Mike Mearls deserves to be thrown alive into a pit of SJW gamer geeks for the travesty he created that is the fifth edition. Compare quality of its writing to Gygax's Oriental Adventure. In OA you were building a world and setting it in motion. In D&D 5th, you create a pencil and paper equivalent of a diablo game with the intent of stroking the players' ego, its skill system is designed more entertain players with die rolling than to attempt to create anything like what Gygax was doing, when he introduced Non-weapon proficiencies in his OA, where each was in essence a mini-game in which a player can pull off something magnificent like making a suit of armor or writing a great poem that would have in game story implications for the player character. But that's just it, isn't it? You hate story games and you contributed a just a bit to further erode any genuine appeal a D&D game can have for a thinking adult.
Regarding Zack S, he was, maybe still is, a successful commercial artist, which makes him more successful and therefore interesting, than most gamers, especially the kind of gamer that try to make money off their hobby, a dynamic which quickly turns any potential meeting of souls a la Dead Poet Society into Starving Spiders in a Jar. In addition, judging by gamers I encountered tend to be alienated nerds and appearance of a female player in a group has a social group effect similar to space-time bending that a black hole produces in relativistic physics. Most women who decried harassment in the gamer (video) designer scene are basic opportunists devoid of any human charm, who hope to break into the scene and make money, without actually being a part of the hobby or a scene. That Wizards of the Coast or anyone else have cut Zak S because of some personal issue only underscores their role as enablers of whatever Stalinism the SJW layers are capable of. If Wizards of the Coast were a corporate person, I would burn it at the stake for its utter commercialism and soullessness. I read AD&D first edition, Gygax had a view of history and a design philosophy, that made his writing interesting to me as an adult. His game (and its appendices) were an algorithm for creating a worlds of the swords and sorcery genre. Looking at WOTC D&D, you get Dusk Blades and Arcane nonsense neologisms designed for pre-teens and each character is a munchkin snow-flake designed for prima-donna players, the target audience for their products, subjected to some pretty sophisticated marketing, and while I admire Gary Gygax, the game designer, I despise him as a person and it was his flaws of character that led him to losing control over his franchise. I hope that Zak S put his talents to good use and pulls off something spectacular on the market to outdo the pitiful scene that banished him and then unleash whatever evil he manifested in domestic abuse on Wizards of the Coast, I am thinking lawsuits for removing his name from the credits, etc, along then lines of Lorraine Williams' sociopathy unleashed on Gygax when she was head at TSR.
I disagree with what you say about 5th edition. It's what made me love D&D again. Started with the red box and then was away for awhile and then came back to D&D via 3.5
3.0/3.5/D20 system was just too over-complicated. It was created by geeks who wanted to turn D&D back into a wargame. I hate over-complicated games and systems and that turned me off. Stopped playing D&D after a short while.
Got 4th edition and right away I knew was crap. It was like playing an MMORPG which was worthless because there was already a D&D MMORPG free to play that I could download on my computer. No dice, no books or people were needed. Could play anytime I wanted (It sucked and I quickly got sick of the MMORPG).
5th edition came and I felt once again I was playing D&D in a way that felt like it did in the red box days. No wasted time having to stop to look up over complicated rules in the book. It felt like D&D again.
AS far as Zac is concerned, who cares. Neither he, nor Pundit or anyone else trying to start crap on the net matter. Because the majority of gamers who play dont pay attention to what is going on in internet forums and blogs. They are too busy playing.
These are small silly fights among people who are the minority of the hobby and many of the people starting the crap aren't actual gamers. They buy rpgs but don't actually play games which is why they have time to start crap (I am not pointing to one person in particular).
That's why I no longer waste time on forums or social media because I am spending too much time gaming or planning to game.
@Matt: Zak's work is sold in art galleries. That's better achievement than living off go fund me. I am not thrilled with his fetishism of elfin young women, but he did illustrations to Gravity's Rainbow. One of the best books. I will buy that.
I disagree. I live in NYC and visit private galleries all the time. I like about 40 percent of what I see, and that is better than lotsa crap. I like less than 20 of do it yourself amateur art. Also, I seen Zak's stuff on line, and I LIKE it!
@Ryan: Great if it works for you. I too started with Moldway Red Box, but I wanted to DM real world, and went off in a different direction. Basically I am running my own D&D based on AD&D 1 and AH RQ 2nd. Tactical realism for me is not miniatures, but putting a person into a tactical situation via storytelling and then have him or her make decisions then apply game mechanics and present player with the outcome and consequences. Let's say you slip in a pool of blood and you being ridden down by rider with a Lance. If you use miniatures, you distance yourself psychologically from that experience. While I want it to explode in your mind. I also like world's to explore, so it's a little different for me, which is fine, except that nobody writes D&D books for me, and I will probably end up writing my own.
Mike Mearls deserves to be thrown alive into a pit of SJW gamer geeks for the travesty he created that is the fifth edition. Compare quality of its writing to Gygax's Oriental Adventure. In OA you were building a world and setting it in motion. In D&D 5th, you create a pencil and paper equivalent of a diablo game with the intent of stroking the players' ego, its skill system is designed more entertain players with die rolling than to attempt to create anything like what Gygax was doing, when he introduced Non-weapon proficiencies in his OA, where each was in essence a mini-game in which a player can pull off something magnificent like making a suit of armor or writing a great poem that would have in game story implications for the player character. But that's just it, isn't it? You hate story games and you contributed a just a bit to further erode any genuine appeal a D&D game can have for a thinking adult.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Zack S, he was, maybe still is, a successful commercial artist, which makes him more successful and therefore interesting, than most gamers, especially the kind of gamer that try to make money off their hobby, a dynamic which quickly turns any potential meeting of souls a la Dead Poet Society into Starving Spiders in a Jar. In addition, judging by gamers I encountered tend to be alienated nerds and appearance of a female player in a group has a social group effect similar to space-time bending that a black hole produces in relativistic physics. Most women who decried harassment in the gamer (video) designer scene are basic opportunists devoid of any human charm, who hope to break into the scene and make money, without actually being a part of the hobby or a scene. That Wizards of the Coast or anyone else have cut Zak S because of some personal issue only underscores their role as enablers of whatever Stalinism the SJW layers are capable of. If Wizards of the Coast were a corporate person, I would burn it at the stake for its utter commercialism and soullessness. I read AD&D first edition, Gygax had a view of history and a design philosophy, that made his writing interesting to me as an adult. His game (and its appendices) were an algorithm for creating a worlds of the swords and sorcery genre. Looking at WOTC D&D, you get Dusk Blades and Arcane nonsense neologisms designed for pre-teens and each character is a munchkin snow-flake designed for prima-donna players, the target audience for their products, subjected to some pretty sophisticated marketing, and while I admire Gary Gygax, the game designer, I despise him as a person and it was his flaws of character that led him to losing control over his franchise. I hope that Zak S put his talents to good use and pulls off something spectacular on the market to outdo the pitiful scene that banished him and then unleash whatever evil he manifested in domestic abuse on Wizards of the Coast, I am thinking lawsuits for removing his name from the credits, etc, along then lines of Lorraine Williams' sociopathy unleashed on Gygax when she was head at TSR.
Zack has talents now? He should quit art and writing and put those heretofore undisclosed talents to work.
DeleteI disagree with what you say about 5th edition. It's what made me love D&D again. Started with the red box and then was away for awhile and then came back to D&D via 3.5
Delete3.0/3.5/D20 system was just too over-complicated. It was created by geeks who wanted to turn D&D back into a wargame. I hate over-complicated games and systems and that turned me off. Stopped playing D&D after a short while.
Got 4th edition and right away I knew was crap. It was like playing an MMORPG which was worthless because there was already a D&D MMORPG free to play that I could download on my computer. No dice, no books or people were needed. Could play anytime I wanted (It sucked and I quickly got sick of the MMORPG).
5th edition came and I felt once again I was playing D&D in a way that felt like it did in the red box days. No wasted time having to stop to look up over complicated rules in the book. It felt like D&D again.
AS far as Zac is concerned, who cares. Neither he, nor Pundit or anyone else trying to start crap on the net matter. Because the majority of gamers who play dont pay attention to what is going on in internet forums and blogs. They are too busy playing.
These are small silly fights among people who are the minority of the hobby and many of the people starting the crap aren't actual gamers. They buy rpgs but don't actually play games which is why they have time to start crap (I am not pointing to one person in particular).
That's why I no longer waste time on forums or social media because I am spending too much time gaming or planning to game.
Fortunately we don't need any official D&D anymore so what happens to Mearls and Wizards is utterly irrelevant.
ReplyDelete@Matt: Zak's work is sold in art galleries. That's better achievement than living off go fund me. I am not thrilled with his fetishism of elfin young women, but he did illustrations to Gravity's Rainbow. One of the best books. I will buy that.
ReplyDelete>gravity's rainbow
DeleteDo you happen to be a fan of Rick and morty?
No, Slothrop and Blicero.
DeleteLots of crap sells in art galleries. Doesn't require talent, just marketing.
DeleteI disagree. I live in NYC and visit private galleries all the time. I like about 40 percent of what I see, and that is better than lotsa crap. I like less than 20 of do it yourself amateur art. Also, I seen Zak's stuff on line, and I LIKE it!
Delete@Ryan: Great if it works for you. I too started with Moldway Red Box, but I wanted to DM real world, and went off in a different direction. Basically I am running my own D&D based on AD&D 1 and AH RQ 2nd. Tactical realism for me is not miniatures, but putting a person into a tactical situation via storytelling and then have him or her make decisions then apply game mechanics and present player with the outcome and consequences. Let's say you slip in a pool of blood and you being ridden down by rider with a Lance. If you use miniatures, you distance yourself psychologically from that experience. While I want it to explode in your mind. I also like world's to explore, so it's a little different for me, which is fine, except that nobody writes D&D books for me, and I will probably end up writing my own.
ReplyDelete