Some mistakes were made.

We’ll just chalk that whole video up to a learning experience. I’m still learning what to do on YouTube and how to do it well. There are plenty of positives, but I definitely think it could have gone better. For the first time ever, here’s the link: https://youtu.be/f28BrYslEcU

We won’t get into the technical details. I know my lighting was bad. My sound went fuzzy on me three quarters of the way in. My thumbnail and title were a little clickbait-y.

Part of it worked. I netted three new subscribers, and the metrics were higher than any other video on the channel. I also received and kept up with responding to more comments than any video I’ve seen recently anywhere. That’s where the trouble really started.

Disclaimer: This is my blog. This is how I see things and how I feel. There is little factual information being presented. If you have issue with anything being presented, please contact me privately on X (Twitter,) Instagram, BlueSky, or by email. Otherwise, there are lots of platforms out there for you to vent your feelings and opinions, too.

After heavy deliberation, I turned comments off.

I’ve done it here on the blog before, too. I’m no stranger to people leaving nasty comments. Probably the most disturbing thing was a lot of the comments wouldn’t have been made except the person commenting didn’t watch the whole video. I think I made all of my views on the matter perfectly clear, and I still got comments about me being a Republican or a supporter of fascism.

There was some really nice engagement in the comments. There were also quite a few comments caught in the language/topic filters. I’m all for free speech even if I don’t agree. What I put the smackdown on were the comments calling me or my viewers morons, MAGA, idiots, etc. At that point, I’m done.

All of the YouTube gurus say to leave the comments on no matter what. I’m not going to have my friends and family subjected to all kinds of awful remarks. Moreover, I’m not going to let those types of comments go unchallenged. Honest sociopolitical debate is one thing. Name calling and trolling is something else.

What started this uproar in the first place?

The quote that started the firestorm.

Last week an old X (Twitter) post from Jason Bulmahn, Lead Game Designer at Paizo, surfaced with a great deal of rhetoric attached. This post, despite being from August 8th, 2024, caused a major uproar on X (Twitter,) YouTube, and elsewhere on social media. I almost scooped the story, but I wanted to give Paizo a chance to respond to the public on Monday before I said a whole lot.

Bulmahn’s post meant well in my opinion. No, we really don’t want fascists in the TTRPG hobby any more than they’re wanted anywhere else. Republicans are welcome. No, they’re not always the same thing. Everyone is welcome in the hobby as long as they follow the golden rules:

Do no harm to your fellow players and have fun.

The point of my video and I’ll say it again here: GAME COMPANIES do not get to dictate who buys their product! Wizards of the Coast and Paizo do not get to choose who buys their games based on race, gender, sexual preference, disability, religion or political affiliation. If they do that they become just as bad as the people they say they’re standing up against.

Bulmahn’s snarky comment to JD Vance was simply bad for business. If Erik Mona and/or the executive staff at Paizo were wise, they should have a long heart-to-heart chat with Bulmahn about not putting his job title in his profile on X (Twitter.) Even though the comment was taken down and replaced with a slightly more passive-aggressive one, (which is now also gone as far as I can tell,) he shouldn’t have put the company in that position. Luckily Paizo decided to stand by their man. Other companies might not have been so forgiving.

The timing of this post resurfacing is suspicious to say the least.

August 8th, 2024, was when the comment was originally made. It didn’t come up again until January 2025 after the fires of the anti-colonialism outcry began to die down. Everything is a choice. There are no such things as coincidences. Someone deliberately waited to pick that fight until last week.

I imagine people think I’m a bit crazy. Just remember, you’re only paranoid until you’re correct. Here’s my take on the bigger picture in this article. Like I said in that article, I think there’s a bigger agenda at play in all of this. The real nutters were emboldened by Trump’s victory and they’re only going to get more aggressive for a time. The comments section I had to shut off on my Paizo video proves quite a bit of that statement.

Transparent honesty.

I don’t really care who plays Pathfinder or Starfinder. If JD Vance buys $240 worth of PF2E Core Remastered books and props up his couch with them, great. The money has exchanged hands. Paizo’s job of providing a good game at a relatively fair price has been done. I don’t know why the VP of the United States would need to prop up his couch with $240 worth of books when a cinder block is cheaper, but that’s his business.

If the leaders of our nation want to chill in Vance’s Pathfinder campaign- Let them! It’s none of my business just like it’s none of anyone else’s business what goes on in my Dragonbane campaign should I choose not to share. Game companies DO NOT get to dictate what is done with their product once it is available for purchase.

I sold TTRPGs and boardgames in a retail setting for years. I never once asked someone’s political affiliation before I sold them something. It’s never been a concern, and it never will be. When it comes to politics and religion at the game table, I have a fairly strict Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Please leave your controversial baggage at the door and let’s play the game.

I could have kept my mouth shut.

But we all know that’s not my way of doing things. I know it sounds like I’m trying to stick up for Republicans, conservatives, or even fascists. Trust me, I’m not. I advocate for free speech, free commerce, DEI, and kindness. I’ve gamed with people from all over the place, walks of life, political beliefs, religions, and so on. Sometimes two people who would otherwise hate one another at the same table together if they only knew. Other times people did know and were cool because we wanted to play Dungeons & Dragons together.

It might sound crazy, but I want D&D to succeed in whatever edition. I want Pathfinder 2E Core Remastered to succeed. I want pretty much all TTRPGs to succeed. I especially want the industry and the hobby to keep going another hundred years. It breaks my heart to see us at each other’s throats when we could be rolling dice and having a good time.

I could have thrown my lot in with the anti-woke mob and said, “screw Paizo, WotC, etc.”

I just don’t agree with them any more than I agree with the other extreme end of the hobby that thinks old white men from the flyover states in the Midwest should be drummed out of it. Quite honestly there are few extremes I do like. Both sides are so busy screaming “You’re wrong!” at the people in the middle that no one can hear themselves think at this stage. I know a lot of us are getting burned out on it. My biggest concern is it could cause an exodus from the hobby.

I think a lot of these controversial issues such as the Jason Bulmahn quote only grow worse when we don’t discuss them. We can’t take a stand for or against something if we don’t know the issue. At the same time, I advocate personal freedom as well as personal responsibility.

You have every right to express your opinion. You have the right to think/believe whatever you like about whoever you like. Please be careful how and where you express that opinion as it relates to your workplace, your company, or your brand.

I’ve accidentally shot my mouth off before and gotten in trouble for it. Ginny, again, I’m very sorry I offended you. You have to be careful whether you’re Jeff’s Game Box or Jason Bulmahn, Director of Game Development at Paizo, that what you say represents your brand and the people who work under you. Otherwise, you’re risking their livelihoods with your opinion on social media. (I will say that Jeff guy has it a little easier because he’s not making any money and has no employees.) Still, companies have Public Relations people to help out at times like this. I hope Paizo does.

As a Journalism major, I took PR, Advertising, Marketing, and reporting classes. What Jason Bulmahn did on X could have easily turned into a worst case scenario. He’s lucky it’s only just now being brought up in earnest. Even then people are relying on screenshots instead of actual quote tweets. Even now people are asking for refunds and threatening boycotts. Nobody wants that for their game company.

That’s probably a good place to leave it for today. I’m sure it will come back around. Hopefully we’ll talk more GMuary stuff tomorrow. I’m ready to get back to talking about games and game content. Politics and religion wear me out and give me a headache.

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.