RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)

[Thorn Drumheller]

Back to the grind... unf unf unf.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/karpomatic-receives-a-🚫-thirty-day-ban-and-threadban.896189/

Problematic themes are doubleplusungood and will not be tolerated, prole.

The complete hypocrisy on this one made me laugh. Cause Save-vs-DM can get righteously angry that the alternate reality of the setting erased native Americans from the area. But then goes on to say how Coyote and Crow is such a big damn deal.....while it's an alternate reality that erased colonization.......sigh

[Kyle Aaron]

rpg.net will think this is cool, because only someone who never games would think this is a good idea.

https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-nft-gripnr-blockchain-dnd-ttrpg-1848686984

[Chris24601]

rpg.net will think this is cool, because only someone who never games would think this is a good idea.

https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-nft-gripnr-blockchain-dnd-ttrpg-1848686984

I think I lost brain cells trying to understand why any gamer would want this.

A) why do I want someone else's PC when the rules allow me to make my own.
B) there are finite levels in 5e D&D... a level 20 is basically at the end of its life and so near worthless. Indeed, the more decisions have been premade the less value it has.

The ONLY interesting thing about it is munching popcorn while watching it crash and burn.

[jeff37923]

rpg.net will think this is cool, because only someone who never games would think this is a good idea.

https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-nft-gripnr-blockchain-dnd-ttrpg-1848686984

I think I lost brain cells trying to understand why any gamer would want this.

A) why do I want someone else's PC when the rules allow me to make my own.
B) there are finite levels in 5e D&D... a level 20 is basically at the end of its life and so near worthless. Indeed, the more decisions have been premade the less value it has.

The ONLY interesting thing about it is munching popcorn while watching it crash and burn.

I couldn't keep reading the article because these guys obviously don't get why people are attracted to playing RPGs. Well, that and the art displayed by their NFT poster looked like shit.

[Fheredin]

rpg.net will think this is cool, because only someone who never games would think this is a good idea.

https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-nft-gripnr-blockchain-dnd-ttrpg-1848686984

Gonna disagree here on both counts. It's popular to hate on NFTs if you don't understand the tech, and a fair number of NFT projects are in no uncertain terms scams designed to separate people from their money. Consequently, I think RPG.Net will hate this even more than you do. Personally, I think this one falls into a gray area where this is a bad enough idea it will never catch on, but the general principle could be used successfully...for D&D. Let me explain.

The thing with NFTs no one talks about is that minting, modifying, and transferring NFTs requires paying transaction fees. A good NFT project needs to explain what the smart contract minting the NFTs does, and what the NFT is doing which is worth paying transaction fees. This project is easily in the top 1% of NFT projects in that regard because it actually discusses these fees. It tells you what they are doing (making characters into digital CCGs with assigned rarities), what blockchain will be hosting the project (Polygon, an L2 built on Ethereum where transactions tend to cost a few cents or less) and why you would do that (the NFT represents your PC).

As a ttRPG hobbyist, I think this is a somewhat silly project because I want to create my own character, not a pregen. And I definitely don't want to open booster packs for rare PCs. However, D&D players are kinda...dumb. They do things like roll stats in order, and that's not really that different from picking a character from a loot box. I think that's silly and I would never play that way, but people do play D&D that way. This is also a fixable problem; you just give the end-user access to the NFT mint and import a VTT character hosted on something like IPFS rather than minting characters for them. I'm willing to wager a competitor will do that.

My bottom line is that while I don't think D&D character packs are (or should) blast off to the moon in price, I can absolutely see the value of this project for some groups playing with a VTT. You're proving ownership of the character outside of a hosting network, so in theory you can take a character from one VTT and use it in another without having to worry about sending information back and forth between VTTs. This is kinda a niche use-case, at least at the moment, but it's not automatically awful. And the group certainly did a better job of communicating what they're doing and why than 99% of the NFT crypto scams out there.

[Ghostmaker]

rpg.net will think this is cool, because only someone who never games would think this is a good idea.

https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-nft-gripnr-blockchain-dnd-ttrpg-1848686984

I want everyone involved to die of ass cancer.

[Mistwell]

rpg.net will think this is cool, because only someone who never games would think this is a good idea.

https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-nft-gripnr-blockchain-dnd-ttrpg-1848686984

Gonna disagree here on both counts. It's popular to hate on NFTs if you don't understand the tech

Agreed. We see this attitude with every new development in tech. Including this type of forum right here, the computers running it and the internet communicating it.

[Stephen Tannhauser]

So in the spirit of fairness and full disclosure, here's a rare ban from TBP that I am awfully tempted to approve of:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/impoverishedlackey-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-seven-day-ban.896288/

Asmodeus is an elevated former angel himself, not a fallen god. He killed his former divine boss (whose minimal description sounds an awful lot like the sociopath from the Old Testament to me) and stole his power, position, and astral domain....

"whose minimal description sounds an awful lot like the sociopath from the Old Testament to me" is not only insulting to both Jews and Christians, it's also an anti-Semitic talking point used by segments of Christianity as far back as the 2nd century CE. Bluntly, it doesn't fly here, so we're giving you a week off.

God knows as a currently practicing Roman Catholic I can't pretend I'm not happy to see anti-Christian bad manners called out. But if the banhammer is a bad idea, it's a bad idea whatever it's squelching, so ruthless fairness requires me to acknowledge that calling for thicker skin from others requires me to practice it myself.

[Shasarak]

So in the spirit of fairness and full disclosure, here's a rare ban from TBP that I am awfully tempted to approve of:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/impoverishedlackey-receives-a-%F0%9F%9A%AB-seven-day-ban.896288/

Asmodeus is an elevated former angel himself, not a fallen god. He killed his former divine boss (whose minimal description sounds an awful lot like the sociopath from the Old Testament to me) and stole his power, position, and astral domain....

"whose minimal description sounds an awful lot like the sociopath from the Old Testament to me" is not only insulting to both Jews and Christians, it's also an anti-Semitic talking point used by segments of Christianity as far back as the 2nd century CE. Bluntly, it doesn't fly here, so we're giving you a week off.

God knows as a currently practicing Roman Catholic I can't pretend I'm not happy to see anti-Christian bad manners called out. But if the banhammer is a bad idea, it's a bad idea whatever it's squelching, so ruthless fairness requires me to acknowledge that calling for thicker skin from others requires me to practice it myself.

The chance of Asmodeus being able to kill the real God is laughable.

And on the other hand if you give your RPG Gods hit points then they are going to be ganked you just have to accept it going in.

[Stephen Tannhauser]

And on the other hand if you give your RPG Gods hit points then they are going to be ganked you just have to accept it going in.

This is exactly why in one game I'm working on, there are no "game stats" whatsoever for Powers of Light (angels, saints, devas etc.) included in the Bestiary, and the game itself admits as much.

[jhkim]

The law is unclear about whether it would allow, for example, having kids read and discuss a story about two people romantically falling in love and getting married - like Snow White or The Little Mermaid. Does reading and discussing such a story constitute a violation because it is instruction on sexual orientation? I don't believe you can answer this, and that is because the language is broad and unclear.

I think the reason none of us can answer that question is because none of us are legal professionals with experience in how such bills are enforced. Are you such a legal professional? I'd like to know that detail myself, instead of posting speculation on a message board over and over again with no sign of resolution.

Dude. It's not like everyone here doesn't express their opinion on everything from inflation to covid vaccines to climate change without having professional degrees in the subject. It's a freewheeling discussion forum. If you have legal analysis to link to, I'd be interested. I've read a few news articles that outline the law, but they don't seem any more definitive than other news. The bill does specify how it is enforced in the bill itself. Parents may demand changes if they don't think the law is being complied with, and if they aren't satisfied, they can directly sue. (This is lines 129-151.) The parents who may demand change and the teachers who are under it aren't legal scholars either. Here's an analysis at a legal blog, but it's no more neutral than any other:

https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/law-and-life/understanding-floridas-dont-say-gay-bill/


I'd be happy to agree to disagree, as long as people are clear on each others' positions - but I feel like my position isn't being accepted or misread. I'll try to restate again: For decades, the standard has been to regularly include coming-of-age, romance, courtship, marriage, and families within K-3 school topics - in fiction, biographies, foreign and historical customs, and other places - just like they are in G-rated classic Disney movies. Given that it's fine for these to appear with hetero relationships, it should be fine for the same to appear with gay relationships.

[oggsmash]

    Agree to disagree that gay relationships need equal representation to kids k-3 to those that are hetero. 

[Ratman_tf]

The law is unclear about whether it would allow, for example, having kids read and discuss a story about two people romantically falling in love and getting married - like Snow White or The Little Mermaid. Does reading and discussing such a story constitute a violation because it is instruction on sexual orientation? I don't believe you can answer this, and that is because the language is broad and unclear.

I think the reason none of us can answer that question is because none of us are legal professionals with experience in how such bills are enforced. Are you such a legal professional? I'd like to know that detail myself, instead of posting speculation on a message board over and over again with no sign of resolution.

Dude. It's not like everyone here doesn't express their opinion on everything from inflation to covid vaccines to climate change without having professional degrees in the subject. It's a freewheeling discussion forum. If you have legal analysis to link to, I'd be interested. I've read a few news articles that outline the law, but they don't seem any more definitive than other news. The bill does specify how it is enforced in the bill itself. Parents may demand changes if they don't think the law is being complied with, and if they aren't satisfied, they can directly sue. (This is lines 129-151.) The parents who may demand change and the teachers who are under it aren't legal scholars either. Here's an analysis at a legal blog, but it's no more neutral than any other:

https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/law-and-life/understanding-floridas-dont-say-gay-bill/

Dude. My point was you've been banging on about a hypothetical with one (?) example that we're still not sure about.

For the record, I do think that parents should be able to have input on what their children are taught in public schools, and should have a legal avenue to have their concerns addressed if they're dismissed or ignored.

I'd be happy to agree to disagree, as long as people are clear on each others' positions - but I feel like my position isn't being accepted or misread. I'll try to restate again: For decades, the standard has been to regularly include coming-of-age, romance, courtship, marriage, and families within K-3 school topics - in fiction, biographies, foreign and historical customs, and other places - just like they are in G-rated classic Disney movies. Given that it's fine for these to appear with hetero relationships, it should be fine for the same to appear with gay relationships.

Unlike others here, I think you have somewhat of a point. But it's a point I'm not sure that the bill will or will not affect. That's why I asked for legal clarification isntead of more hypotheticals.

Until we know with some level of certainty that this would be an issue, I consider it a dead-end part of the conversation.

[Ratman_tf]

    Agree to disagree that gay relationships need equal representation to kids k-3 to those that are hetero.

I could see the argument that if a child has a gay couple for parents, and the teacher wants that child to not feel like the "odd man out", that they should be able to put something G-Rated and not-activist fiction with a gay couple in their rotation.

[oggsmash]

    Agree to disagree that gay relationships need equal representation to kids k-3 to those that are hetero.

I could see the argument that if a child has a gay couple for parents, and the teacher wants that child to not feel like the "odd man out", that they should be able to put something G-Rated and not-activist fiction with a gay couple in their rotation.

  I can also understand that homosexuality, and homosexual acts are flagrantly offensive to every major religion in the USA.  I am not a Muslim, but I am also not going to start endorsing teaching kids it is OK to draw pictures of the prophet either.   I think a kid with gay parents has been coached up to the nth degree as to how special they are long before kindergarten.  This is a consideration as to what is for the massive, overwhelming majority, many of whom also have faiths and religious beliefs that are in direct conflict with endorsing homosexuality.  Granted I do not care to see kids being forced to pray at school, I also do not think you get to wipe shit on their and their parents' core religious beliefs either.