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Wednesday 27 May 2015

RPGPundit's Advice for RPG-Designers Being Targeted by Pseudo-Activists

I'm not going to say who it was, for obvious reasons, but someone recently wrote to me privately, about how there were some of the Usual Suspects (in this case on RPGnet, but it could really have been anywhere) attacking his rpg-writing.  This particular designer had never had this happen to him before now, and he was quite concerned and didn't know how to deal with it.  They were attacking his present work, looking at old posts to find things he might have said years ago to use against him, whipping up the mob into a frenzy, etc.; all the usual tactics.  So, I thought I'd share here what I wrote to him, since other people might also benefit from it someday.
Names have been withheld, but the rest of this posted for general benefit.  You never know when YOU might be the next one targeted, because increasingly, there's no real criteria as to who get's chosen as the Pseudo-activists' next victim.


Without further ado:


Ok, first: don't apologize for anything, don't try to hide anything. Don't delete things you said in the past.  If you honestly don't believe in it any more, say so, but don't hide it.  If you do believe in it, be shameless about it.  They're going to go for the throat anyways, NOTHING will make them stop, so don't think you can try to make some kind of compromise with them.  If you show any weakness, they just get more rabid.

Second, why are you engaging them on their own territory where they have all the advantage? They get to say things you don't, they can paint you as the unreasonable one, and if you get mad they'll paint you as 'erratic', and then when they think its the right moment, they'll ban you.  
You're already banned there, it just hasn't finished happening yet. 

Find better places to promote your product.  The rpgnet ruling clique has decided your game is evil, that's it.  You're dead there.  You should go promote it where you are likely to actually find an audience, in other forums, and on G+ or Facebook.

The best way to beat them is to be blatant about how they mean nothing to you, and to succeed in spite of them.  Whenever you do that, it weakens them.  When you take them seriously, or try to reason with them, it only makes them stronger.

One more thing: in my experience, in the long run, there's no such thing as 'bad press'.  Some of it can limit your options in the future, but usually only if you're very clearly a controversy-hound (along the lines of James Desborough). If you are professional about it, getting slammed by a gang of assholes just makes people pay attention to you.  You'll be crying all the way to the bank, if you work this right.



RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Solitario Poker + Gawith's Virginia Flake

17 comments:

  1. Nice post. I hope he follows your advice.

    Also, I really wish some AAAA+ cracker would get mad at RPGNet and just demolish their code base.

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    1. I don't see how that in itself would solve anything.

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  2. That's too bad. I'm wondering what grounds those assholes believed the designer's current product "failed", "sucked", "shot innocence in the face", or whatever...

    Anyways, good post. I agree with your advice. Semi-anonymous internet assholes are the worst and they deserve nothing but our contempt.

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    1. "Anyways, good post. I agree with your advice. Semi-anonymous internet assholes are the worst and they deserve nothing but our contempt."

      Does that include yourself Vengar Satanis? Or as you going to tell me that is your real name?

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    2. Said the man with the nom-de-plume.

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    3. It would literally take you 5 seconds to discover my real name using google. But the semi-anonymous part isn't what I have a problem with. It's the asshole part. And though I can occasionally be an asshole, it's not that often... and people can find me and deal with my asshole behavior one-on-one; either as Venger Satanis or Darrick Dishaw.

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  3. People still talk about games on rpg.net?

    I thought it was a message board for the mentally ill to share their paranoid fantasies and schizophrenic interpretations of reality.

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  4. "People still talk about games on rpg.net? "

    Quite a bit actually

    "I thought it was a message board for the mentally ill to share their paranoid fantasies and schizophrenic interpretations of reality."

    No that would be on The RPG Site which is lead by the worst of the mentally ill, therpgpundt. "Oh they are trying to destroy the hobby!" Textbook paranoia

    I guess for you guys free speech only means that people can talk about their products but no one is allowed to complain or say something negative about the product

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    Replies
    1. Sez the anonymous a-hole. Good irony there. How many calories do you burn jumping to conclusions all day? I imagine you must be quite fit!

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    2. I wouldn't waste words with someone like this, This is probably one of those people that believe "Its sexist, Its racist, Change nao biggot, muh safe space, Muh Soggy knees" is good criticism.

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  5. Damn, this about to get goooooood. *grabs popcorn*

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  6. Part of me wants to know who this anonymous designer is just so I can buy his book and give him my money.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, well, I figured I'd spare them any further controversy. It's not for me to be the one to name the name.

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    2. I completely understand. maybe we could get a heads up when the book drops, as to what book to buy?

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  7. He/she/it can always "out" himself/herself/itself. Does that meet rpg.net standards?

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  8. I've been gradually going through previous posts here for a while now, and came across this. For anyone that finds this, that person was me. I want to start out by thanking rpgpundit for even taking the time to impart that advice, AND also for keeping it anonymous.

    The short of it was, I'd posted product updates on rpg.net for a while without any issues, so I figured why not post a KS link for A Sundered World. But, as soon as I did, Paul "Ettin" (a moderator) jumped in and derailed the thread by accusing me of harassing his friend for months.

    The thread went on for a while, and he never at any point provided proof.

    The reality is he was butthurt over me giving his friend's game setting a negative review. It wasn't a "zomg it's shit" review: I went into a LOT of detail, methodically posting bits of the book and my issues with them. Neither Paul nor his friend have ever attempted to address/counter my claims.

    Anywho, ASW is a campaign setting for Dungeon World, which might not be a game you're understandably interested in (I myself am getting jaded on PbtA games as of late). I AM looking to port it over to a d20 game, though, which is part of the reason I've been going through posts here: just looking for any OSR design/insights.

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