I promise this isn’t about that one quote.

This is me, so everyone has a point of reference. I try to be a nice guy as much as possible.

Let’s get the ugly truth out of the way first. There are a lot of old, bitter, angry, (probably cishet) Caucasian guys out there on the internet in the #ttrpgcommunity. Say it ain’t so, right? It’s sad, but some of us Old School Renaissance vets are pretty loathsome individuals sometimes.

I want so badly to say, “We’re not all that bad.” Then someone comes along to prove that indeed they are that bad or even worse. I have examples all over X (Twitter) and YouTube of really gnarly behavior by “old white guys.” I can’t apologize for the pigmentation of my skin, or how these guys act.

I see so much negativity out there in the TTRPG space sometimes. The saddest part is it’s not the product most of the time. In fact, some of the most divisive critics are guys who don’t put out much or any product of their own and criticize everyone and anyone else’s content. Some of these guys lurk around on the internet looking for things to get outraged over.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

I’ll probably get accused of creating a “straw man argument.”

Some of these like to get all philosophical and logical when they get called out on their bullsh🦆🦆. Like turning it into high school debate class somehow automatically gives them the moral high ground. I don’t have to be the world’s leading Garbologist with thousands of pages of data to know trash when I see it. If I’m standing downwind of the cow pasture, I’m going to say, “I smell bullsh🦆🦆.

I’m still playing nice at this point in time. I’m keeping people’s names off the page because they don’t need free press from me. Their own words on YouTube or on their own blog can be judged on its own merit or lack thereof. I’m also not going to chase clout by starting an Internet feud with a couple of TTRPG loudmouths from social media and YouTube.

One of these days someone is going to shoot their mouth off, and I will unleash my inner keyboard warrior.

I dislike that this conflict is on the horizon and seems inevitable. It seems every day something comes up that was just slightly more outrageous than the last. See, I was on the Internet a lot during the old Usenet days when flame wars were known to get out of hand and there was little-no moderation.  Since then, I’ve learned that peace is a far better solution and compromise is the road to peace.

There are days I wish X (Twitter) had a downvote button. I follow a lot of people I enjoy listening to on there, but every so often someone brings up [REDACTED] and then everything goes to pieces. Or one of my least favorite TTRPG creators, [REDACTED] shoots his fool mouth off about something completely unnecessary and gets called out by a bunch of the people I care about. Sometimes people go after the very lovely and talented Ginny Di unnecessarily and things go bonkers. (*I might get called a “simp” because I’ll gladly stick up for her. I really think she’s a good person and a good content creator.)

Don’t feed the trolls or they’ll just keep coming back.

I can’t figure out why some “old white guys” act the way they do. It’s like they’re just out looking for the next thing to be offended by. I’ve recently heard the far left has people who are “professionally offended.” (Like sensitivity readers? Yeah, that’s what they do.) I think the far right has people who are perpetually offended. Namely by anything and anyone who is not-them. (Sounds like a certain bunch of Germans in the late 1930s-early 1940s.)

it’s true the trolls will keep coming back if someone speaks up against them. Both liberals and conservatives have their own sets of trolls. It gets to a point where people are literally continuing to argue for the sake of argument. It ends proving nothing.

The recent flap around Goodman Games and the Indie RPG Creator Summit is proof of Internet trolling in the TTRPG world from both sides. It basically came down to a bunch of bitter old school guys forsaking/denouncing Goodman Games in the end. I sincerely hope Goodman remains unaffected by the bologna as I’m still a big fan and looking forward to two of their upcoming releases.

It’s been getting out of hand, lately.

This past week we saw a 47 year old man jump on a livestream on YouTube with his usual echo chamber of collaborators and make a friends-enemies type list. What are we, in third grade now? Offensive comments about all of us “woke communists” aside, this list was based on someone else doing a similar thing on their own site/channel. Unoriginal and stupid is a bad way to build a YouTube channel.

This guy (older, Caucasian, baseball cap and sunglasses indoors,) is so bad I’ve broken my anonymity policy concerning him before. (*My opinion.) I can’t stand this guy. He literally stands against people I love and would probably have a lot of us locked up in some sort of “reeducation camps” if he had his way. Sadly, this man claims to be a tabletop roleplaying gamer.

Seriously, this guy makes me want to react violently when he opens his mouth and trash talks the LGBTQIA+ or his other bigoted takes. If I ever run into this guy in the real world, however unlikely, I pray I can hold it together long enough to move to the other side of the room.

Focus on what you love, not what you hate.

I recently reconciled some of my (petty) internal differences with a YouTube personality. I’ll be giving more shout-outs to him as time goes on. Yeah, politically we don’t really agree on some things. I don’t hold his usual crowd, fellow YouTubers, or community against him. He and I are both big Shadowdark fans. We almost completely agree on how bad WotC is. I reached out over a few of his stories, and I consider him a friend now.

I would much, much rather listen to people who are passionate about the TTRPG hobby. I would love to hear from people who simply want to share campaign ideas, GM advice, book reviews (good or bad,) and speak highly of game companies they like. (Except WotC. They have too many shills.) I would love to see more BIMPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and/or neurodiverse TTRPG Content Creators on YouTube. There just aren’t enough of us.

I struggle every day of the week with people who talk trash about me and my loved ones. I’m very much an LGBTQIA+ ally. I have Diabetes, chronic pain, arthritis, ADHD, depression, possibly Autism, and a laundry list of other social psych issues. Oh, and I’m Caucasian, 51 years of age, bald, as well as beardy. I’m everyone’s and no one’s friend all at once most days. I believe people have a right to be acknowledged, heard, understood, included, and accepted.

Thanks for being here today. I truly appreciate all of you. If you’re into consensual hugging, please hug someone for me. See you tomorrow.