Jaded Gamer Diary - PbtA fans think they are elite

A collection of quotes seen posted up by PbtA fans as they love to down on other games but hate it when people down theirs.

All that said I can totally understand the appeal of trad gaming and the like where it sits nicely between role playing and tactical combat.

So according to this one people who like trad games aren't full roleplayers.

I happen to love PbtA. It is, arguably, my favorite game system. Further, I share some of your preferences. I generally hate class-based systems. I love elegant game mechanics.

Hey I guess only PbtA has 'elegant' game mechanics.

In my experience, players (including, regrettably, me) frequently come up with terrible, boring and unclear concepts for their characters when left to their own devices, so I feel like trading in broad archetypes improves playability substantially.

Oh so the playbooks are saving us from our terrible, boring and unclear selves.

I disagree. There have been massive changes in rpgs and the relationship between players, GMs, and world building/game playing.

Another person who thinks changes that have been going on in the gaming hobby for well over two decades are something that PbtA is responsible for.

Jaded Gamer Diary - convention exclusives

Game Company: We've made some really neat goodies for our game line.

Fan for decades: Cool, where can I get them at?

Game Company: They're a GenCon exclusive so only at GenCon.

Fan for decades: But I can't begin to afford a trip to GenCon. Hotel costs alone are way out of what I can pay for.

Game Company: Sorry to hear about that. But great goodies for our game line so that is good news!

Fan for decades: Not when you can't buy them.

This sums up my feelings on 'convention exclusive' stuff from game companies. Some of us scrape together what we can to buy your product already. Travelling, hotel costs, eating out every meal for an entire weekend, etc are just something we cannot afford at all. So stuff like this is a giant 'fuck you' and a punishment for not being financially well off enough to satisfy you.

So don't be surprised when we stop buying you stuff all together.

Jaded Gamer - Industry vs Hobby

I'm about done with the 'industry' side of the table top gaming folks in online communities.

A good portion of these people are not good for my mental well being. It's hard enough being poor without having a somebody shaming you because you can't afford their products. Or telling you that you should be thankful how cheap they are when you can't even afford them in the first place. Saying that you are one of the problems of the gaming hobby and that by not spending a bunch of money you are instead promoting piracy.

Yeah screw those people.

I'm more interested in interacting with the actual hobby side of the table top gaming folks.

You know the ones who don't give you crap when you can't afford the big new shiny and may direct you towards a cheaper alternative. Who run blogs and give out content for free, maybe asking for donations but never demanding them. People you can kitbash setting and system ideas with over the course of a week and there is nobody staking claim to what is created.

Yeah I belong with those people.

Jaded Gamer Diary - UK Expo meets uber creepy GM

Okay over in the UK this weekend was the UK Games Expo, a pretty big gaming convention that I had heard a lot about (nearly every bit positive). Bunch of gamers getting together and having a good time. But then a tweet rant out over on Twitter that got a lot of attention.

Just had the worst rpg experience of my life. Signed up for a Things from the Flood game and the GM decided it would be perfectly all right to have all our characters kidnapped and gang raped without discussing it with anyone first. Told us he enjoyed the shock factor of it...

Yeah that's pretty screwed up. Quickly word spread and folks were firing off messages to the con about how this could happen.  Thankfully the folks at the UKGE were on top of things and took care of it pretty fast. The shitbag GM was located, ejected from the con and banned for life. The players were tracked down and apologized to by the staff.  You can read their full account of the issue here.

Turns out the guy was known for being a creepy POS but had evidently kept off the radar long enough that nobody spotted him attending. People were applauding the con, the people in the game who came forward and generally the thing came to about the best end that it could.  Until....

THE BBC CAUGHT WIND OF THE STORY.

Then thing pumped into overdrive rather quickly. As with any bad news about the hobby that makes it on to the 'regular' new channels everyone started talking. It got real busy real fast. Of course this leads to folks like Jim "rape is great" Desborough who will jump into any controversy in hopes of getting more attention defending the GM. Of course the double standard creep that Jim is he's angling in from the 'free speech' and 'horror gaming means anything goes' points. Even going as far to paint the guy as the 'real' victim in this issue. But what do you expect from a guy who doesn't understand a single thought about boundaries and lines that don't need to be crossed.

 A few others have chimed up in the guys defense, just not to full on dumbass level like Jim. Thankfully even on some of the worst game forums out there they are the minority. It did give me a good time to update my block lists though.

Didn't share the name of the original tweeter in case they don't want anymore hassle, if they want to be listed that person can let me know in the comments. Also if anyone would like to comment the name of the GM in question please do so.

Jaded Gamer Diary - the latest undercurrent in the hobby

Well there is a new undercurrent going through the social media aspect of the hobby right now. This time it boils down to "Don't do anything for fun, only for money".  While this may seem rather harmless on the surface there are people throwing some dislike towards anybody who offers up content for free. Claiming they are the reason for the problem of low wages in the gaming industry.

This comes right on the tail end of the undercurrent in which people were trying to shame poor gamers out of the hobby. That was all started because some people said a hundred dollar pdf product was way out of their range to afford. People flipped their shit and suddenly poor gamers were the reason for every problem including piracy and low pay.

So what this really looks like is some folks stepped back and rethought up a different angle to go after us no good poor folks.  Guess they figure by shaming people out of producing free material because it's what they love to do then the poor gamers will all leave as well. 

I really don't buy into the 'movements' that are basically people telling others what to do. Then giving them a hard time when they don't want to change. It's a hobby and a passion for some. You want better pay, then start up a project and set an example by paying people better yourself.  Leave those who are happy in their little corner of the hobby giving away their ideas alone.

Jaded Gamer Diary - Mike Mearls crawling back out

Well Mike Mearls is starting to crawl out from underneath the rock he has been hiding under. For those that don't know he is the guy who hired Zak Smith/Zak Sabbath on as a consultant for DnD 5e. Despite many warning about Zak being an abusive and stalkerish pile of shit, he claimed to have investigated Zak and found nothing wrong. Then handed over the info on the abuse victims who tried to warn him to the abuser. Then when shit hit the fan he said Zak was nothing more than an early playtester, yadda yadda yadda and a bunch of other bullshit. He then quickly vanished from social media.

Now he's slowly creeping his slimy little toes back out to test the water. Did a podcast interview and has been quietly popping back up here and there.

I pretty much lump him into a big group of abuse enablers that helped Zak make other miserable for years on end. Companies like Magpie Games, LotFP and people like Satine Phoenix and Mike Mearls, all birds of a feather who well sell out others for a moment of popularity or to make a fast buck. They don't care what happens to anybody but themselves.

So when I see him crawling out I'm not staying silent. Whatever social media I run across him at I'll be sure to ask him about his past actions. Others should be doing the same.

Jaded Gamer Diary - Zak Smith still an asshole

Well apparently Zak Smith/Zak Sabbath is still not done being an asshole in the gaming community. This bag of shit just keeps on floating back up like the turd that he is instead of going down the drain. Here is the latest from the comments page on a Kickstarter for a game he is releasing.

Yeah you read that right. He's now asking for help in making a list for all the people who say anything bad about him with the oncoming release for his game. You know who does shit like that? Scumbag bullies who want to control others and silence them with fear. Good luck with that. We have all been putting up with your crap for years and basically everyone is sick and tired of you. Your shields have left you and told everyone what kind of person you are and your new shields just aren't stopping anybody.

But he keeps on talking.

Now he's trying to use his typical tactics and make everyone else look like the villain. To bad for his ass nobody is going to listen to him.  He's the kind of person that needs to be kept as far away as possible.