I’ve stopped reading about games online as much as I have the last couple of years. In all honesty, my curiosity about other people’s philosophies and ups and downs of gaming has significantly decreased. When I started this blog to talk about my own gaming past and present, I was super excited and very inspired. But that has dulled down a good bit since I became busier with career stuff and with other good life things. Also, I had only just started gaming regularly again after years off when I started the blog, and it all seemed so fresh.
It feels sort of like a couple of year relationship that has lost a lot of it’s initial luster after the long honeymoon period. As Bill Maher has said in the past, “show me the most beautiful woman in the world, and I’ll show you a guy who is tired of screwing her.”
Grognardia, the best gaming blog out there, and my own inspiration to start this blog, is no longer daily reading for me. I pretty much stopped reading and subscribing to other game blogs over a year ago (the main reason I don’t have at least a couple hundred followers of my own blog is for this very reason. Not tooting my own horn, but many fairly uninteresting blogs have followers in the hundreds due to those particular bloggers signing up for every new blog that comes along and those bloggers returning the favor. Amount of followers is not a good indication of how many people are actually reading). I never really cared much about amount of followers. This blog has served mainly as a place to vent and a place to practice writing about things I like. For myself. If other people find interest in it, great.
I’ve quit going to Dragonsfoot and other forums almost cold turkey in the last few weeks. But it’s not only a lack of interest; I’ve found a lot of the smugness, arrogance, holier-than-thou attitudes, and just plain hostility of many gamers online to be very uninspiring, aggravating, and very tiring. It really reminds me too much of my childhood playing at Aero Hobbies in Santa Monica, surrounded by older, angry pricks who thought they were “doing it right” much like many douche bags on DF who go on with great pride about how “sandboxing” or creating “mega dungeons” is some kind of high art. As if.
Sure, I’ve posted my own negative things on this blog in the past, but it was out of true and honest venting, not any kind of “I’m a better gamer than you” approach, or an attempt at hateful schtick that seems to be kind of popular on a few blogs. I sometimes opened up with honest emotion, and was often a little too open. I’ve for sure had my fill of my own hubris in terms of gaming. I really don’t intend to do much gaming outside of my own full, great group of people I have the good fortune to sit at the game table with, now on an almost weekely basis (wow). So my own negative reactions to some awful experiences in the greater gaming world at large are probably not going to happen anymore. I just don’t have the time or will to go out there and game with others with a very regular group going, and a life that demands more time away from the world of pretending.
So my focus is now on actual gaming with my group. I have also started to spend more of my free internet time looking at things that interest me, and have been a part of my life since childhood, other than gaming. Comic books were a big part of my life growing up, and even though I only buy a comic now and again these days (usually cheapies at garage sales and such) I am still in love with the medium and get the same type of chills from thinking about them as I have from thinking about gaming.
I wanted to point out this fairly new blog I have discovered by Jim Shooter, late 70’s/early 80’s editor in chief at Marvel Comics. As a kid and a teen I had about as much interest in the personalities behind comics as I did about games. Sure, we D&D’ers all knew about Gary Gygax, and we Marvel geeks all knew much about Stan “The Man” Lee (who I had the pleasure to meet and talk to as a young teen at the 1977 San Diego comic con, now a big time con). But Jim Shooter was one of these enigmas. He was mentioned in comic industry magazines, and I remember there not being much in the way of positives about him. I knew nothing about him, but I didn’t like him. But in this blog Jim is telling old stories, and giving his own side of things from back then. It is not only fascinating, but obviously Mr. Shooter has been long aware of his name being sullied for decades, and in his own personal touch is setting the record straight. It is super fascinating in a way nothing in the world of gaming currently seems to be to me. I am pouring over Shooters older posts with a vast passion as I try to catch up. For old school, Silver Age comics fans it is fascinating reading and I highly recommend you check it out if you grew up with comics.
I’ll mention some personal tales of my own that relate to some of Mr. Shooters posts in the future, but I am not done with gaming posts entirely. My Knights of the Old Republic campaign is a blast, and I at least, if not to share, want to use this blog as a place to keep a sort of journal about it. So when I have some time I’ll post on that, and anything (especially non-game related) that pops up of interest. There will be gaming stuff here when I post from time to time(you can bank that the couple of power gamers in my group will continue to annoy me), but let me declare at this point, officially, that Temple of Demogorgon is now more about pop culture than just game culture. This is in many ways an alternate to just abandoning a blog almost three years old. If you are one of the few readers here, I hope you continue to check it out and share your comments, and even smack me down when I geek out too bad or get too hoity toity.
I hope you are having a great summer, and are successful in your endeavors, gaming and otherwise. As Stan The Man might say…
EXCELSIOR!!
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Hey man, first off, you rock! I found your blog when I first started my own blog and was fascinated by the Night Below you were running. I loved to read about your party and what was going on.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I hear you about how DF and many of the other gaming blogs tend to sound like they are better than others. There are some that are still doing their own thing and are good folk.
Third, no need to worry about making this more of a pop culture blog than a gamer blog. Gamers, good gamers IMO, should draw from pop culture just as much as we should from gamer culture. I'm sure if you followed most of the references back far enough, it was from a pop culture idea.
Thanks for the great stuff and I can't wait to hear more.
Believe me, I know where you're coming from on the holier than thou attitudes present in the OSRsphere on forums and blogs. Everyone has their own approach and often their opinions are "the way it is supposed to be" and nothing else will be tolerated. This is what led to me taking a hiatus myself a few months back.
ReplyDeleteI too was a huge comic fan growing up and have always been interested in hearing Shooter's side on things so thanks for the tip there! I look forward to reading your updates when you post them and good luck in your KotoR campaign.
Glad to hear your not going to abandon your blog altogether.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading you, Grognardia and a few others for awhile.
I'm in the military, away from home. I really haven't been in a gamming group for years. All my gaming buddies are back home.
I started my blog just to stay in touch with more people who share my interests.
And one of those interest is collecting comics. So I'll stick around even if you just want to write about comics or movies or TV or whatever.
Just keep posting on whatever. I think there are plenty of us gamers who are also into comics or whatever else. My non-gaming posts about books or movies or ninjas tend to be just as popular as my gaming posts.
ReplyDeleteBrun, the Shooter blog is fantastic, I discovered it a few months ago. I met Mr. Shooter at a con right after the Valiant comics launch in the 90s and he was a really nice guy, very maligned I feel since I had met many other comics professionals that were pure asswipes both before and since who choose to rip on Shooter whenever given the chance.
ReplyDeleteMy Knights of the Old Republic campaign is a blast, and I at least, if not to share, want to use this blog as a place to keep a sort of journal about it.
ReplyDeleteyou do realise that some readers (who might also be interested in running/playing in a star wars campaign) have been waiting for this for months? months! ;)
Drago: it's often easy for me to forget that it is not just myself who loves a lot of things geeky outside of gaming. Love of comics and Sci Fi movies and the like seems to be the wheelhouse of most gamers. I think I can say without a doubt that my GM style in games of all genres was molded from the "Sturm and Drang" of 70's and 80's comic books.
ReplyDeleteChandler: thanks a ton man. You know, one of the worst things about the attitudes at some of these forums is how the hubris can rub off even if you don't like it. I sometimes found myself getting all holier than thou with newbies, and it is really a shame. Sort of like a zombie virus. So easy to go from brainy to brain-eater.
Nemo: Thanks bro. Here's hoping that you can make up for this "time off" when you get back to your home turf by getting a group going. Time off is good thing, I can tell you. Be safe out there man, and look forward to getting back to some regular gaming and relaxing with the those dirty dice.
Lord G: heh. Ninjas. I still love 'em after all these years.
Badmike: That is so awesome. Is he really a big scary guy? It was funny when cartoons of the Marvel staff would appear in letter pages back in the day, and Jim Shooter's head was never visable (they would later steal this gag for one of the office cops, a tall guy, in The Naked Gun movies). One thing that is great about the Shooter blog is it seems to be kind of under the radar to a degree. Only a couple dozen or less comments appear, so you can chime in and actually feel you are getting read.
Shlominus: Thanks man, that's great inpiration for me, I mean it. I'll at least start with a list of the fairly interesting character these guys have come up with in the next couple days. Although I have some issues with some of the Jedi powers, SW Saga Edition is great engine for Sci Fi gaming. You could leave Jedi and the force out of it, and have a great alternate system for Travel or Aliens type settings. A little bit of tweaking would make it a great set of rules even for a Dune setting.
I like a good debate but part of good debating is not taking it personally. I've shunned Dragonsfoot for that reason. I'm not keen on being insulted for simply holding to a different idea. The idea of respectfully disagreeing seems lost on these folks.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I enjoy your recap posts, your venting posts, and your posts where you discuss your won gaming philosophy.
As for "doing it right," fuck it. So long as you're having fun, you're doing it right. And one can be a contentious debater without resorting to personal attacks or acting like a superior holy-rolling know-it-all. Those who do act like that are all insecure basement-dwellers who live off Doritos anyway.