Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Public Service Announcement (Again)

I've said before that I don't see being passionate about roleplaying games -- or any other hobby -- as a bad thing. Without passion, the world would be a much duller place. But passion can also lead people astray and make them say and do things in the heat of the moment that, on reflection, they'd probably never consider saying or doing. That's why I'd like to ask that, if you disagree with me or with anything I've said, if you think an idiot, a fool, or just an opinionated bastard, please direct your ire toward me and not toward my family, least of all my children.

I have a very thick skin and am not someone who cries foul whenever a voice is raised in anger against my views; it's happened my entire life and I fully expect it to continue so long as I dare to say anything the least bit controversial. I don't have any problem with someone engaging me in spirited debate or even launching a good polemic against me and what I think about gaming or anything else. If I shied away from disagreements, I'd never have put this blog out there for people to read. I'm sincere when I say that I welcome opposing viewpoints.

I may seem like an immovable stick in the mud who closes his ears to the world, but that's pretty far from the truth. I can and have been swayed to revise my opinions in the face of reasoned discourse. "Reasoned" is key here. And wishing ill upon my children because I happened to say something you disagree with, even strongly, is not a good way to convince me of your rationality. So, please, don't do it.

Thank you.

9 comments:

  1. Who in their right mind would wish your kids ill? =/

    I disagree with you on a great many things, but I'm certainly not about to insult you (or your kids) for it.

    I relish the fresh (or rather, older) viewpoints you present. They've inspired me on more than one occasion.

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  2. Ooohh.. people should lay off the kids and families. Low blow, bad sport and all that.

    Must say I've enjoyed perusing your blog since I found it through the Gamer Dome.
    I don't completely agree with your opinion all the time, but hey, thats life. I too am reaching the age where accusations of fogeyness can be lain at my feet, so I empathize with your struggles with the modern D&D meme. I will say I'm not at all nostalgic about the old style D&D rules. There was too much arbitrariness. There wasn't enough meat on the character developement system for my taste. We stopped playing D&D for years when we discovered hero system, and only really came back when 3.0 (3.5) came out, which we've played loyally for years now.

    I'm rambling. I'll keep checking back.

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  3. What distressing news, with any luck the unfortunate who crossed this line will come to their senses and issue you (and your offspring) a sincere apology.

    Best wishes to you and yours.

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  4. Yikes. Keep writing, man. Please don't let the bozos get you down.

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  5. WTF? I must've missed something.

    That's really inexcusable; it's one thing to disagree, but what you're describing is just insane.

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  6. The incident that occasioned this post has been dealt with, so I'm not going to provide any details. I'm not happy that I had to deal with it, naturally, but neither am I going to dwell on it. The danger of putting one's opinion out in the public square is that some nitwit is going to respond inappropriately. Such is life. I only hope I don't have to deal with something like this again anytime soon (or ever).

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  7. I myself have two young children, so I can sympathize completely. I have occasionally considered starting my on web log, but have demured partly because of apprehension about "putting myself out there". I can only imagine what kind of message you have received, but whomever it was from must understand that we're discussing nothing more than GAME. If you choose to ignore certain comments or explicitly disagree with someone, that's certainly not grounds for threatening loved ones. This is why I limit my Internet exposure; just not fun when it gets to that level.

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  8. I'm really sorry to hear that. I came upon your blog a while back (I don't remember how, specifically) but you've helped me figure out that I too am somewhat of a grognard, even though I grew up in the AD&D, rather than OD&D tradition. To date I still prefer the older style of play, with fewer rules, guidelines, and structure.

    With that said, I greatly enjoy your writing and hope you keep it up in the future, despite any stupid comments from detractors.

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