Rainbow Bound

 

I have some good news, which may or may not surprise folks out there in RPG land.

Aside from just a few minor changes that need to be made, Rainbow Crystal Utopia passed with flying colors.  I've already sent over the necessary alterations to layout.

I'm pleased with the relatively light editing hand used by OneBookShelf, which means a positive step in the right direction.

Of course, DTRPG has to re-review the title before it's finally approved, "whitelisted", and made public, but it looks like we won't have to wait too long before it's back up on the virtual shelves.  

If you just can't wait, you can still get the PDF from me (details here).  

Thanks,

VS

p.s. Attend this month's VENGER CON, and support me on SubscribeStar!

OBS Publisher Content Guidelines

 

Not sure why they're called "guidelines".  Edicts might be more appropriate...

I put out a little video, basically asking people to watch videos that are much, much better than mine.  Do I think OBS will reverse their position?  It's possible.  Some companies have the vision, flexibility, and strength to pivot... others do not.  

We're in the midst of another pendulum swing.  As I predicted, many things are changing back to normal (or going even further to the right, in order to find balance).  The left didn't see it coming, did they?  How do people not know this?  Oh right, America's stellar education system.  Why study history when we could learn about critical gender basket weaving?

If you've studied revolutions, you'll see what I saw a few years ago.  Radical movements pull the culture in startling new directions very quickly.  But such radicalism soon evaporates and society inevitably goes back to the ways things were.  

In most cases, I think it's a good idea to separate the art from the artist.  And that's what I've been trying to do with DTRPG.  Instead of blaming the staff and their protocols, I was focusing my scathing critiques upon the platform's customers who literally hate me, my work, and everything I stand for.

Well, I sleep well at night knowing I'm doing the Lord's work... whether that's the Judeo-Christian God, Satan, or Cthulhu, that's anyone's guess (all three?).  Case in point with this ostensibly "pro-choice" WAPO article about a young woman in Texas with twins.

Did The Good Syma'arian do that?  Did my little freebie PDF save those babies?  No, but artists, like myself, shape our society and, as they say, politics is downstream of culture.  What we do now has the potential to affect all our lives tomorrow.

If you want my anti-abortion themed Cha'alt scenario, The Good Syma'arian, just send me your DTRPG email address.  If you want my "alternative pride" Cha'alt adventure, Rainbow Crystal Utopia, you have to paypal me $3 also with your DTRPG address (please, use friends and family so I avoid the 50-cent fee)... Venger.Satanis@yahoo.com

And, of course, there's been a lot of criticism directed my way.  My character, reputation, and ability to conduct business have all been affected by what's transpired.  This guy in particular reminds me of Cypher from The Matrix.  I guess that would make me Morpheus.  Now, all we have to do is find... the one.

Rumors of competition abound.  I've heard from several people behind the scenes that something new is on the horizon.  And that should be very interesting, and lucrative for those positioned well.  

Speaking of opportunities, I've just been approved over at SubscribeStar.  Here is my profile.  I intend to create one short PDF, run a virtual session, and offer a third bit of Vengerized content each month.  It's only $5 a month if you want to join, and help fund my degeneracy; in addition to making it harder to cancel me.

VENGER CON is only a few weeks away!  Tickets are still available, so if you want to play with the greatest living Game Master in Cha'alt, the most dangerous campaign setting, don't delay.

Enjoy,

VS

p.s. After making this blog post, I realized there's another great video by The Basic Expert that should be seen by all.

Zak S. Fallout

This blog post's job is to shed light on everything either suspect or outright wrong that's happening in the shadow of the Zak S. #MeToo scandal, in no particular order...

1. DriveThruRPG has deplatformed, unpersoned, and demonetized forthcoming books where Zak S. has contributed.  Here's the link.

While I don't think that's a terrible decision (some consumers are asking for even more activism on OneBookShelf's part), it's a slippery slope.  If such over-correcting nonsense like rpg.net banning support for President Trump and his policies wasn't a thing, I wouldn't be as worried about who's going to be unpersoned next.

While I don't think OBS will risk a full-scale meltdown by getting rid of Alexander Macris, James Raggi, RPG Pundit, or Grim Jim Desborough, (or me, tentacles crossed), the line is certainly getting closer.

False accusations do happen.  All it takes is an edgy persona + offending the outrage brigade + someone accusing you of bad stuff in your personal life = vaporization from the RPG industry.

2. The lynch mob never stays in its lane!  Revolutions have a nasty habit of throwing innocents onto the guillotine, as well as, the guilty.  I've already seen where RPG Pundit and myself have been mentioned on twitter.  Like, we've finally gotten rid of Zak S... who else can we execute in the chaos without too much backlash?

That's not only not cool, but a dangerous path to tread.  If you're going to blame Zak S. (and I believe you should), don't go looking for adjacent scapegoats or bogeymen to also take down just because you're outrage-bloodlust hasn't been sated.

3. A lot of people are catching a whole lot of unnecessary flack for simply wanting more information, for wanting proof besides the word of several women.  And even then, some people believe Zak S. shouldn't be crucified before he's even had a chance to defend himself.

And some people, let's be honest, just don't want to get involved.  Maybe they feel it's none of their business.  Perhaps they're sickened by the sordid details or mob mentality or have some lingering respect for the accused.

In the end, it doesn't matter.  If a person doesn't feel like piling on, that's ok.  They don't have to.  They shouldn't be forced to feel the same way about something as you feel about it or that guy over there.

4. While I mixed my own ideological beliefs with the Zak S. scandal (right over here), I'm not the only one.  ConTessa put out a statement which contained the following, "ConTessa was founded on the principal [sic] that gaming space could be better spaces by letting women, people of color and LBGTQ+ take leadership positions, so that those spaces could be moved into less toxic directions than the default ones lead by straight, white men." Emphasis mine.

Even if her heart is in the right place, that just comes across as disgusting.  If you want to make gaming more inclusive and diverse, don't put down another's race, gender, and sexual orientation.  Straight, white men are not more or less inherently toxic than any other demographic.  Support of fresh faces doesn't necessitate the vilification of traditional ones.

No one is gate-keeping minorities from picking up an RPG, finding players, and running all the sessions they want.  Keep your identity politics the fuck away from gaming!

Those are my 4 points, maybe I'll come up others later, but these are the main ones currently sticking in my craw.  Thank you for reading.

VS

p.s. Well, that's unfortunate...

Lowbrow & Inappropriate

I'll be posting about my awesome Gary Con IX experience later today (or tonight), but this just happened, so it takes precedence.

Yesterday, I was sent an email from One Book Shelf.  OBS includes DriveThruRPG, RPGNow, DMs Guild, etc.

Just before leaving for the Lake Geneva RPG convention, I released a new title via PDF on DriveThruRPG/RPGNow.  It's called Play your Character like a Fucking Boss, which is sort of a companion piece to How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss, except its advice is for those on the other side of the screen.

Cutting to the chase, OBS has received complaints about the title.  The majority of Kort'thalis Publishing's titles are behind the "adults only" wall because I click the box for mature content.  That's what I did for the GMing book.  However, I did not designate the Player book "adult" because there's nothing besides course language that might be offensive or inappropriate for children.

Below is the email I received from OBS...


Hello XXXXXXX,

Over the weekend we received two complaints about your title "Play Your Character Like a Fucking Boss". The first complaint said that they felt the use of profanity in the title cheapened the presentation and made it seem "low brow". The second complaint was that the title was inappropriate for children and that children might be browsing the site.

I would like to make it 100% clear that we at OBS/Drivethru/RPGNow do not consider your title to be inappropriate for our site. In general, people don't get into role-playing or browsing our site till about 12 and so we consider anything PG-13 to be appropriate for our general audience and that does not have to be filtered out for people. I have already responded to the people complaining that we felt your product is appropriate under our current standards.

That being said, I also told them I would pass along their complaints to you the publisher. If I was in your position I would not want to be ignorant that complaints of this nature exist if they do exist. If you have any questions about his please let me know.

Thank you,

-- 

Chris Tang

RPG Publisher Services

While I take those complaints seriously and it is not my intention to offend anyone, I do not plan on clicking the adult content box for Play your Character like a Fucking Boss because that would have a negative impact on visibility.  Adult products, in my experience, are the second class citizens of OBS.  Obviously, less visibility means less sales.

Regarding the "low brow" complaint, I think I'm going to take that as a compliment.  As a "low brow" fan, that's the kind of aesthetic I'm going for.  Understandably, it limits my audience, but then going against the grain with a provocative title expands my audience.  Maybe it's a wash, but I need to stay true to myself.

I'm interested in reading your opinion.  Feel free to comment with anything you have to say on the matter.


Venger As'Nas Satanis
High Priest of Kort'thalis Publishing


p.s.  My latest Kickstarter Trinity of Awesome Returns has about two days left to back it.

p.p.s.  I put X's over the letters of my name because he didn't use my pseudonym.  Everything else was copy/pasted without editing.

Alpha Blue on the "White List"

I have the distinct pleasure of announcing that One Book Shelf (DriveThruRPG, RPGnow, and a bunch of others) deemed Alpha Blue not quite offensive enough to ban from their virtual shelves.

During a lengthy conversation with Steve Wieck, he shared the concerns that some people had with my sleazy, vintage sci-fi RPG.  We both came to the same conclusion - Alpha Blue may be culturally insensitive at times and offensive to a few outspoken individuals, but it doesn't deserve to be blacklisted.

Long story short - Alpha Blue is back, baby!

I've just included a warning before its listing and that of Girls Gone Rogue, the one and only supplement for Alpha Blue.  Best of all, they're both on sale (for a limited time)... PDFs and softcovers!!!

Before I forget, reviews!  Erik from Tenkar's Tavern posted this and James Desborough blogged that.

Thanks to all those who supported me throughout this ordeal.  Glad you have my back.

VS

Own your OSR

This is going to be the briefest of briefs tonight.  Got back from a family vacation last night and I see a lot has gone on in a week.

Specifically, I'm talking about the whole "Tournament of Rapists" / One Book Shelf fiasco.  By now, you're probably marginally aware.  I won't go into detail, but censorship may happen because the internet is full of idiots, assholes, and pearl-clutching cretins.

Back to my vacation - pickings were slim (I forgot to buy horror magazines before the trip).  So, I read the paper in the airport while my flight was delayed because of inclement weather.  Something about Prince, Jay Z, and some music platform streaming whatever called Tidal.  I have nothing to do with any of that, save for the fact that many artists are creating their own resources, their own outlets, their own avenue of revenue.

Yep, there's money to be had, folks.  30% royalty isn't all that shitty since I didn't have to chip in for the infrastructure and I don't have to handle processing, etc., etc.  But let's face it, 10 - 15% would be a hell of a lot sweeter.  Hey, there's talk of the OSR (and other RPG authors) banding together.  Why not join forces to increase profit - even if this whole books-being-cyber-burned thing is just a boogeyman?

For those interested, here's the link.  Don't be a slave...

VS