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Author Topic: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)  (Read 306619 times)

avaia

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #585 on: December 15, 2021, 03:17:38 PM »
They latched onto the 'creator costs' pretty hard

The hilarious part was the incredible display of anything even remotely resembling an actual business analysis of publication costs, especially by the ass who puffed himself up with his supposed publishing career history.

Terms like "fixed cost", "variable cost", and "cost of goods sold" are Business 101, but when I used them to illustrate exactly how wrong Mr. Publishing Expert was, it was as if I was speaking a foreign language they didn't understand.

I've done this work, in this industry. I've been on the retail side, too. I have intimate knowledge of what goes into the process from end to end, and the math doesn't lie, ever.
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avaia

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #586 on: December 15, 2021, 03:23:39 PM »
Even better was the guy dismissively admitting he didn't even bother to read the article I linked, because he thought it sounded like an advertisment (logical fallacy: ad hominem attack) which discusses in detail the difference between cost-based pricing and value-based pricing, and why one model might be appropriate in one situation while being inappropriate in a different situation.

People read what they want to read, and not what is actually written, I guess. They read because they are addicted to outrage porn, and not to actually have responsible adult conversations about serious industry topics like what constitutes a "fair price" for a PDF.

The bottom line is the producer sets the price, but the consumer decides if that price is fair, and no amount of whining on the part of creators is ever going to change market economics into fairy dust and rainbow sprinkles.
Gemma Seymour (she/her) 🇺🇸🇵🇭🇩🇪🇩🇰🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏳️‍🌈
former staff, d8 magazine
author, Tapestry RPG System

Stephen Tannhauser

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #587 on: December 15, 2021, 04:07:10 PM »
They read because they are addicted to outrage porn, and not to actually have responsible adult conversations about serious industry topics like what constitutes a "fair price" for a PDF.

The TBP staff are on the whole obsessed with guaranteeing the "safe space" atmosphere of their forums, and one of the rules they've set to do this is "The onus is on the poster to be clear". In theory this is meant to encourage posters to be as unambiguous as possible about what they're actually saying. In practice this means that if any reader interprets an expressed position or opinion to be "offensive", the poster does not get any good faith credit for replying to such accusations with, "That isn't what I meant," or to deflect criticism by saying, "You're reading too much into this."

The problem with putting the formal responsibility to avoid offense entirely on original posters is, of course, that it enshrines a bad-faith attitude of assuming the worst from the get-go, which only makes it all the easier for readers to infer offense where none was intended. If it was balanced with a similar guideline like, "The onus is on the reader to assume the best possible intended spirit for any post before deciding if it deserves to be reported," things might simmer down somewhat. (But then again, they might not.)
Better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. -- Mark Twain

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Horace

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #588 on: December 15, 2021, 04:10:32 PM »
These people are idiots, avaia, and not worth your time. They are the very embodiment of group-think. They will never apologize, reconsider, or even question their beliefs. Their programming simply doesn't allow it.

On the upside, by banning you, they lost a valuable contributing member, which means that the site is one step closer to becoming irrelevant. Hopefully something better will come along soon and replace it.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2021, 05:35:40 PM by Horace »

Horace

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #589 on: December 15, 2021, 04:17:03 PM »
If it was balanced with a similar guideline like, "The onus is on the reader to assume the best possible intended spirit for any post before deciding if it deserves to be reported," things might simmer down somewhat. (But then again, they might not.)
That might actually work if the directive came from higher up and all the moderators were on-board with it (and if they really understood the guideline's intent). But I think once these purity spirals get started, nothing but total collapse can bring them to an end. TBP will probably crash and burn or become completely irrelevant before the moderation policies change.

Neoplatonist1

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #590 on: December 15, 2021, 08:21:15 PM »
That might actually work if the directive came from higher up and all the moderators were on-board with it (and if they really understood the guideline's intent). But I think once these purity spirals get started, nothing but total collapse can bring them to an end. TBP will probably crash and burn or become completely irrelevant before the moderation policies change.

I'm struck by the lack of self-awareness and political awareness in people running or frequenting sites like TBP. It's like they have the real-life equivalent of "genre-blindness" when the characters don't realize they're in a horror movie and so do stupid things like wander off alone. Do the mods at TBP understand what a "purity spiral" is? Do they grasp that they have created a totalitarian environment of snitches, newspeak, historical revisionism, and gulags? Or are they ingenuous?

Shasarak

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #591 on: December 15, 2021, 08:45:06 PM »
That might actually work if the directive came from higher up and all the moderators were on-board with it (and if they really understood the guideline's intent). But I think once these purity spirals get started, nothing but total collapse can bring them to an end. TBP will probably crash and burn or become completely irrelevant before the moderation policies change.

I'm struck by the lack of self-awareness and political awareness in people running or frequenting sites like TBP. It's like they have the real-life equivalent of "genre-blindness" when the characters don't realize they're in a horror movie and so do stupid things like wander off alone. Do the mods at TBP understand what a "purity spiral" is? Do they grasp that they have created a totalitarian environment of snitches, newspeak, historical revisionism, and gulags? Or are they ingenuous?

You say Purity Spiral like it is a bad thing?
Who da Drow?  U da drow! - hedgehobbit

There will be poor always,
pathetically struggling,
look at the good things you've got! -  Jesus

DM_Curt

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #592 on: December 15, 2021, 11:29:07 PM »
Purity Spiral: better name for an Anime-inspired RPG, a dystopian book or a Christian Metal band?

Trond

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #593 on: December 15, 2021, 11:40:58 PM »
Purity Spiral: a Christian progressive metal band, playing extremely technical, aggressive, and complex songs about our lord Jesus Christ.

rytrasmi

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #594 on: December 15, 2021, 11:45:32 PM »
Purity Spiral: a Christian progressive metal band, playing extremely technical, aggressive, and complex songs about our lord Jesus Christ.
Aw, hell, why not that sounds great.
The worms crawl in and the worms crawl out
The ones that crawl in are lean and thin
The ones that crawl out are fat and stout
Your eyes fall in and your teeth fall out
Your brains come tumbling down your snout
Be merry my friends
Be merry

Stephen Tannhauser

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #595 on: December 16, 2021, 01:49:41 AM »
Purity Spiral: a Christian progressive metal band, playing extremely technical, aggressive, and complex songs about our lord Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately they keep losing their fanbase to internal schisms about who loves them the most.
Better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. -- Mark Twain

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KingCheops

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #596 on: December 16, 2021, 11:15:32 AM »
I'd download that album.

Ghostmaker

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #597 on: December 25, 2021, 06:37:42 PM »
Know your place, peasants.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/the-process-of-appealing-to-the-rpgnet-admins-does-not-seem-to-be-working-as-presented-to-the-users.891407/

But hey, that's just 'press conferencing', it's not like the TBP mods are worthless wastes of flesh who pretend at being 'righteous'. Expecting Tanka to demonstrate self-reflection is kind of pointless. It's not going to happen. Tanka is right and you're wrong and if you disagree well fuck you, prole.


Shasarak

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #598 on: December 25, 2021, 06:46:56 PM »
He is not named after a Tankie, right?

It would be like having a mod called Hitla.
Who da Drow?  U da drow! - hedgehobbit

There will be poor always,
pathetically struggling,
look at the good things you've got! -  Jesus

avaia

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Re: RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)
« Reply #599 on: December 26, 2021, 01:58:12 PM »
Know your place, peasants.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/the-process-of-appealing-to-the-rpgnet-admins-does-not-seem-to-be-working-as-presented-to-the-users.891407/

But hey, that's just 'press conferencing', it's not like the TBP mods are worthless wastes of flesh who pretend at being 'righteous'. Expecting Tanka to demonstrate self-reflection is kind of pointless. It's not going to happen. Tanka is right and you're wrong and if you disagree well fuck you, prole.

RPG net Commandment #1: Thou shalt not question thy betters. Out of the way, peck!

I have never received a single reply to any attempt to appeal a moderator decision. It's pretty hypocritical to public proclaim yourself a champion of social justice, as the RPG net staff effectively do, and then utterly fail at having any sort of accountability to the constituency or any real principles of justice, like a transparent and effective appellate review process.

Sadly, this problem is more common than one might think in professional social justice circles, particularly in the nonprofit sector.
Gemma Seymour (she/her) 🇺🇸🇵🇭🇩🇪🇩🇰🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏳️‍🌈
former staff, d8 magazine
author, Tapestry RPG System