tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post8528871216633458162..comments2024-03-27T01:28:28.346-07:00Comments on False Machine: Social Justice Scylla and Rapey Charybdispjamesstuarthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13288777018721199748noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post-38507181203142525192015-09-03T23:25:58.782-07:002015-09-03T23:25:58.782-07:00It is part of my livelihood and when Maze and Vein...It is part of my livelihood and when Maze and Veins come out it will be much more hopefully.pjamesstuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13288777018721199748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post-33868141464932844302015-09-03T23:18:53.636-07:002015-09-03T23:18:53.636-07:00It sounds interesting but One Book Shelf has alrea...It sounds interesting but One Book Shelf has already decided not to follow that policy.pjamesstuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13288777018721199748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post-90230261274009092732015-09-03T22:13:53.296-07:002015-09-03T22:13:53.296-07:00In every one of these frenzies of tabletop animus ...In every one of these frenzies of tabletop animus and name calling nothing changes. There's caterwauling, howling and saber rattling - but that, pornography and cute pet pictures are the primary uses of the internet. The only thing I can suggest is to stand far enough so the hate and fear flecked spittle of the ideological gladiators doesn't get on your new shoes, while you work on your own things. After-all this isn't your livelihood, and any kerfuffle will looks as silly as the Palace of the Silver Princess publication hi-jinx with a few months of hindsight.Gus Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872819206286105195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post-26076509071346104912015-09-03T12:40:40.102-07:002015-09-03T12:40:40.102-07:00just don't worry about itjust don't worry about itDungeon Smashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17400977043480856370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post-77083627364665748122015-09-03T09:29:23.943-07:002015-09-03T09:29:23.943-07:00Patrick,
This is well-reasoned and measured, and ...Patrick,<br /><br />This is well-reasoned and measured, and therefore, I presume, likely to be dismissed out of hand by most of the interested parties. Reason and measure have not been available in abundance recently.<br /><br />I would expect some of the din was raised by people who were generally offended – perhaps because rape is a concrete element of their personal experience. The last two or three years have seen an increasingly energetic backlash against casual representations of rape, coupled with and feeding on an burgeoning awareness of rape as a societal problem. Much of the concern has centered on how representations of rape contribute to increasing or maintaining the act's permissibility among some groups or sub-cultures. I do not have to agree with the causal logic of such arguments to have some sympathy for those who present them. <br /><br />On the other hand, much of the outrage appears to have been ginned up by people waiting for an opportunity to make their voices heard – without much reference to any specific issue or topic. That bilious assembly will likely feature prominently in any (ab)uses of the take-down system OBS is launching. <br /><br />Products will come under attack, one imagines, from groups with both real and imagined grievances, although those constituencies will not always act in concert. <br /><br />The measures you outlined are sensible checks against abuse, but any system which features a public-facing mechanism to initiate bans is likely to see a considerable number of spurious incidents. This is still more likely given the nature of the RPG/OSR milieu: a small community of people with some overlapping interests and deep-rooted animosities. I suspect that creators who run afoul of noisy minorities will be drawn into serial defences of their products. Such defences do not need to cost money to be enervating and disruptive for a writer or independent publisher: merely the time and attention lost will be burden enough. <br /><br />OBS has inadvertently created a novel channel for harassment and vendetta, and its recent conduct does not suggest the company understands how that channel will likely be used. I am very curious to see what follows for OBS and the community it serves. <br /><br />Unfortunately, I do not share Nostack's optimism: good products can be buried in obscurity, and judging from James Raggi's comments this week, even prominent independent publishers are leery of losing the benefits of selling their wares through OBS. The catalyzing product was apparently (I've not read it) poorly constructed: but there are a lot of beautifully-written and -designed books that could easily be deemed objectionable by one group or another. The new policy raises a lot of concerns about the future of such products on OBS, and perhaps, in the industry at all. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03995094671901769577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post-65579234896748233672015-09-03T08:09:03.926-07:002015-09-03T08:09:03.926-07:00Patrick, I read the post, but I'm not totally ...Patrick, I read the post, but I'm not totally clear what you're asking about: the selection criteria (or maybe meta-criteria) for a particular award? <br /><br />I'm not in your shoes, alas, because I've seen some of what you design and I imagine your shoes are, like, suction cups that siphon the "floor-ness" and "wall-ness" of objects permitting great mobility even though you gradually become increasingly wall-like the more you wear them. <br /><br />But, from someone with normal shoes, I think all you can do is sharpen your artistic vision to the savage truth, and execute on it to the very best of your ability. Art either moves you or it doesn't, and in any event the creators' (presumed?) politics are a secondary concern. I find Woody Allen disgusting, but he's made some movies that I enjoy in spite of myself; Mel Gibson is a bigot but you'll have to fight me to take away my copy of Road Warrior.<br /><br />That said! There's also a commercial or cultural aspect to RPG's as a hobby. I think there's a decent-sized audience that actively wants adventures where women aren't victimized to motivate heroes, and where it's no big thing to have different-colored people all hanging out. And beyond the people who actively want this, there's people who don't consciously want it but would gladly accept it.<br /><br />But those are, in the end, commercial considerations, and maybe they enter your creative process, or maybe they don't. But you've got a gift, and that gift involves describing High Strangeness; few others have it, and I'd urge you not to compromise yours based on what "might" happen.<br /><br />Sorry if that's not directly on point to solving award criteria; that's a problem I don't know how to solve. But I think good stuff gets rewarded somehow or other in the long run.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Nostackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10463725178653835993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4522018539311056682.post-15516930076373374362015-09-03T07:22:43.464-07:002015-09-03T07:22:43.464-07:00I have an awesome idea for a rule to determine wha...I have an awesome idea for a rule to determine what should or shouldn't be allowed in the marketplace, but it's pretty revolutionary, so just hear me out.<br /><br />Okay, first, a thing is offered for sale. Then, people either buy it or not. Then it's over, and everyone goes home.<br /><br />What do you think? Pretty radical, huh?Turd Minerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08267799059449214933noreply@blogger.com