This weekend was a big disappointment all the way around. My uncle went into the hospital, I had to cancel my D&D game, and I haven't been able to do anything online at all. My apologies for not being able to continue my normal posting routine and not responding to you guys that have been commenting while I've been away - especially to +Adam Dickstein who was asking for help on Thursday with the D&D Basic link as I didn't get his message until this morning.
Anyway, if you haven't seen the bullshit controversy surrounding +Zak Smith this weekend then you haven't missed much but I'll go ahead and catch you up. Apparently a rather vocal group has decided to start falsely claiming that he was homophobic and transphobic. This group is now actively campaigning to have him removed from the contributors list of Dungeon and Dragons and are loudly proclaiming "I will never buy anything he was involved in."
Since I first saw these accusations this evening I've been reading through countless Google+ feeds, slipping into Twitter, reading dozens of linked posts, and a half dozen forums trying to find one substantiated comment where Zak was being homophobic or transphobic. I haven't been able to find one. Oh I have found lots of posts where people project their own sexual issues on Zak and his players while pretending to hold the moral high ground. I've found countless instances where actions were ascribed to Zak without any proof (with the accuser always saying, "Everyone knows this," and refusing to offer substantiation for their claims like that's ever been a valid argument). And I've been linked to a bizarr amount of articles that provided lots of evidence that Zak can say mean things, but not one instance of him being homophobic or transphobic.
I'm going to go ahead and tell you how this controversy ends and save everybody some time. Zak will not be removed from the Consultants section of the new edition because none of the accusations will amount to more than "He hurt my feelings, made me mad, and I'm still grinding my axe against him as a result." None of the comments against Zak will result in him changing his behavior.
Why?
Because if it did he wouldn't be Zak. Look, he's spent years waging wars of words across the internet in a niche hobby where his name has steadily risen in popularity and notoriety both to his acerbic style of arguing and his phenomenal creativity. He's rubbed countless people wrong because when he's right he fights tooth and nail. I like the hell out of him because of that attitude.
Seriously, though, dude, he did HURT my feelings!
ReplyDeleteAll that bullshit aside, I'm sorry about your uncle.
Thank you. He's home now, but it was not a good time by any measure.
DeleteZak once hurt my feelings so hard that I went around the whole spectrum and came out the "ecstasy" side. Like being tortured in the Pleasure Organ.*
ReplyDeleteI hope that your uncle is well and comes through this.
* Disclaimers and Warnings: Zak has never hurt my feelings, though we have disagreed on things on occasion. Two Zaks don't make a wrong, but one Tracy does. Do not taunt happy fun Zak. If you get Zak on your shoes, wash the affected area with iodine and peppermint and see a doctor immediately. If no iodine or peppermint are available, pray for a quick, merciful death. If you get Zak on your hands, however, feel free to lick them clean.
Hahahahahahahahahahahah!
DeleteMay your uncle get better, may you get your D&D fix, and may you start posting again regularly. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that all of those things are happening!
DeleteNo worries on my end Charles, and I am sorry to here about your uncle. Hope all will be well.
ReplyDeleteIsn't funny, you and I just had a conversation in which I stated, "Nearly every time Zak and I comment on each others blogs, we end up in a low-to-medium grade argument". Yet whenever I've seen Zak in person He is the nicest guy to me.
On the list of contributors is S. John Ross and Ken Hite, two guys involved in the Star Trek RPG from Last Unicorn Games. I've worked with them. They are brilliant. Robin Laws is named. Robin Laws! One of my heroes in the hobby. When I saw Zak's name amongst these others, my first thought was, "Awesome! What a range of talent."
I was once accused of only wanting to argue with those who would agree with me. If that were the case, Zak and I wouldn't be, as Zak once put it, 'Internet Pals'.
The uncle is better but I've never seen someone have so many things go wrong all in the span of seven hours from just a single virus before. He had a low grade diabetic attack (even though he doesn't have diabetes), sepsis, and a viral attack that caused him to continuously vomit for hours.
DeleteFucking scary stuff.
"I was once accused of only wanting to argue with those who would agree with me. If that were the case, Zak and I wouldn't be, as Zak once put it, 'Internet Pals'."
No you wouldn't, and you wouldn't be half as much fun!
Our thoughts are with your family with hope for a speedy recovery.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marty! He's home now and things are looking better.
DeleteBest wishes for your uncle's speedy recovery.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the other thing ... at least once a year, someone gets outraged about Zak. This is probably the most visible time, as it involves WotC, and unfortunately the most awful, since the trolls are spreading lies. But as they say 'the dogs bark but the caravan goes on'.
You're absolutely right on all points Mike.
DeleteUnrelated comment is unrelated.
ReplyDeleteSometime in the last couple days, the blog "Froths of 4e" seems to have vanished from the interwebs. I'm getting a "blog removed" error. I wondered if you had more information.
--Dither
It's because he's changed names! Try http://frothsofdnd.blogspot.com/ instead.
DeleteTsk. Now how was I supposed to find that? By looking? ;)
Delete--Dither
It took me a minute. I have Froths bookmarked both on his "about me" page and his old blog address. Once I found the about me page I was able to find the blog again.
DeleteIt gave me a hell of a start this morning. You could hear my "Big No" across the Internet -- even in Nigeria or wherever my spam comes from.
Delete--Dither