The Harassment Problem In Independent TTRPGs

Raven's Take On Grim Jim's Video Concerning Harassment Mobs.

I’ve detailed in one of my earliest articles how Cancel Culture is not Culture but a cult, plain and simple.

Recent revelations have borne this out, unfortunately. The advice that I’ve given to everyone is to tell them they have no authority, to fuck off, to keep fucking off until they can do so no more and then keep fucking off some more for good measure.

In the past several years, some have found themselves on the end of such a mob online. This mob spews hatred, vitriol, spreads rumors and will see you exiled if not destroyed completely both mentally, physically, and financially. You will be kicked. You will have been kept down and, during those times, there was nothing you could do about it. Even today, had you fallen victim to one of these massive groups of clowns, your reputation and career would still be destroyed, despite vindication

An article, published by Medium, written by Dr. Clio Belle Weisman and later taken down for reasons unknown, clearly shows that what I and others have been trying to warn you against for the past ten years is a fact. Despite the fact that it’s been taken down, it has been archived so you can read it for yourself, hence the link and Grim Jim has even done a video on the matter himself which you can watch his two-hour dissection of it here:

And, furthermore, the audio clips that were once-embedded in the article can be listened to here:

Big thanks to Grim Jim for putting that out there because this is proof and vindication that we all needed.

I’ve had to take a couple of days to think on this one. I know that some are going to point out my lack of desire to perpetuate a culture war and focus on gaming but, this proves whether or not you or I have an interest in the culture war, it has an interest in you and me, for certain.

A couple of years ago, one of the staff writers for Troll Lord Games had a bad week and didn’t think to step away from Twitter. Now, this was a bad week that I can personally confirm, having had some direct experience with it. To save time but not minimize what happened, comments were made, backlash wasn’t exactly swift but the comments were noticeable and the staff at Troll Lord Games were quick to point out that they have a Games-Only Policy. Open political discussions were something they wanted no part of. That staff writer apologized twice and I even had a brief chat with him. Some were not as forgiving because then, backlash against TLG was swift.

For two weeks, they endured interrogations, cyberbullying and harassment and fans, such as myself were swift to “come to Gondor’s aid” so to speak. Sure there were a few stragglers that popped up afterwards but the bullies ran the minute those willing to defend them stepped in.

The angry mob was repelled.

Gondor stood.

Now, the Trolls in the Troll Den are reporting successes after the OGL scandal and are now enjoying more success with The Gygax Estate to publish an expanded range of Gary’s final works before his untimely passing.

One of the more upsetting things about Dr. Weisman’s article is when she put this part in and it’s this that I want to address…

For context, I did post the link to the archived article and she was talking about why Zak Smith got harassed clean out of the industry and had his entire reputation, business and life destroyed.

There was a reason for it all; he dared to tell the harassers to stop doing this before someone got hurt from it.

Growing up during The Panic, I’d seen things like this before and I’ve also stated that, should you decided that if you can’t beat them, you’ll join them, nothing you ever do will be good enough for them. Either way, it’s a complete state of misery. As my dad once put it to me and I’ll simplify it here. When nothing you ever do will be good enough, do nothing for them.

I digress, obviously, but getting back to the point, yes, there were reasons for this and I hope that Dr. Weisman gets this because I think it should be considered.

1. Money.

One of the anonymous people she interviewed clearly stated…

Yep, money. Remember when I said that this Culture War is interested in you, well, it’s especially interested in you if you create games. Troll Lord Games was an example I mentioned earlier. The way it breaks down is this.

Let’s say I’m making a game but I don’t have money for art or layout designers, etc. I need to get it from somewhere. Someone else is succeeding and I need their customers. The easiest thing is to make a name for myself by spreading vicious rumors and lies and getting them so hyped up that eventually, that enough of that person’s customer base just poofs and they’re unable to maintain their business, thus driving them out of the industry. I, however, made a name for myself “by exposing them” and now that money can come to me instead, in theory. Problem solved. Most sane people would just run a kickstarter or use AI art or even team with a group that has those resources and come to an agreement with them. The point is that there are a great many, more productive alternatives to making these games. The problem is that the harassers and bullies know one thing: Their games won’t sell without the bullying campaigns that are designed to make names for themselves at the expense of someone else.

2. Attention Economy

Just like I said before, the name has to be made and, the quicker, the better. If you’re part of a group that gets a big name taken down and you’re one of the bigger names in the group that made the most noise, evidence to the contrary be damned, and you can play victim well enough, you have the attention of the audience and you can then take full advantage of that.

3. Spite Over Hurt Feels

Something as simple as an argument. One argument, one day over one thing can put you in the crosshairs.

Geist, referring to Fiona Maeve Geist, has worked on Lamentations of The Flame Princess, Halls of The Blood King by Diogo Nogueira as editor and worked on the development for the game Mothership by Tuesday Knight Games. Keep in mind that Geist had an argument with a former friend and employee, not James Raggi IV, himself. I’m speculating, from the details in the article that, for the crime of not immediately firing the former friend and employee, Raggi became the target. It’s also not the first time he’s become a target, nor is it the first time people within the indie industry have turned on Raggi. One of his own employees has been fired from another job at Leyline Press for merely working with him, if you recall. It also led to an appearance on one of my bi-weekly Saturday Morning Live Streams that coincided with a sale on his sites. The point being, however, that guilt by association is a very real thing and it can be over something very trivial.

4. For Funsies.

Nope, not even kidding…some of them will do it just for the fun of it.

These are the people that, in my opinion, are the absolute most evil. They’re doing it, not because they think they’re entitled to your resources, not only because they’re seeking attention, though perhaps they are, or because they even know you or have had anything remotely resembling a disagreement with you, it’s because, to them, this is fun and they’re more than happy to absolutely and completely destroy you because someone else told them, without evidence or anything to back it up, that it was a good idea to do so.

Oh yes, there are reasons. Some of them will make sense in some ways, others will not.

The Cautionary Tale:

Zak Smith, the man I mentioned before, allowed Dr. Weisman to do a complete psych eval on him with no hesitation. She didn’t find any evidence of any mental deviations from the norm, however, Zak has been known to be abrasive with people to the point where a friendship or business relationship with him can fall apart over something as simple as his “tone” over the internet to an all-out actual falling out between friends.

This did make Zak an easy target because he did, at times, needlessly make enemies. This made fewer and fewer people less apt to come to his aid and convinced more and more of his detractors and bullies to go after him. At the time of Dr. Weisman’s writing, Smith was facing eviction and was on food stamps.

Zak Smith’s reputation for being a dick doesn’t mean that I, personally, nor would anyone in their right mind, support his complete and total destruction in such a manner. If anything, were he a dick to me personally, I just wouldn’t buy his games. That would be that, plain and simple. If a friend were to become interested in one of his games and ask me whether or not I’d recommend them, the answer would be a no in that case.

Full disclosure: I’ve never met Zak Smith so I cannot make that assessment, however, others have confirmed his penchant for being a jerk with bad interpersonal skills. That doesn’t make him worthy of personal destruction in my opinion.

This is the kind of thing that many of us have been calling out for the past ten years whether it has been comic books, movies, video games, tabletop games, board games, war games, older books, you name it. Now, it’s been laid bare before you, some by their own admission and some of those, without apologies.

Grim Jim also made another video where he states that he didn’t want to see any one of the people who did this have it done to themselves. Video here…

I do agree to some extent that we don’t want one group of assholes being replaced by another group of assholes, however, I can’t be quite as forgiving.

I think more light needs to be shed on this particular subject so that we all understand what happens when we give into hysteria but I also think the consequences and penalties for such actions needs to be swift and very apparent. They also need to be very hard life lessons for these people. I don’t think these people should be facing the same destitution they made Zak Smith face, however, it begs the question, would they be saying the same if the roles were reversed? Remember that these people literally made things up, spread wild and vicious rumors and conspiracy theories and kept repeating those lies until they were so outrageous they had to be believed. I don’t think any of them will do anything with any type of forgiveness but keep doing as they’ve always done. I think they’ll do it again, given the chance. While I’m not on board with giving them any reason to keep screeching, I am on board with making each and every one of them pay any and all restitution for the harm they’ve caused.

In terms of destruction, I don’t think that’s too hard to accomplish and courts could even be circumvented. I wouldn’t buy Mothership again. In fact, I wouldn’t buy anything these people have ever worked on and, the sad part is, I have some of these books in my library as of the time of this writing. While I don’t think the ratcheting sounds of handcuffs closing around their wrists is in their future, the snapping of closed wallets is and mine will be closed to them forevermore, whether I liked their games or not.

I asked James Raggi IV when we’d see Veins of The Earth in print again and he told myself and Joe on stream that he couldn’t seem to get permission from the author to put it back in print. Well, thanks to the article, I think we can figure out why…

Like Grim Jim, I really want more light shed on this subject. I want more of these companies added to Ocule’s Red List and Diversity & Dragons’ List as well with the reasons why they’re on those lists. In the end, the decision will always be up to the consumer but it’s my hope that these people are shown what happens when they engage in behavior that ranges from the unethical all the way to the tyrannical.

My own solution is simple. Stop buying from these people altogether. Silently. Give them absolutely nothing and then start buying from people who just make games for the sake of making games. It’s time to stop rewarding hideously evil people for being hideously evil and reward creators and companies that make good games, movies, comic books, etc.

In the meantime, spread the word. Yes, this is one article I highly encourage all of you to share far and wide. No amount of bullying or hatred is getting this one taken down.