RPGnet's decay (TBP madness)

[Orphan81]

I took a Quick Peek at the big Purple Today and saw this thread.

"Irreconcilable Personal and Setting Ideological Differences"

Which is nothing more than an online struggle session dedicated to each poster outdoing one another on how disgusted they are at 90% of the Tabletop RPGs out there for their 'problematic' content. Everything from Fantasy games for 'race essentialism', historical games for 'colonialism and treatment of BIPOC people', superhero games for being 'facist', and any game where you potentially portray LEO because ACAB.

I seriously had to take a step back and wonder to myself....

What do these people actually play? Like, what are their home games like? What happens in them, what is their favorite way of playing and what do they do?

How are they as GM's and how do they treat their players? Does everyone have to fill out the weird consent forms that Monte Cook made?

I'm only 40 and I feel like "Modern" RPG culture as displayed by the big Purple has morphed into a strange Beast that's supposed to be a stand in for activism and therapy rather than a fun time playing pretend.

The Woke at TBP are in a cult, and the mods there are cult disciplinarians very much focused on preventing anyone from piercing the current Woke orthodoxy as determined by them. When you see a thread like that understand most of those participants probably aren't in any active games. For the truly devoted Woke those threads are them witnessing their faith, and perhaps a confessional for their prior sins. For those in that thread not truly Woke their participation is more like that of a LARPer. The few that try to introduce heterodox thinking get modded.

Good Point, Good point. I would wager you're right, most of the people in those threads probably aren't engaged in any active gaming at the moment. It is fascinating and horrifying a thread like that pops up every couple months. It's exactly as you said, to bare witness and hold mass more or less.

I can't stomach them for very long, after a few pages I gotta tap out at the sheer hypocrisy and fart sniffing happening. In a sense it's sad, because if these individuals really did believe RPGs are now as evil and problematic as they say they are, you'd think they would have left the hobby entirely. But there's still this part of them that clings to it, a vestige that remembers they once had fun playing pretend and doesn't want to entirely let go.

[Ghostmaker]

Well, this was frankly shocking to me.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/guidance-my-and-pietas-recent-ban.900608/

The fourteen day ban over the 'dirty old man' crack got reversed. I admit I'm stunned.

[GeekyBugle]

I took a Quick Peek at the big Purple Today and saw this thread.

"Irreconcilable Personal and Setting Ideological Differences"

Which is nothing more than an online struggle session dedicated to each poster outdoing one another on how disgusted they are at 90% of the Tabletop RPGs out there for their 'problematic' content. Everything from Fantasy games for 'race essentialism', historical games for 'colonialism and treatment of BIPOC people', superhero games for being 'facist', and any game where you potentially portray LEO because ACAB.

I seriously had to take a step back and wonder to myself....

What do these people actually play? Like, what are their home games like? What happens in them, what is their favorite way of playing and what do they do?

How are they as GM's and how do they treat their players? Does everyone have to fill out the weird consent forms that Monte Cook made?

I'm only 40 and I feel like "Modern" RPG culture as displayed by the big Purple has morphed into a strange Beast that's supposed to be a stand in for activism and therapy rather than a fun time playing pretend.

The Woke at TBP are in a cult, and the mods there are cult disciplinarians very much focused on preventing anyone from piercing the current Woke orthodoxy as determined by them. When you see a thread like that understand most of those participants probably aren't in any active games. For the truly devoted Woke those threads are them witnessing their faith, and perhaps a confessional for their prior sins. For those in that thread not truly Woke their participation is more like that of a LARPer. The few that try to introduce heterodox thinking get modded.

Good Point, Good point. I would wager you're right, most of the people in those threads probably aren't engaged in any active gaming at the moment. It is fascinating and horrifying a thread like that pops up every couple months. It's exactly as you said, to bare witness and hold mass more or less.

I can't stomach them for very long, after a few pages I gotta tap out at the sheer hypocrisy and fart sniffing happening. In a sense it's sad, because if these individuals really did believe RPGs are now as evil and problematic as they say they are, you'd think they would have left the hobby entirely. But there's still this part of them that clings to it, a vestige that remembers they once had fun playing pretend and doesn't want to entirely let go.

It's probably those things, but it most surely is the "two minutes hate" from 1984.

[Mistwell]

I took a Quick Peek at the big Purple Today and saw this thread.

"Irreconcilable Personal and Setting Ideological Differences"

Which is nothing more than an online struggle session dedicated to each poster outdoing one another on how disgusted they are at 90% of the Tabletop RPGs out there for their 'problematic' content. Everything from Fantasy games for 'race essentialism', historical games for 'colonialism and treatment of BIPOC people', superhero games for being 'facist', and any game where you potentially portray LEO because ACAB.

I seriously had to take a step back and wonder to myself....

What do these people actually play? Like, what are their home games like? What happens in them, what is their favorite way of playing and what do they do?

How are they as GM's and how do they treat their players? Does everyone have to fill out the weird consent forms that Monte Cook made?

I'm only 40 and I feel like "Modern" RPG culture as displayed by the big Purple has morphed into a strange Beast that's supposed to be a stand in for activism and therapy rather than a fun time playing pretend.

I don't think they play. I think they played at one time, and have stopped playing long ago. Now all they do is talk about other people who play, talk about people who talk about playing, and maybe sometimes read (but not play) indie games and talk about those.

[Mistwell]

Well, this was frankly shocking to me.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/guidance-my-and-pietas-recent-ban.900608/

The fourteen day ban over the 'dirty old man' crack got reversed. I admit I'm stunned.

Wow.

[Fergurg]

(snipped to address what I want to address)

... after a few pages I gotta tap out at the sheer hypocrisy and fart sniffing happening. In a sense it's sad, because if these individuals really did believe RPGs are now as evil and problematic as they say they are, you'd think they would have left the hobby entirely. But there's still this part of them that clings to it, a vestige that remembers they once had fun playing pretend and doesn't want to entirely let go.

I don't think it's a vestige; I think it's hate. They don't just want to not play - they want everybody to not play.

[wmarshal]

This has to do with Coyote and Crow, but I think really has more to do with the TBP madness. Actual examples of backers who are too afraid to play the game for fear of sinning against their Woke beliefs. A game can't grow if it's just a mantle piece.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/coyote-crow.878051/page-15#post-24300607

[Trond]

OK as a descendant of vikings I hereby declare; no more viking-games until you do some soul-searching groveling and apologize for your ignorance of viking-ness. 

[HappyDaze]

OK as a descendant of vikings I hereby declare; no more viking-games until you do some soul-searching groveling and apologize for your ignorance of viking-ness.

Hopefully your helmet has neither horns nor wings.

[Wntrlnd]

OK as a descendant of vikings I hereby declare; no more viking-games until you do some soul-searching groveling and apologize for your ignorance of viking-ness.

Hopefully your helmet has neither horns nor wings.

But can vikings be black?

[HappyDaze]

OK as a descendant of vikings I hereby declare; no more viking-games until you do some soul-searching groveling and apologize for your ignorance of viking-ness.

Hopefully your helmet has neither horns nor wings.

But can vikings be black?

Don't get svart with me.

[Thor's Nads]

OK as a descendant of vikings I hereby declare; no more viking-games until you do some soul-searching groveling and apologize for your ignorance of viking-ness.

Hopefully your helmet has neither horns nor wings.

But can vikings be black?

Viking is a verb, so why not? A black person could go a-viking.

[Visitor Q]

The Big Purple continues to be nuts. A read through of the infractions just demonstrates how arbitary they are. Though I do sense a slight weariness in the mods, almost as if they realise they are no longer part of a rpg forum but a full on
re-education camp.

[wmarshal]

The Big Purple continues to be nuts. A read through of the infractions just demonstrates how arbitary they are. Though I do sense a slight weariness in the mods, almost as if they realise they are no longer part of a rpg forum but a full on
re-education camp.

I guess I'm not picking up on any weariness.

It seems it's official TBP policy that Woke cult politics comes before family, and if you don't tow that line then you're probably a Nazi so we'll have to keep an eye on you Mr. Blarg101:
https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/blarg101-receives-a-🔴-warning-and-threadban.901006/

Also progressive Woke politics has priority over gaming at all places and all times. The totalitarian Utopia being marched towards allows no reprieve:
https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/arthur_morgan-receives-a-💀-permanent-ban.901000/

[Dan Davenport]

It seems it's official TBP policy that Woke cult politics comes before family, and if you don't tow that line then you're probably a Nazi so we'll have to keep an eye on you Mr. Blarg101:
https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/blarg101-receives-a-🔴-warning-and-threadban.901006/

"You know who else had a family? Hitler!!"