Hi.
This blog used to smash down all kinds of theory and ideas. Except now, most of them are mainstream. I'm not going to be doing the same thing I was doing in 2008 or 2012. I'm over here in 2021. I'm making things with those theories and ideas.
I have three scheduled games a week. I'm aware of the fan who only buys and doesn't play, but opposed to the late 90's, these consumers are in the minority.
Becoming a professional has changed things, I understand situations more clearly. I won't be writing about it here on this blog, for essentially the same reason that I had to become a professional before hearing these things. That's the kind of stuff that happens during conversations during my office hours.
One of my favorite creators is Bodie. He publishes Dungeons & Dragons material that is almost entirely illustrated in the manner of Adventure Time via Shin-Chan in a Fist of the North Star World. He's like the R. Crumb of modern gaming. I play D&D with him on Mondays. It starts at like 9 am but he lives on the other side of the planet.
The thing I find most disturbing about this weird nationalistic obsession sweeping the globe is that my livelyhood is dependent on the U.K, Brazil, Czech republic, Israel, Spain, France, and Portugal. Those make up the (slight) majority of my sales.
I grew up in a place filled with bitter and angry people. Those kinds of people are no longer part of my life. I'd like to be clear—I've worked with plenty of people who have anhedonia. The inability to regularly feel happiness did not make them miserable. I once worked with a client who was insanely rich, but was in a car crash at 16 that left him seriously disabled. I never met a more positive person. The people I met and know in south and central Arkansas are acerbic and miserable by choice.
It's really amazing and wonderful to no longer live in a world with those people. Not only is the area I'm currently in more positive; my time on-line is filled with hard-working people who don't have time for hostility and despondence.
So I get to play D&D on Mondays. The players include Bugbear Bubbles who makes soap and bath bombs with D&D dice in them, and Insomniadoodles who's an artist and accessibility/VR streamer. These are great people.
You don't usually party wipe in fifth edition. Bodie was testing his new adventure — the Bonehole. We considered the names "The Graveshaft" or even "The Wyrm in the Bonehole" or "The Wyrm in the Graveshaft"
You’ve been hired by an alliance of small towns to pay a visit to the lair of Domegus the Wretched. For months, the powerful necromancer has been robbing fresh graves in the dark of night. You’ve been tasked to discover why Domegus is taking the dead, and if possible: prevent her plans from reaching fruition. Reliable information tells that Domegus is currently away from her lair, providing a perfect opportunity to sneak in. You’ve also been informed that a confrontation with Domegus would surely end in an unpleasant end for the entire party.
Did I mention we all died? We even got a gruesome death scene. We woke, bound, and watched Domengus the Wretched sacrifice us to the wyrm in the bonehole. It was an amazing time.
His work is primarily visual, it's set up to work with Foundry. I'm not a big fan of virtual table tops, for the same reason I'm not a fan of character builds. For me the adventure is in the exploration and choices—the adventure. I just use a whiteboard and video chat when I play online. But I have to say, they sure are pretty maps. Super-engaging for players.
This isn't some kind of sponsored post. I work with Bodie a lot, and getting murdered in a total party kill is fun! I got immortalized as a zombie, and my character was kind of a brute. He deserved his fate.
There's a subsection of people who believe that someone earning a living making stuff is degenerate. It's my assessment that this sentiment comes from people who have failed and want to see others fail to make themselves feel better. I came to this conclusion because I'm spending time with creators, community builders, artists and more. Making stuff ain't easy, and making it good is harder. We should be so lucky to have an industry that supports this stuff.
Getting those negative Nancy's out of my life (turning off blog comments, going private on twitter, and only conversing with people who are a part of my communities) and getting to work has been the most positive change I've ever made in my life. I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad or jealous. I'm telling you you can leave behind negativity, childish petulance, moral guardians, and sardonic sarcasm stemming from bitterness and join me.
We are all still flawed people who are growing and learning—this is no claim of superiority. The difference is, when people in these communities face struggle, they share it. They take steps to deal with it in an appropriate manner and are supported for doing so in the community. It's idyllic. There's no drama in these communities (at least, not in the years I've been a part of them.)
The internet is changing things, and I think negativity in fandom is dying. I saw a cartoon make fun of Snyder fanboys. People with derogatory attitudes are dismissed or ignored. It's not like this is a situation that's fixed. It's a situation that requires constant effort and improvement. But it's happening. Objectively people are better off now and moving in that direction. In the 90's topics in the RPGA were "You aren't allowed to portray any non-heterosexual relationships in association games.". Could you imagine someone making that rule today?
The future is happening and it's going to be difficult, and creators, people who make things and struggle to manage the administration of society, in my experience, have no patience for disruptive elements. And really, if you're coming into an environment to get your needs met by throwing around threats or having a tantrum, you're not going to want to stay when instead of reacting and addressing the content, people instead assist people with coping. If you want to be mad, you won't be there.
See you tomorrow!
