a mentality usually only seen in religious zealots, which is why it's so surprising to encounter.

But they really don't know how to handle it when reality backhands them. When films and shows tank hard, when the money they were expecting fails to materialize, they can't say, 'Huh, maybe this was a bad idea'. It's like the meme of Principal Skinner. 'No, no, it's the consumers who must be wrong.' And so it goes with SW, and He-Man, and yes, RPGnet. They cannot be wrong. They are the Good Guys (as Reckall notes, the 'paladins' of this play). And so it must be some evil haters' fault!

If you've ever read about the Soviet system, and the Gulag Archipelago, a great 'danger' in the system were 'wreckers', who would (somehow) derail, delay, or disrupt proper production and handling of resources. If you raised objections to a process because it was stupid, nonsensical, illogical, or dangerous, you were a wrecker, and you had better change your ways or you had a prison term waiting for you.

KingCheops

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #8 on: July 28, 2021, 12:47:54 PM »
Even worse, this already happened. "Star Wars" is a shining example. When "The Last Jedi" destroyed the franchise and had the fans up in arms, the answer was not an analysis of what went wrong, but this:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a25560063/how-fans-ruined-star-wars-the-last-jedi-2018/

"The Year Star Wars Fans Finally Ruined Star Wars
In 2018, a loud movement of racist, misogynist trolls derailed the beloved family sci-fi franchise."


Maybe you will notice a pattern.

But we also have the result. No more toy sales, empty "Star Wars" attractions in Disney parks, a widely panned third movie that made half of the first, and finally this:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/gross-altman-star-wars-mandalorian/619016/

"How Disney Mismanaged the Star Wars Universe
And how The Mandalorian can restore the true power of George Lucas’s galaxy"


Boy, was it so hard to understand? I guess that there is nothing like haemorrhaging money to get someone's attention...

Be assured that it is the "Star Wars" pattern what we already saw (like, for example, with "Ghostbusters", but also the 2021 edition of the Oscars) and that we will see. It will always go this way.

The truly crazy thing is that the Mandalorian did a better job of female empowerment than the sequel trilogy did by being realistic and not propaganda.  And then the Paladins went and kicked off one of the better female role models on the show!  My daughter doesn't really give two shits about Rey but boy oh boy did she love Cara Dune.

GeekyBugle

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #9 on: July 28, 2021, 01:57:25 PM »
Funny how we're just a vocal minority and publishers/directors/studios/etc shouldn't pay attention to what we want but we're also powerful enough that a "small minority" of angry, manbaby, misogynerds can destroy Star Wars.

Misogynerds of the world unite!!!!
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Thorn Drumheller

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2021, 02:12:34 PM »
Funny how we're just a vocal minority and publishers/directors/studios/etc shouldn't pay attention to what we want but we're also powerful enough that a "small minority" of angry, manbaby, misogynerds can destroy Star Wars.

Misogynerds of the world unite!!!!

LOL, so true
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Ratman_tf

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #11 on: July 28, 2021, 02:33:11 PM »
They've really been leaning into the "A Game" excuse to find reasons to censure and ban posters lately.

NOT WOKE ENOUGH!
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Reckall

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #12 on: July 28, 2021, 02:52:35 PM »
They've really been leaning into the "A Game" excuse to find reasons to censure and ban posters lately.

NOT WOKE ENOUGH!

They are literally "purifying" the site from those who speak against "their quest for purity".
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Ghostmaker

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #13 on: July 28, 2021, 04:01:34 PM »
They've really been leaning into the "A Game" excuse to find reasons to censure and ban posters lately.

NOT WOKE ENOUGH!

They are literally "purifying" the site from those who speak against "their quest for purity".
Or lack sufficient purity, or run afoul of the mods, or are friends with someone problematic, or do something offsite that hurts their fee-fee's, or... and so on. But you knew that already.

I've been checking their Current Visitors page quite a bit. I've yet to see the registered users clock over 250, and I've seen it drop as low as 170. Guests, of course, vary wildly.

I wonder what the numbers are for Giants In The Playground (the Order of the Stick forum site). I may need to check that.

Shasarak

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #14 on: July 28, 2021, 05:03:59 PM »
What the hell is a A game?

I have heard of an A Team.
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