Occasionally, A Reminder Can Be a Good ThingWe all know the Forge Swine are very good at double-talk. They're experts at showing up on regular RPG forums and trying to pretend to be friendly participants, who are interested in working with the hobby and contributing to it. They're great at acting shocked and dismayed when people "attack" them by pointing out what utter cunts they are, and at trying to hide their utter disdain for the common gamer. Some of them have dedicated immense efforts to make it appear that they are totally into regular gaming and have nothing but respect for regular gamers, when in fact they despise the RPG hobby and regular gamers with a passion.
So its wonderful when one of them loses their cool enough in a discussion that they end up revealing their true feelings. When they're bared open and their raw true motives are made clear.
Like
this post, by Luke Crane, one of the leaders of the Forge/Theory movement. Note how, having come onto the thread to try to defend fellow Swine Jason Morningstar, he started out trying to act reasonable. Unfortunately for the Forgies, Luke is not really one of those guys who's developed a lot of skill points in this art. He's no TonyLB, or... well, Jason Morningstar. He's quite bad at pretending to like people he despises; to me that's something of a virtue, honesty, but to the Forgies, who's entire existence depends on weaving their web of lies, its a serious flaw.
So here he loses his cool, and what do we learn is the Truth about Forgie/storygamer thinking?
That RPGs are an " utterly obscure, dying hobby", and that those that speak up for it are "wrong" and "dumb".
So there you go, some truth for you all. Remember this the next time you see the Forgies acting all polite and reasonable, remember what they really think and say when they think no one is looking, or when one of them with little self-control slips up.
RPGPundit
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Comments (8)
I've never heard of Luke Crane before, so he might be as much of a villain as you say he is. However, the post you cite isn't quite the slam dunk proof of his widespread disdain as you imply. The "wrong" and "dumb" are clearly aimed specifically and directly at Settembrini, seeing as they come directly after his name, and including the pronouns "you".
The "obscure, dying hobby" is a bit more ambiguous - but given that it came right after saying he's not really an "old school gamer", I'd think the most natural reading was that specifically "old school" RPGs which are obscure and dying - not all RPGs or even mainstream RPGs.
I think the posts were they calmly tell us what can be learned from the game are far more revealing and sad.
Sett: Because you¨aren protected by your ignore list here, I will explain to you why Luke and I make fun of you... you come withh statement in extremely bigheaded tone and when anybody ask you why do you belive so you just start bragging about your superior education and moral fiber or completly ignoring said question instead of giving us clear and simple explanation... That is bahavior of moron, so no wonder Luke called you moron...
-I think the posts were they calmly tell us what can be learned from the game are far more revealing and sad.
If you din't ignore me, you could see in that thread my explanation of why I belive it is possible to learn from game... and if you want to ask anynthing or disagree with anything, feel free to do so. I am not second Kant, or Nietzsche but at least I am willing to answer your questions. The question is, are you willing to answer mine...?
>That RPGs are an " utterly obscure, dying hobby"
Sounds like a statement of well-known fact to me. RPG groups are getting older, less eager, and new recruits are few and far between. Fewer and fewer games are published and sold. Formerly exclusively RPG-focused hobby shops are filled with Warhammer figurines and manga books instead of RPGs and their supplements; others close their doors outright, leave in search of easier money. The hobby is in desperate need of new blood.
The first step in solving any problem is admitting that the problem exists.
I also didn't find Luke's comment as damnable as you make it sound. He sounds exactly like a guy having an "argument" on the Internet trying to "score points" against his "opponent". Heh, I'm certainly not going to cast stones.
scipio 202: oh come on. You've "never heard of luke crane" before, and yet you were bothered to post a comment responding to this thread? Please, who do you people think you're fooling?
Paranoid much?
I posted here because I lurk on your blog and on theRPGsite - I find you entertaining and there interesting. However, you're somewhat less entertaining (and less convincing) when you go way off the deep end, so I thought I'd call you on this particular argument being BS.
If you want to cyber-stalk me, you'll find I have an account under this name on ENworld where I've posted a little on D&D (largely the only game I've played - back to 2E - and by far my favorite), a 0-post account on RPG.net (I wanted see what the deal was with Tangency - what a nuthouse!), and I've never been to the Forge or storygames. I think GNS is crap, and most of the indie games you've described sound pretentious and boring. But I'm not part of any "you people", other than the group of people who find regular-Pundit largely interesting and entertaining but crazy/paranoid Pundit boring and uninteresting.
The world isn't full of "Pundit and his allies" vs. "the Swine" where everyone falls into one of two camps. There are a lot of people on the sidelines, and when you toss out weak paranoid crap like this it undercuts the persuasiveness of the rest of your arguments.
Swine-Sock attack!