Become not thy enemy.

[gideon_thorne]

http://geekyjessica.tumblr.com/post/676 ... me-bullies

Thoughts like this drift through my head every time I see people being bludgeoned with terms like "Old School". I remember a time when it was just gamer nerds against the world.

[Joe]

I'm with you...and I think that girl needs my personal consoling.

I have spent (wasted) a lot of time trying to make sense of what these people are talking about, what with their labels (Old school, retro, simulacrum, etc) that I have realized one thing.
Labels are an easy way to either dismiss something without actually using any true thought of your own, (That games just a clone, that game just Rolemaster meets Gurps, they are the "religious" type) or they use it like the blogger stated as a title that sets barriers of us and them. (Old school, hot shots vs firefighters, progressive vs traditional) Yet the rain falls on us all the same.

And lets face it...theres geeks and then there's GEEKS.
...stereotypes are formed upon reality.

But thats not what we are talking about is it?.
Its about geeks being excluded from the crowd only to turn around and exclude others from theirs.

It is natural to want to belong to something special, something unique. Young people in 1939 Berlin must have felt the same way.

But the term "Old school" and all those other labels have been so overused that they are now cliche.

[Breakdaddy]

Well, we know one thing: she thinks she's hot.

[Traveller]

I've already spoken before in the DCC Beta thread regarding labels and the human penchant for labeling things, regardless of how "above" that sort of thing we think we are. Joe, your first sentence in your post is a direct contradiction to the rest of the post, for in your first sentence you have in fact labeled her. You have in fact declared her unfit to be part of a community simply because you feel that she needs "help". You have in fact proved my point.

Now, NO ONE is above using labels as a bludgeon. Hell, I used it to great effect during the Edition Wars phase of Dragonsfoot. Back then, on a daily basis you had threads upon threads of attack posts, directed at d20 fans who declared that system as the greatest thing since sliced bread, on a site devoted to pre-d20 Dungeons & Dragons. I was one of those guys who defended the integrity of the old game, regardless of the personal cost. And then something happened.

I caught wind of Castles & Crusades, and along with the guys who spent years harassing Peter, joined the playtest. Let that sink in for a minute. I was of the same mindset as these guys, and on Dragonsfoot did many of the same things they did. I was very good with that bludgeon, and I honestly think those guys expected that I would follow along with them as they took Peter to task over his artwork for the game, and tried raking the Trolls themselves over the coals because Castles & Crusades was going to be more its own game than the AD&D reprinted they were expecting.

Except, it didn't turn out that way.

It didn't turn out that way because I saw something that my so-called "running buddies" didn't. They sat in their prejudices and attacked the playtest forums left and right because they felt betrayed, simply because in their minds Castles & Crusades wasn't going to be "old school" enough for them. They couldn't see that Castles & Crusades was the best chance going for keeping the spirit of "true" Dungeons & Dragons alive while using new and updated mechanics. I spent the following day after that revelation thinking through everything I had done up until that point. You know what? I wasn't happy with what I had become.

I broke ranks that day, and never looked back. To this very day, I strive to NEVER again be the person I was at the beginning of this odyssey with Castles & Crusades. But to this day I still label things because I am only human, and deeply flawed at that. Unlike in those days however, I do attempt to do a fair amount of research before I label anything, and do my best to make sure people know that my label shouldn't prevent them from playing whatever the f**k they like.

No matter how cliché the various labels that have been adopted to describe the OSRICs and Swords & Wizardrys of the world, people are still going to apply them without thinking their position through. Because all that matters for them is keeping up appearances for the rest of the Internet-connected minority of the gaming community.

Fortunately, I don't give a f**k about appearances, and simply tell it like it is. Much to the disgust of some.

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Oh, and a side note: there is a part 2 to the blog post here.

[Dead Horse]

Travelor he said consol , not what you think he ment.
Consol: to comfort or sooth usualy involveing hugs and close contact.
She is hot i wouldnt mind consoling her. = )

The idea is good, dont label to dismiss or diminish.

[gideon_thorne]

Well, I'll say this much. It was a rude awakening. I tend to be a fairly easy going chap even at the worst of times, aside from a tendency to be as plain spoken as Trav is, and have quite a wide tolerance for all manner of things. But there were levels of ridiculous that truly caught me unprepared. Granted, there are things I don't care to get involved in or support, but I'm not going to stalk someone all over the internet with various mass fake ID's and hassle someone else who does.

If someone wants to play a game different than I would, or watch different shows, or whatever else it is, more power to them. I still can't comprehend why it's worth all the sound and fury?

Course, admittedly, I can get testy from time to time myself. But... I'm an artist, not a saint.

[Joe]

Traveller: Decaf dude!

The subjects of geeky hot chicks aren't that close to my heart to take too serious much less analyze my post for basis in logic.

And I suggest you let that whole flame thing go already man. You seem to still be stewing in negativity. Leave that for the haters bro. Life is too short to dwell on such things if not some smart aleck post. Caricature the situation into an adventure and then it turns from negative to something positive. (PM if you really want to.)

I think its a shame it isnt still gamers against the world.
You got D&D then those that snub it for that "dark gritty" game because they think D&D too...high fantasy...idk then theres the WOD group that think they are too sophisticated for D&D. The list goes on.
I'm sitting here wondering why you can't jusyt run a "dark gritty" D&D game with artsy elitist blood drinkers. Bottom line, I had fun playing the WOD game, I had fun playing D&D and I bet I could have fun playing them all and not have to look down my nose at another...but I will. Just human nature.

labels are funny that way in that they can be an insult, a badge of honor, or an accurate desciptor. Oh I see...I must have trolled you with my label comment.

Anyway, its sad there are haters in such a small and close knit group of folks but I am by no means saying I am not guilty of the same sort of behavior.
Don't get me started on tabletop-wow games or rpg/boardgame hybrids!

Until the freshman senators change the laws so we can gun down people in the streets that disagree with us like the wild west, I think it best we chill out and throw some darn dice!

All hot chicks invited!
I'll bring my Rod of Rulership.

chinka bao...chinka bao wow

I read most of the second half...way too deep for my mood right now.
Thing is i rode the fence as a kid.
I played football with the jocks, hung with the stoners, played D&D with kids by night and bullied them by day. My best friend remembers me stealing some modules from him. (I never could afford them much myself) and I did it because I knew he was just a D&D nerd that wouldn't do anything. Luckily he was a good enough person to become my best despite me being a jerk.

So I never really felt that outcast thing in order to wear nerdism as a badge of honor.
My wife on the other hand was in the band...I'll say no more.

The thing about the flamers, (I just called them flamers. ) is that they are still in their negative funk and the fact that C&C is a success only feeds their negativity.
Kill them with goodness!

It has dawned on me recently that we don't need to resort to the same tactics as evil to defeat evil. Goodness by its very nature overcomes evil and sweeps it away much like light sweeps away darkness.
Just like you came around maybe some day they too can give up the rotten stuff inside.
Thats something for each person and a long time in front of a mirror to determine though.

When I publish my game I HOPE to get enough of a responce that I get haters and lovers and I know the haters comments will hurt but at this point in time I figure any publicity can't hurt.
I might even host my own book burnings just to drum up business.

The thing is guys...you have struck a nerve and HAVE preserved AD&D the best way you could and I applaud you for that. If it weren't for TLG I would very likely be "powering up my heals" wondering why it doesn't resemble the game I remember at all. Or I would be playing with some book older than dirt that smells like my grandmothers shoes.

With that in mind TLG has saved my life!

Sorry I rant so much...but thanks for obliging.

[Traveller]

Joe, as Dead Horse pointed out, you knew what you meant. I thought you had misspelled the word, so I apologize for making that assumption, and the fallout from it.

Now...I am a cynic and trust no one completely. I've been burned too many times, by friends, by ex-wives and ex-girlfriends to EVER completely trust anyone. Everyone has a hidden agenda, and everyone seeks to improve their own position at the expense of those around them. If there's one thing I've learned, the only person you can ever truly rely upon is yourself. That's why I occasionally think it would have been better had my 4,000 year-old soul left this plane of existence when this body was 14 then to continue a tortured existence where every day is yet another failure.

No...I'm not going to end my existence anytime soon, despite how it may sound. Because even though every day is a failure there are bright spots in this existence. However, I must NEVER forget the things I have done, and the things that have been done to me by "friends", unless I wish to repeat the friggin' cycle.

George Santayana was very astute when he said in The Life of Reason, "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

I MUST remember the past, because I do not want to repeat it.

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You are right of course, in that it's no longer gamers against the world. It's gamers turning on other gamers and trying to be elitist f**ks, and for what purpose? To mask their personal insecurities. I simply cannot and will not do that. Not just because I'm not an elitist f**k like those who harassed the playtest forums, but because I refuse to spend my life hiding behind a mask.

I am a "hater". I don't like simulacrum games, simply because they are little more than a means to an end, though not the end they claim. I don't like most of the people who write simulacrum games because they write the games merely as an ego boost; to boost their own self esteem. The underlying issue with simulacrum games is that they are a solution in search of a problem. Now you know why, from my point of view. The games aren't about gaming itself, but inflating egos and boosting low self-esteem.

How am I any different from these guys? I'm not that different to be honest. I have my own demons I face on a daily basis, just like everyone else does. I'm simply more up front about it and don't seek out cheap methods of ego appeasement. At the same time, I don't hide my true nature behind a veneer. I'm an a**hole, and I'm proud of it. Call me one and you'll get a thank you.

[Go0gleplex]

Well, we know one thing: she thinks she's hot.

Well, she is quite cute. Then again, I'm partial to redheads.

[Rikitiki]

Yeah, she is cute...and a geek and I bet would make a
welcome addition in anyone's game.